Page 37 of Silver Lining (The Diamond Trilogy 3)
There’s nothing to do but run.
Airport hangers are built with several exits, so I take the one the Army men didn’t use.
The cold air slams into me like a living god that’s pissed at me. Being outside is a shock to the system. A blistering return to reality. I’m out here anyway.
With no shoes and no shirt and a deep constellation of bruises all over my body. I’m covered in blood. I must look like a nightmare.
But even nightmares have places to be.
It’s at least twenty miles to New York City. The light pollution acts as a beacon. Icy cold seeps in through the soles of my feet. It’s only going to get worse when I leave the concrete pad that supports the airport hanger. One step into the snow proves me right. It’s goddamn freezing.
I’m never going to make it.
Two steps and I know I’m going to lose some toes.
I’ll make it, but maybe not in one piece.
Ten steps and the pain is like knives. Moving hurts. Stepping in the snow hurts. Keeping my eyes open hurts.
I keep them open anyway.
I’m going to find her.
17
Holly
Adam stares out the window of London’s apartment for a long time.
Then he rubs both hands over his face and lets out a long, tortured breath. “It’s traitors all the way down, Holly. The colonel had a chain of command, too. Someone was giving him orders.”
“Fine. Who’s above him?” Something important inside me has snapped. London has Adam here, for god’s sake. That’s at least as dangerous as being around Elijah, so I don’t buy this bullshit that I should stay away for my own safety. “Give me a name.”
“It’s not so simple.” Adam’s eyes flicker over to London, who is still standing by her bedroom with a towel around her hair.
She looks from Adam to me and back again. “I’m going to get dressed.”
“Good idea.” It’s an asshole tone to take with her but I am at the end of my rope. Later I’ll have to deal with the fact that I am pissed at her for not telling me about Adam the moment he showed up in her apartment. It’s clear from the way he answered the door that he didn’t arrive ten minutes ago. He’s been here. London disappears into her bedroom and closes the door.
“Give me a name.” My spine feels like steel on fire. If there’s one thing I’m not going to do, it’s walk out of this apartment without getting anything out of Adam. He owes me this. Sorry about kidnapping you isn’t going to cut it. “Or I swear to god, Adam.”
Before he put me in that first white van, it might have been an empty threat. Back then I didn’t know how to shoot a gun and wouldn’t have had the balls to get one and use it. Now I’m willing to do anything. Anything. Up to and including threaten my former kidnapper.
He doesn’t laugh. My face must be proof of my new take-no-prisoners attitude.
The light in the room changes. We’re heading toward late afternoon and fast. It’ll be full dark by six. I don’t care if it gets dark. All I care about is taking another step forward. I won’t know the shape of the game until I can feel the walls caging us in.
“There’s a fundraiser tonight.”
I want to strangle him for this until I realize he’s not telling me that he has another engagement or that we should attend for altruistic reasons. Of course he isn’t. This is Adam. Adrenaline injects itself into my veins and makes the tips of my fingers throb.
“It’s an event that attracts a lot of key players.”
I still don’t see how this gets us to Elijah. “What are you suggesting we do? Poison their champagne?”
A grin ghosts across Adam’s face. “We use the powers of pointed conversation to pull the strings of the web.”
“And once we find him?”
He sobers. “Then we’ll know if Elijah can be saved or if it’s too late.”
A lump in my throat gives a painful twist and I swallow against it. “It’s not too late. Let’s go to the fundraiser.”
“What fundraiser?” London cuts in. She’s back from her bedroom, her hair in a bun that still manages to look elegant even with wet hair. “You can’t go to a fundraiser looking like you’ve been hiding in your apartment for weeks. Plus, why?” She takes us both in, suspicion in her eyes. “Why would you leave now?”
“To save a man who doesn’t want to be saved,” Adam says. “I owe him one for not shooting me through the heart.”
“To confront the people who have taken him hostage,” I point out. “It’s illegal, what they’re doing, and probably torture—”
“You can’t,” London says simply. “You know you can’t.”
“There are no other options.” Adam is being so calm and soothing that I could die. “It’s risky. It’s dangerous. I can’t lie to you about that. You should walk away.”
