He chucks a couple of plastic packages into the back. I open one up and realize they’re ski masks.
'Don't put them on until we're outside the village,’ he advises. ‘There's more than one curtain-twitcher watching us from the cottages at the moment, I'll wager.'
He slowly pulls the car away from the curb, and we ride in silence for a couple of minutes until we're well outside the village’s boundaries. He turns off the car’s headlights a few minutes later.
I'm not sure how he’s able to see his way because it's pitch black. When I ask him, he chuckles and says the same way his ancestors did. By the stars and the moon. Ithinkhe's joking, but I can't really tell.
Douglas’s silhouette turns towards us for a second, silently questioning.
'Let's go through the plan again,' Shade says from the front passenger seat.
'I'll be in the car, ready to do the getaway driving,' Douglas says with a nod. 'I've brought the cutters so you can get through the fence. I'll park up where it's best to go and tell you which way to the house. You’re entering through the kitchen as we said. All three of you going in?'
‘No,' Shade says. 'Blake will be staying around thekitchen area to keep an eye out for anyone hanging around outside.'
I snort at Shade. In the original plan, I was the one staying behind, but I told him point-blank that wasn’t fucking happening. Blake doesn’t like it, but he’ll have to deal with it.
'Mav and I will go to Daisy's room, see if she's there. If not, we'll find the entrance to the cellars. Once we find her, we’ll bring her out and get back to the perimeter fence. Then you drive us the fuck out of here.'
'And where am I driving you to, lads?' Douglas asks.
'London City Airport.'
Douglas raises a brow. 'London City, is it? Good thing I got petrol earlier today, then.'
'Have you contacted Sauvage?' I ask Shade.
He nods. 'The plane will be ready to go as soon as we get there, probably around midnight or one. And then it's straight back across the pond and to his hotel, keeping our little trip on the down low.'
We fall into silence, and a couple of minutes later, Douglas reaches up and flicks the car’s interior light to ‘off’ before he opens the door. We follow, and a long pair of cutters is guided into my hand.
'The fence is directly in front of you. Keep the hole small. It'll take them longer to find the exit point when they’re looking tomorrow.'
I nod and begin to clip the thick wire that's holding the panel together in the low light from Blake’s phone. When I have a hole big enough for me to crawl through, I try to give the cutters to Douglas, who pushes them back toward me.
‘You might need them, lad.’
He points straight ahead in the direction of the hillwhere The Heath stands, though we can’t see it at the moment.
'Right. Keep the light to a minimum. Stay in line with that star. There, you see it? You’ll reach the house within ten minutes. On the way back, use the moon.'
I glance back to see the moon just rising behind Douglas’ car.
'Let's go,' Shade mutters, and he's the first one through the broken fence and into the heathland.
We slog through the open field in the dark, the mud squelching up to our calves in some places. I feel like the sound of it alone is enough to give us away, but no one comes, and there are no shouts, no lights turned on in the manor before us.
We get up to the house and skirt around the parking lot, staying in the bushes along the side. One at a time, we run to the wooden slat fence on the side of the property that hides the dumpsters outside the kitchen.
There in the shadows, we stop, listening.
'There's someone there,' I whisper, tapping Shade, and he nods.
I can see the red cherry of a cigarette glowing just beside the door. I can smell the smoke on the wind.
Someone coughs a little and flicks the butt. The door opens, bathing the area in light for a moment, and then closes with a soft sound.
I frown. ‘Thought Douglas said it would be open.’
