Broken Beautiful Hearts(105)

“Thanks.”

I take off with Grace and Tess beside me. I don’t have time for anything except finding Owen.

Police cars are parked on the grass in front of the mill, and the flashing lights on top of the cop cars make it easier to see out here. A small group of middle-aged adults who clearly weren’t involved in the underground fights watch the cops cuff people as they come out of the main entrance.

Tucker scrambles to catch up with us. “Where are you going?”

“I have to find Owen. Who are those people?” I point at the group of middle-aged adults. Now that I’m closer, they look more like senior citizens.

“I don’t know. Probably the closest neighbors, or people who follow the police cars. People actually do that here. Nothing ever happens, so when people see a cop car, they want to know what happened.”

“Then I guess I’ll be one of those people.” As we get closer, I scan every face, looking for Owen.

A burly cop walks out with Billy, whose hands are cuffed behind his back. He passes him off to another officer, who has more than a dozen other guys in cuffs sitting on the ground in a row.

Grace cranes her neck to get a better look. “The cops are definitely not messing around.”

“I told you, they’re arresting everyone,” Tucker says.

An officer spots us and walks over. “What are you kids doing here?”

“We saw all the police cars coming this way, and we wanted to see what was going on,” Grace says innocently.

“Well, now you’ve had a look. It’s time to go home.” He points behind us. “So go on back to your car.” The officer gives Tucker a disapproving look. “And I know your mama wouldn’t want to know you’re over here, Tucker. Just be glad you weren’t inside. Now, get on out of here.”

The whole time the cop was talking, I’ve been looking for Owen. He’s not sitting on the ground with the group in handcuffs. But neither is Reed.

We walk away to satisfy the officer. He watches us for a moment, then loses interest and goes back to the business of arresting people.

We only have to walk a few yards before we’re hidden by the darkness.

“So what’s the plan?” Tucker asks.

“I know another way inside,” I tell them as Grace texts madly.

“Christian and Cam are already here,” she says. “They’re on the roof.”

“What? Why?”

“They climbed into the ducts when they heard the cops come in.”

“Did they see Owen?”

Grace shakes her head. “No, I already asked. Christian says they’re waiting until there aren’t as many cops inside, and then they’ll start looking again.”

What if Owen doesn’t have that much time?

I check my phone to see if he texted me, but of course it’s dead. I probably drained the battery with the dozens of texts I sent him that went unanswered.

“I can’t wait that long,” I tell Grace. “I’m going in.”

She tucks her phone into her pocket and pulls her long black hair into a ponytail. “Let’s go.”

I lead the way as we approach the mill from the side. We stay close to the trees, so the cops won’t see us.

“I can’t see anything. It’s too dark.” I keep one hand in front of me so I don’t walk into a tree branch. “And my phone is dead.”

“I have a flashlight. You can borrow it,” Tucker says.

He hands me something that doesn’t feel like a flashlight. “Tucker, this is a pen.”

“Press the end. Not now. It’s really bright. But I’ve got my phone.”

Luckily, the flashing lights from the police cars illuminate the front of the building, which helps me judge if I’m walking in the right direction.

As we pass the front of the mill, we work our way closer to the building.

“Someone’s texting me,” Grace says. “But I can’t read it without turning up the brightness on my phone.”

“Let me see it,” Tucker says. I can’t see what he’s doing, but he’s messing around with Grace’s phone. He turns up the brightness a tiny bit. “I still can’t read it,” he whispers. “He tucks it under his shirt to hide the light. The light gets brighter as he turns it up a little more.

“Who’s over there?” a man calls out. A streak of light from a flashlight waves back and forth in our direction.

Grace grabs Tucker and pulls him away from me. The light catches the two of them.

“What are you two doing over there? Stay where you are,” the officer says.

Grace makes a shooing motion with her hand. “Go!”

I step deeper into the shadows closer to the trees. I feel terrible leaving them behind, but I’m more worried about Owen. I work my way to the concrete steps Owen brought me to once before. The moment I see them, my pulse goes into overdrive.

Am I really going to do this?

My legs shake as I walk down the steps. I remove the padlock the way Owen showed me, but I can’t bring myself to open the door. There’s a real tunnel on the other side—not one at the entrance to a football stadium. It’s dark, underground, and completely sealed off, meaning there’s no way out until I get to the other end—which I can’t see.