bChapter /bb227 /b

    London gave her a reassuring smile to show she was fine.

    Maxine grabbed Brian and dashed toward the back door London had mentioned. But before they’d gone far, a sudden burst of noise erupted around

    them. Maxine’s heart sank. ‘Not good. We’ve probably been spotted,‘ she thought anxiously.

    Before Maxine could even think of a n, Brian suddenly shoved her aside. She staggered, nearly falling t on her face. “What the…” Maxine barely

    managed to steady herself, her heart pounding from the sudden move.

    Maxine suddenly felt a strong hand yank her off bnce, sending her tumbling into the nearby bushes.

    “You!” Maxine fumed, but before she could protest, Brian’s hand mped over her mouth.

    Brian mped his hand over Maxine’s mouth, eyes darting. In a hushed whisper, he urged, “Mom, not a sound. They’re right behind us.”

    The bodyguards must have realized Maxine and Brian might try to sneak out through the back door, so they rushed there immediately, only to unwittingly trap the two in the courtyard before they could escape.

    Under cover of night, Maxine and Brian managed to slip past the bodyguards unnoticed.

    As the surroundings finally quieted down and Maxine felt nearly frozen from lying in the bushes, Brian whispered, “Let’s bgo/b, Momb.” /b

    Maxine and Brian peered through the bushes near the back door, two bodyguards stood watch. If they wanted to get out that way, they’d have to silently draw the guards away.

    “Mom, they’ve spotted us,” Brian whispered urgently to Maxine.

    Maxine knew all too well, if the guards caught them, things would get much worse than they were now.

    ‘We might even get tied up and locked in the storage room,‘ Maxine thought.

    “Didn’t London just say there’s a side door here? Let’s go check it out,” Maxine whispered.

    She was out of options now. This was a desperate measure, but it was worth a try when all else had failed.

    Brian nodded in agreement, and the two of them crept cautiously toward the side door.

    Luckily, the side door area wasn’t crowded, and Maxine let out ba /bquiet sigh of relief.

    Maxine dodged the surveince cameras under each streetlight one by one, circling around until she reached the area near the side door. There, discarded furniture, remnants from the vi’s renovation that no one had bothered to remove, was piled haphazardly.

    The furniture was nketed in thick snow, clearly abandoned here for ages.

    Maxine stepped up to the wooden rack and gave it a tentative shake. With a wry, helpless smile, she muttered, “Solid wood. Just great

    18

    There was simply no way the two of them could move all this heavy stuff aside in such a short time.

    Brian strode forward with a steely expression, gripped the wooden rack, and heaved it aside with all his strength. “We’vee this farb, /bbI /bwon’t bgive /bbup /bnow!” he growled through clenched teeth.

    Brian’s face reddened from the strain, veins bulging at his temples. Moved by his determinationb, /bMaxine stepped forward bwithout /bhesitation band /breached out to help him lift it.

    Luckily, it seemed the side door hadpletely slipped Hamlin’s mind, buying them enough time to stay here. Even so, bMaxine /bbcouldn’t /bbshake /bbthe /bfeeling that this wasn’t ba /bgood idea.

    b?? /b

    After moving the wooden rack aside, Maxine reached out to stop Brian. “This isn’t working. Let’s just climb over the wall instead.”

    The wall here was about bthe /bsame height as the one she’d climbed to get in. With something to step on, it wouldn’t be too difficult.

    Brian nced around, quickly dragged a few lightweight pieces of furniture over to the base of the wall, stacked them into makeshift steps, and lifted his foot, ready to try climbing up first. ‘Let’s see if this works,‘ he thought, determination shing in his eyes.

    “Wait!” Maxine blurted out sharply, stopping him mid–movement.

    AD