Page 113 of Forging Caine

I held up my watch to her, tapped it, and she responded by holding up two fingers.

Jason would be there in two minutes. All we needed was to stay quiet, wait for him, and hope his plan worked.

A male voice spoke from down the hall. “What about the Jays?”

My eyes flew wide and met Samantha’s. Jason hadn’t mentioned other patrols.

“I’m telling you, Astros are going to repeat.” There were at least two of them. Possibly the two who’d interrupted my conversation with Jason by the pond. More likely security or other guards, rather than staff, but I didn’t recognize the voices, so they weren’t Bodyguards One or Three.

Cam-ron’s lips opened and Samantha clamped her hand over it, her gaze boring into his skull so strongly that he made a sign like turning a key over his mouth.

I tapped her, pointed to myself, and then to the window. I crept up to the landing, remaining in the stairwell, and eased myself along the wall until I could spot their reflections in the window.

Two men walked down the hall, wearing the dark cargo pants and shirts like the other security guards. The saving grace was their conversation, which masked most noise we might make. They passed the last doors in the hall and didn’t turn around. How close would they come? Would they turn at the window? Would they come down the stairs?

I inched back to Samantha and spoke as quietly as I could without risking misinterpretation. “Two guards on patrol.”

“Jason’s late. He should have been here three minutes ago.”

Cam-ron waved his hands in front of himself, color draining from his face.

I jabbed my finger toward the stair he was crouched on, and he sat. I eased his head down between his legs. The last thing we needed was him passing out.

The baseball discussion grew louder. They were not turning.

Samantha leaned against me. “If we go further downstairs, and they hear us, that’s us against three of them until Jason shows up. Not good odds, and those two would have the advantage of being behind us with the high ground on the stairs.”

“I can’t take two out at once.”

Samantha pulled back to mock-glower at me, her standard line ofI can take care of myselfclear, then resumed her close position. “I’ll take the big one.”

No, she wouldn’t, but there was no time to argue. “The bigger one is on the far side. You can have him.”

“It’ll make a lot of noise. May bring attention to us. But it’s at the end of the hall, so maybe not.” She ran a hand over my hair and clutched the back of my head. No matter how calm she seemed, she was scared. “They’re all carrying guns, stun guns, batons, and zip ties. Watch out for weapons. We tie them and leave them gagged.”

We climbed to the top step. The lights outside helped ensure the window was less a mirror than if it were dark, but all the same, we moved slowly enough to not catch their attention in the reflection. So long as they didn’t hear my heart crashing around inside my chest, everything would be fine.

I did as she’d said, planning my route around the corner, to the man on the closer side, who was at least four inches taller than the other. Samantha would be angry I lied about which one was bigger, but I’d deal with that once we were done. I’d surprise him. Fist to the nose. Kick to the knee. Disarm him, get rid of his radio, tie him up.

And pray it worked.

Samantha put up three fingers.

Three.

Two.

As she reached one, an urgent voice came over the radio. “I need help in the locker room.”

I grabbed her waist before she could move, and in the window’s reflection, we watched the guards tear back down the hallway toward the center of the house.

“Cazzo Madre di Dio,” I breathed, closing my eyes and resting my back against the wall, with Samantha’s body tight to mine. “That was close.”

The pounding of their footsteps faded in the distance, while the door below us opened. Samantha’s body went rigid and I didn’t dare move. Was the guard down there leaving his post to help?

Voices filled the air from the guard’s radio. The call for help came again, followed by questions of protocol. Was there an attack? Did they need to call in backup?

Cam-ron, still sitting on the step with his head down, let out a whimper.

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