Undercover Passion. Melinda Di Lorenzo

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СКАЧАТЬ come up with a plan B,” he said. “Find another way out.”

      Five minutes had gone by already. Any second, the fire could make its way up. It was a little surprising that heat and smoke hadn’t already permeated the apartment, really.

      He needed to think. Fast.

      Teegan tugged on his shirt, and he turned his attention her way, trying his damnedest to stay patient. The kid had a solemn expression on her face, and her finger extended toward the hall.

      “What’s up, monkey?” Harley asked.

      Her little blond head swiveled toward her mom, then back to Harley. “Promise not to get mad?”

      “I won’t get mad,” he assured her.

      “Not you,” said Teegan. “Mom.”

      Harley flicked a raised-brow look toward Liz, who shook her head.

      “I won’t get mad,” she said. “But just be warned that the last time she asked for that promise, she’d cut all of her socks into dresses for her dolls.”

      “We’ll take our chances.” Harley smiled at Teegan. “Tell us.”

      “You know the big tree outside?” the kid replied, still nervous. “The one I climb all the time?”

      “Sure do,” said Harley. “Heritage oak.”

      Teegan’s confession came out in a rush. “It has a big branch that goes all the way to my mom’s window. And I climbed up. And there’s a flower-thing under the window. But I stood on the flower-thing, and I could see into the window, so I think you could get out that way, too.” She paused. “Are you mad?”

      “Not right now,” Liz said. “But I can’t promise I won’t be grounding you later. Do not climb up that high. Ever again.”

      “Ever again after we’ve climbed down today,” Harley amended. “Show us.”

      “Okay.”

      Helping Liz up and supporting her as they moved, Harley followed the girl down the hall to the bedroom. Once inside, he helped Liz to the edge of the bed, then stepped over to examine the potential escape route. Teegan stood close beside him, pointing at the places she’d described just a few moments earlier.

      Harley nodded his appreciation. He could see the potential. It might not be the easiest thing for Liz with her injury, but it beat the alternative of fighting through smoke and flames.

      He reached out, unlatched the lock on the window, carefully removed the screen and surveyed what he could see of the outside. The thick branches blocked a large portion of the view, but a glance down and to the side made him frown. He could just see the back end of what appeared to be a white panel van. If he had to guess, he’d say it was just about lined up perfectly with the rear door of Liz’s Lovely Things.

       And there’s no smoke.

      He leaned out to get a better look, pretending to examine the stability of the tree’s branches. He still saw nothing.

      What did it mean? And what was the vehicle doing there? Harley knew for a fact that Liz didn’t accept after-hours deliveries. He felt sure that if she’d made an exception for this particular evening, it would’ve come up in conversation.

       Hell. She let me know last week when she ordered a pizza because she worried about the door startling me.

      He stared out the window, frowning even harder. Even if someone was at the store for a legitimate reason, why would they be going in instead of out?

      The bottom line was that he couldn’t reason through all of it. And that was saying something. His powers of deduction weren’t exactly subpar.

      Unless there is no fire.

      The thought made no sense. Except it also made perfect sense.

      “Is everything okay?” Liz asked.

      He pulled himself back into the room and decided to go with the most obvious observation. “We can’t climb down.”

      “We can’t?” she replied, pushing to her feet a little unsteadily. “Why?”

      He looked from her to Teegan, then opted for the truth. “There’s someone—maybe more than one someone—down there.”

      “A bad guy?” Teegan asked.

      “Well, hopefully not. But I’m not sure we can chance it.”

      Teegan sucked in her lower lip in a thoughtful way that made her look an awful lot like her mother, then shrugged a little. “We could go up instead.”

      “Up?” Harley repeated.

      “To the roof,” she told him, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

      “Have you climbed to the roof before?” Liz’s voice was full of worry.

      Blond curls bounced a negative. “No. Well. Not on the tree. But a bit up the ladder on the other side. Not all the way, though. But there’s some awesome branches there. I don’t think any bad guys could see us ’cause of the leaves. And the tree’s really strong.”

      “Could that work?” Liz asked.

      Harley took another look outside. He could see that a few bigger branches curved together overhead, forming a U-shaped bowl that stopped just a few feet from the roof.

      “I think it could,” he confirmed.

      “Think?” Liz repeated.

      He started to amend “think” to a much firmer “know,” but before he could get the words out, a thump and a rattle from out in the apartment told him time had run out, and not in the form of fire.

      Someone was breaking in.

      Liz’s heart thumped so hard that it hurt. Her gaze flicked around, rapid fire. Teegan. The bedroom door. Harley. Teegan again. But in spite of the rapid movement of both eyes and her pulse, her feet seemed glued to the spot.

      She urged herself to move, wondering when she’d become so good at being a damsel in distress.

       Maybe since something exploded in your store a few minutes ago?

      She shook the sarcasm and the inaction off, stepping toward her daughter. Harley was moving, too, with surprising stealth for a man of his size. He strode smoothly to the door, closed it with no more than a whisper of a sound, then turned to Liz. He put his index finger to his lips, shook his head once and gestured to the window. Liz nodded her understanding. She took a breath and started to lift Teegan. But she’d forgotten about her leg. The tiny bit of pressure made her bite down so hard to keep from crying out that she tasted blood.

      Harley was there in an instant. He scooped Teegan up, carried her to the window and placed her on the sill.

      Liz’s СКАЧАТЬ