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They put her in a room.
I put her bag down and patted her hand. “I’m going to tell your husband where you are.”
I moved, going to the left, and kept walking. I was inside the inner sanctum. I could make my way around now. That was until I got to the stair door and opened it, planning on heading down to the basement. Except Pialto was there.
I screamed, then clamped a hand over my own mouth. I swatted at him, stepping inside. “What are you doing?”
“What do you think I’m doing?” he hissed back. “I broke you out. You’re my responsibility until you’re back and safe. If a bullet goes your way, I’m jumping in the way.”
I gave him a look, but that was kinda sweet of him. “No, you won’t. Take your grandma’s car back before she finds it gone.”
“No.”
“Pialto.”
“Molly.” We both had our arms folded over our chests, but I couldn’t argue with him long. The appointment was in ten minutes. “I have to go.”
I started for the basement.
Pialto was right behind me. “We have to go.”
“Agh. Go home.” I kept going down.
“Agh back. You go home.”
I pushed open the door, turning left for where the clinic offices were. He was right next to me.
I shot him a look. He shot one back.
There were people coming toward us, but we could be down here. I’d been down here other times when my dad had a broken nose or a busted rib. There was a room where we could heat up our own food. It was a secret room, but I’d been there enough, I knew people could use it.
We went past a bunch of nurses, their lunch coolers in hand. None of them paid us any attention.
I so had this in the bag.
“Do you know where you’re going?”
“I—” We turned the corner, and there was a wall. There hadn’t been a wall there the last time I was down here. “Uh.” I pushed on the door to the stairs. “We’re heading up.”
Up and to the left. All the way to the left. I was leading us, moving along the hall and through doors that didn’t look like they would set off an alarm until—success. We were in the back—I was so dumb. I looked up. There were signs to the clinic area, and who was looking for us? No one. No one had a clue we weren’t supposed to be here. I’d made this all more complicated than it needed to be.
Pialto pointed up. “That says clinic. Which one is your friend’s appointment at?”
I opened my mouth . . . and closed it. I had no clue.
But I looked at my phone and squealed because we were going to miss them. I took off running.
“What are we doing?” Pialto was back to hissing.
“I don’t know. Just look for Jess, okay?”
“Jess Montell?”
“Yes.”
“We’re here following your cop friend?” Still hissing.
I was looking in each clinic as we went past them. “Yes. Why?” Also, “She was a parole officer.”
“I don’t care. She scares me even more than your man.”
“Then go home!”
“No!”
An older lady came out of the bathroom and gave us a dumbfounded look as we passed her, both running, both hissing at each other.
“Agh!” Pialto tackled me, his arms coming around me and pushing me to a doorway. There was a big post right next to us.
“What?” I tried to see around him. “What is it?”
“I found your friend.”
I perked up. “Great! Where?”
He let me go, edging back a step and peeking around the corner. “They went into the oncology—ooooh. Oh no.”
Oncology?
No . . .
I stepped around him, and could see Jess with her mom at the front desk. Jess’s guards were with her. One was coming back toward the door.
I squeaked, grabbing Pialto and moving him back.
I scanned the entryway, too, and saw two more of Trace’s guards there, but they weren’t looking toward us. They were looking out.
I moved back in, almost smashing Pialto against the door behind us.
“What is it?”
I peeked back. That one guard was outside the door, but he was on his phone.
I moved in when he began to look our way.
“I don’t know,” I answered Pialto.
“You wanted to come and find them for this appointment. Right?”
I nodded.
“They’re right there. Go and join them.”
I shook my head. “It doesn’t feel right.” If I joined them, Jess would make a call and send me home. I was still having this bad feeling, twisting in a whole knot.
“What are you going to do? We can’t stand here the whole time. This door will eventually open.”
I turned, assessing the door. It was a janitor’s closet. “I think we’re good for a while.”
“Oh. Yeah. Probably.”
We waited.
I had no clue what I was doing, and after thirty minutes I was thinking this was all a foolish idea. That’s when I heard a voice clear behind us.
