James ignored the warm feeling of blood on his knee. “We’ve got to go!”
“I know.” Rocky grabbed James by the forearm and pulled him through the crowd. “There’s more of them!”
James’s heart dropped. “Stick together!”
They elbowed their way through the crowd, ignoring the shouts of protest. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, they escaped the marketplace and stepped into the street beyond.
A group of three SIA agents stood across the street. One pointed at them, and they all started to cross, weaving around honking cars.
“This way!” Rocky said, pulling James to the right. They ran into an alley, but it ended in a wall too high to climb.
James looked around, desperate, and spotted a ladder on the side of the building. “Up here!”
The cool metal rang under James’s feet as they climbed. The ladder led all the way to the roof, four stories up. They swung over onto the flat, black rooftop.
“What now?” James said as they knelt, panting.
“Maybe we lost them.” Rocky peered over the ledge to the street below and stepped back immediately. “Nope!”
James glanced over and saw that the agents had regrouped, so there were four of them now, all staring up. The first started to climb the ladder.
“We’re trapped!” James said. The roof was a flat expanse of tar. There was no doorway, no hatch leading into the building. The only way off the roof was the ladder, and it was currently occupied by the men chasing them. They were cornered.
“We’ve got to jump,” Rocky said, standing on the opposite edge of the roof.
“Like hell we do!” James shouted, his voice higher than normal. His heart pounded as he scanned the roof, desperate for another way out. He only liked jumping off buildings when he knew Derek would be there to catch him.
Rocky pointed to the building next to theirs. The roof was slightly lower, though the gap seemed much too far to jump across. It was also sloped up to a peak, with only a small, flat ledge to land on. If they missed, it was a four-story fall to the streets below.
“We’ve got no other choice, man,” Rocky said, his voice oddly calm. He grabbed James’s arm. “We can do this.”
James swallowed, then nodded. They backed up, side by side, away from the edge. James glanced back and saw the ladder vibrating under the weight of the men. They’d be here any second.
“Ready?” Rocky said.
“No. You go first. If you don’t make it, I know I can’t.”
“Then let’s hope I make it.”
Rocky set off at a sprint. He reached the edge of the building and leaped. He arced up, his arms rotating a single time, back arched, like a long-jumper. Then he disappeared. James had no idea if he’d made it or just fallen to his death. He glanced back at the ladder and saw the first man’s head appear over the lip of the roof. He had no choice.
He ran, his feet pounding hard on the rubber of the roof. He reached the edge and kicked off as hard as he could. His arms and legs flailed gracelessly in the air, and he glimpsed the alley four stories below. It might as well have been four hundred stories.
His feet touched down on the very edge of the roof and he rolled to safety, his shoulder slamming into the shingled tile.
He jumped to his feet, not bothering to look back. If he could make the jump, then surely the SIA agents could, too. He bear-crawled up the sloped roof, scrabbling against the slick tile and reaching for the top. Rocky had already disappeared onto the other side.
A shingle next to James’s hand exploded with a crack, sending clay shards flying in every direction. James threw himself to the side with a yelp just as another gunshot rang out and destroyed a shingle near his foot. He threw himself upward, just grabbing the peak of the roof with the tip of his fingers. With another yell, he heaved himself over the edge and into safety.
Rocky crouched nearby, his eyes wide. “Are they crazy! They need us alive!”
“Not in one piece!” James yelled. He ran to the bottom edge of the roof, searching for a way down. But there was no ladder, no staircase, nothing. The closest building was across another alley and several stories up. There was no way they could reach it.
“What do we do?” James said. Once again, they were trapped. He thought he heard boots scraping on the other side of the roof.
Rocky pointed straight down into the alleyway. Right below them, piled in the corner, was a huge mound of garbage bags.
James let out a wild bark of laughter. Would that even work? They were now only three stories up, but that was far enough for serious injury—or even death if they landed wrong. He’d seen jumps like this in video games, but usually, that was into water or a bale of hay. Plus, those were video games. This was real.
But there was no time to think. He glanced back and saw a hand grab the peak of the roof, ready to pull up its owner. He met Rocky’s eyes, his complete disbelief of the situation turning his fear into hysteria. He laughed again. Rocky grinned and nodded.
Together, they jumped off the roof.
Before he plowed into the bags, James had enough time to think, What if they’re filled with bricks?
The bags erupted around them like balloons. James sank several inches, then connected with something hard on his tailbone. Pain shot up his back, but it faded quickly. Bruised, not broken. Otherwise, he was okay. Rocky patted the garbage with wide, disbelieving eyes. It had worked.
Shouts rang out from above them.
No time. They leaped out of the garbage. James felt a sticky wetness on his leg and told himself he could be disgusted later. Right now, he had to survive.
They jogged out of the alleyway, into another crowded street. James heard shouts from the roof behind them, but
