Chapter 454: Tommy’s Guilt

"You sure about this?" Tommy asked in a low voice.

Evening was falling over Brigantine.

The last light of the day stretched across the streets, turning the broken windows and battered barricades orange for a few minutes before the city began slipping back into shadow. Guards were changing positions. Prisoners were being directed toward the houses where they would be locked in for the night. People moved through the streets with their heads down, trying not to draw attention.

Tommy and Mei stood in an isolated corner between two damaged buildings, partly hidden from the main road.

They kept their voices quiet.

"I am," Mei replied.

She nodded once.

"Caroline said she will keep Audrey occupied tonight."

Tommy looked at her carefully.

"When exactly?"

"The night," Mei said. "I don’t know the exact time."

She folded her arms.

"Just watch from far away. Once you see Audrey leave her usual place, you go and take the boat."

Tommy let out a quiet breath through his nose.

"You think I can just take a boat that easily?"

Mei frowned.

"If Audrey is gone, there will still be other people watching the waterfront," Tommy continued. "There are always people around there. Guards. People moving supplies. Anyone could notice me if I start dragging a boat into the water."

"I don’t get it," Mei said, her voice sharpening slightly. "Wasn’t getting a boat your plan from the beginning?"

Tommy did not answer.

"And you already got one before," she added. "Before you lost it."

"That was luck," Tommy muttered.

His expression tightened.

"Pure luck. I got a chance, took it, and then lost the boat before I could use it. That is why this time needs to be perfect."

Mei watched him quietly.

Tommy looked toward the waterfront, though the buildings hid most of it from view.

"How much time will Caroline keep Audrey busy?" he asked.

"I don’t know," Mei replied. "Five minutes. Ten, maybe."

She had asked Caroline to buy them time, nothing more.

Mei did not want Caroline putting herself in danger. She did not want her to feel forced into doing something she did not want just to distract Audrey. And she definitely did not want Audrey misunderstanding the situation and deciding she could push things further.

Caroline only needed to keep Audrey occupied.

That was all.

Tommy’s hands clenched at his sides.

"How long do you even need?" Mei asked.

"I don’t know," he said.

His voice was tight now.

"I need to get a boat loose, get it into the water, and take it around to the area behind the house where you and Keith are being kept."

"Behind the house" was not completely accurate.

The shore was nearly two miles away from the building where Mei and Keith were locked up each night. But it was the closest place Tommy could bring the boat without making the escape route too long or forcing them through the streets in the open.

If he could get a boat there, they could run straight for the water.

That was also the spot, Tommy asked Ryan to join them.

Mei’s stomach tightened at the thought.

"Wouldn’t they hear the motor?" She asked.

Tommy gave a tired look.

"I’ll find an excuse if anyone asks."

He paused.

"But if Audrey catches me, she won’t believe any excuse I give."

Mei’s arms folded more tightly across herself.

"Then what? We change the plan?"

She sounded annoyed, but the real feeling beneath it was fear.

She did not want to risk everything on a plan that might fall apart before it even started. They had been waiting for an opening for too long. They had already come too far to get caught now.

Tommy looked toward the street again.

For a moment, he said nothing.

Then he shook his head.

"No."

He drew in a slow breath.

"I’ll do it."

Mei looked at him.

Tommy looked scared.

He was trying not to show it, but she could see it in the tightness around his eyes and the way his hands kept clenching and unclenching. He knew what would happen if he was caught stealing a boat.

Callighan’s people would not give him another chance.

Gaspar would not give him another chance.

But Tommy had already decided.

This was their only real opening.

Mei gave a small nod.

"Be careful," she said.

Tommy looked at her.

"You too."

Mei did not stay any longer.

Standing together in an isolated corner for too long would bring attention. She turned and walked away, joining the people moving back toward the houses as though she had simply been taking a quiet moment alone.

Tommy remained where he was.

He watched her leave.

Then he let out another slow breath.

His heart was beating too loudly.

His hands were trembling.

If anyone caught him stealing that boat, he was finished.

But there was no other way.

Emily was still chained in that basement.

Still waiting for him.

He could not keep watching her suffer in that dark room while he stood around pretending there was time to make a safer plan.

Tommy left the corner quickly.

He kept his head down as he moved through the evening streets of Brigantine, trying to look like any other guard heading toward his assigned post. The sky had darkened further while he and Mei talked. A few weak lights had begun appearing behind windows and near the guarded intersections, but most of the city was already sinking into night.

His plan kept replaying in his head.

Caroline distracts Audrey.

He gets to the boats.

He steals one.

He brings it around near the house where Mei and Keith are kept.

Then they escape.

Simple when he thought about it in pieces.

Impossible when he thought about everything that could go wrong.

"Hey, Tommy."

Tommy nearly froze.

His heart jumped so hard that for half a second he thought someone had already found out.

He turned around.

