Phoenix Fire (Book 2 in the Winter's Series)

Chapter Seventeen: Interrogation

Just as we are about to cross over into the shaft, an elevator lowers right in front of us and we back step into the shadows along the wall. The doors open and a man I've never seen before steps through. He has brown eyes and thin lips. He has a light brown stubble along his jawline and his hair is neatly combed back. He walks quickly forward with purpose and we take advantage of the elevator. He speaks to someone down the hall with a thick Russian accent. I only catch his first name Helmut. Bucky presses the button for the third floor and the doors close as we ascend.

"Why the third floor?" I ask, lost in his plan.

"We'll take the stairs."

"Huh, are you... fine but you're carrying her, she's heavy." I say shifting my weight.

"You better get used to it, you're going to be carrying both of us to the old factory."

"I'll conserve my strength but you're still carrying her up the stairs. Nine stories in this building, and you stopped at the third floor." I say, casting him a glance out of the corner of my eye. He's looking at me with amusement flickering across his eyes.

"Okay." He motions for me to hand her over, which I gladly do.

"Here's your syringe back." I say holding it out, but he turns around so that his pack faces me. I unzip it and slip the syringe in before zipping it back up. The elevator opens and we exit unto the empty hallway. I look in both directions for the stairs and see a sign on my right that leads me to where I need to go. I motion for Bucky to follow me, which he does and we make our way down the hallway silently.

Opening the door will be rather loud on the quiet floor, so I slowly and steadily apply pressure to the push handle. As soon as the door opens we rush through. I carefully close the door back before turning to the stairs. I take the stairs two at a time climbing quickly. My legs start to burn by the fifth floor and I'm sweating by the sixth. There's a narrower staircase leading to the roof and I continue moving forward. Shoving through the locked access door, we make it to the roof. The chilling midnight breeze blows my hood back from where it lay on my head. I turn around to see Bucky is exiting through the access door with the agent over his shoulder.

Once he is on the roof he sets her down and opens his bag. He pulls out two harnesses and six feet of rope before putting one of the harnesses on himself and then the lady. He attaches the rope securely to both harnesses before zipping up his bag and putting it back on. He picks up the agent and starts walking toward me.

"You'll carry her and I"ll hang down so you aren't holding both of us."

"Wow that's thoughtful."

"It's practical." He says, shooting me a 'duh' look. I respond with a roll of my eye before lifting her from his arms and pulling my wings out. I kick up from the ground and rise into the air. I have trouble lifting both Bucky and the perfume agent. I rise higher but I'm jerked back down a little as the rope becomes taunt. I strain to lift Bucky from the ground, my back aches from the effort my wings exert. Sweat trickles down my face as I fight for every inch of height I gain.

After several minutes I finally have Bucky in the air with me. I begin to head to the Hudson river when my muscles begin to quiver from carrying over three hundred pounds of agent and assassin. It takes two hours to reach the northern part of New York and an additional thirty minutes from Albany to reach the factory bordering the Hudson river. I desperately hope my muscles will carry us all the way.

"We're flying a bit low, can you get higher? I don't want to risk being seen." Bucky says through his earpiece.

"I'm trying my hardest." I say in between grunts of exertion in an attempt to climb higher in the night sky. I pull my wings up and the tips touch one another before I force them down with all my might. The cold wind bites at my skin as it clings to the trails of sweat covering my face. The loose strands of hair that have fallen from place in my ponytail, slap against my skin. Thunder claps over my head and raindrops fall like freezing bullets onto the three of us.