Broch tested the chain spanning from the cuff around Jessica’s wrist to the wall. He gathered the chain near the plate and, blocking the girl with his body, gave it a yank. It ripped free.
“The walls ur lik’ paper.”
Catriona motioned to the door. “Take her back to the dining hall.”
Broch scowled. “Whit aboot ye?”
She glanced at the vent and he shook his head. “Na. Na. Yer nae goan in there wi’oot me.”
“I can fit. You can’t. Having you here does me no good.”
He glowered at her. “Na.”
“You’re getting her out of here, and I’m going after Mason.”
“Wait ’til ah git back.”
Catriona shook her head. “I can’t wait. He’ll be long gone.”
Jessica tugged at Broch’s shirt, the chain hanging from her wrist jingling. “Please. I have to get out of here. Did you already save the other lady?”
Broch glanced at Catriona and she shook her head, almost imperceptibly. Broch easily translated that look as well.
Don’t tell Jessica the other girl is dead.
He looked down at the actress.
“Ah’m aff tae git ye oot first.”
It wasn’t a lie.
“Go with him,” said Catriona.
The girl stood, wobbly on her shaking knees.
Broch knew what he had to do, as much as he couldn’t bear the thought of leaving Catriona behind. He had to get the girl to safety. He froze, wishing he had a twin so that he could send him out with the girl and he could stay with Catriona.
Na. He couldn’t split himself, but he wasn’t leaving yet.
Nae until ah dae this.
He took a step toward Catriona.
“Kiss me, wifie.”
Catriona’s brow knotted. “What?”
“Ah’m askin’ ye fer a kiss. Dae ah hae yer permission?”
“Um...” Catriona glanced at the girl. “Is this really the time—”
“Aye or na?”
She nodded. “Sure. Yes.”
Broch leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. She slid her hands along his sides and gripped him tightly to her. He thought he could feel her shaking, but didn’t know if it was his kiss or her plan to follow Mason inspiring the reaction.
He liked to think it was the kiss.
With a final press of his lips, he pulled from her grasp and turned to scoop the frightened girl into his arms. His gaze met Catriona’s once more.
“Ah’ll be back.”
She giggled, looking flush. “You sound like someone.”
He didn’t know who.
Chapter Nineteen
Catriona watched Broch and Jessica leave before lowering herself to the floor and peering into the tiny tunnel.
Her stomach twisted into knots. She’d forgotten how much she hated small spaces.
This is possibly the dumbest idea I’ve ever had.
The screen of her phone warned it had fifteen percent power left.
She sighed. “Great. Perfect timing.”
Turning on the flashlight, she shimmied into the vent. Phone in one hand and gun in the other, she used her elbows as pikes to drag her body through the tube.
Progress proved painfully slow with no free hands to help. Unwilling to tuck away her gun, she took a moment to balance the phone in her cleavage. The soft glow between her breasts illumined the path before her and she continued forward, singing Neil Diamond’s Heartlight in her head with slightly different words to distract herself from her rising claustrophobia.
Turn on your boob light...let it shine wherever you go...
That’s when she saw it.
A wire had been strung across the vent. She put down the gun and pulled the phone from its breast nest to get a better look. The wire hung from the ring of a grenade, which perched at the top of the duct, held tight by duct tape.
If she hadn’t turned on her booby-light, she would have triggered the booby-trap.
That little bastard.
Stuffing the light back into her dress, she untaped the grenade and moved it to the opposite side of the vent. Gathering her gun, she held her breath and slithered on her side past the balled wire.
Catriona could feel nerves bouncing in her chest. She tried to push her thoughts to those happier moments before she’d been stupid enough to crawl into the vent.
That kiss.
The kiss had made her insides woogy.
That was definitely better than this bull—
Her eye caught something in the distance.
Hold on. What’s that?
Catriona noticed a glow at the end of the tunnel and turned off her flashlight to keep from announcing her presence as she worked her way toward the edge.
The vent dumped into a hallway much like the first they’d encountered. Flat black paint covered the surfaces and razor wire coiled down the walls like ivy.
Grateful to be out of the tube and release the pressure crawling put on her aching ribs, she stood and stretched. An impossibly dim bulb hung from the ceiling, allowing her just enough light to keep her flesh from being sliced to pieces as she moved.
Holding her gun ahead of her, Catriona crept forward, a step at a time, searching for Mason and the door out. She wasn’t sure which she wanted to find more. Odds were good Mason had left the building already. That wouldn’t be a terrible thing. If she could get to Konrad’s trailer and call the police, they might be able to cut him off on his way out of the desert.
That would mean mission accomplished and she didn’t have to do all the scary parts. The cops could find Mason and wrap him up later.
Catriona had taken less than ten steps when she heard a faint scraping noise behind her. The synapses in her brain burst like fireworks and she pictured Soto talking to her earlier in the evening.
I heard this scraping noise...
Catriona jumped straight into the air with both feet.
Glancing down, she caught
