Alna only had a second to muse about how ironic this was before she was yanking Marianna inside. She quickly shut the door behind them, plunging the small space into darkness.

  As Alna’s eyes adjusted, a door opened in the office. Alna edged forward, straining to see in the dim light filtering underneath the closet door. Abruptly, Marianna stopped, jerking Alna back before she could walk into a box. Alna proceeded forward with even more caution.

  With some careful maneuvering, Alna and Marianna reached a space near the back and sat against a wall. Alna, after casting a wary look in the general direction of the door, unzipped her bag with slow, careful movements and pulled her phone out. She turned on the flashlight.

  Marianna jumped and gave Alna a look that seemed to ask if she was insane. Alna illuminated the wall behind them.

  Thankfully, the way White had his boxes arranged his boxes allowed Alna and Marianna to take a seat behind one. Marianna started to relax and Alna reached over to grasp her hand once more. She debated shifting around some of the boxes to hide them better.

  No. That endeavor was much too risky.

  They would have to wait and hope White didn’t come into the closet and hunker down––out of sight––if he did.

  Alna turned the light off and placed her phone in the pocket of her brown coat. She turned, meeting Marianna’s eyes in the darkness. As she attempted to keep her breathing slow and even, Alna did her best to search Marianna’s face. She looked for any signs that Marianna might experience a panic attack. Marianna’s breathing pattern was still rather short and uneven, but much calmer than it had been a minute ago. In the near non-existent light, Alna could see the whites of Marianna’s eyes. Still nervous.

  Seeming aware of the direction her thoughts had gone in, Marianna gave Alna a slight nod and a small smile. Silent reassurance. Alna nodded back and redirected her gaze to the door.

  There was little to hear, which was both positive and distressing. White was likely at his desk. Alna cursed herself––not for the first time. She’d done extensive research on the man’s work schedule. At least she’d thought she had. Clearly, it hadn’t been enough. Was he stealing money from Gloria Bank at this very moment, as she and Marianna hid away in the dark? It was a definite possibility.

  Alna’s jaw clenched. She turned to Marianna, who had calmed down even more in the last few minutes. From what she could see, Marianna was still nervous, still fearful, but to a much lesser extent.

  Alna pulled out her phone. Pulling up her notes application, she typed You okay? She passed it to Marianna. In seconds, the phone was passed back to her.

  Yeah, I’ll be fine.

  That was good. But Alna wanted to see if she could help her feel somewhat safe.

  After another moment of staring at the door and listening intently, Alna once more redirected gaze to her girlfriend. She slipped her hand out of her grip, bringing Marianna’s attention––which had been on the door as well––to her. Reaching out in the limited space, Alna touched the underside of Marianna’s chin and brought their lips together.

  Marianna’s head jerked back a bit, surprised at the action. Alna stilled immediately, prepared to pull back at the first time of discomfort. Marianna, however, after only a few seconds’ hesitation, soon returned the kiss, their lips sliding over each other with ease.

  Again, the irony was not lost on Alna. She doubted it was to Marianna, either. But it had the intended effect of calming Marianna.

  The kiss lasted somewhere around fifteen seconds. A bang came from the office. Marianna flinched immediately while Alna went still.

  They waited.

  Nothing happened.

  Marianna let a quiet breath.

  According to the occasional, discreet glance at her phone, Alna and Marianna remained in that closet for twenty-six minutes. At the seventeen minute mark, Marianna’s phone vibrated, causing her to jump and Alna to tense. Marianna pulled out her phone and texted back whoever (her parents, likely) had messaged her.

  Alna decided that was a good idea and sent a quick message to her own parents.

  Minutes passed, turning into a half an hour. Alna could see Marianna checking the time with growing concern. For a moment, Alna wondered if she should talk to Marianna’s parents and try to explain to them why their daughter had been out so late. She doubted that notion would be all that welcome. Marianna hadn’t even introduced her girlfriend to her parents––not in any official capacity, anyway. Alna had met Farren Whitlock after she’d caught Alna kissing her daughter. Their entire exchange had lasted less than two minutes and she hadn’t seen the woman since.

