Page 31 of The Preachers' Promise
“Girl, you better snap out of it and fast.” The voice beside me makes me jump. I turn to see the girl who was opposite before, leaning close to me. “Carter will take advantage if you don’t wake the fuck up. He’s not got long left on his shift. You can crash out then, but fight it while he’s here. Take this.”
She hands me something surreptitiously then moves away fast, as Carter turns our way once more, the skinny kid back on his feet.
“You’re looking extra lovely today, C,” the girl singsongs as she walks past Carter with a shake of her hips.
I look down at the tiny pill in my hand and, before I can even think twice, shove it in my mouth and use the last of my water to swallow it.
I pray to God it’s an upper, and she hasn’t just given me something that might kill me.
Too late now….
14
CAIN
The manfrom the electricity company is tied up in the back of his panel van, bound and gagged, in only his underwear.
I’m sitting in the front seat, dressed in his uniform, partly shocked at how easily that went. None of us even broke a sweat.
He’d been messing around in the back of his van, so easy to sneak up on, and we were prepared. A hand slammed over his mouth, a switchblade in his side, and he’d cooperated straight away.
We had ropes in the trunk, but we didn’t have gags. Thank God for electrical tape. I pull the ball cap, which proudly proclaims twenty-four-seven help on the front, down over my face a little and sink lower in the seat.
We’ve switched from our vehicle to the panel van, which has a three-seat configuration in the front. Roman is behind the wheel, with Malachi in the middle, and I’m in the far side passenger seat. If I’m supposed to pass myself off as a tradesman, I didn’t want to cause questions about why I’m getting out of an unmarked car. Plus, we couldn’t leave our victim unsupervised in case he starts making a lot of noise or tries to escape. Right now, he’s terrified and thinks we’re going to kill him—which we won’t, unless he forces our hand—but ifwe have to wait too long, he might try something stupid. I have a mental image of us sitting back in our car, only for the rear doors of the panel van to fly open, and the electrician to hop down the road in only his boxer shorts, with his mouth taped, and his hands and feet bound together. The thought amuses me, but it would be attention we could do without.
“Roll the sleeves up,” Mal says, jutting his chin at my already tightly fitting uniform. “Show off those arms.”
I give him a long stare. “What the fuck?”
“Women love it, and you need to get the receptionist all worked up.”
“She might not be into men,” I point out.
“Shit, didn’t think of that.” Mal shrugs. “Flirt, and if she doesn’t respond, you’ll just have to talk her to death to distract her.”
“Wait a minute,” Rome says from the driver’s seat. He’s looking at the plans of the building on my cell phone. “Once I get in using the stolen pass, if I can avoid detection long enough, I can take a left here,” he points to a part of the schematics, “and that’s where the fuse box is. Should I just flip a switch?”
“Fucking yes,” Mal says. “That will make them much more likely to send you on in, Cain. If they lose power suddenly, that might mean they go on lockdown, though.” He taps his fingers against his lips. “Fuse boxes are separated by function, so pick one area and turn that off. It is less likely to spark a panic if you don’t mess with door locks and alarms.”
“They’ve probably got back up generators,” I point out.
Malachi picks at the flaking black polish on his nails. “True, but they will still need to send you in to fix it.”
“It could help,” Roman says.
Mal bounces in his seat. “Shit, I hate being the one sitting out here, waiting for you assholes.” He grins, and it holds a slightly manic edge.
Roman holds his hands up. “Whoa, there. Chill. This is serious.”
“It is,” Mal concedes. “But it’s also kind of fun.”
We need him to take this seriously. “You have an important role to play. We need you to be ready to drive us away. Once we have her and we’re on the outside, we’re going to need to get out of here fast.”
“But calmly,” Roman adds. “We don’t want to be pulled over by the police.”
“Fast but calm,” Mal repeats.
“I think we should give him side quests every week,” I say to Rome.
