She stepped away from the crowd, turned her back to them. Slowly. Casually. She didn’t look at anyone. She kept her chin high, so it looked like she knew what she was doing and like sheshouldbe doing it.
She was nearly at the door, had even reached out to grab the knob.
But then something caught her from behind and jerked her back. An arm came around her throat.
“I’m going to kill you, Eddy,” she heard Bruiser seethe as the pressure on her windpipe increased and she struggled to breathe.
But he didn’t go after Sammy or send anyone else after her, so it was okay.
No matter what happened, it was okay, because she’d gotten Sammy out.
Royal parked histruck in the ditch closer to the driveway than Gard had originally been. With the partying going on, Gard didn’t think it was too much of a risk to drive this close, and it got them back to the house quicker.
He hopped out, already moving forward as Royal and Zeke trailed behind. “I don’t know how many weapons they’ve got,” he told them. “Drugs are a certainty, and many of them are probably high, which makes them volatile and unpredictable. We know Sammy is in that house. Lia should be waiting for us outside, but we don’t know if any other people are being held against their will, so we have to be careful.”
Three armed men against an unknown number of highly erratic targets. Not exactly the best situation. But it didn’t have to be a full-on fight. If he could get Sammy out of that house with stealth, all the better.
They walked up the drive, the house in sight. Gard studied the dark shadows of the yard where he’d left Lia but didn’t see anything that looked like it might be a person. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and typed in a text.
Where are you?
He waited for an answer, but none came. Frustrated and worried, he considered the house. The situation. Surely she hadn’t gone in there alone before she’d gotten a text from Royal… Surely she hadn’t broken her promise.
But he had a sinking suspicion that’s just what she’d done.
He shook it away. Sammywasin there, or Lia would have gotten a message to him. So that meanthehad to get in there. And if Lia was in there too… Well, they’d deal with that.
Maybe it hadn’t been the deal, but… Lia knew what she wasdoing. He had to trust that she knew what she was getting herself into. If there was something to be mad about, he’d save that anger for when they were all safe.
“There are two entrances,” he told Zeke and Royal. “Here in the front, and then in the back. When I was here a few weeks ago, the back door was grown over with vines, so I’m not sure it’s a viable entrance point.”
“If we can get through the vines without anyone noticing, could be a surprise entrance point,” Zeke said. “And with that music playing, I think you could probably cut through enough to get a door open without anyone noticing.”
“If it’s not locked,” Royal offered.
“Clearly they’re not too worried about being snuck up on,” Zeke replied. “Even if it’s locked, it’d be easy enough to pick and get in there. Probably without anyone noticing. Whatever they’re up to right now, they’re not worried about being caught.”
Zeke wasn’t wrong, though it was still a risk and dangerous because drugs made people unpredictable. But they had to get in there. “You two go around back and see what you can accomplish.”
“What are you going to do? Walk in the front?” Royal demanded.
“Yeah. Why not?”
“Because I’ve had the same training you have, Gard. Trainingyougave me, if you’ll recall. I get that it’s different because your niece is inside, but that trainingisto keep everyone as safe as possible. No training we’ve ever gone through saysHey, walk in the front door of a volatile situation alone.”
Maybe Royal was right, but Gard didn’t have to like it. “I can keep an eye on things through the window. You guys see what you can do in the back. I’ll only go in if I have to.”
Royal clearly didn’t love that answer, but Gard needed them togo. “If we have a way out back, we can sneak Sammy and Lia outthat way. Get it open. I’ll make sure no one comes out the front. Come on. Move.”
Royal finally relented and he and Zeke moved away from Gard, melting into the shadows.
Gard put them out of his mind as he studied the house. He couldn’t waltz in the front, no. But he could get a better view of what was going on inside. A head count. He could make a visual on Sammy, on Lia if she was in there. Formulate a plan.
Maybe he could even create some kind of diversion. If he could get all these people pouring out of the house, maybe in the chaos he could get to Sammy and Lia. Get them away from this without any confrontation Sammy had to witness.
But he needed more information first, which meant getting closer. Careful to stay in the shadows, he started to move. Listening to the sounds of the party, paying attention to the world around him.
He frowned a little as an odd smell filled the air. He couldn’t quite pick it out while his mind focused on getting to Sammy. On where Lia might be.
