Page 34 of Out for Blood
I insert my earpiece and hold hers out to her.
“After you.”
She turns her hand over, palm open, and I drop it in.
She fits it into place and then opens the car door cautiously, and she’s out.
Her head moves first, left then right, clearing the area.
I mirror her on my side, easing my door open and stepping out, keeping a firm grip on it as I guide it shut to ensure the overhead light goes off.
Darkness folds back over the car.
We drop low immediately, bodies instinctively sinking into disciplined movement as we cross the yard.
Every step is calculated.
Closing in on the house, Cassidy veers right automatically, and I drift left, our movements splitting neatly, practiced.
As she passes me, her voice floats by my ear, “Meet you at the graveyard.”
It settles in my chest the same way it always does. Our thing.
If this goes sideways or one of us doesn’t make it.
“I’ll be there,” I promise.
She glimpses at me one last time over her shoulder, a grin forming on her face full of mischief, violence, and something more vulnerable beneath the armor.
Everything we don’t say.
I grin back at her.
Then she’s gone.
Breaking into a house without being noticed isn’t a skill anymore; it’s natural from hours of Leo hounding it into us, studying YouTube videos and practicing on kits.
I circle to the side, spotting the side door adjoining the garage, and test the handle.
Locked.
Not a surprise, and it’s what I predicted.
I drop to a crouch, already assembling the tools from my vest. The metal feels polished and cool between my fingers as I place them into the lock cylinder.
Tension followed by pressure, then release, click.
The lock gives effortlessly, and I pause listening for anything on the other side.
Nothing.
“I’m in,” I mutter under my breath as I let myself inside and head to the door that will open to the main house.
Her voice crackles through, sending a ripple through my chest. “Same. The idiot left a window open in the spare bedroom.”
I crack the door open and glide inside.
Darkness greets me.
