THE KNOCKING FINALLY roused me.

“I’ll be at work all day,” Kit called through the door. “I know you’re angry at being grounded, but get moving. Too much sleep is as bad as too little.”

“Wha?” Best I could manage.

Kit’s footsteps retreated. I glanced at the clock. Sunday. Ten forty-five.

“Frick!”

I’d overslept. For my idea to work, we had to go today.

I rushed to my computer, tracked down the Virals, and handed out assignments. The boys grumbled but agreed. As I knew they would. We had no other choice.

Logging off, I couldn’t shake the feeling I’d forgotten something.

I reviewed the plan in my head. There were holes, sure, and a few shaky assumptions, but the concept felt sound. Yet the nagging wouldn’t let up.

What?

Coop pushed into my room, tail wagging like a windshield wiper.

“Come on, boy.”

I trudged downstairs to see if Kit had left any coffee.

It was going to be another killer day.

“Eyes peeled,” Ben warned. “We don’t want to run aground.”

Mid-afternoon. We were aboard Sewee, carefully picking our way through the snarl of overgrown swampland surrounding Wadmalaw Island.

It had taken hours, but Shelton finally scored the intel we needed.

Then a sprint to the boat.

Sailing south past Folly and Kiawah, Ben steered into the mouth of the Edisto River, heading inland to the warren of marshes and tidal pools surrounding Wadmalaw Sound.

The channel narrowed as Sewee nosed through tall reeds and thick stands of cordgrass. Blackbirds circled, feasting on insects made drowsy by the afternoon heat. Egrets perched on dry mud banks, alert for movement in the still, brackish water.

My plan was simple.

Escape by car was impossible. Marsh Point had a single access road straddled by a well-manned guardhouse. No driving around it.

Flight on foot was equally unrealistic. The hospital grounds occupied a tiny islet surrounded by muck and open water. The only walking path paralleled the road, and was completely exposed.

That left a waterborne getaway.

By worming through swampland to the lake surrounding the hospital, we could bypass the guardhouse and access the grounds from their unprotected rear.

Ben’s face was tense as he maneuvered the tricky passages. For good reason. If we bottomed out in the shallow swamp, Sewee could be mired for hours.

Ben’s gaze flicked left. His body stiffened.

“Nobody freak,” he said quietly, “but there’s a monster gator ten yards to port.”

Heads whipped sideways.

An eight-foot alligator was lounging on a sandbar, its gray-green scales caked with dried mud. Reptilian eyes opened, regarded us dispassionately, then slowly slid shut again.

“That’s right,” Shelton said in a shaky voice. “Nappy time. We’re not worth your trouble.”

Ben motored down a channel, hit a dead end, reversed, chose a new route. Sweat dripped from his temples as he struggled to navigate the stifling green maze.

Hi slapped his neck. “These mosquitoes are eating me alive.”

“Me too.” Shelton tossed Hi the bug spray. “We must be delicious.”

“Buckeye!” Ben eased Sewee between a pair of grassy humps.

“Lunatic Island, twelve o’clock.”

Fifty yards of open water separated us from Marsh Point Hospital and solid ground.

“There.” Ben pointed to a knot of weeping willows growing hard against the water. “Those trees should screen us from view.”

“Everyone knows his job?” I spoke to cover my pregame jitters. “Let’s review one more time.”

“I dump you guys on shore,” Ben said, “then pull back and hide Sewee in the rushes. Wait for the signal.”

Shelton spoke next. “We sneak to a door at the left rear corner of the building. I unlock it and stand guard.”

Shelton had found and downloaded the hospital blueprints earlier that afternoon. After studying the layout, we had a pretty good feel for our target.

“The door shouldn’t be alarmed,” I reminded.

We were counting on that.

The Marsh Point Hospital website emphasized the open, unrestrained character of their treatment facility. Residents were never locked in their rooms, and were generally free to roam the grounds at their leisure.

Small wonder. Given the Alcatraz setup, there was nowhere for a patient to go.

If only I could get a message to Chance. He could walk out to meet us.

Impossible. Patients weren’t allowed unsupervised phone calls. Chance had no idea we were coming.

But we couldn’t wait. Sunday meant less staff, less opportunity to get caught. I’d just have to find him myself.

Hi picked up his part of the sequence. “Once inside, Tory and I climb to the fourth floor, where I keep watch in the stairwell.”

