He waited, though. Slowly, every second feeling like one too many, he pressed his ear to the door. Olivia had said she’d help. She’d said she’d create a distraction, bring people to the front of the building. If he broke in too early, all of that would be ruined.
All they could do was wait.
There were people inside, he realized. Their voices rumbled through the quiet, too low and soft for him to make out. One voice was different. Pained—and even if he couldn’t make out exactly what was being said, he recognized James when he heard him.
His hand tightened around the cold metal of the handle. Bastards. He knew he needed to wait, but everything in him screamed to yank the door open, race in there, and-
“Hey!” he heard someone cry. A woman. Olivia. His heart froze. Her voice was raised, loud enough that he could make it out. “Hey, there’s something- I think you should see this!”
A distraction. His mind went blank. She’d actually done it.
Or maybe this was all a ploy, too, and she was just lulling him into a false sense of security. When he burst through the door, they might be waiting on the other side for him, at the ready.
With Olivia’s cry starting to fade, though, he heard movement. People. The murmurs were fading, moving farther away, and the creak of the floorboards as they shifted toward the front of the unit completed the mental picture for him. He licked his lips. Now or never.
The handle turned under his grasp. Unlocked—just like she’d said. He drew it open as slowly as he could manage, cringing back from every squeak and burr of the hinges.
When it was open enough to fit his shoulders through, he squeezed past.
The dark of the outside world fell away into warm, cozy light that left him blinking. A hallway stretched out before him, lined with doors. He inched forward, peering into one. A bedroom, slovenly enough to put Leon to shame. In any other circumstance, he’d have chuckled. Typical college kids.
They were on a schedule, though, and Olivia’s distraction wouldn’t last long. Pausing just long enough to jerk his chin for Leon to follow, he hurried inside.
Olivia had said they were holding James further in. Daniel’s head swiveled back and forth, his eyes darting to each and every sign of life. Somewhere. James would be in here somewhere, if only he could-
Peeking out from around a corner, he froze.
A squat living room sat ahead, all but filled with couches and beer-can-covered end tables. Daniel hardly noticed the mess.
All he could see was James, crumpled on the floor. His face was a mess of bruises, with scrapes covering the exposed skin of his arms. They’d zip-tied him, Daniel realized. Bound his hands back so he couldn’t fight.
Of course, his thoughts whispered. It’s only logical. You knew what you’d find.
Logically understanding something and seeing it with your own two eyes were very, very different things. Daniel swallowed hard, steeling himself, and lunged forward. Leon’s muffled hiss rang out behind him. He’d caught sight of his friend, then.
Daniel lurched, all but falling over James. “Hey,” he whispered in James’ ear, rummaging through his pocket for the knife he’d stashed. “James. You there?”
Silence—but he felt James shift, twitching ever so slightly at the touch.
Not good, then, but he’d take it. Daniel smiled, the expression cold and mirthless. “Hang in there. We’ll get you out.”
His hand closed around the knife. Elation shot through him at the feel of cold metal in his fingers. Yanking it free, he stooped, working the serration of the blade against the hard plastic binding James’ ankles.
A hand brushed his shoulder. Daniel flinched. Leon. He’d dropped to the ground alongside Daniel, his eyes glued to James’ face. His mouth hung open, but words seemed to have escaped him. Daniel sighed. Just as well. “Help me carry him,” he murmured.
James twitched again. This time, his eyes cracked open. “I-I can walk,” he mumbled, the words slurred.
The plastic snapped. Daniel shifted, grabbing hold of the tie around James’ wrists. “Of course you can. But let us help.”
One more good yank, and the knife sheared straight through. Daniel’s mood brightened instantly. “Okay,” he whispered, folding the blade shut and tucking it away. He took hold of James’ arm in the same moment, pulling gently. “L-Leon. Could you-”
“Got it.” Leon’s voice was hushed, too muted for Daniel’s liking, but he helped Daniel ease James to a sitting position.
James was a big man, it turned out. With the seconds ticking away and every quiet noise screaming like an alarm in their ears, it felt like it took forever to hoist their friend aloft. He mumbled something dark and foul, but despite his bold claims of independence, James seemed perfectly happy to lean on Leon, letting the two of them guide him toward the exit.
Almost there. Daniel’s eyes flicked to the doorway, to the narrow line of light around its rim. They were almost there, and then-
James’ foot caught at something. A wire, Daniel saw in horrified fascination as time slowed to a crawl. It wasn’t like anyone living in this house had cared much for organization, after all. It was such a simple thing—just one of a hundred different obstacles lining the place.
That wire was the one that mattered, it seemed.
James lurched, losing his balance. Daniel and Leon winced, straining to keep him upright.
They came close. They came damn close. But James’ knee hit the carpeted floor with a dull thud. Barely a noise at all, really.
But when Daniel looked up, his palms starting to sweat, he heard the voices in the room beyond stop. “What was that?” someone said.
Someone else sighed—and mumbled something in a low voice. Something that sounded way, way too much like an I’ll check it out.
“Come on,” Daniel hissed, glancing back to Leon. “Hurry.”
As they
