Page 81 of Unleash You

“Do you trust me?”

“What? To pick me up and shove me in that hole? Um.” I rubbed my temple, assessing the possible damage. A twisted ankle wasn’t all that bad considering the alternative. “Yeah, okay. Let’s do it.”

We both climbed on the canister. She laced her fingers to prop up my foot, then raised her arms. That got me eye level with the vent. I unscrewed the one nut holding it in place and let it drop to the floor.

“Shit.”

“Just go.” She took in a breath and then pushed me up higher.

I face-planted inside the dusty duct. I tried not to think of what kind of stuff would hide in gym vents and started army crawling straight ahead. The idea had sounded great at first, but now that I was supposedly on my way to freedom, I didn’t know which way to go.

I went right at the first turn, and that led to a vent with rusted screws I couldn’t open. I backtracked, then went left. Jesus, I didn’t have all night. I reached the end of the ducts, where it smelled like sewage. How far had I gone? I shifted my body to glance over my shoulder, but it was too dark to gauge where I was.

Peering through the slats, I got a stronger whiff of body order that reminded of the hours I’d spent locked up in a bathroom plane. My chest tightened as I sifted through all the possible scenarios. Was it possible that the people Charlie dropped off in Mexico were now here? Was this why we were here?

My stomach rolled. I’d never felt this kind of disgust for someone. I’d said it in anger before to hurt Charlie. But now I truly felt it. I was glad Mom and Dad were not alive to see the kind of monster their son had become.

I fumbled with the rusted screws until my finger pads felt raw. The charge in the air filled me with dread, like a premonition. Something wasn’t right. I pressed my forehead to my arm to calm down and think. Suddenly, a sound like a hundred fireworks vibrated the length of the aluminum pressed to my belly.

Another round, longer this time, erupted all around me. I lay very still, holding my breath, until I realized the shots were coming from outside, the parking lot maybe. I slid back to return to the bathroom. If someone was shooting at Charlie and Marcel, they had to be the cops. For a few beats, I had my knee up in the air, trying to figure out if I should go back and wait to be rescued with Rebecca or keep going. For all I knew, the gunmen were more bad guys.

What would Rebecca do? Definitely not stay in the duct vent waiting for a hero. Shit. I balled up and swung my legs around. Bracing my hands on either side of me, I kicked the panel hard, over and over until the rusted screws gave out. The dark corridor was empty, but it was hard to tell how big of a drop I had.

I slid into the opening, shifting my body around so I could hold on to the edge. My grip lasted a total of three seconds before I fell to the floor. To my surprise, a man broke my fall.

“What the hell?” I scrambled to my feet to get away from him. “Hello?” I shoved his shoulder with my boot, but he didn’t move or even grunt.

I didn’t have time to hang around and figure out what happened to him. Rebecca was waiting for me. Keeping my gaze on the dark figure, I shuffled back a few steps before I spun around and made a run for it. Two strides in, I collided with another man.

“Wesley?”

“Jesus fuck?” Wesley squeezed my shoulders. “I thought I was hallucinating your voice.” He ran his hands through my hair, my face, and my back, as if looking for signs that I’d been hurt. When he was satisfied, he pressed my head to his chest and held me in place. “I can’t believe you’re here. How?”

“Charlie’s here too.” I wrapped my fingers around his wrists and met his gaze. “God, I missed you.”

“Me too.” He captured my mouth and kissed me hard. In the days we’d been apart, I’d been afraid I would forget the feel of his hands on me, his lips, and how alive I felt when I was with him.

I pulled away first. “How did you find me?”

“I came here to help Tyler. But your clue got me to New York.” He cradled my neck, panting short breaths. “I came here to get Marcel to tell me where you were? Did he hurt you?”

“No, they mostly kept me locked up in a room.” My lip curled downward. Even if it was the truth, it still hurt to know Charlie was no longer the brother I once had.

“Don’t waste your tears on him. He’s not worth it.” He held me in his arms for another minute.

There was so much he still didn’t know about Charlie, but now wasn’t the time. “Rebecca was with me. We have to get her.”

“Where is she?”

“In the women’s locker room.” I glanced up and down the hallway, then pointed left. “I think it’s that way?”

“No, that’s all storage. Let’s go this way.”

The gunshots stopped as we made our way toward the front of the building, where lights bounced in every direction. A commotion of shouts and screeching car tires filtered through the walls. “Why are they shooting at us?”

“It may not sound like it, but they’re the good guys. Is this it?” He stopped in front of a door that had a plate that read women’s locker room.

“Maybe. I never saw the outside of it. Wait, I thought we were the good guys.” I pointed at him.

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