Before any of these choice words can make it out of my mouth, though, I hear a beep and a click, and the door to the panic room opens.
CHAPTER FIVE
May’s head appears around the side of the door. “Jenny? Are you in here?”
I stand up and grab my purse off the floor by my foot and throw the strap over my shoulder. “Yes, I’m here. But I’m not staying, you can be damn sure of that.”
I walk quickly to the door as it swings open more fully. Behind my sister is the hulking form of her boyfriend, Ozzie. He takes up almost the entire doorframe.
Ozzie looks over our heads and fixes his gaze on something behind me. “You good in here?”
Dev answers. “Yeah, we’re fine. Just a little antsy, maybe.”
I look over my shoulder and narrow my eyes at him. “Antsy?”
He’s grinning as he shrugs. “What would you call it?”
Honestly, I could call my attitude a lot of things. Antsy might even work. But right now, I’m too mad to debate the issue. I turn my attention back to my sister. “Sorry, May, but I have to get out of here.”
She holds her hands out at me. “No! Don’t go! Please stay.”
I shake my head. “Nope. Sorry, but I’ve had enough.” I step around her and her boyfriend and out the door. I’ve got to get out of this warehouse before they lock me up in another windowless room.
I’m moving fast, but my sister is having no problem keeping up. “Jenny, you don’t understand. None of this was planned. It’s totally random! Everything’s fine now. You can get the work done in an hour, and then you can go back home, and it’ll all be over. And you can have the money and the gift certificate.”
“You can keep your money and your stupid gift certificate. I’m done.”
“Why are you so mad?”
I stop so fast, she runs into my back and scrapes my heels with her shoes. I twist my head around to glare at her. “Are you serious? You can’t possibly be that dense, May.”
She frowns at me. “Dense? That’s kind of harsh, don’t you think?”
I shake my head at her, thoroughly disappointed. “I have no idea what’s happened to your attitude in this place, but I don’t like it. Unfortunately, I don’t have time to debate it with you right now because I have less than forty hours before my kids are back, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to let you ruin it for me.”
May’s face falls. “You really think I’m ruining your weekend?”
I throw up my free hand and let it fall down to slap my thigh. “Are you kidding me, May? I’ve been locked in a panic room for almost an hour with a giant, sweaty ninja guy!”
“How do you know he’s a ninja guy? Did he show you his swords?”
My eyes bug out of my head. I don’t even know what to make of this statement. She can’t be serious.
May continues. “Listen, Jenny, I know you’re upset, but it’s only because you don’t really know what happened. And getting locked in the panic room was a mistake. It’s all just a bunch of little misunderstandings. I promise, it’s going to be fine. And the job hasn’t changed. We still need you, and I think this is going to be something really easy for you, because you’re so smart with computers and everything.”
“Do not try to flatter me, May. You know that doesn’t work with me.”
“Since when? I flatter you all the time to get my way.”
I sigh. “You’re not going to wear me down with your silliness, either. Not this time. I have to go. Call me later.”
I turn around and start walking in the direction that I think will take me to the front door. After a couple turns down some hallways, the cubicles come into view, telling me I’m on the right track. As I pass the last one, someone approaches from the opposite direction. I slow, but don’t feel nervous about who this stranger might be, because I sense May coming up behind me and she’s not yelling at me to run.
“May, is that you?” the man asks.
“Yes, Thibault, it’s me and my sister, Jenny. Have you guys met yet?”
As the man draws nearer, I get a better view of his face. He’s just a little bit taller than I am, with very dark hair, and he’s wearing black cowboy boots, jeans, and a tight black T-shirt with the sleeves rolled up a little. I’m pretty sure there’s not an ounce of body fat anywhere on him. He’s more compact than Ozzie, but no less intimidating. It’s a good thing he’s smiling so much, or I might worry that he’s the guy planning to steal things from the mysterious lockers in the panic room.
“No, I haven’t had the pleasure yet.” He stops in front of me and holds out a hand. “Nice to meet you, Jenny.”