It’s a spotlight and, with the curtain open now, everything is blinding.
I shield my eyes from the lights, and that’s when I realize we’re lying on a stage in the middle of a stable. The curtains are wide open, spotlights are shining, Joseph is leading Mary in on a donkey, and there’s a full audience with gaping mouths.
The little boy in the front row points at us. “Now, where’s baby Jesus going to lay his head?”
“Yeah,” another girl tugs on her dad’s arm, “there’s a stranger in the manger.”
Park scrambles to his feet. “No, no. Everything’s fine. Joseph and Mary and everyone can still fit inside the stable.”
The crowd starts yelling. “You destroyed the program!”
“Where’s your Christmas spirit?”
“Christmas is ruined!”
“I’m sorry!” Park yells back, with hands up.“It was an accident.”
“You broke the stable!”
“Technically, that was her.” Park points at me.
“Boo!”
“Uh, Park?” I jump to my feet. “I think we should go.”
I pull him off the stage, but he still manages to call out, “Get one of the three wise men to fix it. They’re supposedly really smart.”
I lead us through the backstage curtains to the green exit sign.
“Where are we going? What is this place? I’m feeling very confused about how I was just in a metal 12 x 12 room, and now I’m on a stage.”
“We need to find Nicholas’s lab.” I push through the door that leads into an unmarked hallway.
“Like a chemistry lab?”
“Yes, it’s where he makes the weapons.”
“What is a chemistry lab doing in the same building as a stage and a community Christmas program?”
I come to a T in the hallway and glance both ways, trying to orient myself. “We’re just outside of Seattle in an exposition building that Nicholas owns. The lab’s in the basement, but he rents out the other half to businesses and churches. It’s the perfect cover. Nobody would ever think to look here.” I turn right, running down the hall. “I think it’s this way.”
“How do you know which way to go?”
“I once saw blueprints of the building in Nicholas’s apartment. I took a picture and sent it to Todd. I still had the picture on my phone, and I studied it before I came here today.”
Male voices travel down the hall. Someone’s coming. We look around for a door to escape out of, but there’s nothing.
Park pushes me behind a pillar, covering my body with his. I bury my head into his neck, smelling the familiar sandalwood scent of his skin. My inner female CIA voice, always trying to prove herself in a male-dominated profession, tells me to push Park away—I don’t need him toprotectme. But the truth is, having him hold me in his arms is the best Christmas present I’ve ever received.
Park’s heartbeat thrums against my chest, stirring mine faster. His hands press against me, splayed out across my waist. The tip of his nose skims the side of my cheek, and his hot steady breaths brush over the exposed skin on my neck. We’re in a hiding-behind-a-pillar-so-nobody-sees-us position, but somehow it’s freakishly sexy. I’d hold this position for hours if that’s what it takes.
The voices walk past us down the hall, not noticing or saying anything to the two of us. Park’s hands slide around my back, so our position is more like a hug than a cover. I close my eyes as his nose and lips graze over my neck and cheekbone. I’ve never been so distracted during a job in my entire life.
“We should probably go.” Park releases me. At least one of us is focused. “If they’ve been watching the fake camera screen, they’ll start wondering why the bomb hasn’t gone off yet, and they’ll be suspicious.”
“Right.” I drop my backpack to the floor and open it. “Here.” I shove a bulletproof vest in his hands.
“What’s our plan?” He zips the vest over his chest.
