Lace and Sin (Sinners Series Book 1) (19 page)

With unsteady hands I squat down, scooping up the documents and rolling
them together, before sliding them against the waistband of my jeans. My eyes
never leaving the now pale face that’s staring up at me from the floor.

I quickly side step around him, check the ammo in the gun and click the
magazine back into place, as I make my way back under the vent. I hear the
handle of the door rattling, as someone tries to break in to see what the gun
shots were no doubt. I hike myself back up into the vent and start to drag
myself along, side still aching.

I pull my sweater up a little and groan, blood pooling around the wound
on my side. I lower my now red stained sweater down and press firmly against
the gunshot wound, trying to put pressure on it to stop the bleeding.
Shit what have I done?
I twist back onto
my stomach and groan as the movement feels like I’m ripping my stomach open.

Shit. Deep breaths, God this hurts like hell.

I shakily get back onto my hands and knees as I make my way further,
finally ending up above the hallway near the stairs. I pry the vent grill open
and just lay there, breathing in an out continuously. Each breath shorter and
more laboured as the time seems to pass by, while I try to gather enough
strength to pull myself out of the vent.

Come on Kayla, move. Just slide one leg, and then the other through the
vent and drop to the hallway floor. Come on Kayla, you got this, just move.

Shit, I don’t got this. Am I dying? Where’s my life flashback? Oh right,
I didn’t really do anything exciting enough for a flashback. I try to create my
own, so I think of the people I care about most, the people I love. I wonder if
Alek is okay. I really hope they left him at our apartment, and that Carter and
Jimmy helped him.

And Carter, god I hope he doesn’t do anything stupid to try get me out of
here, than again I’m not one to talk since I’m currently bleeding out in
someone’s vents. Oh god this hurts like hell.

After what feels like an eternity I wake up, realising I zoned out a
little - the loud crack of gunshots automatically making me more alert.

The vent is hanging open, but no one notices I’m there as they run
underneath yelling orders. I notice armed officers wearing bulletproof vests
make their way down the hallway, bursting through each door and firing back at
anyone that shoots at them. The police are here?

Am I dreaming? My eyes start to close over again as I hold my aching
side. My palm covered in blood as I try to hold my burning side, try to keep my
eyes open to no avail.

Chapter 22

Carter

My plan was masterful, what I should have done from
the beginning, or essentially the moment I watched the video my dad sent me on
a hard-drive.

The note attached to the hard-drive stated that my dad
requested it to be sent to my address on a specific date, which was the day
after he died. When I watched it I knew it would be what finished Mikhalov, I
knew it would be what ends up saving all our lives. It’s like my dad knew that
Mikhalov was coming there to kill him, so he set up a camera and filmed the
whole thing, knowing it would end up in my hands eventually.

I instructed Alek to take it down to the Feds, telling
them that it was their ticket into Mikhalov’s manor, and their bargaining chip
to get a warrant to search his house and arrest him. I guess being more of a
criminal than a law abiding citizen, I didn’t want to go to them for help,
which is stupid because I guess we could’ve avoided all this. Or Mikhalov would
have killed us all for trying.

The longer it takes me to drive to Abrams house, the
more I curse myself for not doing this straight away. If I did this in the
beginning he wouldn’t have taken Kayla. Alek is going to bring backup hopefully
quickly, while Jimmy is tucked away in the backseat of the car.
God this is insane, this better work.

While I distract Mikhalov, Jimmy will go looking for
Kayla to get her out. I’ll go in there, agree to whatever he wants and beg for
him to let her go, or that’s the plan anyway. Sounds fucking ridiculous, I just
hope to god she’s fucking okay.

As soon as the guard sees me, he opens the iron gates
and lets me continue driving, winding my way down Mikhalov’s long gravelled
driveway. The stones crunching beneath the tyres as I drive further up and
closer to the garage.

As soon as I park and hop out the car, two guards are
yanking my arms behind my back, and pushing me up the steps to get inside the
house. There are guards running around inside in a blur of confusion and anger,
talking into their walkie in Russian so I can’t understand them.

One stands on a chair and sticks his head into the
vent above him, turning all the way around and coming back out, “Not here” he
says, or so I think anyway since my Russian’s a little rusty.

“What’s going on?” I ask one of the guys yanking my
arm, as he leads me up the giant stairs.

“Your girl escape in vents” he says gruffly, and the
other guy smacks him upside the head. He curses and they start arguing in
Russian. I feel myself grinning with pride, just as Mikhalov steps out of one
of the rooms, his shirt sleeves rolled up and his hands covered in blood.

He points at me and jerks his chin towards the room
behind him. The two guys push me through the doorway behind Mikhalov, and I
sigh with relief when I see the dead guy sprawled out on the floor. Thank
Christ it’s not Kayla’s blood on his hands.

He leans against the desk, and crosses his arms in
front of his chest. He nods once, and the guys push my shoulders down so I sit
in the chair across from him.

“Did you send her to get me?” he questions, and to be
honest I have no idea what he means. I shrug in response.

“Who is she?” he keeps interrogating, “no normal woman
would take down two of my biggest men while trying to evade capture, break out
of handcuffs in less than two minutes, and then kill one of my strongest men.”

I grin wide, “You underestimate people’s hatred for
you, Abram. You really wanna know?”

“Why would I ask if I didn’t?” he grunts, and then
swears in Russian as he runs a hand through his greying hair restlessly.

“Does the name Deminski mean anything to you?”

He blinks, momentarily confused, before recognition
crosses his face followed by anger.

