Page 49 of Sacrifice

“Shit.” Sebastian sighed again. I could tell he was on the verge of giving up the search.

I wasn’t deterred yet, though. There was something in this room. I could practically feelit—a strange tension lingering in the air, as if the walls themselves were holding onto a secret. Or perhaps I just had a vivid imagination.

I scanned the room again, eyes darting from corner to corner in search of other possible hiding places. There didn’t appear to be anything else, but I kept feeling as if I’d missed something. Then it hit me. The quilt was draped over the edge of the bed, concealing most of it, but just beneath the fabric, I glimpsed what might be more wooden drawers.

I padded over, knelt down, and lifted the quilt. I was right. There were two flat drawers built into the bed frame, presumably for extra storage.

“Shit, I forgot all about those,” Sebastian said. “Good catch.”

Holding my breath, I slid open the first drawer, revealing a bulky black and gray rectangular object nestled inside. “Is this it?” I whispered, carefully lifting it up.

“Holy fuck. Yes! That’s it!”

“It’s a lot bigger than I thought it would be.”

“Computers used to be a lot bigger and clunkier. Trust me, that was a top-of-the-line laptop back in the day.”

“It’s okay. It’ll still fit in the backpack,” I said, glancing over at my bag.

“Hide it under the bottles just in case. Then get the hell out of there as fast as you can,” Sebastian said in an urgent tone. “You did good, baby. So fucking good.”

“I can’t leave just yet. I didn’t actually clean any of these upstairs rooms.”

“Fake an emergency or something. Tell Caroline you have to leave immediately.”

I caught my bottom lip between my teeth as I considered the idea. Then I shook my head. “No, that might make her suspicious. Then she might say something to your father, and then he might realize what we were up to.”

“Shit,” he muttered. “You’re right.”

“I’ll do the rest of the shift. It won’t take that long, anyway. Everything in this house is already quite clean,” I said. “Probably because half the rooms are never used.”

“Okay. I’ll be right here waiting for you. Stay safe.”

“I won’t let the bag out of my sight. I promise,” I said. With that, I returned to my new ‘job’, heart racing with anticipation the entire time.

When I was finally finished with the guest bathrooms on the third floor, I trudged downstairs, returned the equipment to the storage cupboard, and headed to the kitchen. Caroline was still in there, frowning down at an open recipe book.

“Mrs. Quinlan?” I said, softly rapping on the doorframe. “I’m finished with the rest of the house. Would you like me to clean in here now?”

She glanced up at me. “Oh, no. I’m still not done in here yet, so I’ll just do it myself later,” she said, wiping her hands on her apron. “Let me quickly check everything before you head out. It’s not that I don’t trust you, but it’s your first shift, and I’m sure the company would like some feedback.”

“Of course.” I smiled sweetly, praying she wouldn’t ask to check my bag as well.

She brushed past me and disappeared down the hall. When she finally returned, I let out the breath I’d been holding for the last several seconds, grateful to see a smile on her face.

“Everything looks good, dear,” she said. “You even remembered to dust the picture frames. So many people forget that. And they call themselves professionals!”

“Thank you, Mrs. Quinlan.”

“Please, call me Caroline.” She waved a hand. “I’ll see you again on Wednesday, I suppose?”

“Yes. See you then.” I smiled again and turned to leave, heart pounding with a mixture of relief and nerves.

Once I’d exited the building and turned onto the sidewalk, I practically sprinted down the street and around the corner. Sebastian was waiting for me by the car, lips cracked in a broad grin.

“You did it, baby,” he said, rushing over to engulf me in a bearhug. “You fuckingdidit!”

When he finally put me down again, I placed his hand over my chest so he could feel my rapid heartbeat. “My pulse was like this the whole time,” I said. “I can’t believe I actually got away with all of that.”

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