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Annabel leaned toward my ear. “If she gets arrested for trespassing, how much jail time are we talking?”
I gaped at her. “She’s not getting jail time! That would be…”
“Trespassing is a misdemeanor in California,” Yasmine whispered. “This is not what I wanted to happen. I literally just thought we’d lean over the fence and hand somebody a letter.” She sucked in a breath. “And a freaking knife! What was I thinking?” She covered her face with her hands. “It sounded so much better in my mind. This is all my fault. She’s going to go to jail, and it’s all going to be my fault.”
“This is not on you,” I told Yasmine, my voice brooking no room for argument. “It was an excellent plan. It still is. We can execute it. We’re all here by choice. In fact, Poppy basically forced her way onto this trip. She’s a big girl. She made her own choices, beginning with tunneling through the hedges and falling out on the other side like Velma trying to solve a cartoon mystery. But, even better, we’re going to get her out of there before anybody notices, and then we’ll regroup. We will fix this. We will get your letter to Matt. Maybe you keep the pocketknife and give it to him after he reads the letter. Just to be on the safe side.”
“Yeah, that sounds good.” Yasmine nodded.
“Where are you guys?” Poppy’s voice was farther away, somewhere ahead of us.
We hurried to catch up.
“We’re right here,” Annabel called, using her phone flashlight to illuminate the area in front of her. “Can you see the light?”
“Faintly,” Poppy replied.
“I can see the parking pad up ahead,” Annabel told her. “We’re almost there. Do not go full Muppet on us. Do you hear me? We need you in a fully functioning body to get you out of there.”
“I’m not going to—” A small shriek sounded.
“What? What happened?” I cried.
“Did someone see you?” Yasmine called.
“I tripped,” Poppy said. “There are so many roots—”
She stopped speaking abruptly.
“What now?” Annabel asked. “What are you—”
“Shhhh. I hear voices,” Poppy hissed.
I strained, but I couldn’t hear anything. “Are you sure?”
“Yes,” Poppy said, her voice a little closer. A loud crack came from nearby. “I’m trying to get back through, but the hedges on your side are too thick.”
“Don’t waste your time trying to fight the trees,” Annabel told her. “Just hightail it down to the end.”
“But—”
“Don’t argue,” Annabel insisted. “Just do it.”
“Okay.”
My phone pinged with a text from Marco. The screen was facing me because I had my light shining on the ground.
are you in a yard or something? i’ve been watching your location now for the last ten minutes. i pulled up google maps, but i can’t figure out where you are.
I’m certain it looked strange that we were very slowly walking between two large houses at almost one in the morning.
I texted him back as we walked.
we’re walking. poppy’s currently lost in the bushes.
He responded quickly.
lost in the bushes?
