Page 29 of Release You

He shook his head, putting a finger up to his lips.

Seriously? My heart pounded in my throat, and he wanted to stay back and play detective? Yes, I was a thief. A good one at that. The risk of getting caught was part of the gig, butsomething about this scenario put my nerves on end. These guards had orders to shoot Henry on sight.

On the other side of the wall, the lights came on. Suddenly we were more than shadows. I shuffled back, but Henry pulled me toward him, away from the crack between the panel and the wall where a glow bled through. Ice cubes dropped into a glass, followed by liquid pouring. Someone was making a drink. I needed a drink.

I tugged at Henry’s hand again, and he finally moved to follow me. We turned just as a glass smashed against the floor. Someone was having a bad day, and hell if we were staying to find out why. Soundlessly, I rushed down the corridor and didn’t stop until we reached the kitchen.

“We have to get back to the tunnels. If we leave through the kitchen, one of the guards will see us for sure,” I whispered. A small tremble rushed through my arms and legs. Shit. We had to get out of here. Now.

“I know. Let’s go through there.”

The memories of this place were slowly coming back to me. Behind the pantry was another access that led to the garden tunnels. It was the one we’d used to sneak out to Tessa’s gardens.

Henry pushed in the cupboard, making enough room for us to squeeze through. As soon as he closed it behind us, we both took off running. Something didn’t feel right. Goose bumps tickled the hair on the back of my neck, like a warning. I couldn’t shake the feeling we were being hunted. By the worried look on Henry’s face, he felt it too. One thing I learned very early on after I ran away from my last foster home was to always trust my gut.

Overhead, several sets of footsteps raced down the hallway, dropping dust and years of cobwebs on us. Did they know we were here? I covered my mouth to keep from yelping when myboots kicked something across the corridor. A sharp sting made me jolt to a stop to scratch the burning itch on the inside of my elbow. I had spiders on me. They were in my hair and on my clothes.

“I hate spiders.” Henry gripped my wrist and pulled me behind him.

“I hate mice.” I kept up the pace, swatting at my head and legs.

When we reached the exit, I gestured for him to stay put. The tunnel was pitch black, but through the cracks along the threshold, beams of light darted across the garden. Did they know Henry was here? Or did they think this was just a random break-in? The manhole to safety was at least fifty yards away from us.

“What do we do?” I whispered.

Henry snaked his hand around my waist and pressed my back against his chest. His breath blew ragged near my temple. This was the spot where he’d found me after I stole Tessa’s money; the money she always kept in her room and never made any effort to hide from us. As if she’d wanted us to know it was there. Had she known something terrible was coming for us? If she had, why hadn’t she done something to stop it?

“This is where we first kissed. Do you remember that?” Henry asked.

I nodded. “We made plans to run away to Paris.” Up until a couple of weeks ago, that had still been my plan.

His chest rumbled with a suppressed chuckle. Our lives were probably about to end, and he was amused. “Your NYU boyfriend wasn’t your first con. I was.”

I froze. Even if it hadn’t been on purpose, I stole from him the day I ran away with his mom’s money. “I’m so sorry, Henry.”

“There’s only one person who’s responsible for everythingthat happened that day.” He squeezed me tighter, burying his face in my hair. I slid my hand up his forearm and let my head fall back on the nook between his shoulder and neck. We stood in the dark, holding on to each other as we waited for the guards to return to their posts.

When the noise outside quieted down, I pulled away from him to fish my night-vision goggles out of my bag. Darkness was the only advantage we had. I sat on my haunches and pushed the small door open. Tessa’s chuparosa shrubs prickled my legs as we climbed out of the tunnel and leaned against the brick wall. The rain fell in sheets, keeping pace with the thudding in my chest. I donned the goggles and looked for signs of movement.

“Looks clear.” I turned to face Henry.

“Let’s go.” He nodded.

I swallowed and moved along the edge of the house toward freedom. Keeping a low profile, we made a run for it. When we were close to the manhole, Henry ran in front of me and lifted the steel cover for me to go through. My mind went blank, driven by self-preservation. With no time to think or grab the ladder, I jumped into the hole and dropped six feet. Henry did the same, falling next to me with a loud splash.

We stared at each other for what felt like hours. If they had seen us, they would be on top of us by now.

“You think we’re good?” I panted a breath.

Henry winced and rubbed the inside of his wrist. “I think so.” He braced his hands on his knees and blew out air. “Fuck. Make no mistake, if they had seen us, they would’ve shot us.”

“I know.” I swallowed. “Let’s go home.”

Back at the hotel, I changed out of my suit. Scratching the tiny red bumps on my arms, I stepped into the shower. Within minutes, the hot water and scented soap washed away thecrawling feeling on my back. The tremble in my hands didn’t quite go away though, but at least, I didn’t feel so on edge.

As soon as I shut off the water, Henry knocked on my bedroom door.

“Come in.” I grabbed my bathrobe off the bed and donned it.

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