Set Me Free (A Fugitive #2)(46)

I shuffled back and slid the door open. Inside, I could see the edge of a black box. Zach reached past me and struggled to yank it out. It was a decent size and had to be perfectly straight in order to squeeze through the gap. Zach scraped his knuckles on the first attempted and had to hold the box awkwardly while he shuffled out of the space with a grunt. He placed it by my knees and we sat on either side of it, running our hands over the leather exterior. I looked at the padlock holding it shut, wondering if I could work out the combination, but before I even had to think about it Zach was pulling out his pocketknife and slicing into the leather at the back. He flicked back the material to expose two hinges. Freeing the screwdriver piece, he went to work and soon flipped the lid up. He swiveled the box and perched the lid against the edge of the fake drawers.

In spite of my nerves, I shot him a grin of admiration. He grinned back and reached into the box.

"Okay, so we just need anything that will prove him guilty of something." Zach flipped open a manila folder and started scanning the pages.

I was about to do the same when I spotted a clear plastic bag tucked into the corner. My fingers trembled as I reached for it, recognizing the green gem within.

"What's that?" Zach glanced up.

"My mom's necklace. Dad gave it to her for her birthday...about two weeks before they...died." I pressed my thumb onto the emerald gem, remembering the celebration with clarity. "Why has he kept this?"

"Maybe it was evidence." Zach's eyes rounded. "Maybe there's more evidence."

Dropping the folder, he pulled off the thick stack of paperwork filling the top half of the box to reveal...

"Dad's computer." I recognized it. It still had the smiley face sticker that I'd put on there one day. He'd kept it and laughed that he liked taking a piece of me to work with him. I ran my hand over the small laptop and clutched it to my chest. "We have to take this."

"We have to try and take all of this." Zach went to pull out more files.

"I don't—"

A groan from the floor made us both jump.

"Is he waking up already?"

"He shouldn't be," Zach whispered. "But I didn't want to kill him so I only used a little bit."

Billy groaned again.

"Well there goes our long-gone plan. I'll have to wing to it. You gotta get out of here." Panic sizzled through each limb as Zach snatched the laptop off me and pulled out the cloth shopping bag he'd somehow managed to fold neatly and squeeze into his back pocket. He'd argued that it looked like a wallet, which it kind of did.

His hands were shaking as he flicked it open and shoved the laptop inside. I dropped the necklace in with it and started to freak out when Zach tried to load up the bag with more files.

"We don't have time."

"Shouldn't we try and take everything?"

"Not if it means getting caught!"

Billy's third groan made me want to pee my panties. We were down to seconds.

"Just go." I slapped the box lid down and wrestled it back into the desk compartment. My panicked actions made the task nearly impossible.

"Just take a breath, baby," Zach softly whispered.

I did, readjusted my angle, and carefully pushed the box back into place. Sliding the door shut, I knew I didn't have time to lock it before Billy came to.

Zach paused at the door as I replaced the desk lamp.

"Go, I'll meet you outside."

His reluctance was resounding as he hesitated, the bag tightly clasped in his fist.

"Try and sneak out the back so they don't spot that bag in your hand."

I pushed in the office chair and jumped back over to Billy, falling to my knees at his side.

"Go Zach, please, I'll be fine."

"What are you going to do?"

"Play pretend."

His brow creased, but he finally eased out the door. I let out my breath, trying to deny the dread building within me.

Billy winced, his head slowly turning. I only had seconds to spare, so I quickly opened up his pants and tried not to hate myself as I straddled him.

I waited for his eyes to open and reached for the strap around my neck just as he came to, pretending as though I was fastening up my dress.

"Oh my gosh, that was amazing." I ran my hands over his chest as if I was out of breath.

"What happened?" he mumbled.

I giggled. "Yeah, I nearly blacked out too." I rested my forehead against his chest.

Lightly scraping my nails up his neck, I ran my hands into his hair and whispered. "That, I will never forget."

Sitting back with a luxurious groan, I smiled at him expectantly.

His blank stare was comical, but I couldn't let that show. Instead I started to frown, figuring ‘highly offended’ would be a good way to play this.

"Oh yeah, yeah, me too." He grinned nervously, running his hands up my thighs.

I got off him, straightening my dress and forgiving him with a flirty smile. "Well, I better go make sure my man isn't looking for me."

He tried to stand up, but flopped back onto his elbow, feeling woozy.

"Let's make sure this stays our little secret. I don't want him finding out just how good you are." I looked around the room, biting my lip. "And I'm sure you don't want your dad to know we did it in his office." I giggled. "Even though we didn't make it to his desk. Something to aim for next time" I winked. Reaching for the doorknob, I wrapped my fingers around it and grinned. "See you around, Billy."