My turn. “I search the guest rooms, find Chance, and we rejoin Hiram.”

“Back down the stairs,” Hi continued. “Link up with Shelton.”

“I text Ben,” Shelton said. “Then we haul ass back to the drop zone.”

“Where I’ll be waiting,” Ben finished. “We disappear into the swamp. Done.”

Our strategy was solid. But so much could go wrong.

What if someone noticed Sewee? How many guards were in the building? How would I locate Chance’s room?

I shoved my doubts aside. No plan could account for the unknown. We’d adjust on the fly.

Deep breath. Go time. “Take us in.”

“Roger that.” Ben gunned the engine and we fired across the lake.

Reaching the cover of the willow trees, Shelton, Hi, and I jumped from the bow and waded ashore. Ben reversed Sewee and retreated into the marsh.

“Now?” Hi asked.

“Yes.” Steeling myself. “Do it.”

SNAP.

The power tore through me. Lightning. Fire. I closed my eyes and waited for the tremors to subside.

My senses came alive. The world shifted into laser clarity.

“Ready?” I panted.

The boys nodded, golden eyes hidden behind dark lenses. Positioning my own sunglasses, I headed up the hill.

The low-hanging sun at our backs helped obscure our approach. We scurried into the yard and ducked behind a hedgerow. Lucky break. The suffocating heat had kept everyone inside.

I assessed our target in silence. The castle-like structure was equally menacing from this angle, but the entry was there as expected.

“Here goes.” Shelton streaked to the door, pulled, and nearly fell flat as it swung open, unlocked. He held it ajar for Hi and me.

“Good luck.” Shelton melted into the nearby bushes.

Inside was a wide stairwell. I paused to get my bearings.

Muffled voices came through a door to our right.

Lobby, Hi mouthed.

Keys jingled. A shoe squeaked. Someone laughed gruffly.

Hi and I fired up the steps.

Fourth floor. Double doors separated the stairwell from a long corridor beyond. I strained my ears.

Nothing. Even flaring, the only sound I detected was a ticking clock.

Where is everyone?

“Wait here,” I whispered.

I slipped into a white-tiled hallway lined with steel doors. A metal clipboard hung beside each one. At the far end sat an empty chair.

I dashed from clipboard to clipboard, checking names, certain I’d be caught, one eye watching the elevator beyond the nurse’s station.

Chance Claybourne’s was the fifth room down.

I didn’t hesitate.

Heart in my throat, I stepped inside.

The space was cozy, with a single bed and a small wooden desk. Soft blue walls, bare. The sole window overlooked a Japanese rock garden.

Chance was propped in bed, reading a book. Even wearing raggedy gym clothes, he looked like a fashion model. How could I still find him so attractive?

Remember what he did. What he tried to cover up.

Chance’s yelp brought me back to earth.

“Tory?” Eyes popping. “What in God’s name are you doing here?”

“You said you needed rescuing. I haven’t slain any dragons yet, but the day is young.”

“Now?” Chance was too shocked to play it cool. “You have a way out? Why are you wearing sunglasses?”

“No questions. Unless you have other plans?”

“None whatsoever.” He began stuffing items into a duffel bag. “I take it you have a way off the grounds?”

“Naturally.”

“How’d you get up here without being noticed?” Chance glanced at his desk clock. “Nap time! Of course. That was clever. At this hour, the orderlies all play cards in the lobby.”

“That was the idea.” Talk about dumb luck.

Chance frowned. “But we’ll never get past them to the parking lot.”

“We don’t need to. Will you please kick it up a notch?”

I cracked the door and peered down the hall. Empty.

“Come on.”

Chance was hot on my heels as I raced toward the stairwell.

Suddenly, an elevator opened.

A doughy derriere backed into the hallway, followed by a rattling medicine cart.

I yanked open the closest door and shouldered Chance inside. The latch clicked just as the orderly turned around.

“We should’ve run for it!” Chance hissed. “That’s the med cart. We’ll be stuck in here for at least ten minutes. By then the halls will be crawling with people.”

“Let me think.”

I looked around. We stood inside a linen closet. Shelves filled with blankets and towels lined one wall. A chest-high metal rectangle was cut into the other, with a handle attached dead center. Next to the handle was a shiny black button.

“What is that?” Chance whispered.

“No clue.”

I pressed the button. Something thunked inside the wall.

“Are you crazy? We don’t know what that does!”

