Page 23 of Bishop

The weight of the small metal object in my hand is heavy as Liam pushes me out of his chambers and toward my cell.

The door opens and the girls are still sitting in the exact spot as before. Gabrielle looks up at me but there's no smile. Nothing that would indicate that she's happy I'm back alive. I'm losing her.

The second Liam walks out and closes the door behind me, I look at what I managed to swipe from the floor.

A small pairing knife. It won't be much use against the guards but maybe I can use it to get out of the cell.

It's not much but it'll have to do.

Fifteen

Bishop

It's now or never.

The sweat drips from my forehead into my eyes, but I don't stop. I waited until Gabrielle and the girls were asleep before I started on my plan. In a perfect world, I'd have warned them that we'd be making a jail break tonight, but I didn't want to get their hopes up for nothing, not when they've already been through so much.

I'm not able to pick the lock the traditional way since the bolt is on the outside of the door, but I have noticed that the back edge of the metal bar that slides into place is serrated. Slowly, I've been poking the small paring knife into the back opening of the lock and sliding it open. It's tedious and hurts my hands, but at least it's moving. I've been hunched over this lock for hours, but I refuse to stop.

There were a couple of times I thought I was about to get caught. Once when a guard walked by, once when I heard two other guards arguing about something further down, and one final time when I heard both Shade and Liam arguing down the hall. Shade was on his way off location, which only further cements the fact that we need to get out today. If Shade is gone, it would stand to reason that several of the guards have gone along with him. It's a skeleton crew today. The perfect opportunity for us to make an escape and hopefully not stir up too much attention.

It's dead silent when I get the lock to the last ridge. I suck in a breath, shove the lock one final time as softly as I can, hoping to keep it from making too much noise. A low thunk echoes in the hall, but no one comes to check. The relief that floods through my body when I pull the small knife out of the hole and see past the metal is addicting. The next part may prove to be less enjoyable.

I rush to the corner where Gabrielle and the other girls have taken to sleeping together and shake Gabrielle awake.

"Not now. Please, no more," she whimpers and tries to fight me away. She thinks I'm one of the guards come to take her for their entertainment purposes. It breaks my heart to pieces.

"Gabi, open your eyes. It's me. Open." I shake her again, and finally those chocolate brown eyes open and focus on my face. I'm sure I'm bruised up from the beating Liam gave me earlier, but I'm praying she doesn't focus on that.

"What is it? Are you okay?" She pulls her hands up and swipes them down my face. I hiss at the contact but quickly bite down any minute pain I'm feeling.

"I'm fine. I need you to get the girls up right now; we're leaving."

"What? What do you mean we're leaving? Shade is taking us somewhere?"

"No, I opened the door. We have to run."

Gabrielle's eyes go wide, and she looks from me to the door and then back at me again. A few weeks ago, she'd already be up and racing to the door, but now I see hesitation in her gaze.

"We shouldn't; they'll find us. They'll catch us before we even get a chance to get out." Gabi shakes her head and cringes back against the wall.

"We have to try. It's going to be tough, and there's a chance there are more guards than I think, but we have to try now, or we'll never make it out of here."

"What about the club, they'll?—"

I cut her off before she can finish the sentence. "They won't make it in time. I can't bear the thought of any of you in the corner with Willa and Skyler. Please trust me; we have to leave now." I plead with my eyes, hoping I don't have to do much more begging.

"Okay... Okay, I trust you." She nods once and quickly gets on with waking Uma and April. Without hesitation, I fill them in on what I want to do. There's only one way in or out from where we are. We gather what little bit of supplies we have in the room, and they line up behind me.

"I don't know where the guards are. Keep your eyes open and be quiet. If they catch me, you all keep running. Get out and call for help. Gabi, you know how to reach Wyatt. Get them here."

"Wait, I'm not going to leave you behind." Gabrielle pulls back stopping me from moving forward to the door.

"If you have to, then you have to. This is our only shot." I hold her gaze so she knows I'm serious. I don't want her to have any doubts. I'd rather them leave me behind than have to sit in this cell even one more day.

"We're all going to make it. I know it." April says from her spot in the line.

"That's right. We're all going to make it. Just stay with me." I nod in April's direction.