Page 170 of Seven Deadly Sins

Chapter Seven

Harper’s heart lodgedin her throat. There’d be no hiding in Robert’s office. He’d see past her disguise in minutes.

She glanced up at Liam. A muscle ticked in his jaw. He was as nervous as she was.

“Sir.” A man jogged toward them, stopping a few feet from Robert. “You need to see this.”

“Now?” Robert frowned.

“Yes, sir.”

Robert sighed, then pasted on a smile. “I will talk to you, my new friends, later. Excuse me.”

Harper almost sagged with relief. “That was close.”

“Too close. He’ll discover us sooner or later. I’d rather it be later. We need a plan for when we get into his office.”

“A plan to take him down.” They couldn’t very well shoot him. They’d never make it out of the compound alive. Plus, the sound of a gunshot was bound to cause some trigger-happy agent on the other side of the gate to start shooting. People would die.

Another order from the FBI director ordering Robert to come out or release the women and children. Robert laughed and opened a window in the wall. “I cannot do that my good man. Unless you send me Detective Scranton and Agent McConnell. Then, I will consider sending out the women and children.” He glanced at the men surrounding him. “Not a chance, my friends. I will not separate the families of my trusted followers. I am simply biding my time.” He slammed the window closed.

“Let’s go. If he sees us, he’ll take us to his office.” Harper tugged on Liam’s arm. “We need to think of a way to get him away from his people. Until then, we’d be foolish to confront him.”

“We still need to get a layout of that house.”

“I didn’t see any men in the kitchen at breakfast time. Maybe they aren’t allowed in the house.”

“I’m pretty sure families are, so men with a wife would be.” He stared at the second floor. “Ten windows. So, either ten rooms or some rooms have more than one window. One of those has to be Thompson’s.”

“You planning on grabbing him in his sleep?”

“Better than an open confrontation. Safer for us and for these people.”

Harper bit the inside of her lip. “We can try to sneak in once it’s dark. I don’t see another way.” She ducked her head as Annie exited the house and headed for Robert. “We have to get out of sight.” If Robert saw them again, he’d be reminded of wanting to get to know them. Annie could very well rat them out.

They headed for the back fence. A couple of men worked on repairs. Harper picked up a tire jack in hopes of looking busy. She really had no idea what to do. Clearly, she was out of her element in overalls and a baseball cap. She needed her suit and gun to feel like herself. This person she masqueraded as had her mind muddled.

“When we take him from his room, I don’t want to be in disguise.”

Liam stared at her for a moment, then nodded. “Okay. If things go south, I want to finish my life as myself, too. I can fetch our clothes easily enough once it gets dark. I’ll slip out the same way we came in. You can wait in the barn, then slip out when you hear a whippoorwill.”

She smiled. “Now, we have a plan.” They just needed to stay free until then. If they did perish under the hand of Robert, no one could say they didn’t give it their all.

When a cowbell rang out at noon, Harper and Liam hid behind a shed. If Robert remembered them at all, he’d look for them at mealtime.

She sighed and leaned her head against the weathered wood of the shed. “I feel like a teenager trying to get back into the house after breaking curfew.”

“You broke curfew?” Liam arched a brow.

“Sure.”

“I took you for someone who always followed the rules.”

She laughed. “Then, you are sorely mistaken. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be here with you, would I?”

“Guess not.” He flashed a grin and gave her hand a squeeze. “There’s no one I’d rather break rules with than you.”

“Don’t get gushy, Pa. I’m a grown man.” She gave him a playful bump of her shoulder.