Page 52 of Release You

“Same here,” he said. “Coffee sounds great.”

Emma Kate slowly turned to leave. I stared at her back as she strutted to the bathroom and the door closed behind her.

“We’re in.” I reached around Henry and grabbed Emma Kate’s badge.

“Let’s go.” He grabbed my hand

We rushed to the end of the hallway, past the bathrooms, until we reached the door labeled Authorized Personnel Only. I pressed the badge to the scanner, and the door clicked open.

“I can’t believe you made me pull that stunt.” He shut the door behind him and raked a hand through his hair.

“Oh, please, you loved it.”

He pulled me to him and nibbled behind my ear. “Do I hear a tinge of jealousy in your voice? I like it.” His tone was honey mixed with a promise of sex later.

“Not even close.” I smoothed out my dress and frowned at him.

He was mine. No matter what this town thought of me or Henry. He was mine. Emma Kate and her fancy job could go fry plantains. I set my purse on the steel table bolted to thefloor in the middle of the vault and took out two pairs of latex gloves.

“Of course you brought gloves.” He took a pair from me and pulled them on.

“An old habit. Although I doubt Bill, the security guy, knows how to dust a room for fingerprints.” I took out both keys from inside my bra and gave him one. “The key has a two on it. I’m assuming that’s the box number.”

He nodded, staring at it. Hundreds of bronze boxes lined the walls of the room. His mom had slot number two. This had to be a family box, one the Cavaliers had bought a long time ago.

“Only one way to find out.” He put the master into the keyhole. I did the same and turned the latch when he nodded. The small door popped open. I stepped back and gestured for him to go ahead and look. I had no right—all this belonged to him. He took the metal box, placed it on the table, and flipped the cover open. Pursing his lips, he struck the counter with the palm of his hand.

“What’s in the box?” I stood paralyzed when he slid it across toward me. No, I hadn’t expected a scrapbook with detailed evidence of how Jonathan had killed Henry’s dad. But I was hoping for something, maybe the small bronze statue the killer had used to crack James Cavalier’s head open. Or something that would put that creep away for a long time, for stealing from Henry, for stealing my sister’s life, and mine.

Instead, we got more money, jewelry, and three manila envelopes. “We don’t have time for this.” I grabbed my purse and dumped all the contents into it.

“The huge purse matches your dress, huh?” Henry asked.

“It’s also helpful if you’re robbing a bank.” I winked. “Put that back, and let’s get out of here.”

He grabbed the box, stuffed it back in its slot, andyanked out the keys. “My heart is pounding in my head and not in a good way.” He forced a breath out. “How are you so calm?”

“I don’t know.” I flashed him a smile, swallowing the lump in my throat. If we got caught, his uncle would know we knew about him, and Lisa’s only chance of proving her innocence would be lost. We had everything to lose here but telling Henry that wouldn’t help matters. “Let’s go.”

I pushed the door open and peeked through the gap into an empty hallway. If I had nothing, at least I had this: luck. I walked out and pulled Henry with me. He exhaled, gripping my elbow as he raced down the corridor.

“Slow down. We have nothing to hide.” I freed my arm, and then I saw it. A small camera over the door to the vault. So much for luck.

“You’re right.” He adjusted his pace.

“Wait here.” Heart racing, I left his side and went to the bathroom.

We had a better chance of getting out of here without screwing up if Henry didn’t know there was footage of us going into the vault. Shit. How had I missed that? I closed the door behind me and leaned on it, gasping for air.

The pumping in my chest felt like firing cannons, full of warning and panic. In all the times I’d done jobs like this one, I never had anything to lose. Nothing of real value, like Henry’s life or Lisa’s freedom. I’d been on my own for so long I’d forgotten what it was like to worry about someone other than myself. I exhaled, took a deep breath, and exhaled again. I repeated the exercise until my nerves calmed down. This wasn’t the time to lose my shit.

I pressed a cold and clammy palm to my forehead. Calm down.Tomorrow I would call Dom. We could figure this out. This was a small bank in a small town. Their security couldn’t be all that fancy. That was totally a half-assed plan, but itwould have to do. For now, getting Henry out of here was my only priority.

After I wiped my prints and sweat off Emma Kate’s badge, I dropped it near the trash can. As soon as she noticed it was gone, this would be the first place she’d check. Now we just had to get rid of the master key. I gave it a good wipe and then met Henry outside the door.

“Stop and chat with Bill again.”

Bill stood by the entrance, and our only exit. A big grin spread on his face when he saw Henry again. “I saw Mr. Paredes leave a while ago. I was wondering where you’d gotten off to.”

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