I slid the tool in, working it between the
door and the guard that was there to prevent exactly what I attempted. The steel
was thin, but strong, hardened just for these purposes. My fingers, though,
were not used to it. Minutes ticked by as I fidgeted with the lock, knowing
that at any time one of them could—
I froze as I heard a sound from
inside the house. I left my tool in the door, and took quick steps away and
around the corner. My heart pounded, and I had to make myself take long,
calming breath so I could hear clearly. A light flicked on, and I could hear
voices yelling back and forth, but it was too indistinct to make out.
After a few minutes, and a growing
fear they were going to come outside, the light went off. I waited two more
minutes for my veins to stop throbbing and my hands to stop shaking from the
sudden burst of adrenaline.
I went back to the sliding door to
try again. After a minute, I heard the click, which, to me, sounded like a
large snap. With a smooth, even pull, I got the door open, and slid it closed
behind me.
I kept low, ducking under the
kitchen counter as I made my way to the hall. So far it didn’t seem as if they
had heard me, and I aimed to keep it that way. Down the hall, lights flickered,
like from a TV. I was about to head to the garage when I heard them speaking. I
didn’t understand it, but the language sounded familiar. My partner had mangled
his way through it often enough that I had come to recognize the sounds: Hebrew.
“Hebrew?
Like, the Bible?” Jessie asked.
I nodded.
“Interesting enough for you, Nikki?” I smirked.
“That
depends on what they were saying.”
“I have no
idea. I don’t speak Hebrew, even now.”
Nikki let
out a long, patient sigh. “you would be truly something if you had applied
yourself, Matthew.”
“But you’d
never know it because we wouldn’t have met, then. Besides, there are things
that can’t be unlearned. I’d prefer not to know exactly what they were saying.
I got the gist soon enough.”
“So why are
you interrupting yourself, now?”
I shrugged.
“Dramatic tension?”
“Dun dun
dun!” Jessie said.
Nikki
sighed again.