More laughter before Lulu held up her hand. “No more talking or laughing. Let’s just go take a peek around their desks and look for clues. Lead the way, Thelma,” she said, pointing to Emilia.
We made our way inside, where all the lights were off, but there were enough windows that they allowed the light from the moon to illuminate the space. Emilia turned around and we all crashed into her, which had us laughing hysterically.
She held her finger to her mouth and then pointed toward two offices. Lulu held the bottle of tequila up, and we each lifted our face coverings enough to expose our mouths for one more swig.
I was definitely feeling it. My body was tingling, and I was so relaxed that I almost forgot we were breaking and entering.
Lulu, Henley, and I headed to one office, and Emilia and Eloise went to the office next door. Lulu pointed at the desk, and we all shrugged, because it was pretty neat and not much had been left out, aside from a family photo, a plant, a computer monitor, and a day planner. The planner was open, so I turnedon the flashlight on my phone and held it above the desk. A sticky note on the box was marked for an upcoming date.
Meet Jazzy Leighton—coffee shop in Snowcap Mountain.
It was a charming little ski town about thirty minutes away, up in the mountains.
Our eyes widened, and I laughed when Lulu’s mouth dropped open with the layer of nylon covering her face.
And that’s when everything started to go sideways.
The sound of a siren blaring from the parking lot.
Emilia and Eloise ran in as we were standing around the desk, and Emilia motioned toward the window.
Henley quickly pulled the window open, and Eloise jumped first, followed by Henley and Emilia. Lulu and I met eyes as the sound of the sirens got louder, and we grabbed hands and jumped at the same time.
The only thing breaking our fall—which wasn’t far, seeing as we were on the ground floor—was a row of very sharp rosebushes.
Our face masks did not tone down the painful gasps that escaped from each of us as we were pricked by the stubborn thorns. It was a perfect mix of hysterical laughter and painful yelps as we rolled out of the bushes and onto the grass before we gathered ourselves.
Emilia peeked around the corner before whisper-shouting, “It’s Doug,” referring to the town’s police officer. “They must have a silent alarm at the office.”
“We need to make a run for it. Keep your masks in place until we’re in the clear,” Henley said over a fit of giggles, just as we saw the lights turn on in the office and we heard a voice shout at us, so we took off running.
And we ran through a few backyards and cut through the alleyway downtown before reaching the closest home, which was Axel’s ranch.
We didn’t look back, and we didn’t stop laughing even when we pushed through his front door.
And Axel stood there with his arms crossed over his chest. “Well, well, well, what do we have here?”
twenty-two
. . .
Axel
It was comical,seeing the five of them completely shit faced, with pantyhose hanging off their heads as they barreled through my front door.
They came to a stop, and I walked past each one, tugging the ridiculous stockings off their heads. Wren was last in line, and she had a goofy smile on her face when I met her gaze.
“Hey, Cowboy,” she said, her words slurring. Wren had never been much of a drinker, but they’d clearly been boozing it up because they reeked of alcohol.
“Hey, what’s going on? Why are we wearing pantyhose on our heads, ladies?”
Wren leaned down to rub her thigh, and that’s when I noticed she was bleeding.
Hell, they were all bleeding a little bit.
“What the fuck happened to you guys?”
“The damn rosebushes!” Lulu said as she walked toward the kitchen, and we all followed. I pulled out paper towels, and they took turns tearing a few sheets off and wiping the blood from their legs as I grabbed some antiseptic and peroxide from the medicine cabinet.
