Page 14 of Finish Line

He puts a can of Dr. Pepper in front of me, and I guzzle it down.

Oh, that tastes good.

“Slow down,” he orders. “I don’t want you puking it all up.”

When I finish my bowl and another Dr. Pepper, he takes me out to the car. “Climb in.”

As I do, he walks around and gets into the driver’s seat.

He leans over the middle armrest and grabs my chin, yanking me so I look at him. “You will sit in this car and not do anything until I tell you otherwise.”

He takes off in the car and drives on back roads.

When Roger pulls over on what appears to be an access road, he asks, “Do you know where we are?”

I glance around. It looks familiar, but no landmarks or buildings give me a clue, and I shake my head.

He chuckles. “Oh, you will.”

He gets out of the car and opens my door.

We trudge through the woods not too far--thank God because even though he gave me food, I’m still weak as hell.

He stops and types something on his phone, then we wait for a reply.

“Do you recognize where we are now?” Roger chuckles.

From where we stand, a large house, no wait Mansion, sits on the other side of the tree line. Fenced basketball and tennis courts line one side.

No, please no, I want to say, but all that comes out of my lips is an emotionless voice saying, “Knights’ mansion.”

He’s having me break into Dom and Mav’s place.

To make sure my eyes are on him, he grabs my face. “I have people inside, so don’t try anything. The parents are out, but Dom and Mav are in their bedrooms. Everyone else should be asleep. You know what to do. Don’t go finding them, Monkey, or I’ll kill them.”

His phone beeps. “Good, my guy turned off the camera for now. Let’s go.”

He drags me to the back of the mansion. He gasps, covering his mouth. “Oh look, the window washer left a ladder he should be fired.”

He points to an open window on the second floor of the east side. “You’ll go in there.” He then points at the side door down below. “And you’ll let me in that door.”

Around the corner from the window, he wants me to climb in through a balcony on the same level.

If he has someone on the inside and he got someone to turn off the cameras, why does he need me?

“Ah-ha I can hear your brain working from here, Monkey. If he has someone on the inside, why does he need me?” He mimics my voice. “I thought about not using you, but it amuses me to have you robbing these rich assholes. That will teach them not to touch what is mine. Now, go.”

When I go to put my foot on the step of the ladder, I miss, and my body slams against it, making a clanging noise. I freeze, waiting for someone to come out to investigate the noise.

Roger comes over and grabs my hair. “Would you watch what the hell you’re doing? Now, move your ass.”

After he lets go of my hair, he slaps my ass before going back to his lookout spot.

My legs shake like wet noodles as I climb, but I make it up and over the balcony in a few minutes. The hard part will be getting into that window without falling.

The window he wants me to climb into is off to the left of the balcony. I swing my left arm over the balcony railing, then push myself up, gripping the side of the wall as tight as I can. I reach around the corner, punch in the screen, quickly climb through, then tumble in, crashing to the floor with a thud.

On high alert, I freeze and listen for any sounds, other than my breathing.

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