Page 74 of Release You

“Seems quiet out there, but we’ll have to make a run for it. Are you up for it?” I whispered so low I wasn’t sure if Tessa had heard me until she nodded.

We squeezed through the small gap, making sure we didn’t open the door too much. Any movement could catch the guards’ attention. With my heart racing, I waited until I was sure the guards hadn’t heard us come.

“Ready?” I mouthed.

When Tessa nodded, I took off running toward the manhole on the other side of the garden. The ringing in my ears was immediate, but it took me a few seconds to figure out what was whizzing past my ears. Bullets. They were fucking shooting at us.

“We’re almost there. We can still make it.” I slanted a glance at Tessa.

Except she wasn’t behind me. She was on the ground, a few feet outside the door. Another shot made me drop to my knees. I couldn’t leave without Tessa. I had to make sure she was still alive.

I crawled back to her, covered her with my body, and lay still. My lungs ached as I held my breath, waiting for the guards to come after us. The shooting stopped, but no one came for us. Were the guards randomly shooting at anything that moved out here, or did they have specific orders to simply keep us contained? When everything quieted down, I hooked my hands under Tessa’s underarms and pulled her back into the tunnel. Out of habit or fear, I flipped the latch to lock the door.

“I got you.” I eased Tessa onto the cement floor and applied pressure to her side. “Stay with me, please.” Tears streamed down my cheeks.

“You should’ve kept going.” Tessa winced in pain.

“We’re gonna get out of here. I promise.”

CHAPTER 26

Down the Rabbit Hole

Henry

“What are you going to do?” Dom asked.

My mind raced. Nikki had flushed our only plan down the toilet when she decided to take off and leave me hanging. But I couldn’t think about her right now. I had to focus on helping Mom and Lisa.

“Pull the trigger. Lisa deserves to come home.” I headed for the door.

The slow burn in my stomach hadn’t gone away, not even after the fight with Dom. I had nowhere to go, and I was out of leads. But there was an asshole downstairs who could at least tell me where to find Jonathan’s man.

Dom chuckled. “I was hoping you’d say that. I’ll take care of it first thing.” He followed me to the door. “You’re not going home.”

“No.” I shook my head. “Hey, I was an asshole earlier.”

“I told you. I deserved a beating tonight.” He shrugged. “Though now I feel like punching something. If you’re goingdownstairs to beat up the bartender until he tells you what he knows, I’m coming with you.”

“No. You’ve done enough.” I made to leave.

“I wasn’t asking. Beats staying here, thinking of all the things I can’t have.”

“Seems to me like you have enough.” I pointed my chin at the grand suite, with a full-size dining room, a living room decorated in light blues and golds, complete with a fireplace.

“That’s just money.” He waved a hand in dismissal and headed for the elevator.

“Is your VIP client giving you hell?” I let the door shut behind me.

“Something like that.” He pushed the call button.

“Anything I can do to help?” The elevator doors slid open, and I stepped inside.

“You have a time machine?” His jaw clenched.

“Sorry. No.” I shook my head once.

“Then, no. There’s nothing you can do.” He hit the lobby button and stood back.

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