“Kitchen. Stockpile. Guns,” Luke hissed. “If you were to take a guess?”
“I was planning on guarding where he has the guns. I know the cabinets, and if I had a gun, I figured they couldn’t get to them.”
“Oh, yes, that makes it so much better.”
“Yes, my plan sucked, but this one’s not that much better. It’s a risk. Coming to Brute’s house is a risk in itself. Do you want me to text Emerson or not?”
Luke gestured to the phone. “Get it done and let’s start heading up there.” He surveyed the back of the garage. “We can keep to the fence and move closer to the house this way. When we get there, we can crawl underneath the windows, staying as close to the house as possible, and then make the human ladder.”
“On it.” Elijah was already texting. After he hit Send, he put the phone in my hand and squared his shoulders back. “Ready. Let’s go.”
We started forward. Elijah led the way, and Luke went after me. As I moved forward, his hand touched my hip, and we shared a look. He was both worried and furious. He wanted to be anywhere but here. I got it. I did. Those same feelings were swirling inside me, but we were here, and Emerson needed us. There was no other way around it. He nodded, as if reading my mind and squeezed my hip before letting his hand fall away. I picked up my pace and hurried to where Elijah was waiting for us. The distance between where we were and where we had to go seemed to take forever. It would take one person to see us. One person to look out their window and notice our slow trek there. With each step, my heart pounded so loudly. I worried everyone else could hear it, but nothing happened.
When we got there, Elijah got on his hands and knees. Luke climbed on top of him, and then I started up. Luke was holding onto a window frame to help steady himself. Stepping on Elijah’s back, I climbed up Luke and moved so I was sitting on his shoulders. Then I looked up.
Emerson was gazing down at me. Worry lines had formed at the corners of his mouth, and there were bags under his eyes. “Shit,” he muttered under his breath.
I couldn’t talk, and my hands were sweaty, but I motioned for him.
He nodded. “Okay, I can’t believe we’re doing this, but okay.” Kneeling on the window frame, he paused as he looked all the way down and then started to fall backwards. His hands loosened their grip on the window ledge, but I reached up and tapped his hand. He was that close to me.
“Emerson,” I choked out. “Don’t look down.” I waved to get his attention. His whole forehead had a film of sweat over it.
He jerked his head back to mine.
I pointed at my eyes. “Look at me. Look here. Don’t look down.”
“I just found out that I’m scared of heights, Bri,” he rasped out. Gone was the cocky jerk. This was my cousin, the one who had come to check on me when we were younger because I left and didn’t wait for them. He was the same cousin I used to love to horse around with. He was scared, and just like that, my fear was pushed down.
A calm overtook me, and I lifted my hand enough to grab Emerson’s hand. I took hold of it and leaned close. “Emerson,” I said, my voice firm and steady. “We’ve done this before.”
“That was when we were in the seventh grade. Times change. We’ve gotten fatter.”
“Stop it. Look at me. Come on. You can do this. Just like before. Trust us.”
Trust us. Those words echoed in my head. I had to trust Elijah and Luke, and Emerson had to trust all of us. We would get through this. I started repeating that mantra in my head, over and over again. I didn’t know if I believed it, but I had to. We’d be fine. We’d get through this. Then I could do bodily harm to my cousin, but only afterwards.
“Come on. Turn around.” I waited as he did. His whole body was trembling. I said further, “Extend one leg, but keep a good grip on the window frame. You have to hold yourself steady. Use your back muscles. They’ll keep your body steady.”
As I said it, he started to do it. He followed every command, and his leg came out in the air. I wrapped an arm around it, feeling Elijah and Luke suddenly become more stationary beneath us. They were holding both of us. As one leg touched Luke’s shoulder, his other leg did the same thing. Then Emerson lowered himself out of the window. Only his arms were resting on the window frame. Sweat rolled off him, and he started to shake again. He’d have to let go, but he was still holding on.
“Emerson,” I murmured, holding onto the window frame myself. “Let go. You’re good. We’ve got you.”
He nodded, taking gaping breaths. He couldn’t speak. Closing his eyes, he let go, and his whole body weight came down on us. Elijah groaned from the ground, but Luke reached up and grasped Emerson’s leg, that was now wound around his chest. All of us swayed against the house and then back out, but my fingers dug in, and I kept a hold on the window. Luke did the same, steadying us. He called up, “Emerson, start climbing down.”
“Okay.” He moved slowly until he was close enough to leap to the ground.
I clambered down right afterwards. The climb up was hard enough, but after enduring Emerson climbing down on me, scooting down Luke’s body until I was close enough to jump seemed like child’s play.
Luke was slower getting off and Elijah needed a minute before he was able to stand to his feet. Emerson had to help him up, and he clapped him on the back. “I’ve never been so happy to see you guys as I am right now. I’ve never loved the earth as much as I do now either.” He bent down and kissed the ground. “Seriously, I owe you guys my life.”
Elijah shook his head, wrinkles forming in his forehead. He tried to pull up the hood of his sweatshirt, but his hands were trembling. It took two attempts to pull it over his head, and then he hunched back down. “We still have to leave.”
Luke touched my side as he moved to stand right behind me. He spoke for us, “Let’s go.”
Then we heard something that made my blood go cold.