Page 70 of A Breath of Life
“Did not.”
I unbuttoned my dress shirt, smilingsmugly. “Did. So.”
Diem growled under his breath. He could argue all he wanted. Why else would he have an emergency black shirt in my size in his grab-and-go bag? Nothing said love like ensuring your boyfriend was adequately dressed for breaking the law so he would hopefully avoid being arrested and sent to prison.
Diem zipped the duffle and tossed it into the back seat. He scratched Echo’s ear when she huffed her opinion. “You have to stay here, girl. You can’t go where we’re going. Have a sleep. Tallus and I won’t be long, then we’ll go home and get you some dinner.”
Diem sized me up and down, nodding at the shirt. “Much better.”
“You were afraid I was going to end up in prison.”
Diem’s face did a thing, but he chose not to address that comment. “Are you ready?”
“For a life of crime? Bring it.”
“This was a terrible idea. Let’s go.”
I should have been nervous. Someone was stalking us, Diem had recently been badly beaten by unknown men, and we were breaking into a guy’s apartment for reasons Diem wouldn’t explain, but I wasn’t. I was giddy, but I smartly hid my excitement as best I could, lest I incur a lecture about the seriousness of the situation.
I would do as I was told. Take notes. Prove myself worthy. Then, maybe Diem would let me have those better jobs.
We went around the rear of the building to the dumpsters we had scouted earlier and the line of windows that ran to the top floor. Without streetlights, the passageway was dark. A tall fence ran the length of the service road, and more buildings sat on the other side, but if anyone was watching us from within, I couldn’t tell.
Diem didn’t seem concerned, so I tried not to worry about it.
As I’d earlier suspected, the windows that ran in a perpendicular line to the roof marked the ends of hallways on each floor. Washed-outyellow light shone from within. The main level didn’t have a window, but it did have an emergency exit with a slight overhang to protect it from the rain.
Diem checked the door. Locked. The mechanism was industrial and would have required more than a lockpicking kit to open. He seemed to know that and didn’t spend time trying.
Diem scanned the service road in both directions and examined the neighboring building for a long time before motioning me closer and boosting me onto the dumpster nearest the second-story hallway window. He climbed up after me.
“Cameras?” I asked, glancing about.
“No. I checked earlier. Inside might be a different story, but I doubt it. It’s a secure building. If you aren’t hanging cameras outside, I doubt you give a shit about the inside. Can you get over there?” He indicated the overhang above the door. It was two feet away but several feet higher than my position on the dumpster.
“Um. I think so.” I was not an athlete, but I studied the gap and decided it was doable. There wasn’t much in the way of handholds, but I may not need them. If I didn’t make the jump on the first try, the fall wasn’t nasty. The worst I’d get was a skinned knee.
“Wish me luck.”
“You’re fine.”
I backed up, ran, and launched myself toward the overhang. The collision hurt, and I grappled desperately for somewhere to hold before I slid over the edge. The rough surface scraped my hands to shreds, but in the end, I managed to maneuver myself up.
“I think I ripped my new shirt.”
“It was six bucks at Walmart.”
I gasped. “I’m wearing a Walmart shirt? Ew. D. That’s… ew. Do not tell Memphis. I will never live it down.”
I wasn’t sure, but I thought Diem chuckled. Bastard.
“Will the roof hold me?” Diem asked, my distastefully torn shirt already forgotten.
I bounced a few times, testing its sturdiness, and nodded. “It seems solid. Need a hand?” I offered it out, but he shook his head with a smug grin.
“You can’t hold my weight, Tallus. I’d pull you right over the edge.”
He was right, so I backed up as far as I could to give him room. “Don’t tear your shirt. Unless it, too, was six dollars at Walmart. In that case, I really need to take you shopping and introduce you to fashion.”
