Chapter 487: Tommy in action [2]

When Tommy reached the house where Mei and Keith were being kept, he did not go directly to the front door.

That would have been too obvious.

Instead, he pushed the handcart farther down the road and left it in a darker space beside an abandoned shed, hidden enough that nobody passing by would notice it immediately but close enough for him to reach quickly once Mei and Keith were free.

Emily was still inside.

The thought made Tommy’s hands tighten around the cart handles.

He had checked on her several times during the walk. She was still breathing beneath the cloth and the wooden plank, still unconscious from the sedative, still hidden beneath the bottles and supplies placed above her.

He didn’t want leaving her alone.

But he had no other choice.

If he brought the cart directly in front of the prison house, somebody might become suspicious. If one of the guards looked too closely, if they noticed the shape beneath the bottles, if they heard her breathing or saw even the smallest movement, the entire escape would end there.

So Tommy left the cart behind the shed.

Then he turned toward the house.

The building stood in the darkness with its windows mostly covered and its doors locked. From the outside, it looked quiet. There were no guards standing in front. No one patrolling the small yard.

But Tommy knew better.

There were men inside.

At least three.

He had seen them earlier.

He had drugged their drinks too, just as he had done with Emily’s guards, but he was less certain this time. The men had not drank as much. One of them had spilled part of his cup. Another had been distracted during the card game. There was no guarantee they would all be unconscious by now.

Still, there was no time left to wait.

Tommy took a slow breath.

Then he walked toward the front door with the most casual expression he could manage.

Do not look nervous.

Do not look rushed.

Act like you belong here.

He raised his hand to knock.

Before his knuckles even touched the door, it opened.

Tommy froze for the smallest fraction of a second.

One of the guards stood in the doorway.

The man was clearly tired. His eyes were half-lidded, his hair messy, and he yawned before fully looking at Tommy. Behind him, Tommy could see two other men sitting around a table inside, playing cards beneath a weak lamp.

None of them looked fully alert.

That was good.

But not good enough.

"What do you want?" The guard asked.

Tommy forced himself not to look past him too obviously.

He could see the staircase inside.

Upstairs were Mei and Keith.

Their doors were closed.

They had to be awake.

They had to be waiting for his signal.

"Yeah," Tommy said, acting mildly annoyed. "Gaspar called you guys over for the game."

The guard frowned.

"What?"

"Come on," Tommy replied. "I brought drinks and everything. Gaspar said to bring your asses over."

He glanced inside at the other two men.

"You’re seriously going to make him wait?"

The guard looked unconvinced.

"We’re working."

"Working?"

Tommy let out a short laugh and nodded toward the table.

"Yeah. I can see that."

The two men inside looked at each other.

One of them yawned again.

Tommy continued before anyone could think too hard about it.

"Don’t worry. Liam’s coming. He’s done with his shift anyway, and we’ll take over here."

The man at the door looked back toward his two friends.

"What do you think?"

The first guard rubbed his eyes.

"I’m tired of sitting here."

The second one leaned back in his chair.

"Yeah. Let’s go."

Tommy’s heart pounded.

It was working.

Somehow, it was working.

The three men stood up and began moving toward the door.

Tommy stepped aside, making room for them.

"Don’t keep him waiting," he said.

One of them gave him an annoyed look.

"Since when do you care about Gaspar?"

"I don’t," Tommy replied. "I care about him getting pissed off at someone else."

The guard laughed.

Then they walked past him and disappeared down the road.

Tommy waited.

He watched them move away.

One step.

Then another.

Then they turned at the corner and vanished from sight.

Only after they were gone did Tommy let out the breath trapped in his lungs.

It had worked.

Not perfectly.

But it had worked.

The guards had been tired enough, drugged enough, and eager enough to leave their shift that they had not questioned him properly.

Tommy did not give himself time to be relieved.

He rushed inside.

The building was empty now except for the scattered cards, abandoned drinks, and weak lamp still burning above the table. He ignored all of it and headed directly upstairs.

His footsteps sounded too loud against the wooden floor.

At the top, he moved quickly toward the two closed doors.

Mei’s room.

Keith’s room.

Tommy knocked against both of them.

"Mei. Keith. Come on."

There was a brief pause.

Then both doors opened almost at the same time.

Keith stepped out first.

