Page 71 of Free to Breathe
I immediately text Keene.She’s packing to run. Need you to come light it up. I’m breaching the perimeter.
There’s a pause, followed by,Be right there.
Satisfied, I slip my phone in my pocket and go around back for the Metolius gloves I keep in my car’s emergency kit. Rolling my shoulder to stretch it a bit, I’m glad I recently had a scan to know my shoulder isn’t going to give out in the middle of this. Like I’ll admit that to my bosses, I think ruefully.
After slipping on the gloves, I move over to the post supporting Corinna’s awning and jump up. Pulling myself up is simple. I swing my legs over, and then my belly, and wait a few moments to make sure the canopy can support my weight when I see lights come down the drive. I turn my head away so I don’t look directly into them.
A door opens and closes. “Any issues with the shoulder?” Keene calls out.
“None so far,” I reply. I make my way over to the main roof pitch and carefully move over each of the lock-and-groove metal roofing tiles. Fifty-year roofs are fantastic for ensuring no leaks come into a home, but are a bitch when your feet are large and you’re trying to be sneaky.
Keene shines a Maglite up when I reach the edge. “You’re about four feet out,” he calls.
“Got it.” My adrenaline is pumping, not only from the climb but from how pissed I’m becoming.
Shut me out? After everything we finally worked through? Not for long.
Carefully, I reach out and grip with the tips of my fingers in the grooves between the clapboard. I swing my body out. The toes of my boots find purchase farther down. I hear Keene’s voice cautioning me. “Easy, brother. You’ve got about ten feet to the balcony.”
Right. I inch my fingers along, gritting my teeth at the upper-body strength required for me to shimmy across this roof due to Corinna’s stubbornness. My feet slide across as I make slow but steady progress. Keene calls out, “Three. Two. I think you can swing over now, Hunt.”
Gripping hard on the wall of Corinna’s house, I kick my boots away from the wall, using the momentum to catch one leg against the rail. Having hooked it, I slide my hand so I can let go with the other. I latch on, gratefully. My fingers aren’t used to this kind of climbing anymore.
“Do you have it from here so I can go home?” Keene asks from twenty feet below.
“Yeah, because if she doesn’t open this door, I’m breaking it in,” I call down.
“I’ll warn the monitoring center on shift at the office. Call me if you need a rope.” Keene slides back into his vehicle and backs out of the driveway.
Corinna’s Juliet balcony doors are made of thin paned glass. I start pounding on them.
There’s no response.
Pulling out my phone, I start sending a text.I’m standing at your balcony door. Open them. Now.
Before I can press Send, they swing open. “Jesus Christ, Colby, are you insane? What the hell are you doing?” I stalk into her bedroom. Jesus, it’s worse than I thought. There are piles of clothes all over her bed.
Swiveling around, I declare, “You’re not going anywhere, Corinna. You’re not running away.”
“I know?” Her voice holds a note of confusion.
“You know?” I say slowly. “Then why the hell didn’t you answer your door?” I bellow.
She pulls the earbuds from her pocket. “I couldn’t hear you.”
Suddenly, my fury coalesces. “And why didn’t you answer your cell?” It’s in her hands for fuck’s sake.
She blushes before admitting, “I put it on Do Not Disturb. The only person who can get through in that case is Holly. I needed some time to think, so I came home and started cleaning.”
“When did Holly ping you?” She holds out the phone just as I reach her.
Holly: Hey. Figure you want to be alone, but Ali just pinged me. Apparently, Colby’s gone off his rocker and thinks you’re going to run. Idiot. Can you let him in your balcony door? He apparently scaled your house.
Corinna starts stammering. “I-I was putting away l-laundry, Colby. I wasn’t leaving. I truly didn’t hear you at the door. I forgot you’re not on my breakthrough list and I—"
There’s only one way I can think of to shut her up right now and alleviate the panic and fury inside of me.
I kiss her.
