Page 95 of Cruel Love

“Yeah,” I answer.

Lilah slowly walks over and turns the knob. She pushes the door open an inch, still expecting an alarm but it’s completely silent.

She cracks a smile and throws me the vest. “A-plus, Boxcar,” she says.

“Thank you.”

Archer lingers back with me as she tiptoes inside.

I slide the vest on and nudge his arm. “You should go with her,” I say. “Back her up.”

He glances around nervously. “What about you?” he asks.

“If I sever the connection now, it’ll probably set off every alarm in the system. The element of surprise is all we’ve got, and we can’t lose it.”

“You sure about this?”

“No,” I answer truthfully. “But if you have to tell this story one day, make me sound cool, all right?”

He pats my shoulder. “All right, mate.”

I stand still, taking a deep breath to calm my nerves, as he rushes inside to catch up with Lilah.

My heart pounds in my ears. My stomach twists in knots.

This is a bad idea.

Caleb would blow her lid if she knew I was doing this. She’s been my bodyguard since day one but she’s not here. I have to focus on what I can control.

“Okay, Bart,” I say to myself. “This is what you’re good at.”

I stick the other receiver in my ear. I cycle through the security cameras, tapping the arrow keys quickly until I find Lilah and Archer slinking down the hallway. I hit the arrows faster until I find the sitting room camera ahead of them.

Two men relax on the couch, watching television with their backs to the hallway.

“Two in the next room,” I say.

“I see ‘em,” Lilah whispers.

I cycle through the feeds to check for more of them and find one sitting at the kitchen counter with a sandwich. “Next closest is in the kitchen. He’s alone for now—”

The screen returns to the sitting area as Lilah plunges her knife into one of their chests. The other man doesn’t budge. He’s already bleeding to death from his neck.

Yeesh.

I skip back to the kitchen’s camera again. The man there reaches for the gun in his belt and cranes his neck out into the hall.

“Uhh…” I twitch. “Kitchen guy—”

He falls to his knees and spins away, revealing Lilah’s knife sticking out of his forehead.

“Never mind.”

“Where’s Myra now?” Lilah asks me.

I jump back to the second floor cameras again to find Myra, skipping past the stairwell and the bedrooms to get to the master bedroom.

She’s gone.

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