Page 108 of Who's Afraid of the Big, Bad World

“I’ve got an vehicle parked outside the building next door,” Abasi said. “Looks like the wheels Eddie was sitting on the other day.”

Noah’s stomach clenched. So hewasin the building.

As if to confirm it, a loud, angry roar echoed from the floor above.

“He’s in the loft,” Noah said, sprinting for the stairs.

“Going up the fire escape,” Violet said.

“We’re coming round to join you,” Rodrigo said.

Noah ran for the loft, taking the stairs two at a time.

Annabelle had taken one tiny step toward the crack. Her hands shook desperately now, and she felt strangely lightheaded. But she couldn’t pass out. If she did, Eddie Hanson would drag her back into his clutches.

Another tiny, shuffling step. The crack was marginally closer. She felt the sun on her skin, ever so slightly soothed by a barely-there breeze. She was outside now. Still clutching the doorframe but standing on the roof.

Two more steps, tiny steps, and she’d be able to slam the door behind her. Shutting Eddie inside the building, buying her time until Noah came for her.

She took another agonizing step.

Eyes on the crack. Only on the crack. Nothing else existed right now but that small crack.

“I don’t have time for this crap,” Eddie said before footsteps ran up the stairs.

She took another step, reached back, and yanked the door shut behind her. The lock clicked into place. And she had the key. As her gaze remained fixed on that crack, it felt like the entire building shook with Eddie’s rage-filled roar. There was a dull thump behind her, but the door held fast. He couldn’t shoot it out. The bullets would just ricochet into the stairwell. If he wanted her, he’d have to find another way to get to her—more difficult now that they’d pulled the fire escape ladder onto the roof to stop the Demons from using it.

Shivering wildly in the summer heat, Annabelle stood still, staring at the crack in the roof. She hadn’t quite made it far enough to stand on it, but she’d made it outside.

Her grand plan of shouting for help wasn’t going to happen, though. She was rooted to the spot, her throat so tight that shouting for any reason at all would have been impossible. Slowly, careful never to take her eyes off the crack that had become her entire world, she lowered herself to the roof. Shade from the stairwell meant she was in one of the few spots that weren’t blisteringly hot. So she sat, knees to her chest, eyes on the crack, and waited for Noah.

“We take him alive if possible,” Rochelle ordered the team as they made their way to the loft.

With Noah taking the lead, they spread out around the apartment, signaling one another when each area was cleared. Noah opened the door to the panic room and stepped inside.

Someone had shot out the override panel, and the door to the guest room was wide open.

There was no sign of Annabelle.

A loud thud sounded from above, making Noah jog for the stairwell.

Eddie Hanson stood at the top of the stairs, kicking the door to the roof. The man had completely lost control, unaware of his surroundings, intent only on venting his fury on the door in front of him.

Which meant…

Was Annabelle on the roof?

Violet wouldn’t be able to get up that far. The fire escape went only as high as the loft, as they’d pulled the ladder onto the roof for security reasons. What if she was injured or panicking?

“Logan,” he said through the comms, “is Evan okay?”

“He’s holding in there. Looks like the bullet’s gone straight through. There’s a paramedic two minutes out.”

Noah let out a breath. “Can you leave him with Harris and climb up to the roof? I think Annabelle’s out there alone.”

“On it,” he said, and Noah relaxed slightly.

As he watched, Eddie unhooked his gun from the back of his jeans and aimed at the door.