Guns: The Spencer Book
Page 73

Amber sighs with relief. “Untie me. We need to get the hell out of here before he comes back.”
Rook sets baby Kate down on the bare floor and goes to work on her bonds. When she’s done untying her, they both stand and Rook takes the baby again. “We need to get outside,” Rook says. “We can make a run for Shrike Bikes.”
They both run to the stairs and pull open the door, listening for footfalls or voices. They must not hear anything, because they both disappear inside.
I follow them. I get up, tiptoeing as silently as I can in my Chucks, and get my gun out. I check the chamber to make sure I’m ready, and then I pull the door open and follow them down the stairs. They go slowly, Rook desperate to keep Kate from crying, her pleas and Kate’s complaints dead giveaways to anyone who comes in here looking for us. I’m still two flights above them when I hear a small squeak from the door directly below me.
I freeze.
The door closes quietly. Kate is loud now, and Rook cannot contain her crying, so the man below me takes advantage and leaps down the stairs, once, then again. Rook is screaming, Amber is screaming, Kate is screaming… and I’m already standing in front of Tony Fenici, pointing my gun at him before I even have a moment to think about it.
I aim for his chest and fire. The bullet hits the wall and shatters the plaster.
He turns at me and I duck back. A bullet whizzes up the stairwell and hits the ceiling. Heavy footsteps thunder down the stairs and Kate’s cries diminish as Rook and Amber exit through the door to the garage. Tony follows them, jumping over the railing to save himself some time, and I’m right on his tail.
Fuck Bobby Mansi, I’m on Team Rook right now.
Tony slams the door open and exits and three seconds later I follow, my gun ready.
Tony grabs Rook and she loses her grip on the baby. I watch in horror as he takes possession of the hysterical child just as a car pulls into the garage. A door swings open and Ashleigh is out and running towards us.
“No!” I scream.
Tony whirls around, and Rook grabs Kate, just as Bobby takes a shot at me. I duck back inside the stairwell as the cinderblock crumbles off to the side of my head.
What the f**k was that? Am I on his team or not? And how did he miss me? He shoots that gun like he was born holding it.
“Ashleigh!” Bobby yells. “Stop right now!”
But Ashleigh doesn’t stop. She’s running full-on towards a fleeing Rook who has her child.
Until Tony turns to face her. And then her feet stop. Her face contorts in confusion. Her mouth opens. Her eyes widen. Her hands come up to her mouth as she tries to process what she’s seeing.
And then she drops to her knees and her world comes apart.
Chapter Thirty-Four
SPENCER
We get over to the Mason Street condo just as a black car pulls into the garage. When they move through the gates, Ronin, Ford and I jump out and leave Carson in the truck. We book it to the gate before it closes and enter the garage just as Ashleigh falls to the ground. At first it looks like she’s hurt, and I look around wildly, trying to figure out where the threat is.
“Ronin,” Ford says in a low voice. “Kate’s on the far side of the garage with Rook. Get them. I need to speak to Ashleigh.”
“Tony, Tony, Tony…” Ashleigh’s small voice keeps repeating.
And this is when I figure it out. Ford knew. Ford knew Tony was alive and he never told Ashleigh.
Ronin takes off just as Ford enters the garage. I follow him in and even though I’m pissed he kept this secret from us, it hurts my heart to hear Ashleigh say the name of her dead lover in front of him.
Ford’s shoulders slump as he takes in the scene. And I can only imagine this is his worst nightmare. Like Ronin watching Rook take the stand and admit her part in that human trafficking ring.
Or me, after all the sacrifices I’ve made to keep Ronnie safe… to find her hurt because of my past.
Watching Ashleigh come to terms with this new reality is Ford’s version of hell. He just stands there, waiting to see how it will play out.
There’s movement on the far side of the garage—not Rook and Kate, they’ve disappeared inside the stairwell. Someone else. Another woman.
“Ashleigh,” the blonde calls out. “Stay away. Please, Ashleigh! Stay away from him!”
“Ashleigh,” Tony says in a tone one uses for children who are acting irrationally. “Come here, baby. It’s me, Ashleigh. It’s me. I’m here.” And then he opens his arms. “Please,” he begs. “We have to go.”
I walk the wall. No one is paying any attention to me. All eyes are on the girl who holds all the cards. “You’re dead,” Ash manages. Her breathing is suddenly erratic, like she’s overwhelmed with what’s happening. She clambers to her feet, swaying back and forth a little, and Ford takes a few steps forward. “You’re dead!” she repeats, louder and a little more forcefully this time. Like she needs to talk herself into it.
“No, Li Li,” the very much alive Tony replies. “No, baby. I’m not dead. It was fake. It was fake. I had to make it look real, I had to make everyone believe. It was the only way to get out of my contract.”
“What?” Her hands go to her head and she grabs fistfuls of hair, like this makes no sense to her.
Tony moves forward. But Ashleigh retreats several steps, stumbling until she backs herself against a cement pillar.
“You’re dead!” she says again, only this time she’s on the verge of hysterics. “I’m seeing things. Ford!” she yells.