Chayton Read Online Free PDF

from the confrontation.
    Chayton had no time to go after her. He ducked a punch, landed another, and pile-drove a man into the ground.
    “She took off!” Leander stood up, one of the attackers unconscious at his feet.
    “Let's go.” Chayton left the downed attackers behind. They would all come to shortly, giving him, Leander and Penelope enough time to disappear.
    Exiting the shadowy alley, Chayton emerged onto another street with Leander right behind him. He glanced both ways along the avenue. A car rolled by, which did not match the silver sedan description Leander had given before. The only person in sight was a pedestrian walking briskly on the other sidewalk, away from the alley. The addition of a dark coat threw Chayton momentarily and he paused his pursuit. He didn't think Penelope had time to get her hands on a new garment that fast. In the next few seconds, Chayton discerned the person in the coat was a man, not a woman. The bear-like stalk, hunched shoulders, and overall masculine demeanor convinced him it wasn't the maid-in-disguise.
    “She could have ducked in anywhere,” Leander said, scanning the sidewalk.
    “Yes. Any number of businesses or residential buildings.” Breathing hard, Chayton paced in front of a few smoked glass windows, attention keen on his surroundings. Nothing seemed out of place or suspicious.
    Penelope, it appeared, made good her escape after all.
     
    . . .
     
    Across the street, Kate craned her neck to peer out a tall, tinted window. Standing in the unmanned lobby of a posh residential building, she took refuge while she caught her breath and watched Chayton search the street and sidewalks in vain. The instinct to run during the altercation had been too great to ignore, and while she appreciated Chayton's assistance setting her free, she couldn't bring herself to seek him out for more help. There were too many questions about how he'd known where to find her. He'd been fast asleep when she departed his room and his sudden appearance in the alley was startling to say the least.
    Chayton and his companion searched the street for a handful of minutes. Kate didn't know what she would do if they came over this way and tried the door to the lobby. There was no where left for her to go. She had no key to the bank of elevators at her flank, and didn't see any other escape route leading out besides the front doors.
    Finally, the men disappeared. Not trusting she had the all clear, Kate remained in the shelter of the lobby. Surprised by the whoosh of elevator doors, she glanced over her shoulder. The well dressed business man who exited looked her over with a wary eye, but said nothing. He stepped out into the darkness and strode away along the sidewalk.
    She couldn't hide here forever. Soon, one of the residents would call security—or the police. She needed another half hour of shelter, and then she could sneak away into the night.
    Time ticked by with agonizing slowness. As she waited, Kate wondered if Chayton and his companion had killed the men in the alley. Her memory provided snippets of the confrontation: fists, a swinging pipe, grunts of pain, bodies falling to the ground. Did that make them as bad as Anton's henchmen? It had been in her defense, but that didn't make murder any more palatable. Chayton had already been into some kind of trouble earlier in the evening, indicating he was involved in violent things. Something about a trafficking ring.
    Kate hated violence. Better, then, that she'd parted ways with Chayton despite her intuition telling her that things weren't what they seemed. That Chayton wasn't a bad man, just one who got into scrapes more often than others.
    From the deep shadows of the alley, two of the three men lurched into view. One held his stomach with an arm, the other looked slightly dazed. They glanced along the street, then staggered northward. The third man emerged a few minutes later, looking rough and ragged. He headed the same direction as the others.
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