Max snorts.“Like I’m scared.You’ve just slipped off a beam you could ride a bicycle on.”
Maverick glares at him.I’m pretty impressed he doesn’t push his brother off the edge.The beam Max is talking about is smaller than the width of Maverick’s trainer.I’m surprised he hasn’t slipped off.
“What’s the hold up?Why couldn’t we use the safer tunnels?”Maverick questions.
“You didn’t see the cameras?”Liam asks.
I tense.“Cameras?I didn’t see any.”
He holds up a tablet.“Yep.They are halfway down the tunnel.I managed to hack into them but there are a few that I can’t.There are no blind spots down them.But this one, I’m not picking up any signals.”
My eyes meet Isaac’s.It can’t be this easy, can it?Surely, he can’t be here.Not at the first tip we’ve had.
“So let’s go,” Isaac suggests, looking just as eager as I feel.
Liam sighs.“Come take a closer look.”
Isaac jumps onto the platform, and I follow.I wince at the state of the tunnel Liam is expecting us to walk down.“Could you not disarm the other cameras?”he squeaks.
“No.He will have them on screens if they are here.Let’s just take this slow.I don’t think we need to search the whole floor.There is something here.And if I’m picking this up right, all of the signals lead to this building.”He holds out his tablet, bringing up a digital copy of the blueprints, and points to the tower on the top floor of the west wing.“We need to get to there.”
“So you’re telling me to get to the west wing, we have to get across that?”I ask.
“Yes,” Liam confirms.
My eyes bug out as I point to the tunnel.“Liam, there’s no fucking floor.”
Max points to the window frame that holds no glass, then to the bar at feet level that has a tiny ledge.The ledge, which is where I think the flooring sat once upon a time, is maybe big enough for the tips of our shoes.Nothing more.
I glance down at the ground, where overgrown flowerbeds lay, and the weeded patio that has a few benches scattered on.
“We’ve checked the sturdiness,” Liam mutters.
“How?”Jaxon asks, eyes wide.
“Max hung from it and bounced,” he declares.
Maverick rolls his eyes.“Of course he fucking did.”
“Max can go first then,” I mutter.
Max grins, rubbing his hands together.“I was made for shit like this.”
He takes his first step, gripping the frame that the glass had once been in.None of us move, continuing to watch him go.If we had to vote on this, Max would have been who I volunteered.No questions asked.Maybe Maverick if Max wasn’t here, since he let his brothers beat Jaxon up when they found out he was dating Lily.Although he has kind of grown on me over the past year.Kind of.
Liam goes next, followed by Jaxon and then Isaac.I glance at Maverick when it’s just us two left.“You go.”
“Kid, I weigh more than you.You go.If this thing breaks, I’d rather it be just me on it,” he states.
I shrug and reach for the window ledge, then start making my way across.My fingers sweat as I run them along the ledge, my gaze down on my feet, making sure I don’t miss the bar.
It’s the same length as the first corridor we walked down.I’m nearing the west wing when I reach for the next window frame, my gaze still on where I’m stepping next.I don’t see the shard of glass until the flesh on my palm splits right open.
“Fuck,” I hiss, flinching away.I shake my hand when I see the shard of glass has embedded into my palm.It flies out, hitting the metal my feet are on.Blood splatters against my leg and shorts, pissing me off.I didn’t hear anyone else hiss out, which means yet again, I’m the only fucker who has got hurt.I try not to press the cut against the dirty window frame, which is hard not to do since I want to make it across in one piece.
I have a date to plan.
“Shit, are you okay?”Jaxon asks when my feet are firmly on the floor in the hallway.
