Page 21 of Secret (Chicago Underground 6)
The shell ricocheted back into my face; the gun pinged directly off metal. I ducked back into the room for a second, but the shouting from downstairs spurred me on. I peeked over the ledge and saw that the metal had bent right out of the wall.
Hah! So much for hitting the brick.
I congratulated myself on my badassery before moving to the next one. Which I missed, entirely. But there wasn’t time, so I shot again and again. As the third one came off, the whole grate tilted on its axis, hanging from the last screw.
I didn’t need to remove that one to get out, so I slung one leg over the window and prayed. I didn’t bother with shoes, and at least the black sheath was easy to move in.
I looked down at the garbage dump. Footsteps sounded outside the door, and I jerked, almost falling headfirst out the window. The door slammed open, and I thought my heart would burst. That didn’t happen, but I did pee myself—just a little.
It was Jenny, white as a sheet. “What’s happening?”
“We’ve got to get out of here,” I said.
“Okay. You jump, and I’ll follow.”
“Right,” I said, not moving.
“Shelly,” she said urgently.
I glanced down and then away. “I might have a small fear of heights.”
She rolled her eyes and then pushed me.
“Wait,” I cried, but it was too late. My leg scraped along the jagged edge of the bars as I fell. I landed sprawled on the lid of the Dumpster. The impact jittered up my whole body, and my teeth chattered with the agony of it. A red gash ran from the outside of my knee to the ankle.
“Move,” Jenny demanded.
With shaky legs, I slid to the side and turned my face, ready to send encouragement. But by the time I called her name, she was already falling, landing in a far more graceful heap. No painful leg gashes for her.
“Well, yeah,” I said. “Because you saw me go first.”
She hopped onto the street beside me. “We have a plan after this?”
Damn, how had she recovered so quickly? And she looked more alert than I had ever seen. I glared at her as I stumbled onto the ground, wincing as the weight of my step shot pain up my shin.
“Come on.” I took her hand, and we ran across the street. Or really, she ran. I hobbled. We crouched behind the Jaguar and peeked over the hood. No one appeared to have seen us. In fact, we couldn’t see anyone at all. Everyone was inside and quiet, which meant they were either dead…or Major was.
Chapter Ten
I slipped into the driver’s seat, and Jenny took the passenger’s. No keys. I felt around in the pockets of the car. Jenny flipped the visor down, and the keys fell on my head.
“Ouch,” I said, rubbing the spot.
“Let’s go,” she muttered, watching the door of the complex.
“I have to wait for someone.” She gave me a look, and I recoiled from the vitriol of it.
“A man?”
“The man who helped us escape,” I retorted.
Her cool gaze slid to the keys in my hand, then back to me. I got the impression she was measuring me, deciding whether to take them by force. My fingers tightened on the keys as I waited.
The tension released from her in a breath as she had apparently decided to keep me around. “You better hope he comes out soon,” she said, her gaze glued to the door. “If they find us, we are so fucked.”
I let out a breath. “I cannot believe you were faking it all this time.”
She snorted. “As if you don’t.”
