Chapter 76

I broke the kiss. “We must, barnacle.”

“Huh?”

“That’s my line,” I said. “And did you find your eye mask?”

He held it up. He put it on. “Stand back,” he said.

I looked around my cage. It was a short look. “Um, good luck with that.”

“Todd,” he reiterated. “Todd, stand back.”

Todd did as he was told. I scrunched back as far as I could go, pulling my arms and legs in as I covered the family jewels. They were, of course, all I had of my actual family. Sad. Almost as sad as being locked up in a cage in a Republican senator’s hidden basement.

“Ready?” Craig asked.

Todd nodded. I gulped. I gulped again. There was no spit left in my mouth. The gulp was mostly for show. “Ready,” I said, my face pushed into my chest, heart pounding like a chicken-tasting jackrabbit’s.

“Laser,” said Craig. Out shot the laser beam, a sliver of blue slicing through the air. “Cut the lock.”