They stopped by a dark corner after a while, and Vincent leaned back against the wall, pulling out his phone from his pocket. Charlotte glanced at him quizzically as she swallowed thickly. She had never run that much in her life. Was he going to call for backup already?
The bright light from his phone illuminated his face with the sun having already gone down, the streetlights flicked on and the sky was awash of colors from flaring beams. He scrolled through his phone frantically, looking through his phone for a contact.
Charlotte squatted down trying to catch her breath, and she gave him a remorseful smile. "I'm sorry. You were supposed to be on the stealth mission alone, but here I am messing it all up for you."
Vincent sighed as he took her sincere words. "It's fine. You're already here."
Charlotte buried her head in her arms in defeat. "Yeah."
He tipped her chin up in a playful manner. "Don't be blaming yourself. I just have to work harder to make sure that you and I come out of this alive. It was a dicey situation either way since I was also impatient on my part to launch the mission."
Charlotte nodded. "Then let's finish this strong together."
Vincent smiled before turning his attention to the caller. "Hello? This is Vincent Covington. Can you set up the penthouse room in fifteen minutes?"
He ended the call without a response, and Charlotte looked at him in shock. "Where are we going?"
Vincent pulled her into his arms in a princess carry. "To my hotel."
Charlotte placed a hand on his chest and tapped on it. "You can put me down."
"Not if we're going to be traveling the rooftops."
"Wait," Charlotte paused. "We could have been doing that the whole time! Why were we running on the ground anyways?"
Vincent laughed, jumping up and scaling the building walls with Charlotte immediately grabbing onto his shirt, holding on for dear life.
"Give me a head's up, will you?" Charlotte yelled.
He smirked down at her, and Charlotte covered her mouth in shock when she looked down at the street as they got higher. She twisted back to bury her face into Vincent's neck, as it grew chilly. Charlotte was never going to get used to this.
The wind was strong in her ears with the speed Vincent had as he jumped from the top of each building to another. She thought it was a discrete way to travel, but it seemed much more noticeable than running on the alleyways below from her point of view.
In the sky that was lit up, she thought that they stuck out like a sore thumb, but Vincent assured her that no one noticed. And if they did, there was very little that they could do about it.
Charlotte dangled her feet down when Vincent approached a larger-than-life skyscraper that read the name of a hotel that Charlotte would only dream about staying at.
She did some research on Vincent a while back ago and remembered coming across information that he was a business owner that was highly respected. He must be wealthy since the hotel name was a chain brand that extended to other various aspects.
They weren't at the center of the city that glowed bright, still mid-way from where she used to live, but the hotel building that shot straight up into the sky was so luxurious, it begged to differ. It was one of the towering buildings in the middle ring of the city.
Vincent slid down the side of a large department store nearby, stopping when they finally met solid ground behind the building where there were only uneventful garbage bins and other crates of miscellaneous items. Charlotte patted Vincent's chest in thanks when he set her down and let her go when she could stand up on her own after a couple of minutes.
Charlotte straightened her clothing while she took off her weapons and handed them to Vincent. He stuffed them in his Kevlar vest before taking her arm and walking out onto the street with lots of people.
She had to force her legs to keep moving and pasted a smile on her face since she didn't want anyone around to notice anything amiss with all the workers heading home from work after a long day with their suits and constant chatter on their phones.
Vincent entered through golden revolving doors first before Charlotte hurried alongside other people who were also staying the night. She grabbed Vincent's hand before she could lose him, and they walked over to the lobby.
Standing next to Vincent made Charlotte realize that many eyes were on them, and she turned her face to the side to try and shield her image. She squeezed his hand tightly. It might also be the air of authority that he was demanding with each stride.