Until Midnight by Desiree Holt, Cerise DeLand Page B

of places where large container ships could enter the waterway and even then, they had to be escorted by federal officers. Not something the unholy alliance would want to deal with. So
    Henderson probably owned small warehouses like this one where he could load those
    smaller boats with his product and have them hook up with larger ones for longer
    distances.
    Because it had a window, she assumed the room she and Adam were in was the
    kind usually used for an office. It didn’t seem to be used for anything at the moment except for stashing the two of them away.
    Nicki scrambled to the window, which was as dirty and dusty as the rest of the
    room, the panes covered with grime. She managed to wipe away enough to see that the building they were in backed up to rocks and different kinds of wild shrubbery. Putting 85
    Desiree Holt & Cerise DeLand
    her ear directly against the window she heard the faint hum of cars traveling on a paved road not too far away.
    The absence of sound told her there was either little or no activity going on at the moment, which was a plus. Henderson’s men no doubt figured she and Adam would
    be down for the count and were a little sloppy in their surveillance. Another plus for them. If she could just get the damn window open…
    It was an old double-hung and the latch had been closed for so long it didn’t want to budge. She was afraid of she broke it the sound of glass shattering would bring someone running. Taking a deep breath, she pushed one last time against the catch and with a groan it finally opened. There were handgrips along the lower sash that she strained with to push up the window. By the time she had it open she had nearly
    exhausted what little strength she had, and she still had to get both herself and Adam out of there and away from the building.
    Nicki sat down on the floor, taking a moment to gather what strength she had left.
    She was covered with perspiration and her heart was racing. Additionally, she was still having trouble breathing, another side effect of Pleasant Dreams. She closed her eyes briefly, gathering her inner resources, and when she opened them Adam had managed
    to crawl over to where she sat.
    “I know we have to get out of here.” His speech was still slow and slurred but he
    was far more alert than when he’d regained consciousness. “I’m good to go.”
    She looked at him skeptically, but realized they didn’t actually have a lot of options.
    She’d have to take the lead in this and hope she could get both of them to safety.
    “I hear cars not far from here,” she told him. “On some kind of road. If we can get through the rock and shrubbery behind the building we can get to civilization. And I can contact my office.” She looked at him. “Ready to give it a shot?”
    He studied her for a long moment, then reached a slightly trembling hand over to
    touch her cheek. Bending his head, He pressed his mouth to hers. Despite his weakness 86
    Until Midnight
    the kiss still packed enough punch to let Nicki know that the connection between them was stronger than ever.
    “Now,” he told her, lifting his head, “I’m ready to go.”
    Nicki exited the window first, climbing out backward. The window was low
    enough so there was almost no drop to the ground. As soon as she had her footing she reached in to help Adam out. Still groggy from the drug, he took much longer to crawl out than she would have liked, but finally they were both standing on the rocky terrain.
    Nicki managed to push the window shut, maybe buying them a couple of extra minutes if their absence was discovered too soon. Then, draping Adam’s arm across her
    shoulders and supporting him as best she could, she moved into the waist-high grasses and short pines that fortunately grew thickly at the back of the building.
    “We have to go this way,” she told him. “It’s more difficult, but it provides more cover for us and they won’t think we’d choose this direction.”
    Their forward