Blakely stepped around him and put her hand on the doorknob. “I’ll step out.”
No way was he going to let her step outside first. Jump put his hand on her shoulder. “Wait. What if he is out there waiting for you to come out so he can put a bullet in you?”
“There is no way I’m allowing you to take a bullet for me.”
His laughter came out harsh. “I’ve been shot at so many times, I’m not sure bullets can hit me. Besides, he won’t put a bullet in me. He doesn’t know where you’re staying, and I don’t look anything like you.”
She rolled her eyes and looked like she was about to start arguing. But a loud noise made them both freeze. Then the lights popped off, tossing them into darkness.
“This is probably bad,” Jump said.
“Yeah, it’s bad.”
Blakely reached out and took his arm. He would be lying to say her touch didn’t feel good. It felt damn good. But they were in a shitty situation, and he needed to focus on getting them to safety.
“I’m opening the door and taking a look, and you’re going to keep your face hidden until I determine if Grayson is out there.”
“Fine.”
She didn’t sound happy about it, but she stayed back as he opened the door.
Blakely stepped back and let Jump take the lead. What else was she going to do? He was probably right. Grayson wouldn’t shoot him. Grayson was angry enough to want her dead. But if she was dead, he would never find the one thing she had that no one else could touch.
“Lots of smoke, but if we go to the right, we should be okay.”
“Are there stairs over there?” He turned to look at her and she shrugged.
“I’m new to the building. I’ve never gone that way.”
“I’m new, too, but I think there are stairs that way. Let’s go find out.”
She followed close behind Jump as more smoke started to blow in their face. Jump turned the corner, then froze. The smoke was much thicker, and she couldn’t see more than a few feet in front of her.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Someone lit a fire on the stairs. We can’t go that way.”
“You can see that?”
“The flames.” Jump turned and stepped around her.
He took her hand, and they made their way past his apartment. More smoke billowed toward them. When they got to the corner of the building, Jump froze again.
“This path is blocked. Let’s head back to my apartment. We’ll call emergency services and tell them we’re stuck.”
Fear and worry spun through her, followed by a load of guilt. If she got this man hurt, she would never forgive herself. “Shit. I’m so sorry to have gotten you involved.”
“It’s okay. If I hadn’t stepped in to help you, he probably would have done something stupid like kill you.”
Jump was right. The man would have done something stupid. But if she’d stayed at her place, maybe the apartment building with forty-eight units and more than forty-eight people wouldn’t be burning right now.
She hoped no one died. If someone died in this mess, she would be very pissed. Grayson couldn’t get away with this. If he kept this up, someone other than her would end up dead.
They were back in his apartment and Jump was on the phone, telling the operator they were stuck. It sucked that they had no exit strategy. This two-bedroom unit didn’t have a balcony at the back. There were only six units across the entire forty-eight apartments that had a balcony. This unit had a huge window at the back that looked out onto a parking lot and back entry to a set of stores.
“The fire department is on its way,” Jump said when he ended the call.
“So what do we do in the meantime?”