Page 152 of The Forbidden Note

“Who are you? And what are you doing down here?” Bushy eyebrows wrench together. His voice is a deep, over-the-top bass.

“We’re just moving some equipment,” I say, gesturing to the trolley.

“Moving it where? The dance is in that direction.” He points up.

“We’re taking the back entrance.” My voice has a clip of laughter.

“There’s no back entrance that I know of.”

I take a step toward him, and his fingers tighten on the butt of his gun.

Smile in place, I stop. “We’re not doing anything wrong. I promise. But we’re trying to be discreet here. I’ll make it worth your while if you look the other way.”

“Are you trying tobribeme right now?”

Guess that didn’t work.

“Enough, kid. You and your friends need to come with me.”

I remain in place.

The guard’s expression shifts into a dark glower.

I feel my brothers tensing up behind me.

“This is a restricted area,” he warns, planting a hand on my shoulder. He starts to steer me around. “We’ll take this to the principal. Find out if you really do have permission to be down here.”

My mind trips to Plan B.

Screw talking our way out of this.

It’s time to take care of the problem.

I meet Finn’s gaze and watch for his nod. Without a word, I slam the security guard’s hand off my shoulder and throw a fast punch. He barely manages to dodge it.

Finn launches toward him. I’m smiling when I see my brother blur past me. I don’t have a doubt in my mind that Finn will do what needs to be done.

Once we take him down, the girls can go ahead with Dutch. I’ll stay back and restrain him. The cloth on the trolley will do nicely. I’ll use that to tie him up. Maybe lock him in a closet where…

Finn raises his hand to strike, and the guard pulls out his gun.

My brother freezes, every muscle in his body locking up. For the first time in my life, I notice his eyes hold something other than boredom.

The gun changes everything.

And suddenly, we no longer have the upper hand.

In my mind is a revolving chorus of, ‘damn, damn, damn’.

Things just got freaking real.

Behind me, Dutch and Sol step in front of Cadence.

Grey is trembling, her face drained of color. I try to shift away so I’m blocking her from view, but the guard takes my movement as a threat and swings the gun to me.

Spittle flies from his mouth when he hisses, “Don’t move!”

Finn grunts and the gun wavers his way.