  It was eight o’clock. Alna would have to work on her timing next time.

  It was somewhere around eight o’ five when the closet door opened, allowing light to flood inside the open space. Marianna’s slight gasp was almost soundless as she and Alna hunkered down as much as they could.

  Alna released the breath she’d been holding, straining her ears. Some shifting––much too close to her and Marianna for Alna’s liking. Her muscles coiled as she ran over the self-defense moves she had looked up online.

  The sound of a box being lifted. And then, almost miraculously, she thought she heard a text alert. There was a soft thump as White put the box down and presumably pulled out his phone.

  Alna stared at the box in front of her with bated breath, tense and waiting.

  White let out a sigh and then, after more shifting sounds, left the closet. Minutes later, he left the office altogether.

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  Alna blinked in bewilderment. She’d thought that type of timing only happened in movies.

  After sharing a glance with Marianna, they came to a mutual agreement to wait a few more minutes. Just in case White came back. When three minutes passed with no sign of him, Alna risked leaving their hiding place.

  She moved to her feet with care, Marianna’s hand grasped in her own. The slight tremor in Marianna’s hand spoke of relief and leftover fear. Alna gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.

  With her phone offering a sufficient amount of light, Alna approached the door and leaned toward it, her bag slipping. As she did so, she cast a brief, longing look at the boxes surrounding her and Marianna. She’d gleaned some sparse details while in the closet and was convinced one held evidence of White’s illegal crimes. But with the latest scare, Alna dared not open any of the boxes. Physical evidence would have been beneficial, but she would have to make do with the evidence from White’s computer. That would be enough.

  Not to mention Alna would likely get in trouble with her parents if they lingered much longer.

  Concluding that there was no one in White’s office any longer, Alna eased the door open and peered at the room. Still no one. Good.

  “Three minutes,” Alna said to Marianna as she opened the door wider. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Marianna give a brisk nod and turn back the way they had come.

  Having done breaking and entering with Alna four times by now, Marianna had become efficient at removing evidence of her and Alna’s presence in the places they’d broken into. So much so that Alna decided that, this time around, she would not check Marianna’s work. Instead, she would focus on hers.

  Finding and removing evidence of her and Marianna’s being here proved to be an easy task. She wiped down the keyboard, moved anything that had been bumped back into its place, and scanned the floor for any melted snow left behind. They’d been careful. Three minutes was more than enough time.

  Once their time was up, Alna and Marianna exited the office, Marianna keeping watch while Alna locked the door behind them. That done, Alna took Marianna’s hand.

  As they crept down the hallway, both girls cast frequent looks behind themselves, watching out for anyone who might spot them. Although their disguises would hopefully hide who they were, if someone were to physically confront either of them, the wigs were unlikely to stay on.

  Stopping at a corner, Alna peered around it, the brown hair of her wig falling over her shoulder. Seeing that it was empty, Alna eased around it and continued to lead Marianna to the door through which they had entered.

  After reliving another incident of having to dive out of sight of the cleaning crew, Alna and Marianna reached the door and again Alna took some time to first unlock and then lock the door behind them.

  The gust of frigid air made Alna tense on impact, her teeth chattering. She felt Marianna snatch her hand back, no doubt to wrap her arms around herself. Neither of them spoke for another several minutes, both waiting until they were a significant distance away from the building White worked in.

  “Whew,” Marianna commented. Alna could hear her teeth chatter and concluded they would have to wait indoors for a cab. “That was intense.”

  Alna’s lips twitched upward at that. As a general rule, Alna loathed it when people stated the obvious, but she’d found during the course of their short relationship that Marianna seemed to be the exception to many things. In this case, Alna thought Marianna’s statement was rather cute.

  “Indeed,” Alna intoned, with a bit of her occasional dry humor injected. Stopping at a lamppost, she turned to face Marianna. “I will call a cab. But first, we should get changed.”

