Page 36 of Shattered Home

“Right, your escape plan.” Tapping a finger against my temple, he asked, “And what escape plan is brewing inside this head? I can’t imagine it’s a good one or else you would have already left before someone could do this to your face.”

Realizing he had me pegged much more than I had him pegged, I dropped the tough act, slumping my shoulders. “I have exactly zero plans. But you seem like the type of guy that would have one.”

Leaning further into my space, he left the fence. “And what type of guy is that?”

His words were flirtatious, but there was a hint of danger in his eyes that told me to stay far away. “The kind of guy who’s smart enough to know where the guards are at all times but didn’t realize there’s a gap in the fence back there.”

I threw a thumb over my shoulder, motioning to the almost invisible gap I had noticed when I was following him. If I hadn’t been staring so intently at the fence, I wouldn’t have noticed it. It wasn’t a gate, merely a gap between two links of fences that hadn’t been sealed properly.

The gap was barely a foot wide, not nearly wide enough for me or Aiden to squeeze through, let alone this man, but wide enough that if a strong person pulled, it could grow.

The man’s eyes widened in interest, strolling past me to check out the gap I was talking about. I followed behind him, waiting for him to say something. After several moments, he clucked his tongue in interest.

“Well, well, well, it looks like I underestimated you, Alessia.”

“And apparently, I overestimated you…” I paused, hoping he would fill in the statement.

“Warner,” he said, smirking. “Looks like you and me have some things to talk about.”

Turning on his heel, he began walking away, strolling away from the breakfast area. I guess I had been right to assume he avoided the guards and crowds.

“Meet me at the fence tonight,” he tossed over his shoulder, and a wave of relief overcame me.

***

Aiden and I snuck out of the tent after the twins were asleep. I knew I could have left him behind, maybe Warner would have preferred that, but three minds were better than two. And if we actually wanted a chance of making it out here, we needed all the brain power we could get.

Aiden followed closely at my heels, muttering under his breath about how this was a bad idea, but I shushed him, knowing we needed to avoid getting caught. And muttering between the tents was the fastest way for someone to wake and spot us sneaking around.

Warner was waiting against the fence I had seen him at the two previous nights, his smile dropping when he spotted Aiden behind me.

“Who’s this?” He asked, all flirtation dropped from his tone.

“My brother.”

“I thought this was a two-man escape mission. Three makes it much harder.”

Well, he was about to hate my next words then. “Make that five. I have two kids with me.”

Warner frowned at that, shaking his head already. “Yeah, no thanks. I’d rather have a chance of making it out. Two kids will screw everything up.”

“No, it won’t. And you won’t be able to get through that fence on your own. So either you work with us or you stay here.”

I waited for Warner to realize I was right, his bottom lip rolling between his teeth as he debated. “Fine. But no more than that.”

Nodding in agreement, since that was easy enough, I started telling them my plan. “We should be able to sneak through the gap in the fence. If you two can widen it, we can easily get through. The hard part will be sneaking past the guards on every other side.”

“Why do we need to sneak past the guards? We can run from the back and get as far away as possible.”

I was already shaking my head as he spoke. “No, we have to go back to the front. Through the town and into the woods.”

“Let me guess, another nonnegotiable?” Warner leaned back against the fence, relaxing, and I realized his words weren’t as annoyed as I expected. He was already realizing that although I needed his help, this was my plan.

“Correct. I told you I had a place in the woods.”

“Right, this safe place.” He rolled his eyes, although a grin still lifted his lips.

“Why do we need his help? You seem to be the one with the plan,” Aiden whispered, but it was loud enough for Warner to hear.

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