Page 46 of Help Me Remember

“Now there’s a promise I’m willing to make,” I said, almost ducking my head as I felt my cheeks warm but remembering I’d probably end up headbutting him in the process.

Instead, I busied myself with finding something we could use to clean ourselves up. There was a box of cloths on the floor, the ones on top were dusty, but the rest looked clean.

“So, uh, do you have a plan for getting us out of here?” he asked, finally stepping away and smirking as I handed him a couple of rags. Watching him clean himself of both our loads was insanely distracting, and I had to fight the urge to reach out and pull him close again. Instead, I took a step away from him, busying myself with my own cleanup.

“I don’t think we’re going to convince anyone to listen to us,” I began, frowning.

“Probably not, especially because we’d have to tell the whole story, and that would make everything even more suspicious.”

“True,” I said, wanting to ask why he’d kept things a secret but knowing we didn’t have time for that conversation. Patterson had tried to keep Eric in one place, an out-of-the-way place, without even his fellow officers knowing. I suspected he had also been looking for a way to lure me away for much the same reason. “So that only leaves escaping without being noticed.”

“Is that even possible?” Eric asked, holding up his wrist where half of the handcuffs still hung. “Because I’m pretty sure they’re gonna notice this. And we can’t use your jacket because they’ll see the gun.”

“I could always stow the gun elsewhere, not safely, but for the time being,” I said, but then immediately dismissed it. “Trying to go out the front would just leave us open.”

“Well,” Eric began, “he was keeping me down here, which means there’s either a way out down here…or somewhere close by where he could get us out without people noticing.”

I cocked my head. “Wasn’t there a fire door near the one leading down here?”

Eric reached up to touch the back of his head and winced before nodding. “I think so. I was so bored and fed up with dealing with that grumpy cop that I kind of zoned out.”

“If we’re both remembering right, then that’s probably the door,” I said, frowning. “And there was an extinguisher near the door down here.”

“Yeah, so?”

“Which means a fire alarm isn’t far off.”

Eric blinked, a hand coming down to rest on the bag at his hip. “So, pull the alarm, get them freaking out, and make a move for the door?”

I cocked my head. “It’s that or try the front door.”

“Uh, well, it’s not a bad idea, but I certainly think it could be improved,” Eric said slowly.

“How?”

Eric reached in and pulled something out of his bag, glancing off to the side. “With something a little more…direct.”

My brow rose, and I smiled a little. “You’re insane…but brilliant.”

CHAPTER EIGHT

The fact that the sharp, acrid smell hadn’t managed to drift down the hallway and into the main work floor to draw attention was amazing to me. Even more amazing was that no one noticed as Eric and I quickly used as many boxes of paper, stray fabric, and other assorted things to create a small pile against one of the hallway walls and leading into a room filled with what looked like spare uniforms, shoes, and other assorted equipment.

Glancing around, I finished dumping the hefty can of paint thinner I’d found when we’d been gathering boxes. I’d managed to cover several piles of clothes with it, as well as the papers and boxes we’d stacked in the hall. We probably could have added more, but even the few minutes we’d taken to set this much up was adding to my stress levels. The plan would never be perfect, so we’d have to deal with what we had.

“Gimme it,” I said to Eric as we huddled near the basement door. He held out the bottle of rubbing alcohol he kept in his bag. I had also seen a small, sealed package of needles, thread, gauze, tubes of what I assumed were ointments, and bandages.

“I’m suddenly having second thoughts,” Eric said as I opened the bottle and stuffed a thick piece of fabric I’d ripped off one of the uniforms inside.

“Lighter,” I said because I’d also seen one of those in his bag. I wasn’t sure what the point was amidst all the medical supplies he kept on him, but I wasn’t going to argue with its fortuitous appearance.

“And third thoughts,” Eric said with a wince as he handed it to me.

“Look, you were the one who wouldn’t let me turn off the sprinkler system,” I told him with a grunt. “Only block the sprinklers over the fire.”

“I don’t wanna burn the place down!”

“So we won’t, but at least they’ll be occupied.”

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