Page 153 of The Forbidden Note

“Both of you stay where you are or I swear I’m going to shoot!”

Panic spurts through me, but I hide it from my voice. “Relax, man.”

The guard grumbles into the walkie at his shoulder. “I have a group of six down here. Dressed like servers with theatre masks on. No clearance.”

My fingers clench into fists. It’s over now that more guards have been alerted.

We’ll have to abandon mission.

I turn my head slightly to the side and meet Dutch’s eyes.

“Get them out of here,” I hiss.

But my brother doesn’t move.

I twist my head urgently, “Dutch, get them—”

In my peripheral, I see the guard’s eyes widen at my sudden burst of movement. He pulls the trigger.

Sol springs forward.

So does Finn.

My brother gets in front of me first, covering me with his body and sheltering me from the blast.

It all happens so fast.

The gun.

The guard.

The bullet.

Finn stumbles into me, arms flailing over my shoulders.

Horror screams like ice through my veins.

I grab Finn, holding him up.

Panic rattles my voice. “Finn? Dammit! Finn, are you okay?”

The guard speaks into his walkie again. “Someone was shot. We’re going to need a medic.”

I hear feedback as if the person with the matching walkie is close to us.

A moment later, Dutch presses a button and I hear his voice coming from the guard’s walkie, “Rick, stop messing around.”

The hell?

Why is Dutch’s voice coming from the security guard’s walkie?

Sol gives Dutch a scathing look. “What the hell, man?”

Dutch just looks smug.

Finn groans.

“Finn?” I whisper urgently.

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