Page 70 of Drift

“We’re on lockdown?”

Gray tilted his head a little. “Jack and Jan are, East side. I won’t have them pushed out of the security picture here,” he said quietly. “But us? We’re opening West side.” A slow smile. “All child-locks removed, it seems….”

Chapter 21

FEEDER

With the cold and dark eating into him but better dressed for it tonight in compression shirt and pants that better fitted… darker running skills, Drift crouched behind the old oak tree and gave a sniff as he let his look run over the road. He’d followed the big bloke Newham here on Friday, but he’d spent Saturday working out the footholds and access points to the grounds before coming back tonight. He didn’t go in blind to locations he wasn’t familiar with. Hehadcaught Newham leaving in a different car, which was enough to say whoever started the name-calling came from inside, and Newham was now perhaps off duty with the change of car.

The wall standing bodyguard opposite was aggressively high, easily fifteen foot, and a hum of electricity ran its veins. The offer made him shift uncomfortably. That wasn’t just a gentle warn-off current to keep the cows out. That was high-end stuff, like running too close to the wrong of the law in order to make sure whoever tried to get in was carried away in a box.

It was going to be a bitch to break through on his own.

The gatehouse around the other side also kept home to a heavy detail of security guards, and the heavy weight of security cameras had his skin crawling enough to want to scuttle back into London centre with his tail between his legs. The walkbeyond those walls looked suicidal, making the green laser pointer he held feel like tossing paper at Goliath.

The only, and absolute only advantage he had was height and getting up fast and hard into the trees. That wasn’t saying blackspots could be found up there, but it was damn well safer footing that playing delivery boy and going in through the front gate.

He just needed to get over the bloody perimeter wall first and—

A hand touched his arm, and Drift jerked around as a “shush,” met his harder whisper of—“Fuck. Shit. You out to bury me, West?”

Long red hair tucked out of sight under the hood to her hoodie, West came in close, her look on the wall opposite as a soft break of twig came from behind her.

Drift gave a rough sigh as Brighty came in low and close. “You as well?” He looked West’s way as he took off his own black skull scarf. “You’re gonna get my balls burned by Jackson, you know that, right?” Because this meant she’d been watching where he traced Newham to. Which meant something had her more than uneasy. “You shouldn’t be here. Fuck off.”

“Double-tap,” said West quietly, her look still on the wall. “It’s that with these bastards, or I burn your balls, fuck Jackson.” Her look came his way, the worry heavy enough, but also how it looked like she wanted to say something elseas she looked him up and down again, then changed her mind constantly. “You’re delaying. What do you need?”

He looked the fence over. “Let’s gofault. Keep hitting the fence to set the alarms off around the perimeter as much asyou can. It’ll get them thinking there’s a fault and take it offline whilst they look it over.”

“Okay. Good.” She nodded. “You get in, get what you want, then get out as fast as you can, okay?”

“Okay,” he said controlling his breathing. He didn’t want to admit how good it was to see her out in the dark after ten. Brighty too, if he was being honest.

The soft sound of tyre on darkened road had Drift slipping back under cover of tree and fern, and he stayed down until the road cleared.

“Don’t linger.”West said it so quietly in his ear he almost missed it. The shiver over having her breath play his ear he didn’t,nor the run of hand down the compression material covering his side. “Not on the streets, Drift. It’s too dark.” Quiet. “We could run, you know…? Maybe take that swim after all? You… maybe me?”

Drift’s heart slipped as he shot her a look. Maybe me….

Fuck. Why do this now?

From her look, he knew why.

She was scared.

So was he, both with what he could face in there as well as out here if he got caught.

“I just need to know who’s in there, okay?” he said quickly, twisting Brighty’s cap to keep his face hidden. “They put the name out. I need to know why.”

“What name?” Brighty shifted in close, wiping at his nose. That goddamn runny nose. “What name, D?”

West threw him a smile, then gave a rougher pull down on his cap that made sure he turned a blind eye. “Shut those earholes let alone your cake ’ole, ass. Grown up talk.” West focused back on him. “You get out… fast. Find what you need to know, then…” A frown, a hand went to her heart, a kiss to her lips before placing it against Drift’s. “My window. You find that again. Don’t make me come looking.”

“Hey,” he said a little too quickly, caught with loving being close to her. Giving a blush, he slipped off his backpack. “Take this back to yours, yeah?”

A little tension seemed to ease in her eyes. “Good to see you showing some sense and getting back to ours, knucklehead. Can’t promise Jackson will be all open arms and kisses, though.”

Backpack taken, facemask down, she was gone, her blend in with the shadows as natural to touch to skin as she haunted this side of the road and ran with the wall, away from the gatehouse. Brighty nodded Drift’s way, then took after her, always in her footsteps.

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