a better plan, now’s the time to speak up.” Aiden sounded like he actually hoped Teague had a better plan.
“I’ll go in first. Then you attack, and while the Hallorans are rushing around, trying to figure out where the bullets are coming from, I’ll get them out.”
Colm frowned. “How do you plan to get in there without being caught?”
“I’ve done it before.” Not in a very long time, and he’d been sneaking out then, but he doubted much had changed since. He ignored the glare his father sent him and focused on Colm. “James Halloran and I used to be friends.”
“Hmm.” He finally nodded. “Then it’s a plan.”
Father looked like he wanted to argue, but he finally nodded as well. “You have an hour. After that, we go in with guns blazing.”
Chapter Twenty
No, not like that. Twist it the other way.”
Callie glared at the other woman. “Forgive me if I’m not as adept at picking my way out of handcuffs as you are.”
“You would be if you were better at taking directions.” Carrigan glared right back. “Twist it the other way.”
With a sigh, Callie obeyed, twisting the bobby pin she’d bent out of shape to the other side. A little jiggle later and she was rewarded with a click. The cuff opened and Carrigan’s wrist slipped free. “Fucking finally.” She snatched the makeshift pick out of Callie’s hands and went to work on the other side.
In the two hours she’d been fighting with the cuffs, she’d managed to keep the fear at bay, but now that her hands were idle, it came rushing back—with interest. Getting Carrigan’s hands free was only the first—and easiest—of the hurdles they had to clear. She glanced at the sky, the beauty of the setting sun completely lost on her. It wasn’t a gorgeous sunset. It was a mark of too much time passing.
“Don’t freak out.” Carrigan stepped out of the bathroom, where she’d retreated after she was freed. “We can’t get out of here until it’s dark anyhow.”
How in the world did she manage to be so confident? Callie snapped the curtains shut. “Then let’s get started.”
They went through the room from top to bottom, looking for anything they could use as weapons or tools to scale the outside of the house. While she was certain she could survive a fall from the second story, she didn’t like their chances of doing it without some kind of injury that would prevent them from being able to run.
Because escape was the only option now.
James had made it perfectly clear that he wasn’t going to honor the promise to release Carrigan now that he had Brendan’s murderer. If he wouldn’t do that, there was no reason to believe the Hallorans would call off their dogs, either. And with each passing hour, her faith in her contingency plan diminished. The war would continue whether she died or not.
So she was going to do her damnedest not to die.
She opened the closet. “There’s other clothing in here if you want to change.” Considering Carrigan must have been wearing that dress for two days now, she was surprised when the woman shook her head.
“I’m good.”
“You’re going to scale the side of this house in that dress?”
Carrigan turned a sharp look at her. “I’d rather keep this dress on than change into something of his.”
That brought Callie up short. His? She must mean James, but there was a wealth of rage in her voice that seemed significantly more personal than this situation warranted. Not that she was an expert on such things but…She spoke without turning from the closet. “He didn’t…hurt you?”
“No.” She muttered something that sounded like I did that all on my own, but before Callie could question her, she said, “Fuck. Fine. Grab me those sweats.”
She obeyed because she was pretty sure if she said anything else, Carrigan would turn on her. She went to hand them over, but the woman indicated that she should drop them on the floor on the side of the bed furthest from the door. When Callie raised her eyebrows, she shrugged. “No guarantee that he’s not going to come check on us. If I’m wearing his clothes, that’s a sure sign that we’re up to no good.”
“Good thinking.” It was something she should have considered on her own. Callie rubbed a hand over her eyes. They still didn’t have a way out of the room. While tying bedsheets together worked well enough in the movies, James only had a fitted