Secrets Collide (Bluegrass Brothers)

aside books and looking in drawers. She felt her blood rushing through her body, suddenly knowing she had to find that box.
    She stopped in the middle of the apartment and looked around desperately. It was here, but where? Gemma wandered around again with her head held back, looking at the ceiling and into every nook and cranny. She screamed for joy when she found what she was looking for in the hallway coat closet.
    An unseen force urged her to hurry as Gemma grabbed coats and threw them to the ground. She scrambled into the back of the tight closet and ran her hand along the wall. Hidden in the far back corner behind the coats was a small panel painted the same color as the rest of the closet. She pried it open with her nails, not caring when they broke off in her quest.
    She tossed the panel to the ground, reached inside the dark space, and pulled out the faded box with Gia and Gemma written on each side of the purple flower. Under the box were three notebooks with a symbol on the bottom of them that she recognized.
    Carrying them quickly to the couch, Gemma set everything down on the coffee table and stared at the box. She reached a shaky hand toward the flimsy clasp but froze when she heard a key being inserted into the door. Fred began to growl and she scooped him up along with the box and notebooks, shoving them both into the bag. Police officers didn’t have a key to the apartment, but the person who killed her sister did and she wasn't going to be next.
    Her eyes were frantically searching for a way out when they landed on the window behind the desk. The doorknob turned and the door opened a couple of inches before the security chain engaged.
    “What the . . .” she heard a man’s voice curse.
    Gemma leaped onto the desk, turned the bolt, and threw open the window as the man put his shoulder to the door. She heard the chain pop as she clambered onto the fire escape. She didn’t wait to see who came through the door. In her mind she knew she should get a description for the police, but her fight-or-flight instincts took over and screamed at her to run.
    She heard the men yell and jump onto her sister’s desk as she gripped the rails and raced down the tiny metal stairs. Windows started opening as she beat her way downward. The men were gaining and when she glanced up, she saw they were able to take the stairs two at a time.
    Neighbors yelled and threatened to call the police. Gemma was concentrating so much on the steep stairs she couldn’t yell for help. In actuality, she was so scared she didn’t think she could form words to call for help. Her only hope was that the police were nearby.
    She rounded the third floor and looked frantically around for more stairs. She glanced behind her and saw the feet of two men above her. The stairs ended but she saw the sign to pull the lever for the emergency ladder. With a loud creak , the sound of metal grating against metal reverberated off the surrounding buildings and the ladder slid to the ground.
    Hiking her bag further up her shoulder, she turned around and looked into the eyes of the scariest man she’d ever seen. His head was shaved and the lights from the apartments gleamed off his dome. But it was his eyes that scared her the most. They were a menacing black that sent shivers down her spine. A small scar ran the length of his cheek, adding to his dangerous appearance.
    Gemma panicked as she felt her foot slip off the step below her.  She gripped the side of the ladder with her sweaty hands as she painfully plummeted to the pavement. Her feet hit with a resounding force, felt through her entire body, and caused her to let go of the ladder. She stumbled backward and straight into a solid wall of muscle.
     

CHAPTER THREE
     
    Cy Davies felt his feet pounding the stairs in the darkened stairwell. He controlled his breathing as the sound of gunfire bounced off the cement walls around him. Straight ahead, the locked door to the roof stood in his way. He just needed to get through it.
    His expensive Italian leather shoes slid across the floor as he skidded to a stop in front of the door. He looked behind him as a new round of gunfire erupted. Not wasting any more time, he brought his knee up, lashed out with his foot, and was rewarded with the sound of wood splintering as the door flew open.
    He chanced a quick glance behind even though it cost him precious seconds. The shadowed form of a man burst forth from the shadows. Cy grabbed the gun hidden beneath