With a loud whir, the metal rectangle began to vibrate.

In for a penny …

I flipped the handle. A steel sheet slid upward, revealing a compartment the size of an oversized pizza oven.

“It’s a dumbwaiter!” I whisper-shrieked, probably too loud.

Instant change of plan. I yanked out my cell and texted Shelton and Hi.

“Get in,” I said.

“You’re nuts.”

“It’s the only way out undetected. They must use this to send dirty linens down to the laundry.”

Chance didn’t move. “It’s a metal coffin.”

“We’ll be fine.” I couldn’t let him see my own nerves. “Once we shut the door, this thing will head straight to the ground floor.”

He still didn’t budge.

“Look.” I crawled inside the narrow compartment. “Ladies first.”

Chance shook his head. “If we get stuck, you’re my next meal.” Wedging himself beside me, he tugged the door shut.

Nothing happened.

My mind fired terrifying images. Me, trapped inside this box. Struggling to move, to breathe. My heart rate went gangbusters. Sweat slicked my palms.

Then the engine cut on and we began to descend.

Chance lay beside me, panting, clearly unsettled by the confining space. My back rested against his chest. His knees pressed the back of my thighs.

I was very, very aware of how close we were.

SNUP.

My flare died, leaving me momentarily drained. A tremor traveled my body. I slipped off my shades and rubbed my eyes. Slowly, the disorientation passed.

The dumbwaiter stopped with a jerk. I thought of how it would appear if someone found us.

Please, I prayed. No audience.

The door rose.

Chance practically leaped to the floor. I scrambled out behind him, trying to look everywhere at once.

We’d landed in the corner of a large laundry facility. Granite counters lined the walls, interspersed with sinks and industrialsized washers and dryers. Thankfully, the room was empty.

“We’re in the basement,” Chance whispered, eyes darting. “What next?”

“We need a way out the back of the building.”

“There’s a rear staircase used for deliveries.”

“How do you know that?”

“I pay attention. I’ve been contemplating escape since the moment I arrived.”

Chance was right. A narrow flight rose from the laundry room to a small patch of pavement behind the hospital.

“Can we get to the water without being seen?” I asked.

“Follow me.”

Chance led me along the rear of the building, past the doorway through which I’d entered. I desperately hoped my texts had been received.

Chance darted into a maze of hedges. I was right behind.

“What’s this?” I hissed.

“The meditation garden. It provides cover to the dogwood grove, which stretches out of sight from the hospital.”

“You really have thought about this.”

He smiled for the first time. “You’ve no idea.”

In minutes we reached the weeping willows. Ben had Sewee idling. Hi and Shelton were already aboard. I can’t say who among us was most relieved.

“Come on, come on, come on!” Hi squeaked. “Let’s bail.”

“You did it.” Ben sounded mildly surprised. “Did anyone see you?”

“Don’t think so,” I said as we clambered into the boat. “But let’s not tempt fate. Hit the gas!”

Chance chuckled. “You four are not to be underestimated.”

“Remember that,” I said. “We have a deal.”

We were ten minutes beyond the swamp. Sewee was rounding Seabrook Island, skirting the coast in a northeasterly direction. Homeward bound.

“The Celtic cross.” I had no intention of wasting time. “Where is it?”

Chance considered before he spoke. “The cross has been at my father’s fishing camp since its purchase. Hollis and his buddies would go there to drink and avoid their wives.” The ghost of a smile teased Chance’s mouth. “Father often joked that the cabin needed a little holiness to offset the debauchery.”

Adrenaline rushed through me. I could feel Bonny’s cross in my hands.

“Where is this camp?” Ben asked.

“Tut tut.” Chance leaned back and stretched. “I’m not revealing all my secrets at once.”

“What the hell?” I jabbed a finger at his face. “You promised.”

“And I’ll deliver.” Gently brushing aside my hand. “First I need a place to crash until I figure out my next move. Food. A shower.”

Chance sent a meaningful look my way.

“You can’t stay with me.” What was he thinking?

“I’m short on options at the moment.” His tone hardened. “You need the cross. I need temporary lodgings. That makes us partners a bit longer.”

He had me. But how could I hide him from Kit?

“Tomorrow night,” Chance promised. “You have my word. Until then, you’re blessed with the pleasure of my company.”

I could think of nothing to say.

Chance smiled beatifically. “So. What’s for dinner?”