Page 37 of Black Hearts

12

Celeste

It was December the 1st.

The critical night was finally upon us.

I was shivering despite my jacket, rubbing my arms to keep myself from freezing in the dark country air. It was raining again, and fine stinging needles of it hit my face as I waited behind a tree with Alex. There was a huge black hiking backpack sitting on the snowy ground beside him, filled with the things we needed for tonight, along with a metal stepladder he’d carried all this way at the same time.

Alex reached down and pulled my hood farther over my face. “Don’t want to ruin your makeup,” he said softly before checking his watch. “It’s almost ten past.”

From our previous stakeouts, we’d figured out that the security guard who patrolled the fence line in a black car would be due to drive up to this exact spot along the back fence at about a quarter past every hour. We assumed the Circle party would start somewhere between seven-thirty and eight, so this was the best time to get in. Not too early, not too late.

“Ready to put it on?” I asked.

Alex nodded and grabbed a large wet branch; one we’d picked up on our hike through the reserve to the back of the Circle property. He slipped a rubber glove on to his free hand to dull the shock from the electric fence, then stepped out from behind the tree and placed the branch on the white-coated wires so that it was hanging off them.

The fence buzzed and groaned, and Alex stepped back with a jolt in his step. “Jesus. Higher voltage than we thought.”

“Are you okay?” I asked anxiously.

“Yeah, just a little shock. Now we wait.”

Headlights appeared in the distant darkness a moment later. A car slowly meandered toward us, pulling to a complete stop when it reached the branch. A man stepped out, wearing the guard uniform of a black jacket, pants and beanie. Around his waist was a thick belt which held his two-way radio and gun.

From our hiding spot behind the tree, we heard the radio chirp with static before a male voice came through. “What is it, Blaine? Someone there?”

As predicted, the weight of the branch on the fence had triggered an alarm somewhere.

The guard, apparently named Blaine, shook his head and pressed a button to reply. “Just a big branch. Must’ve fallen onto the fence from one of the trees here. Gonna move it off now.”

Alex squeezed my hand and nodded. We had to move fast.

As Blaine kicked at the branch to knock it off the fence without shocking himself, we crept out from our spot and approached him, both of us carrying a gun. In his spare hand, Alex was hauling the stepladder.

“Move and I’ll blow your brains out,” he said crisply.

Blaine looked up at us, his eyes going wide. One hand flew to his radio, presumably to call for help, and Alex held his gun level with his face. “You fucking heard me. Don’t think I won’t do it.”

The guard nodded and slowly raised his hands, staring at us in silence as I dragged the stepladder across to the fence. I carefully climbed it, then jumped onto the other side, stepping behind him. “Throw your radio, keys, and gun over to him, then get down on your knees. Slowly,” I said, planting the barrel of my gun right on the back of his head as I gestured to Alex.

“Who are you people?” Blaine asked, fumbling in his belt before doing as I said.

“Guess,” Alex said.

I couldn’t see the guard’s face from where I was standing, but I imagined comprehension dawning in his eyes as he replied. “It’s you, isn’t it?” he muttered, his whole body seeming to crumple. He didn’t need to elaborate. We all knew he was referring to the Heartbreaker.

“Yup. Now, Blaine, you’re gonna help us out.”

“Like hell.” I heard the guard swallow hard, then grit his teeth. “Just get it over with. Kill me.”

“But we don’t want to kill you,” I said, stepping around to his front, my gun still trained on him.

He looked up at me from where he knelt, confusion etched into his shadowy features. “What?”

“You aren’t like the others. You’re just a patrol guard, right? There’s no way we’d want to kill someone like you.”

“I’m not falling for that,” he mumbled. “You know I’m one of them, and I know you’re gonna kill me. So just do it.”

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