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She stared at me.

I glanced toward the drain. “I need to take a piss.”

Her eyes widened.

“Oh.”

“Aye.”

She spun around so quickly that her skirt twisted around her legs.

“I’m not looking.”

“I appreciate your commitment to my privacy after everything you’ve already seen.”

“That was different.”

“Was it?”

“Yes.”

I smiled as I opened my pants. “Keep telling yourself that.”

“I intend to.”

Silence lasted all of three seconds before she apparently decided discussing our escape was less embarrassing than listening to me piss.

“The servant stair from my room ends behind the lower storage rooms,” she said to the wall. “From there, we can take the utility corridor south beneath the main house.”

I almost laughed.

“You’re briefing me now?”

“I’m making productive use of the time.”

“By all means, Mouse. Carry on.”

“We can’t cross the western loading yard. Mateo had another camera installed above the service doors.”

“Can we get around it?”

“Yes. The old drainage channel beneath the south retaining wall is still open.”

“You’re sure?”

“The man I trust checked it.”

“The same man who shared what Ciro had learned about me?”

“Yes.”

Good. Mouse had at least one ally with access to Ciro’s intelligence and enough freedom to move around the compound without drawing attention. A man in that position could make the difference when we were ready to move.

“How long from here?”

“Ten minutes if the corridors are clear.”

“And with me moving like an old man?”