The Nightworld by Jack Blaine Page B

it pretty hard. I try not to imagine what got hit and just keep going up the stairs.
    “Of course it has to be the freaking penthouse.” Tank looks at me like he doesn’t see the problem, but my thighs are starting to burn. I can hear my breathing echoing off the walls, and Tank’s too. I stop every few seconds to listen; I keep thinking I hear something up ahead, or maybe it’s behind us.
    It feels like we’ll never reach the top of the stairs. I can’t see farther than the next landing, and it feels like every corner I turn might be the one with some freak hunched there, waiting. I keep the gun in front of me, holding with both hands and skirting the walls at corners like I’ve seen cops do on television.
    We finally make it to the top. There is another flight of stairs that goes up past the stairwell exit door that’s marked PENTHOUSE , but I think they must lead to the roof. I don’t feel like I’m up for exploring that right now. I try the door and it’s open. The hallway isn’t lit by anything but a nightlight sort of thing at the end, so it’s pretty hard to see, but I can make out the door to Lara’s apartment just ahead. I hold the stairwell door open for Tank and then shut it as quietly as I can. There’s a golf club lying on the floor next to the door, along with a rag that looks like it was torn from somebody’s flannel sheet.
    I can’t believe I’m actually here. Five feet from Lara’s door.
    I think of Morton and his assistant, Tessa. I don’t know what I’ll do if Lara isn’t alive and well in that apartment.

Chapter 19
    I’m just raising my hand to knock when the stairwell door bursts open and a guy with a gun yells, “Freeze!” like he’s playing a cop on TV. I do freeze, but Tank isn’t so cooperative. He starts growling at the guy, acting like he’s going to lunge.
    “Drop your gun.” The guy points his own at my forehead. Reluctantly, I drop my gun at my feet. Tank’s growling increases in volume a notch or two.
    “I’ll shoot that thing in two seconds if you don’t get it under control.” The guy isn’t kidding. I kneel next to Tank and tell him to sit. He does, but he doesn’t take his eyes off the guy.
    “Who are you and what do you want?” The guy is practically screaming.
    “Hey, want to keep it down? I don’t think we want to draw attention like that, do we?”
    “Shut up and answer the question.”
    “Which one?”
    He just stares at me for a second, blinking.
    “Do you want me to shut up or answer the question?”
    He sneers and raises the gun. I’m getting ready to try to grab mine from where I dropped it when the door behind me opens.
    “Zeke, stop!”
    Without turning I know it’s her. Lara.
    “Get back inside.” The guy named Zeke looks pissed that he’s not getting to shoot me.
    “No, Zeke. He’s a friend. I know him.”
    She comes into view and I want to cry. She’s even more thin than she was before, if that’s possible. Her hair is combed but it looks dirty, and she has a bruise under her left eye that starts a burn simmering inside me.
    “Who hit you?” I sound harsher than I mean to sound.
    She shakes her head. “It was an accident.” A beat passes while she looks at me, and then she says, “I can’t believe you’re here.”
    “I wanted to make sure you were okay.” I don’t tell her how many times I told myself she was dead. Or how scared I was getting here.
    “She’s fine.” Zeke isn’t happy.
    “Who’s he?” I tip my head toward the Neanderthal.
    “Zeke’s good people.” She turns to Zeke. “Just like Nick is, Zeke. Now put down the gun and let’s get inside.”
    “With him? I don’t think so. And for sure that dog isn’t coming inside.”
    Lara stares him down. “It’s still my place, Zeke. You will always be welcome in it, but so is Nick.” She looks doubtfully at Tank. “And his dog too.”
    I’ve never seen that look on her face before. She looks like nobody better mess with her, like she could