They raced down the metal stairs to the end, leaping the last four feet to the alley floor. Micky heard shouts from above them, kept a tight hold on Alex, and they ran hell-bent-for-leather to the end of the alley.
"That way," Alex gasped out, pointing right.
Micky followed his directions as they sprinted to the corner, then across an empty street and down to another alley. Micky could hear shouts behind them and prayed that the men wouldn't see them as they veered into the alley.
Part way down, Alex said, "There."
Micky saw what he meant a second later and hoisted the boy onto a closed Dumpster, pulling himself up as Alex scrambled up a fire escape. Following, Micky found himself on the roof of a building. For a second he couldn't see Alex. He heard a hissed out, "Over here," and hurried toward what turned out to be the housing for a swamp cooler. Alex had pulled off one of the panels enough to squeeze inside. For once, Micky was glad he was thin since there was barely enough room for him to get in next to Alex. He pulled the panel back into place with a sigh of relief.
"Now we wait," Alex whispered, pressing against Micky.
The boy was shaking. At first Micky thought it was because he was afraid. Then he realized he had to be cold, since all he had on were his briefs. He eased his arm around Alex's shoulders, trying to warm him as much as he could.
And they waited. It seemed like hours, although when he checked the time on his phone, Micky saw only about an hour and a half had passed since he'd gotten to the house. Shielding the phone so the light wouldn't show through the grilled panel, he tried to call Robin. It went to voicemail. He tried again ten minutes later with the same result.
"Where the hell are you?" he muttered after a third, unsuccessful, attempt.
"How are we going to get away from here to somewhere safe?" Alex asked fearfully.
"I'm working on it," Micky said a bit more sharply that he ought, he supposed. But he was worried. Robin should have seen his number come up on his phone and called back.
Forty-five minutes passed. Alex was shivering so hard that Micky was afraid he'd catch pneumonia. Finally, in desperation, he called the emergency number Robin had given him in the event things went bad.
"Yo," a sleepy voice answered.
"'This is your captain speaking' would be better than 'Yo'," Micky said in reply, just as Robin had instructed.
"Who is this?" Eldon growled.
"Micky Payne. I've been trying to get hold of Robin, and he's not answering. I have a boy with me you might want to meet, but we have no way to get to you or to Robin's place, even if we knew how to."
"How bad is the situation?" Eldon asked.
"With us? We're on the top of a roof a block or so from where I met the boy." Micky gave Eldon the address of the house belonging to Yours Truly. "I don't know why Robin isn't answering but it can't be good. He was at Mackenzie's club the last time I talked to him."
"Fuck and double fuck. Okay. I'm going to send his oldest brother to pick you up. He's closer than I am. His name is Hawk."
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