Read Online Jaq’s Harp by Ella Drake - Free Book Online

guard.
    They raced through the sliding doors and into the Ochre apartments. The light dimmed as they left the sun behind, and he could see clearly again.
    Vera stood, disheveled, wide-eyed and open-mouthed in the doorway. Jaq pushed her hard to the side as she sprinted out of the Ochre suite.
    A step behind her, he heard when Vera recovered from her shock. She screamed, “Stop. Singer!” But she didn’t follow.
    Plaster rained down on him as the boom of a gun nearly deafened him.
    The guards had remembered they had guns, and they weren’t good shots.
    That could be good or very, very bad.
    He tore down the steps after Jaq. Heart pounding, he ignored the signals from his body to collapse. His lungs heaved, every motion still grinding as if his ribs were exposed and rubbing together. But, crazy as it was, he couldn’t help the spurt of adrenaline when he got a good look at Jaq, hair wild, cheeks flushed, a grin thrown to him over her shoulder as she leaped several stairs at once.
    “You came for me.” He panted every word.
    “You’d have, too.”
    He would’ve. He’d have come for her, no matter if the sky was falling around him. “This way.”
    Careening across the great room on the bottom level, he pulled Jaq behind him, through the back passage to the garage, and slammed the door behind him. It would only slow the guards for a minute or so since they’d have to search the other rooms along the hallway, but he’d have Jaq out of here in seconds.
    “Where are we going?” Jaq kept pace, huffing as she held tighter to his hand.
    The largest space on the island, the three-story garage echoed with their steps as the few drivers and workers unloading deliveries all stopped to stare. Harp led Jaq past a row of hovercraft along the back wall to the one he’d already hacked, a sleek little blue number with white pinstripes. It sat toward the back of the garage, several rows of deliveries, security desks, and a maintenance bay between it and freedom. He jabbed his programmed code into the entrypad and the doors slid up. “Get in.”
    She let go of his fingers to round the hovercraft, and he fisted his hand to keep from grabbing her close again. When they got out of here, he’d never let go. He slid into the driver’s seat. The doors closed, swishing before silence rang in his ears.
    “Hurry. They’re closing the doors.” Jaq slapped on a safety belt and gripped the sides of the plush seat.
    “Hold on.” He pushed the start button, grabbed the direction stick and floored the accelerator.
    The wide open cargo bay stayed open during daylight hours. Deliveries had to have previous permission, manifests and docking permits before landing. Only trusted drivers were allowed to enter the secure zone. Getting out was easier. He swerved past the screening desk where incoming parcels and visitors were checked. The lone guard there stood, weapon firing, yelling and gesturing to the door operator.
    Harp jammed a button he’d hidden under the dash. The signal scrambled the garage door controls, jamming them open for him to escape.
    The back of the craft pinged with fire. Glass splintered behind him. The back window cracked. Ochre’s guards had caught up to them. He reached over and pushed Jaq’s head to her knees. “Get down.”
    The craft slid on the sleek floor as it rounded the maintenance bay and barreled toward the door, now half closed. It kept closing. His scramble to jam the door hadn’t worked.
    “Damn.” He jabbed at the button, but the doors kept going.
    “What’s wrong?” Jaq stayed down. She knew to stay out of the way so he could concentrate on getting them out of there.
    “They must have updated their codes since I hacked them. The door’s closing.”
    She paled, but didn’t move. “You’ll get us out of here.”
    “Sure I will.” His hands slicked on the direction controls. “Come on.”
    The door moved in slow motion as his vision tunneled to the quickly disappearing daylight beyond. The car