Page 110 of Kings & Corruption

“Oh my god,” I muttered, hoping his entire plan didn't hinge on vagaries like no one locking their door.

He opened the door carefully, but it still sounded too loud to me. I stepped into the house behind him fully expecting Daniel Longhat to be waiting for us, but the house was quiet except for the soft hum of the refrigerator that stood against one wall.

Rock left the door open behind us, probably to avoid making more noise when we had to leave, and we stepped into a small neat kitchen, the counters clean, the sink empty of dirty dishes.

We spent a few minutes looking for a hook or bowl or somewhere else Daniel’s keys might be kept when he wasn’t using them. When we didn't find anything, we moved carefully toward a long narrow hall.

We passed a tiny bathroom on the left and continued toward the front of the house. A cozy living room stood to the right of the foyer, the curtains drawn against the bright October day, and a giant TV was positioned at one end of the room with a stylish sofa in front of it.

House plants lined the shelving units and end tables, and a thick blanket lay on the back of the couch. A textbook sat open on the coffee table, but I couldn’t make out the subject from the foyer.

The house was surprisingly orderly, but I had the feeling I was missing something, some detail that was right in front of us that I couldn’t quite grasp.

Rock started for the stairs, resting his foot on one side of the first tread.

He leaned down to whisper in my ear. Old house. Stairs are creaky in the middle.”

I grabbed his hand before he could go any farther up the staircase, and he looked back at me with a question in his blue eyes.

I tipped my head toward the foyer. The house might be occupied by a young bachelor, but it was well organized, and we’d used the back door to enter the house. The keys hadn't been there, but that might be because Daniel used the front door when he got home from work or school.

I let go of Rock’s hand and backtracked to the foyer. A piece of wood was nailed to the wall, a series of coats and jackets hanging from a set of hooks. Underneath them, a small table stood empty except for a worn leather wallet and a tiny wood bowl.

I focused on the bowl, or more specifically, on the set of keys inside of it.

Rock followed my gaze and stepped carefully off the tread.

I closed my hand carefully around the keys, trying to keep them from clinking together, or at least hoping to muffle the sound with my palm. It mostly worked, and a second later I had the keys in my hand.

I looked at Rock, who was grinning at me with approval. He gave me a thumbs-up, then turned toward the back of the house where we’d started.

We made our way back down the hall, through the kitchen, and out the open sliding glass door. Rock closed it slowly behind us, making sure to leave it unlocked.

Then we were hurrying back through the side yard, past the trash cans and shovel, toward the car waiting at the curb.

There was no way to know for sure that the key we needed was on the ring in my hand, but I was betting it was, that Daniel’s penchant for organization meant that all his keys were in one place.

I exhaled my relief as I got into the passenger seat of the Audi.

Rock slid behind the wheel and looked at me with a massive smile. "I knew you'd be a natural.”

Adrenaline was coursing through my body, and I would have been lying if I’d said it didn’t feel good. We’d just stolen from someone, had entered their house while they were sleeping.

So why did I feel liberated? Why did I feel euphoric?

"Let's go," I said. "We probably don't have much time."

Chapter48

Willa

Any sense of victory I felt leaving Daniel Longhat’s house with the keys in my hand dissipated the second we stepped into the admin building.

It was packed.

I told myself it was a good thing, that we needed all those bodies to help mask our movements on the way to the teachers’ lounge, but it didn't really work. I was back to being terrified, sure that we were going to be caught, I was going to be expelled, and any chance I had of finding out what had happened to Emma would be gone forever.

But it was too late now. I was in it, the keys in my pocket, Rock at my side. We were so close, too close to give up, too close for me to back out.

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