“I guess you’re the one to thank for making her this
strong. You killed her parents and she’s wanted you dead ever since. Actually,
I’m surprised she hasn’t done it already” I say trying to irritate him for god
knows what reason.

I hear a small noise from the air vents, and look up
to see Jimmy pulling himself down. I take action quickly and stand, elbowing
one of the guys next to me straight in the face, as Jimmy jumps down and wraps
his arms around Mikhalov’s neck. If Jimmy’s here, then where’s Kayla?

The other guy spins towards me as he pulls his gun
from his side, but I manage to grab the other guard’s gun as he drops to the
ground with a bloody nose.

We stand there momentarily eyeing each other, guns
held high and aimed at one another. Jimmy and Mikhalov throw punches, scuffling
around and grunting as the other lands a hit. Papers scatter across the floor
as they push against the solid desk, and the lamp falls to the floor with a
soft thud on the carpet. This isn’t Jimmy’s fight, he shouldn’t be getting
hurt.

The guy with the broken nose starts mumbling something,
so I quickly knock him out with the back of the gun. The other guy takes that
opportunity and shoots, missing thankfully, as I duck behind the back of the
couch. I shoot in his direction, grazing his shoulder, just as there are
gunshots outside the room. There’s yelling as the door bursts open, and a few
armed officers run in, guns held high.

“Drop the gun now” one of them yells, and stupidly
Mikhalov’s guard shoots blindly at them, hitting one in the chest who is
luckily wearing a vest. He groans and drops to the ground from the impact.

It’s utter chaos, as Jimmy and Mikhalov continue
fighting behind me, and the officers shoot back at the guard. They get him
right in the chest, and I watch as he drops to the floor. I quickly turn to
Jimmy to make sure he’s alright, and watch as he throws a punch to Mikhalov’s
face, towering over him on the floor. He drops his hold on Abrams shirt and
grins as he falls back limp and unconscious.

We did it. Well I mean he isn’t dead, but I guess him
going to jail is just as good, right? Where he’ll rot away for the rest of his
life in a cell the size of a shoe box, compared to this luxurious manor.

One officer checks the pulse of both guards, and the
other rolls Mikhalov onto his front before he starts to put him in cuffs. We
stand there watching, not sure what we’re supposed to do. Jimmy nudges his chin
towards the door and I nod back at him, knowing we have to find Kayla.

We race through the hallways filled with officers,
calling her name, until one stops me to ask what we’re doing. I hurriedly
explain to them that she’s in the vents somewhere, and since we haven’t found
her yet I’m guessing she’s hurt, it’s freaking me the fuck out.

“Over here” Jimmy yells, reaching up into one of the
open vents, and pulls on her arm to slide her out from her hiding spot.

She’s barely conscious as Jimmy gently passes her to
me, covered in blood. My breathing is rapid as I look her over, chest rising
and falling with each of my breaths. What the fuck happened to her?

“Kay…can you hear me?” I ask, as I start to carry her
down the stairs and out of the house. She looks like she’s moment from death,
face pale, hair sticking to her face from the light sheen of sweat. Fuck, this
isn’t happening, this can’t be happening right now.

Her eyes open weakly, as she stares up at my face with
her big brown eyes, mascara smeared lightly underneath, “You look good …coming
in on your white horse, Romeo.”

It takes me a moment to realise she’s saying I’m her
white knight, which just pisses me off. I growl, a little frustrated because I
didn’t help her at all, she wouldn’t have been in this situation if it wasn’t
for me. Her eyes close over softly again and her hold around my neck weakens.

“Baby, stay with me, Kay I’m getting you some help. Just
hold on a little longer for me, okay?”

She doesn’t respond for a moment, and it’s killing me
to see her like this. I hike her up a little closer against my chest and her
eyes open again, “Did we get him?”

“Yeah babe, we got him, he’s going away for a very
long time.”

“So’s not dead...is that revenge enough? “ she says,
her words slurring as her head lolls to the side a little.

“Hey, Hey…keep talking to me, stay awake for me Kay,
you hear me?”

She doesn’t answer, her eyes staying closed as her
hold on me weakens even further. I can see the emergency crew just outside the
iron gates as I make my way down the driveway. Swat trucks and different
officers running around beside me and putting cuffed men into the back of their
cars.

“Vengeance or love?” I ask Kayla, and wait for a
response as I try to pick up my pace to get to help. No answer.

“Don’t do this to me Kay, please” I beg to god knows
who, “Not now, you hear me? Fuck! Don’t do this Kayla.”

Jimmy catches up behind me and see’s the lifeless
Kayla in my arms.

“I’ll get help” he says and sprints the rest of the
way down the driveway to the emergency crew, since it’s easier without carrying
someone in his arms. I drop to my knees as the panic washes over me, and I
brush some hair out of her face as I hold her motionless body in my arms.

“Kayla…wake up, please, baby” I run a blood smeared
hand through my hair, “I fucking love you…you hear me? I love you so goddamn
much, please just wake up for me” I plead with her, praying she can hear me,
hoping to god, to anyone in fact that she’ll be okay.

I run my fingers through her tangled hair, and then
swipe a thumb across her cheek and her motionless lips.

Two medics run over and start to take her out of my
arms. They pull her sweater up and I almost lose it when I see the blood across
her stomach from the gunshot wound. They start to work on her, patching her up,
giving her CPR, doing god knows what to get the life back into her.

I stay there on my knees, watching the life slip away
from her, watching the only person that’s managed to make me fall in love with
them leave me behind.

Everything around me feels like it’s slowed down, the
officer’s running back and forth, and the medics working in front of me to save
what’s left of the one person I would trade my life for.