Read Online Thicker Than Water by MAGGIE SHAYNE - Free Book Online

was an old building. He yanked open the window, turned and held out a hand to Jones. “Come here.”
    â€œWhat the hell are you doing?” she whisper-shouted at him.
    â€œFire escape. Come on. Hurry.” Taking her hand in one of his, holding the curtains for her with the other, he helped her out first, then climbed out after her. As he did, he glanced back into the room, at the floor. And, yes, it was dark, and his light was in his pocket now—but he didn’t see the file folder covering up the photographs anymore. It had been kickedaside, and he didn’t see the photos at all. Maybe they’d been kicked aside, too, but he didn’t think so.
    He had an inkling that those photos were in Jones’s pocket by now. Sighing, he closed the window behind them and turned to where she stood on the black metal landing, looking down at the skeletal flights of iron stairs and the street below. “You all right?”
    The wind blew none too gently, and it carried a bite of autumn chill with it. She nodded but didn’t speak. She kept looking down, and he thought maybe heights were not her favorite thing in the world. He had no idea why, but he squeezed past her, so he was in front, then reached behind him and caught her wrist in his hands.
    â€œWhat the hell are you doing?”
    â€œRelax, Jones. This is strictly business.” He pulled her hand up, pressed it onto his shoulder. “Just hold on to me, okay?” And then he started down the fire escape’s zigzagging stairs.
    She stayed right behind him, her hand closing tight on his shoulder, the second one quickly following suit on the other side. The fire escape was a good one, as fire escapes went, but even the best of them tended to sway and jiggle. Every time this one did, her nails dug into his flesh, right through his clothes. He moved slowly, carefully, because the thing was noisy. He figured he had maybe five minutes, maximum, before the cops noticed the window unlocked and came outside to check. It might be far sooner. Jax was sharp; she didn’t miss much. If he’d been alone, he could have taken it twice as fast and been gone by now, despite the noise.
    He told himself he ought to do it and leave Jones to face the music. But instead he kept to the slow pace all the way tothe bottom, where the fire escape ended with a good ten feet left between it and the ground.
    â€œPut the ladder down,” Jones whispered, pointing urgently at the folded up ladder that would extend almost to the ground, when released.
    â€œNo way. You think Jax would miss something like that?”
    â€œThen how are we—”
    â€œWe jump.”
    She shook her head side to side, backing up a step.
    â€œCome on, Jones, it’s not that far.”
    She met his eyes. “You go first.”
    If he did, he thought, she wouldn’t go at all. And for some reason, the idea of her getting caught wasn’t one he relished as much as he thought he should. “We’ll go together.” He slid his arm around her waist, pulled her to the edge. She resisted, but he said, “Trust me, Jones. I won’t let you get hurt.”
    She looked up at him—surprised, maybe—but just when she opened her mouth to argue, he tightened his grip on her waist and jumped. She clutched him as they fell, even though it was only a second until they hit the ground, falling apart. He got to his feet first, reaching down to help her up. “You okay?”
    â€œFine.”
    â€œTold you so.”
    She released his hand and brushed herself off. Sean could barely believe they’d made it undetected. He took Jones by the arm and led her around the building, via the alley he’d been in earlier. His bag of rescued garbage still sat right where he’d left it, near the front corner of the building. Her Jeep was just beyond it, parked by the curb. There were plenty of other vehicles parked the same way up and down the street, so