Page 54 of The Housebreaker's Assistant
“The windows are open again tonight,” Penny whispered once they were almost to the base of the castle, very close towhere the boat they’d marked earlier for their escape was tied. “Should be as easy to break in tonight as it was last night.”
Greer nodded, moving to put his case in the boat as Penny did the same. It was a bold, risky move bordering on foolishness, but if everything else went to plan, they wouldn’t have to worry about collecting their things later.
“How do we slip past the tower guard?” Penny asked as they studied the castle from the beach.
Greer’s first instinct was to silence Penny, or to leave him behind. He’d brought up an important concern, though.
“We’ll have to give him a reason to investigate something away from the tower,” Greer said, rubbing his stubbly chin thoughtfully. “Maybe that cat will be wandering around again tonight.”
“We can make a noise pretending to be the cat,” Penny said, brightening.
Greer frowned at him. So help him, if Penny started mewling like a cat in the middle of the night, he would throttle the man, whether he loved him or not.
That quick thought of love sent anxious shivers through Greer’s gut that it was best if he ignored. They were so close to completing their mission. He couldn’t let his feelings for Penny distract him now, not like they had in Mayfair.
The only thing they could do was move forward. Greer hated doing anything without a thorough plan, but he had no choice. They climbed up the steep bank from the beach to the field around the castle using a narrow path with weathered boards inserted here and there like steps. The castle was as sleepy now as it had been the night before, which was a sign that their break-in the night before had gone unquestioned. Luck was still on their side.
They walked around the castle until they found the same open window they’d used the night before. The study on theother side had been empty the night before, and once they pulled themselves up and in, Greer was relieved to find that the entire castle was as empty and silent as it had been on their scouting mission.
“So far, so good,” Penny whispered as they stepped into the downstairs hall.
Greer whipped around to face him, pressing a fingertip to his lips. Just because they’d gotten in and out without issue once did not mean the same would happen a second time.
As soon as that thought flitted into Greer’s mind, it proved true.
“…supposed to have handled this long before now,” a low, angry male voice sounded from behind one of the doors on the first floor as they mounted the stairs. “He’s been in this unprotected spot too long.”
“And where do you propose to put him?” a second voice, undoubtedly Dalhurst’s argued in return as Greer and Penny moved closer. “You cannot hide a nobleman’s son indefinitely.”
“Deliver him to Underhill, then!” the other man shouted. “That’s what you were supposed to do a fortnight ago.”
“Underhill has been delayed on the Continent,” Dalhurst shouted back. “I cannot force the tides to become favorable.”
Greer and Penny moved as swiftly as they could past the door behind which the two were arguing. The heat of danger flooded his body, and his heart pounded so loudly he could barely hear anything else. If their mission had been anything other than what it was, he would have grabbed Penny’s hand, turned around, and run.
“The risk has become too great,” the other man in the room said as Greer and Penny hurried past to the next staircase. “My brothers know where he is.”
Those words prickled in Greer’s brain, but he was forced to ignore them as he and Penny reached the stairs and moved up tothe second floor as quickly as they could. The only thing he could worry about in that moment was freeing Lord Fabian.
Which was so much harder than simply saying the word “rescue”. When they reached the stairs leading up to the tower room, just as he’d been the night before, the guard sat in his chair, eyes closed, leaning against the wall, arms crossed over his chest.
Greer stopped, holding out a hand for Penny to do the same. It was the moment he’d been most anxious for. The guard stood between them and Lord Fabian. Distracting the man to get him to leave his post was still a possibility, but with Dalhurst and his guest awake in a room below, any commotion they caused to draw the guard away from his position would alert them that there were intruders in the castle.
They should have planned the entire thing better than they had. They should have taken their time, mapped out multiple contingencies, and practiced each one beforehand.
They hadn’t had time for that, Greer reminded himself. They still didn’t have time. Especially if Dalhurst and his guest were awake and discussing moving Lord Fabian as they stood there. Whatever happened, they needed to take action immediately or?—
“Here,” Penny whispered, pulling out the two keys he’d stolen the night before and handing them on their ring to Greer. “Hide in there.” He pointed to the dark space underneath the stairs that led up to the tower room and the landing where the guard sat.
“What?” Greer mumbled, staring at the keys.
He glanced up questioningly at Penny, but Penny had already started to move. With an incomprehensible sway in his hips, Penny was climbing up the stairs.
As soon as he reached the slumbering guard, Penny leaned closer, and in a voice Greer was certain he’d honed while doingthe same thing on the streets, he said, “Hello, handsome. Fancy some company?”
Greer’s mouth dropped open. What did the fool think he was doing?
The guard grunted awake, then flinched hard at the sight of Penny standing over him. “What? Who?”