He wore dark clothes meant for moving through the streets unnoticed, and he already had a small bag over one shoulder. His eyes moved quickly down the hallway, searching for guards.

Mei stepped out behind him.

She looked ready too.

Her hair was tied back. She had a dark jacket over her clothes and a small bag held close to her side. Her expression was tense, but there was determination in her eyes to get it through.

"No one is around?" Keith asked.

"We don’t have much time," Tommy said. "Let’s go."

Mei looked down the stairs.

"Did it work?"

"Yeah."

Tommy did not explain further.

There was no time.

"Move."

Keith did not need to be told twice.

Neither did Mei.

The three of them rushed downstairs and left the house.

The cold night air hit them immediately.

Tommy headed toward the darker side of the street, moving in the direction of the shed where he had hidden the cart.

Keith followed for two steps before realizing they were not heading straight toward the shore.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"Wait a second."

Tommy reached the handcart.

Mei and Keith stopped behind him, both looking confused.

Tommy grabbed the handles and pulled it out from the shadows.

Then he looked at them.

"Emily is inside."

For a second, Keith only stared at the cart.

Then he looked back at Tommy.

"Oh."

His mouth lifted into a faint smirk.

"Aren’t you quite smart?"

Tommy gave him a tired look.

"Hey, what the hell?!"

The shout came from behind them.

Everything froze.

A man stood near the corner of the street.

His flashlight beam swept over the road before landing directly on Tommy, Mei, and Keith.

For one second, nobody moved.

Then the man’s eyes narrowed.

He looked at Mei.

Then Keith.

Then the cart.

His expression changed.

"Hey!"

Tommy did not wait.

"Run!"

He pushed the cart forward as hard as he could.

Mei and Keith reacted instantly.

They turned and sprinted down the narrow path behind the house, heading toward the shore.

Tommy followed with the cart, the wheels rattling over uneven ground and broken stones. The bottles inside shifted violently with every movement, but he could not slow down now.

"Where is it?" Keith shouted over his shoulder.

"How far is the shore?"

"Don’t think about it!" Tommy yelled back. "Just run!"

Mei ran ahead of them, her breath coming fast but controlled. Keith stayed close behind her, looking back every few seconds as though he expected guards to appear from every direction.

The path grew darker as they moved farther from the main streets.

Behind them, the man began shouting.

"Prisoners are escaping!"

Then another voice answered in the distance.

"What?"

Tommy’s chest tightened.

They had been seen.

The alarm would spread fast now.

A flashlight beam appeared behind them.

Then another.

"Faster!" Tommy shouted.

The handcart wheels caught against a patch of broken pavement.

Tommy almost lost control of it.

He forced it forward.

Emily was inside.

He could not let the cart flip.

He could not let her get hurt now.

Then a gunshot cracked through the night.

Bang!

The sound echoed across Brigantine.

Mei froze for half a step.

Keith ducked instinctively.

Tommy’s heart jumped into his throat.

The bullet had missed them.

But the gunshot changed everything.

The entire town would hear it.

Lights began turning on in nearby buildings.

Doors opened.

More shouting rose behind them.

They were no longer escaping quietly.

Brigantine was awake.

"Fuck! Wasn’t this supposed to be a quiet escape?" Keith shouted as he ran.

His voice came out strained between breaths.

Behind them, more shouting rose from the streets of Brigantine. Flashlight beams moved through the darkness, sweeping across roads, buildings, and alleys as guards began searching for whoever had fired the gun.

Tommy kept pushing the handcart forward.

The wheels rattled violently over the uneven ground, and every rough patch made his stomach twist. Emily was inside. One bad turn, one broken wheel, one moment where the cart tipped over, and everything would fall apart.

"Did you actually believe it would go that smoothly?" Mei replied dryly.

She sounded annoyed.

But Tommy could hear the fear beneath it.

Mei kept running ahead of them, her dark jacket moving behind her as she followed the narrow path toward the shore. She did not look back often, but whenever another shout rose behind them, her shoulders tensed.

She was terrified.

Not of the running.

Not even of being shot.

She was terrified of being caught.

Again.

The thought of being dragged back into Brigantine made her chest feel too tight to breathe. If Callighan’s people found them, there would be no easy explanation. No second chance. No reason for anyone to keep pretending she was only a prisoner they needed alive.

No.

She could not let that happen.

She would rather die trying to reach the shore than be taken back.