me again, Leland. I have so much to offer you.”
“Fuck off,” I say as I get up. Then I smack the back of his head because it fills me with so much joy even if the guard glares at me as he comes to intervene.
“Sorry, there was a fly on him,” I say, hurrying out the door before I’m tossed back in jail.
It’s about an hour’s drive back to the city, but before I make it, I need to know where I’m even going. I hate being this far away from Jackson, but I have no choice. I have to end this and make sure that when he wakes up, he’s safe.
A call with Cassel gets me an address that belongs to Sean Burrows. It’s about forty minutes from me, so I check in with Ava to make sure Jackson is still doing all right before I head there. She tells me there’s been no change but one person at a time is now allowed to see him.
A part of me feels guilty that it’s not me sitting with him, but another part knows I need to keep him safe. I need to end this, and I will. Then I’ll be beside him as he recovers.
Please, please let him wake up.
I push that to the back of my mind. I hate Lucas, but he knew how to mold me so I could focus on what’s happening in front of me and block out everything else. And I have to in order to not let my emotions control me. I’ll make a mistake if I do. Especially with me already cutting so many corners. Generally, I watch a person for a few days, get down their routine and strike when they’re most vulnerable.
Instead, here I am, one hour after tracking down his apartment, inside the apartment below his. From outside, it’s clear that the balconies make a weak point to this location. Either the man thinks he’s invincible and doesn’t care or he thinks he’s hidden enough that no one will track him to his home, but he doesn’t know how skilled Cassel is.
Once I pass through the downstairs neighbor’s apartment, where a cat stares at me like I’m very peculiar, and make it to the balcony, I know I need to calm my body.
Mistakes end in death. I cannot afford a mistake. I’ve already been too reckless—I can’t be reckless about this as well.
I take a deep breath, check my guns for more of a sense of familiarity than anything, and climb onto the railing. My mask is on to keep me hidden and my mind is set.
I’m on the third floor so falling from the balcony I’m attempting to climb could kill me, but it’d hopefully only end in some broken bones. Nothing to fret about, right?
Sure.
I leap up and just barely catch onto the base of the balcony above me. I drag myself up and grab onto one of the rails and begin to pull myself up. I’m not in as good of shape as I’d been before I met Jackson, but I still have enough upper arm strength to pull myself up. The issue is that the fucking railings are slick and my hand slides. I have nowhere for my legs to find purchase, so I have to continually rely on the railing to keep pulling myself up. I’m relieved when I finally catch the top of the railing and drag myself up enough I can get my foot to help aid me. Then I swing my leg over and pray that Burrows never decided to glance outside while I was trying out some acrobatics.
I slide up along the wall and listen. There’s music playing inside which drowns out any listening I was planning on doing. If he’s not here, I plan to wait for him to arrive, which would probably be the safer alternative, seeing as it’d give me time to scout the layout and find a good spot to wait where he wouldn’t see me upon entering.
I move enough to get a decent eye on a corner of the room in case he passes through, but he seems to currently be stationary if he is home.
I pull my gun out, switch the safety off and then slowly grab the handle of the sliding glass door. Carefully, I slide it open and listen, in case he comes to investigate. I don’t think the noise is loud enough to be heard over the music, though.
When the door