Page 150 of Smoke Screen
The guard.
Phin shot his hand out, grabbing hold of Maddy. “We need to split up. Maddy, stay with me.”
Zeke took off, sprinting along the back of the rows while Phin and Maddy pushed the hand truck down aisle two.
“Hello?” Zeke called out, hopefully drawing the guard in his direction.
Five feet from the end of the row, they stopped, inching their way forward. Phin peeked around the edge.
“Where the hell are you?” Guard’s voice again.
“Oh, hey,” Zeke said from somewhere to their right. “We didn’t want to leave the piece outside. Side door was open, so we brought it in for you.”
Good one.
“The door wasnotopen,” the guard said. “Where’s your buddy?”
29
Trappedwasall Maddy could think.
And she was damned sick of it.
She peered at Phin, in front of her, peeping around the end of the row. They needed to get this safe out of here. How they would do that with the guard somewhere near the door they’d come through, she wasn’t quite sure.
If she didn’t pee her pants, it would be a miracle.
Diversion.
Phin hadn’t specifically said that’s what Zeke was doing, but it didn’t take a genius to figure it out.
It also didn’t take a genius to figure out another diversion might help.
She tugged on Phin’s shirt.Tug, tug. Tug, tug. He glanced over his shoulder and she moved in closer, getting right next to his ear.
“I’ll head back toward the office and distract him. Maybe he’ll come looking for me and you can wheel the safe out to the truck.”
“No. Stay with me.”
Sorry, hon. Can’t do it.
She retreated. One step that had Phin spinning toward her, shooting his left hand out. She dodged it, leaping clear of his reach and whirling back, charging down the row.
She could do this.
Just run down to row … which one? She’d have to go farther down than the one adjacent to the door they’d come in. Row six. That’s where Zeke had stopped when they first entered the rear of the building. She needed to at least get to seven. Hopefully, lure the guard away from the entrance so Phin could get out the door.
Sprinting back down the row, she hit the turn at full speed—her full speed anyway—and shot a look up, double-checking the next row number. Three.
No Zeke.
Heaven help her, she had no clue what she was doing. And now she was alone.
Winging it.
So not built for this.
At row four, she stopped, catching her breath for a quick second. She closed her eyes, exhaled, and …
