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That didn’t sound like an adult. The footsteps were soft. Either the people here were small or there were kids in the house. What exactly are we taking? There are kids here! I didn’t know why it mattered, but knowing this, I was even more scared we’d get caught. It would creep out the poor kid.
Luke didn’t move but he was tense. I felt his chest against mine, his breathing controlled and steady. His fingers found my hand again. “If there’s a flush, get downstairs quickly.”
He was crazy!
A distinct start of a flushing toilet sounded and Luke nudged me hard on the shoulder to get me going. I started to creep but Luke nudged me again. Don’t stop.
I still went quietly, but moved faster. When I hit the first floor, Luke swept behind me and took the lead again down another hallway. This time he rushed forward, without stopping.
Further down the hallway, and out of sight of the stairwell, we both stopped, tucking back into the wall. The dim light returned over our heads. There were footsteps. The toilet gurgled, finishing up. Silence settled around us.
Luke waited only a moment before he padded quietly forward. I followed until he stopped in front of a door at the end. He positioned his hand on the handle, turned back to me and pointed to the wall, gesturing he wanted me to get back.
I pressed my back against the wall, my shoulder hitting a picture frame. I eased away to avoid knocking it off. Pictures on the wall:a family home. I pushed those thoughts back, stuffing them into a corner of my brain. I needed to be here with Luke. I needed to trust.
Luke twisted the handle. The door opened silently for a moment, but halfway through, the door gave a creak. Luke stopped, letting go of the handle, and stepped back against the wall.
We both waited. I listened, especially toward the bedrooms upstairs for noise. I swallowed, trying to get my heart to still so I could hear better.
Luke turned to me, pressing his hand to mine. He started signing. “I can’t fit through the door. Can you slip in?”
I checked the opening. If I sucked in, I could get in without touching the door. I nodded.
He shortened the sign language as he went, telling me only the important things. I figured he wanted to hurry. “Office. There’s desk and bookshelf. Desk has a locked drawer on left. Key is on highest shelf all the way to the left.”
“What am I looking for?”
“Camera.”
“What kind?”
“Like your cell phone. Small.”
I let out a slow breath. I couldn’t believe where I was. In that moment, the craziest thought about my toes with pink flowers and neon green leaves, and my fingers being painted in four different colors came to me. If we got caught, I was going to jail with weird fingernails.
I changed position with Luke, and passed the cell phone to him to hold. I wanted him to be able to run and call if there was an emergency.
I went to the door, pushed my back against the frame, and then stood on my tiptoes, sucked in my stomach. The edge of the frame raked my back. As I eased in, I earned a scratch on my side from a jagged corner on the metal plate the lock latched on to. Inside, I stopped, getting my bearings in the dark. There was the outline of a desk near the wall and a tall bookshelf to the left. There was a potted plant near the window. Why didn’t we come in through that window?
I moved slowly now, pretty sure I was under the bedroom at the very top of the stairs.
The smell of dirt, leather, books and a thick, heavily spiced cologne lingered in the air. With the moonlight filtering in through the window, I could tell the desk was spotless. It held a perfectly aligned inbox tray with a couple of files in it, a computer monitor, a pencil cup and a couple of assorted desk knickknacks. Perfectly placed at right angles.
The bookshelf was tall. I almost had to go into en pointe on my toes like a ballerina, and from there I leapt soundlessly, brushed my palm across the shelf above my head just to feel for the location, and landed back on the wood floor. A second leap up, and I had the key.
I crept over to the desk. This was it. I was about to steal someone’s camera. Mr. Blackbourne had warned me to stay out of trouble, and now I was neck deep in something. He’d have a fit.
Volto’s warning about how they used kids to get what they wanted kept edging into my thoughts.
I shook the thoughts from my head again. It was harder than I thought to stop them. I blamed the silence and how slowly I had to move. It gave me time to think. I sucked in another breath, holding myself together.
The wide desk had two drawers on the left- hand side. I tried the top one: it opened easily. I stopped, slid it closed. What he wanted was locked.
I tried the other drawer, but it wouldn’t budge. My fingers found the keyhole and I slid the key into the lock and turned it. The lock unlatched with a gentle click.
I tugged gently. The drawer slid out, but before I could get it open enough that I could slip my hand inside, it started to stutter as wood rubbed against itself.
Loudly.
I stopped, listening and waiting. When I didn’t hear a reaction upstairs, I slipped the key between my lips so I wouldn’t lose it, and placed both hands under the drawer. I lifted it carefully out, making no sound.
When I looked inside, I frowned. I couldn’t see anything; the drawer was deep and it was too dark. I didn’t want to reach a hand in and knock something over. I crept back to the door. Luke was there. He reached a hand out.
I signed into it. “Need light.”
Luke slipped his hand back and returned it in a matter of seconds. He passed over something small, and I realized it was a button light.
I padded back to the desk, waiting until the light was inside the shelter of the open drawer before clicking it. A soft green glow lit up the area.
Inside was nothing but a big black box. It took me a moment to realize it was a desk safe. I studied the unit. Did he expect me to lift this out? It was bigger than a camera. Was I supposed to open it?
I held the light closer, studying the surface. There was a sticker on the left. The edges of it was a little curled up as the glue had become undone, so the safe was old and had been there for a while. The sticker read biometric safe.
I glanced at the center console again, recognizing a place to put a finger. It required the right fingerprint.
I backed away, leaving the drawer open and slipped back to the door.
Luke stretched a hand to me. I started signing. “Can’t do it. Fingerprint safe.”
Luke’s hand retracted again. This time he held out his hand and stuck something like a plastic Easter egg into my palm. He started signing against my hand, but I couldn’t tell what he was saying with the egg in my hand so I switched it over to free it up.
“Say again?” I signed.
“Open the egg. Put plastic around your finger. Press your finger to the touch pad.”
How was that going to work? I worried there might be an alarm on the safe. What if I made a mistake and it blew up in my hands or something? I don’t know how I managed to get through this so far. My heart was constantly in my ears beating against the drums until I felt almost deaf. My nerves were alive and I felt every change in the air. I was beyond terrified and the only way I was holding myself together, was knowing if I fell apart now, I would never get out of here.
Luke grasped my hand, squeezing it, as if sensing my nerves. Slowly, he drew it up, and he kissed my palm. Silent promises. Trust. That was what I needed now.
He squeezed my fingers firmly: I had to hurry.
I pulled away from him, stepping toward the desk. Kneeling in front of the open drawer, I opened the egg, using the light to check the inside.
The egg held a thin putty, almost like a very soft gummy bear. I placed my forefinger inside, and the material molded around my finger. To keep it on, I had to hold the edges together, so I had to use both hands to do this. I put the button light down on top of the safe, aiming it at the scanner.
