AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Shit!” Bash breathed.
Morgan shook her head. “We’ve got to work on your vocabulary. This way,” she said, running back up the stairs.
Bash followed her into a low-lit bedroom where her muddy luggage and clothes lay on the bed. She walked to the window, unlocked it, and pushed it open.
“Where are the keys to the boats?” she asked.
He fished a set of keys out of his pocket and held them up. “Only one set. I ordered a larger boat with sleeping quarters so I could stay on the lake.”
“Good. Hang on to them. Shut the window behind you and keep up,” she said before she climbed out on the roof.
The roof was flat, so it wasn’t difficult to track her movements in the dark. When they got to the back of the house, they heard pounding on the front door. He watched as Morgan threw her backpack down first, scooted to the edge on her butt and jumped. A short grunt followed.
“You okay?” he whispered.
“Yeah. It’s not that far a drop. Just remember to bend your legs and fall forward. It’s an incline. Beth and I did it all the time when we were in high school. If you have a laptop, toss me that bag first, and I’ll try to catch it. Wouldn’t want to lose any literary artistry,” she snorted.
He didn’t comment that he was a 34-year-old man long past the flexibility of his teens. Instead, he used the light on his cell phone to show her where the leather bag was located before tossing it down.
“Got it,” she said.
After dropping the backpack, he sat on the edge and pushed off as she had done. He fell forward and was met with a sudden jolt, the mud instantly seeping through the knees of his jeans. The drop was much shorter than he had anticipated. Picking up the backpack, he threw it over his shoulder. Morgan handed him the leather bag. Between the moonless night and the cover of pine trees, he could barely make out her silhouette in front of him.
She explained there were only two constructed paths down to the water, one from the house and one from the cottage. The first was the winding stone stairs lined with path lights that began at the house and ended at a dock that surrounded three sides of the boathouse. The second was a cruder slate-stone path that led from the caretaker’s cottage to a 20-foot pier. A gravel sidewalk along the water led from the pier to the only boathouse. The walkway from the house to the cottage met in the lower part of the stairway. The rest of the property was natural woods with underbrush and pine needles covering most of the ground. Considering the house was about to be invaded by hostile intruders, none of the obvious options were open to them.
“How can we find our way down to the water if we can’t see shit in the dark?” Bash asked.
“The security lights on the side of the house should provide some light, but we will have to stay in the trees to keep from being seen. There is an unofficial trail that cuts through the woods. It was part of our escape route when we wanted to be undetected by Beth’s parents. We memorized the way during the day because we couldn’t use flashlights. Take my hand,” she said, reaching for him.
He wrapped his hand around her warm, slender fingers and felt her pull him toward the corner of the house. After making sure they wouldn’t be seen, she led them through the pine trees for a good fifteen paces. She stopped at what he thought was an oak tree that seemed out of place among the evergreens. They could still see the house, but it was dark enough that no one could see them.
She let go of his hand. “This is where we start down the hill. Pine needles are pretty slick when wet, so be careful. And stay right behind me.”
Morgan was right. They slipped and slid down the hill, grabbing onto small trees and branches to hold themselves upright. It was impossible to see all the bushes and limbs before they smacked them in their faces. If they hadn’t both worn sweatshirts, they would have been covered in scratches. Bash tried to imagine a 17-year-old Morgan sneaking out of the house with her friend to meet boys and drink beer. For some reason, he couldn’t get that visual in his head. There was a big difference between having the wits to protect herself and drinking beer with a bunch of horny teenagers. The innocent vibe he got from her didn’t fit that persona. He suspected she was more of an observer than a participator.
They were forced to stop when they reached the gravel path that ran between the pier and the boathouse because it was bathed in floodlights. They were about 30 feet from the boathouse.
“Do you think they’re inside the boathouse?” he whispered.
She pointed up toward the house that was visible through the trees. The house was lit up like a Christmas tree. The bald guy stood in front of the window of the great room, talking animatedly on his cell phone. The other guy was not visible.
“The switch for the light in the boathouse is inside the house by the door to the deck. That guy is probably keeping an eye on the boats while the other one searches the house.”
“You’re right. They don’t have to be rocket scientists to know both of our cars haven’t moved. Looks like the boats are out,” he said with disappointment.
“Maybe not,” Morgan said, handing him her backpack. She twisted her mouth around as if she was turning something over in her mind. Then, without explanation, she grabbed the hem of her sweatshirt, yanked it over her head, and tossed it at him. His mouth fell open when she slipped off her shoes and socks, shimmied out of her jeans, and shoved her clothes into his arms. It might have been dark outside, but he couldn’t help but stare at her standing before him in her practical white bra and panties. Nothing screams innocence like 100% cotton. At least they aren’t labeled with the days of the week.
“W…What are you doing?” he asked dumbfounded.
“If we want a boat, I’ve got to get wet. I’ll swim around to the lakeside of the boathouse and go under the door to get inside. After I unlock the padlock from the inside, it should be easy to push the boat out. Once I’m clear of the doors, I’ll turn on the engines. They’re going to make some noise, so we need to move fast. As soon as you see the boat, run back down the gravel path and wait for me at the end of the small pier. If those guys hear us, I’m not going to be able to stop to let you on. You’ll have to jump on board as I idle by. The cove isn’t very deep, which requires a slower speed. We must stay between the buoys until we get out on the lake.”
It seemed like an absurd plan, but he didn’t have a better idea. She wrapped her arms around herself, shivering in the cool evening, probably in the lower 50s. He could only imagine what temperature the water must be.
“I’m a strong swimmer. Why don’t you let me get the boat?” he offered.
“Appreciate that, but I have the advantage of knowing the lay of the land. It would cost us too much time for you to figure out where everything is located.”
“You act like you’ve done this before.”