Liam stood a short distance behind him.

Tommy forced himself to relax.

"What?" he asked, though his voice came out more tense than he wanted.

Liam smirked.

"Aren’t you getting awfully close to Mei?"

Tommy frowned.

"W...What?"

"I saw you talking with her." Liam leaned against the side of a building, looking amused. "Whispering in some corner. Do you really want to fuck her that badly?"

"Fuck off," Tommy said sharply.

He tried to walk past him.

Liam caught his arm lightly.

"Hey, I’m just saying, be careful with that one."

Tommy glared at him.

"She got Williams beaten up by Callighan."

"I know that," Tommy replied. "I was there. Williams tried to rape her."

"Not surprising from Williams," Liam said with a small chuckle.

Tommy pulled his arm free.

For a brief second, his eyes dropped toward Liam’s pocket.

There was a small bulge beneath the fabric.

Keys.

The keys to the rooms where Mei and Keith were locked at night.

Tommy looked away immediately.

"Well," Liam said, still grinning, "if you ever need time alone with her, tell me. Maybe I can find you both a room."

Tommy did not answer.

He just walked away.

Liam’s laugh followed him for a few steps before fading behind the sounds of the street.

Tommy kept moving.

His hands had clenched into fists.

Liam had the keys.

That was useful information.

But getting them would be another problem.

One more problem added to a plan already balanced on the edge of disaster.

He headed toward one of the more isolated houses in Brigantine.

It looked ordinary from the outside. Old wooden walls. Boarded windows. A damaged front porch. Nothing that made it stand out from dozens of other houses along the ruined streets.

But Emily was beneath it.

Callighan had placed guards there specifically to make sure she did not escape.

Tommy passed the men at the entrance with a nod. They barely acknowledged him. They had seen him go inside before, and as far as they knew, he had no reason to betray Callighan or Gaspar.

That assumption was the only reason he was still alive.

He entered the house.

The main floor was dark and mostly empty. A few supplies had been stacked against the walls, and an old table had been pushed aside to make room for guards to pass through. Tommy walked toward the door leading to the basement.

He opened it quietly.

The stairs creaked beneath his boots as he descended.

At the bottom, he reached for the flashlight resting on a nearby shelf. He turned it on, and a weak beam of yellow light cut through the darkness.

Then he saw her.

Emily was in the same place.

Her wrists and ankles were shackled to heavy restraints near the wall, leaving her sitting low against the floor. Her body looked weak beneath the dirty clothes she wore. The blond hair Tommy remembered from school had faded until it was white, falling messily around her face.

Her green eyes were half-open.

There was barely any life left in them.

"Emily..."

She did not respond right away.

Tommy stepped closer, his stomach tightening as he crouched a short distance from her.

He did not move too close.

He knew better now.

Slowly, he reached out one hand.

When his fingers barely brushed her shoulder, Emily flinched violently.

She slammed herself back against the wall, the chains rattling as she pulled away from him. Her eyes fixed on him with a cold, dark suspicion.

Tommy immediately raised both hands and stepped back.

"It’s Tommy," he said quietly. "It’s me."

Emily stared at him.

Her head tilted slightly.

For a moment, it looked as though she was trying to recognize his face through whatever fog had settled over her mind.

Tommy gritted his teeth.

Every time he came down here, the guilt got worse.

He had known Emily before all this.

He had known her at school. He remembered her smile, her voice, the way she looked when she was angry at him, the way she laughed when she let herself relax.

Now she barely seemed to know who he was.

Tommy lowered his hands slowly.

"I’m sorry," he said.

The words sounded weak in the basement.

Too small.

"Sorry for everything."

Emily did not respond.

Tommy looked at her.

"But I promise you," he said, forcing the words out. "I’m getting you out of here."

He stood.

For a second, he wanted to stay.

He wanted to keep talking until she recognized him. He wanted to do something that would make her look at him the way she used to. But there was nothing he could do while she remained chained there and Gaspar’s influence still hung over her.

Tommy turned toward the stairs.

Then his eyes moved to the wall beside the basement door.

A set of keys hung from a hook.

The keys to Emily’s shackles.

His chest tightened.

Thankfully, Gaspar had not taken them.

He probably did not believe anyone would be stupid enough to release Emily in her current state. And he likely believed Tommy was still following his orders, still agreeing with the way he handled her.

Tommy knew what Gaspar did whenever he came down here.

Sometimes he released Emily from the restraints.

Not to free her.

Not to help her.

He would provoke her until she attacked, then force her back down and chain her again. He called it treatment. He called it controlling her condition.

Tommy did not believe him.

It looked more like Gaspar wanted to break her.

To make her submit.

But Emily never did.

Even now, barely able to recognize the people around her, there was something in her eyes that still resisted.

Tommy looked at her one last time.

"I’ll get you out of here," he whispered.

Then he turned away and left.