  Alna handed over the bag that held clothes and her computer before pulling out her cell phone. The girls located a fast food restaurant where they used the restroom to get changed. Alna called for a cab and ten minutes later, the two girls entered a nearby gas station they had decided to wait in.

  “Thank God,” Marianna sighed. “I thought I’d get frostbite.”

  Alna turned to face Marianna once they had steered clear of the glass door, watching with concern as Marianna removed her gloves and rubbed her bright red hands together. She wanted to reach out and grasp them in her own, but given how cold her hands were, that would help very little.

  “I do not believe we were outside long enough to contract frostbite,” Alna said. Ignoring the looks they were getting from the cashier, Alna removed her own gloves and placed them in the pocket of her black winter jacket. She rubbed her hands together to generate some warmth. “Although I can understand why you would think that.”

  “That’s good,” Marianna said with a slight smile.

  They bought some tea to help warm themselves up and then lingered near the windows, keeping an eye out for their ride. Marianna’s phone vibrated with texts, making her frown when she checked it. She excused herself to the restroom when she saw she had a missed call, handing her tea to Alna.

  Alna watched Marianna’s retreating back with furrowed brows. There were many things about the world that Alna didn’t like––things that annoyed or disgusted her. But seeing the stress Marianna’s home life was causing her––that was something Alna well and truly hated. She took another sip of her strawberry flavored tea, once again catching the cashier watching her. It was understandable, she supposed (she and Marianna were in quite a state when they’d entered), but that did not mean it annoyed her any less. Alna stared back, allowing her steely gaze to linger long enough to make him look away.

  Alna had just finished sending a text to Aiden, assuring him that their ride was on the way, when Marianna exited the restroom and approached her. She was pale and wide-eyed and her hair was more ruffled than it had been before. A sure sign that had been running her hands through it or yanking it in agitation. Marianna’s posture was stiff, her cheeks flushed for reasons that had nothing to do with being outside recently.

  Yet another fight, it seemed. Alna allowed her sympathy and concern to display themselves on her face as she handed over Marianna’s tea. Thankfully, it didn’t look as though she had been crying. Alna hated seeing Marianna in any kind of pain, but tears were much worse.

  “I am in so much trouble,” Marianna muttered as she accepted the tea from Alna. She was staring at the floor with a hard look on her face, trying to keep her composure.

  Alna ran her hand along Marianna’s back. Marianna shot her a weak smile, gratitude shining in her cerulean eyes.

  By the time they were both sitting in the cab, it was almost eight-fifty, and Alna knew that the chances of escaping her parents’ wrath were slim to none. The thought made her sigh, which caused a small gust of wind to blow over in her mental world, mirroring her actions.

  The closer the cab got to the Whitlock house, the more Alna could feel the tension building in Marianna’s body. Alna, wishing she could do more, settled for interlacing their hands, running her thumb across Marianna’s knuckles. At one point, when they were minutes away from Marianna’s house, Alna ducked her head to murmur into her ear, “Perhaps you should stay at a friend’s place this weekend.”

  She decided not to suggest Marianna stay at her house, not wanting to be too presumptuous.

  A sigh escaped Marianna’s lips, and she leaned her head against Alna’s shoulder. “I might go over to Sadie or Hikari’s place tomorrow night.” Her eyes were closed, tension displayed in every line of her body. Alna squeezed Marianna’s hand to show her silent support.

  When the cab stopped at the Whitlock house, Marianna paid her part of the fare to the man upfront––because she had insisted earlier––and gave Alna’s hand a squeeze. Her reluctance was palpable to even the most ignorant of people. Alna resisted the urge to tell Marianna she could stay at her house and instead murmured that she’d see her later, telling Marianna that she could call or text her if she needed to. No matter the time.

  Marianna slipped out of the cab with slow movements, clearly dreading the inevitable argument in her future. Alna half-wished she could go inside with Marianna and offer her support.

  She didn’t, though.

  And so, when Marianna disappeared into her house with a wave, Alna turned away and told the driver her address.