With his body already approaching five times the strength of an ordinary adult male, Hunter carried Perkins down the stairs at a pace that never really slowed.
Before long, they were down to the fourth floor.
Hunter still had no idea that the woman in his arms was beginning to feel something very different toward him.
He had just reached the fourth floor when sirens erupted from below, followed by the chaotic clatter of boots and shouted orders.
"Bad news. The cops are here."
Perkins heard them too, and her heart jumped into her throat.
She was already badly wounded from the earlier fight. If she ran into police now, she knew she would have almost no combat ability left.
Hunter understood it too. The stairs below were no longer a viable exit.
He glanced around, then quickly descended to the third floor and moved into the hallway.
As he recalled the building layout he had studied earlier, he headed deeper into the corridor and soon stopped in front of an apartment.
"What are you doing?" Perkins asked.
"Quiet."
Hunter cut her off softly. While she could not see it, one hand moved subtly and pulled a lockpick wire from his private storage.
"Bear with it. This may sting a little."
Still holding Perkins close, he lifted her slightly and worked the wire into the keyhole with practiced speed.
A moment later, there was a soft click.
Hunter twisted the knob and slipped inside with her.
"You know how to do that?" Perkins asked in surprise.
Hunter only smiled and said nothing.
From beneath the hood that covered his face, she could not see his expression anyway.
Once the door closed, Hunter faintly heard hurried footsteps in the stairwell.
The police were already moving upward to seal the building off.
Here on the third floor, the sirens below were crystal clear.
Hunter carried Perkins into the apartment.
The moment they stepped inside, they heard a startled shout.
A man came out gripping a pistol with both hands, panic on his face.
"Who the hell are you? Get out. My home is not open to you."
Perkins, still draped against Hunter's shoulder, fired without hesitation.
A dull crack rang out.
The man took a round through the forehead and dropped instantly.
"Would it have killed you to keep pretending to be asleep?" Perkins said coldly.
Hunter glanced at the unlucky bastard and said nothing.
He did not hear anyone else in the apartment. There was probably only one occupant.
He set Perkins down on the sofa.
"How do we get out of here?" she asked.
Hunter ignored the question and went straight to the window, checking it carefully.
He then searched the other rooms as well.
Only after that did he pull a rapid descent rope from his private storage, out of Perkins's sight.
He fixed the rope in place inside the apartment, then secured himself to it first.
After that, he walked back to Perkins.
"This may hurt a little. Hold still."
He tied her onto himself and pulled her up against his chest.
"In a moment, curl in tight and do not move. I will control the descent."
"You can climb too?" Perkins asked, genuinely stunned.
Hunter did not bother answering the curious question. He tightened his hold on the now slightly recovered assassin and moved her over to the window.
"Ready. Work with me."
It took some effort, but Hunter managed to get both of them out onto the exterior wall.
Suspended more than ten meters above the ground, he controlled the rope with practiced precision, swinging them outward and then back against the wall like a pendulum.
After five or six controlled swings, they finally dropped to the ground.
"Move."
Hunter quickly unfastened the rope, then yanked off the hood over his head.
At an angle where Perkins could not see, he stored it away in his private space so the police would not get their hands on any stray hair or trace evidence.
He scooped her up again in a princess carry and ran.
Before the police fully realized they needed to lock down the Charles Building and the surrounding area, Hunter had already disappeared into the city with Perkins in his arms.
They reached a side alley. He set her down.
"Wait here."
Hunter did not explain. He disappeared deeper into the alley and returned a moment later with a motorcycle.
He rolled it out, started it, and looked back at her.
"Get on."
By now, Perkins had recovered a little more. She was a professional killer, after all. Her body and pain tolerance were far beyond normal.
She struggled onto the bike and wrapped her arms tightly around Hunter's back.
"We are leaving."
Hunter revved the engine and tore out of the district, leaving the police and the building behind.
They rode hard for more than ten miles before he finally pulled up at an apartment building in another part of Vegas.
"Get off."
Hunter cut the engine and looked at the steadier Perkins.
"Come with me."
The building was an old six-story place with no elevator and no surveillance cameras.
He stopped at an apartment on the third floor and pulled out a key.
He had rented this place on short notice that afternoon.
It had originally been intended as a safe house for the separate contract Diana had given him in a few days.
He had not expected to need it tonight, but Perkins was injured, so he used it early.
"A safe house?" Perkins muttered as she stepped inside.
Hunter flipped on the lights and brought her into the plain, unremarkable apartment.
Instead of disappointing her, the place only made her realize how careful he really was.
He had even prepared for the things she had never thought about.
That night, Perkins truly saw Hunter in a new light.
She had once thought of him as nothing more than a handsome, lust-driven bastard.
Now her opinion of him had changed dramatically.
Hunter guided her to the sofa and pretended to step into another room.
In truth, once she could not see him, he pulled a field medical kit from his private storage.
He came back out with it and looked at her.
"Take off your clothes. Leave only your underwear."
"Too many wounds. Gunshots, shrapnel, cuts from the grenades."
"I will clean you up first. If necessary, I will send you to the Continental after."
Perkins knew he was doing this for her own good.
She nodded and stripped without hesitation, then settled back on the sofa and waited for him to treat her injuries.
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