Page 70 of Love Over Time

Nikki

Maybe sending Henry away hadn’t been one of my best ideas. But how was I supposed to know we’d be dealing with gunmen? Though in retrospect, I should’ve known. Jonathan and Francesca had been hiding a nasty little secret for over a decade. To say that they’d become paranoid would be a major understatement. I hated guns…and I hated blood.

I glanced down at Tessa. The front of her shirt was soaked through and sticky. She’d been passed out for God knew how long. At this point, I had no idea if she was tired from the loss of blood, knocked out from the pain, or worse. She moaned and stirred in her sleep. I inhaled and held her closer to me. She had to make it…for Henry.

“Tessa, do you know where you are?”

She nodded.

“You were shot. I can’t see where the blood is coming from. What hurts?”

She cleared her throat and moaned again, squirming in my arms. “It’s my shoulder…feels like a hot iron went through it.”

I winced. I had no idea what that felt like, but it sounded painful. In all my escapades with so-called cons, I’d never had to deal with scums, real criminals. All my marks were spoiled rich men more than willing to pay up to have a pretty girl smile at them. This was a whole new fucking game for me. I gripped the fabric of my dress, feeling the emergency pack strapped to my left leg. The small handgun I kept inside it nudged against my palm. A shiver burst down my spine, as if someone had dropped a bucket of ice water over my head. In all these years, I’d never had to use it. The Taser I probably used on a weekly basis, but a weapon, something that could actually kill…? That was different, even for a thief like me. I’d spent countless hours training at the shooting range, always hoping it’d never come down to this.

Third Rule of Con: always be fucking prepared.

“We got very close to the manhole.” I forced a laugh. “We almost made it out.”

“You shouldn’t’ve come back for me. Henry will never forgive me if something happens to you.” She took a deep and shaky breath. A wheezing sound echoed in her chest every time. Every breath was painful for her.

“Tessa, save your strength. Henry isn’t coming. Do you think you can get back on your feet?”

She nodded. “I think this door is a no go.” She followed her chuckle with a groan.

“Yeah. I got that. The other end would just take us back to the house.”

“The servants’ access,” she whispered.

I’d forgotten about that. The study was a few feet away from the foyer. We could use the servants’ access hidden behind the bar cart. It led to the kitchen, but then what? We still had to deal with the goons waiting for us in the garden. Did they know about the manhole? This place was like a fortress. There was no way out except the front door, through Francesca and Scott.

“Do you trust me?”

“I do, Nikki.”

Her use of my new name made my heart melt. This was the same Tessa I’d met so many years ago, always willing to do anything to make me feel better, always there to offer a kind word. Leaving her here wasn’t an option. I reached under my skirt and pulled on the flap of the emergency pack. I squeezed my fingers around the twenty-two automatic and aimed it at nothing in the dark. The only way out was through them.

“We’ll go back to the front end of the tunnel and get you out, but, Tessa, you’ll have to hide upstairs and wait for me to get help. I can’t carry you, and I don’t think you can make it far, not after all the blood you’ve lost.”

“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.”

“Don’t say that. Iamcoming back for you. I swear it.”

Before I lost my nerve, I stood and hooked my arm around Tessa’s elbow to help her up. Her legs wobbled as she took the first step, but her grip on my hand was strong, steady. We walked slow, while the scratching of tiny feet kept us company. They didn’t bother me anymore. Not when we had something worse waiting for us outside.

“You’ve never been very smart.” Francesca’s voice echoed in the dark, her tall figure blocking the only exit into the foyer.

The musty scent was stronger here. How long before traces of blood disappeared, before the smell was truly gone? Something like a cold rod scraped my spine from the base of my skull to the small of my back, grinding every vertebra and sending a shock of fear to every fiber in my body. What would this place look like under the light? Maybe it was a good thing we couldn’t see much.

Francesca sniggered. “Even as a kid, you couldn’t follow simple instructions.”

“So you do know who I am.”

“I figured it out the day you and Henry were having brunch. I’d only seen that look on his face once before.” She laughed, that creepy, crazy-bitch laugh. “Yeah. It was the day we sent him away, right before he realized his little maid was gone.”

“What’s it to you if Henry likes me or not?” I had to keep her talking, distract her until I found a way to get us out of here. Holy fuck. I was going to have to shoot my way out of this one. And now was the time, before Scott came back and it was two against one.

“I never really cared what you two did. Though now that Henry’s back, it’s like having James with me again.”

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