Page 1 of The Vigilante's Lover

Ten minutes until the prison break.

I tilt my head, listening for a sign that my plan has been discovered. A change in the guard’s pace. An alarm elsewhere in the compound. Unexpected voices or that particular sound of a hammer cocking in a gun.

But the normal routine is undisturbed.

If my team does the job well, it will remain that way, right up until I am gone.

Nine minutes.

I pass the time reading the last correspondence I sent to my extraction team regarding the escape. My own words reassure me that I have left nothing to chance.

The rope sizzles as it slides along your skin, like a flame zipping up a fuse. The stopper knot snaps into place, and you inhale sharply, ensnared by the bowline encircling your naked thigh.

Of course, there is no pretty girl on the receiving end. It isn’t intended to be a love letter. It’s the secret code I use with my network.

For those who understand it, I was clear in my instructions. Fire hazard. Prepare for a gas assault. Identify a secondary escape route.

I let no detail go unplanned.

Seven minutes.

The knots were my idea, an addition to our family code after my parents dropped out of the Vigilante world. Ropes are elegant. Knots are useful. Everything about this language appeals to my sensibilities.

Beauty. Power. Bondage.

I enjoy all three.

A buzzer sounds at the end of the long hall. The new guard shift is coming on duty. There will be a five-minute changeover, then it’s time to initiate the plan.

I’ll be ready.