Page 15 of A Blade and Arrow Christmas
While I’m sorting through our options, I catch a snippet of Lance’s mutterings.
“I can leave the kids outside,” he says to himself. “Or better yet, the garage. They’ll be safe in there. And they can’t identify me. The rest of them can stay…”
My stomach lurches.
Oh, no.
No, no, no.
He isnotsticking the babies in the garage and leaving the rest of us to burn.No way.
I sneak a quick look at Charlie, and judging from her horrified expression, she just heard the same thing as me. She widens her eyes, silently asking,What do we do?
Scanning the room, I search for a tool that Charlie could grab. Something close. Something small. Something like?—
A paperclip. On the shelf behind her, there’s a little plastic organizer filled with staples, thumbtacks, pens, and paperclips. And if she could push her chair up against the shelf, I think she might be able to snag one. Then she just needs to get it to Rylan, and he can work his lock-picking magic…
With a pointed look, I turn my attention to the shelf behind her. Then I wait to make sure Lance isn’t looking before I mouth,Paperclip. For the handcuffs.
She looks confused at first, but a second later, understanding dawns. She mouths back,How?before jerking her chin in Lance’s direction.
How, indeed?
The only way to ensure she gets the opening she needs is to create a distraction.
I’ll do it,I mouth to her.
Charlie pales. Then she shakes her head slightly. She doesn’t want me to put myself in danger. I’ll admit, I’m not crazy about the idea, myself. But of everyone in here, I’m the best person to do it.
And if it means protecting the people I care about most in the world, I’ll do anything.
Soon,I add silently.Get ready.
As Lance passes by, I overhear him muttering again. “I’ve got to do this soon. Before anyone gets back.”
Crap.
I watch as Charlie leans towards Rylan and whispers something to him. His gaze jumps to mine, his worry evident. He’s not crazy about my vague plan any more than Charlie is. He shakes his head, just as Charlie did.Wait,he mouths to me.
No.
I can’t.
Not when the survival of my Blade and Arrow family is at stake.
Shifting my focus to Lance, I cast about for the best plan of attack. Or distraction, more aptly.
Then I remember the story Elle told me about how she helped Zane get free when they were both being held by organ traffickers. The situation wasn’t terribly dissimilar from this one—they were both restrained, and their captors were threatening to hurt Elle if Zane tried anything. But Elle was determined to dowhatever she could to help him, even if it meant putting herself at risk.
So she pretended to have a panic attack. A bad one. And in the chaos that ensued, Zane broke out of his bindings and took their captors down.
I could do that. Pretend to have a medical emergency, capture Lance’s attention, and then…
Charlie can get the paperclip to Rylan. He can pick the lock on the handcuffs. And at the next opportunity, he can take Lance down.
Decision made, I take a long, steadying breath to settle my jumping nerves.
I quickly run through the symptoms I want to display.
