Page 25 of Fire in My Blood
I grab Lucas’s hand, and we exit the building and make our way to my car. I pop the lid while we’re still yards away.
He eyes me skeptically when he sees the size of the trunk of my small car, and I give him an apologetic shrug.
Climbing inside, he adjusts his body into a tight fetal position. “I hope the men you normally keep in here are smaller than me.” He raises an eyebrow at me.
My lips twitch with amusement. “I’ll let you out as soon as I can. I promise.”
After closing the lid, I get into my car and start the engine. My heart is beating in my throat as I back out of my parking space.
I drive slowly toward the gates while concentrating on breathing calmly. My smile looks forced when I glance in the rearview mirror, so I shake my shoulders to loosen up a bit.
I’m about half an hour earlier than normal, but hopefully, they won’t notice. There’s nothing unusual about my appearance, apart from the blood on my work clothes, but that’s mostly hidden beneath my coat.
I’ll just wave and smile like I usually do, and they’ll open the gates and let me through. In a couple of minutes, I’ll be able to relax my shoulders and laugh about this.
As I approach the gates, I paste what I hope is a bright smile on my face and slow the car to a crawl.
The guard at the gates takes one look at me and stretches out his arm for me to stop. There’s not a hint of a smile on his face.
My already racing heart slams against my chest, but I keep the smile on my face while I roll down the window. “Hi.” My voice sounds more normal than I thought it would.
He seems to study my face for an awfully long time. “Are you all right, miss? You’re a bit early today.”
My mind struggles to come up with a suitable reply, so I blurt out the first thing that comes to mind. “Oh, my manager left me a message that I didn’t need to clean the basement today, so I finished earlier than usual.” My voice is a bit shaky, but I try to conceal it with a little chuckle.
The guard studies my face for another few seconds before he suddenly and without saying anything bends down to look into the back seat of my car.
Blood is rushing through my veins, and I feel a bit lightheaded. The guard is clearly suspicious, but I don’t know why other than the fact that I’m early. Are there cameras inside or outside the building I don’t know about? Or have they just discovered I’ve entered a room I’m not supposed to?
The guard straightens and looks at me. “Can you open the trunk for me, please?”
I can practically feel my face drain of all color, and the smile slips from my face. This is it. There’s nothing I can do to protect Lucas now. I’m no match for an armed guard.
“Sure.” My voice is shrill.
As I reach for the button to open the trunk, I glance at the gates. They’re made of solid iron bars, and even if I floored it, I doubt my car would stand a chance against those things.
The lid of the trunk pops open, and the guard moves to the back of the car.
I really should get out of the car and try to come up with some kind of explanation for why I have a man stuffed in there. But I’m frozen solid in my seat.
Chapter 16
Lucas
I’m still smiling when the lid opens. Erica sounded remarkably calm when talking to the guard, but the man clearly didn’t believe her. Which leaves it up to me to save her from being caught red-handed breaking out a prisoner.
As soon as the guard’s face comes into view I speak. “Hi there.”
His eyes snap to mine, and before he can say anything, I pull his mind to me. Then I speak in a clear voice, making sure to enunciate every word. “There is nobody in the trunk. You will close the lid and open the gates to let the woman through. Everything is exactly as normal.”
I hold the guard’s gaze until I can see the meaning of my words sink in. A peaceful expression settles on his face.
He nods before closing the lid of the trunk. I hear his footsteps move away.
A few seconds later, the car starts moving. It crawls forward for a short while before it picks up speed.
About ten minutes later, the car slows and comes to a stop. The trunk lid clicks open.