Page 31 of One Knight Stand

“The skates are off my feet so I can actually walk. Come on.”

I grabbed her hand, running forward and slamming into a guy skating past and towing a girl. His skates missed my toes by a millimeter.

“Watch it!” he snarled, skating by.

“Sorry,” I said.

“Wow, it’s total chaos in here,” Frankie said. “Great plan. However, I’ve lost sight of the person following us. I don’t know where he is.”

“Me neither. Hopefully he won’t find us.”

We dashed around some kids and headed for the bathroom. I hoped the cover of darkness and the mass of screaming teens helped us stay indistinguishable. But the lights would be coming on shortly. We needed to be in the closet before that.

Weaving around people, I pulled her toward the bathroom alcove. I did a quick glance over my shoulder but didn’t see any adults, or anyone for that matter, watching. It was complete pandemonium. We came to a hard stop in front of the closet.

“Wally?” I banged on the door.

He opened the door, and we quickly squeezed in, breathing hard. He shut the door and locked it from the inside. “Now what?” he said.

“We stay quiet and wait,” I said. “The fire department will have to clear the building and reset the alarm. Hopefully, no one will look in here. Our tails will hopefully assume we slipped out in the mass exodus of kids.”

“And if we’re found?” Wally asked.

“We figure it out as we go along,” I said, my voice grim.

We waited for what seemed like hours, but a glance at my burner phone indicated only eighteen minutes had passed when the siren abruptly cut off. My ears still rang for a good five minutes more, but the noise level slowly decreased until there was silence. Occasionally, we heard people talking while they passed the closet and checked the bathrooms. Twice someone tried to open the closet by pulling on the handle, but when it held, they walked away.

Fifty-eight minutes after Wally pulled the alarm and twenty-four minutes since we’d heard even the slightest sound in the rink, I dared to open the closet door.

“Wait here,” I whispered. “I’ll be right back.”

The rink appeared to have closed down for the night. Other than the dim light from the exit signs, I didn’t see anyone. I crept toward the skate rental area and slipped on my shoes, which were thankfully still under the bench where I’d left them. I grabbed Frankie’s shoes, too, before double-checking the snack bar, the DJ booth, and a small office. No signs of life.

Everything was closed up tight.

I crept back toward the closet when a hand came down on my arm. Stifling a scream, I whirled around, my hands extended to either block or strike, when I saw a dark shape standing there.

“Did you see anybody?” the shape asked.

“Wally!” I took several breaths to calm my racing heart. “I told you to stay in the closet.”

“We did, but it was hot in there.” Frankie’s shape came into view from behind him. “Do you have my shoes?”

I handed them over and she sat on the bench, removing her skates and putting on her shoes. Wally moved over to a window and peered out.

“I don’t see any cars in the parking lot,” he said. “Do you think we lost them?”

“I sincerely hope so,” I said. “But just to be on the safe side, let’s exit from behind the lockers and go directly into the woods that back up to the residential area.”

“That’s how I got here,” Wally confirmed. “There’s a trail there, and it comes out one street over from where I parked the car.”

Frankie must have finished putting on her shoes, because she stood and returned the skates to the desk.

“Frankie, you don’t have to be so nice,” I hissed.

“I’m just putting the skates back where they belong,” she said back. “There’s nothing wrong with being polite.”

I’m glad it was dark so she couldn’t see me roll my eyes. She was going to be the nicest spy in the world. I led the way to the exit behind the lockers. Carefully, I pushed the door open and stepped outside. I motioned for Wally and Frankie to wait while I crept along to the side of the building and looked at the parking lot.

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