Page 34 of The Sinner: James

To make things worse, my muscles are sore from pedaling.

“Shit. I thought it was closer,” I say.

“It is closer if you’re driving.”

“They could’ve spotted us.”

“We haven’t crossed paths with anyone, have we? We could’ve rolled up the road with the lights turned off. The same thing we’re doing now, but without the pain in the shanks.”

“Too late...” I say.

“Oh, thank God. There’s the gate.”

“Oh, the fucking gate… I completely forgot about the gate.”

“A gate and a fence.”

“Shit. I’m not dressed for climbing fences.”

“What do you need? A catsuit?” she tosses at me, laughing softly.

“Shut up,” I say, grinning and panting.

The road takes us to a large wrought-iron gate.

We pull to a stop, dismount our bicycles, and search the area for security cameras.

We find none.

“We should hide them,” she says, pointing to our bicycles.

We pull them to the side and cover them with branches, doing what we've seen in the movies.

Her eyes sparkle in the dimness.

“You love this, huh?” I murmur.

“Are you kidding me? I’ve never had so much fun.”

The vegetation crawls up the brick wall guarding the property. Luckily, it’s not that tall, and Eve goes first.

I tuck my phone and small flashlight into my shorts, clamber up and jump to the ground, landing on the other side.

“You okay?” Eve asks as I yelp.

“Yeah... I think I scratched my elbow,” I say, running my hand over my skin and sensing a tiny abrasion and blood beneath my fingers.

“Wild roses,” I murmur, cupping a velvety flower. “Mmm... They smell nice,” I say, inhaling their sweet aroma.

A dark, imposing silhouette looms by the water.

“Is that their house?”

“Yeah, that’s it.” Eve gasps in awe. “Isn’t it scary?”

“It’s dark. But there’s nothing scary about it.”

“Ugh. Can’t you just play along?”

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