“There’s more. Ivy Hill is being used as a drop-off and pickup site for drugs from Mexico. There’s a pickup by the old barn tonight, and the DEA is planning a major takedown. The conversation you overheard Reverend Wilson having on the terrace was as suspicious as you thought it was.”

“You’re not a student.”

Kayla was still processing that part of the deception.

“No.”

“How old are you?”

Cate braced. “Thirty-three.”

Kayla’s jaw dropped. “Seriously?”

“Yeah.”

“You’re old enough to be my mom.”

Ouch.

“Barely.”

Kayla leaned her head back against the wall again. “So much for my new friend. I knew it was too good to be true.”

“Hey. We can still be friends after this. Age shouldn’t matter if people click.”

“I was just part of your job assignment.”

“Maybe at the beginning. Not anymore. I don’t plan to lose touch with you after this is over.” Kayla would need all the friends she could get, especially in the weeks ahead. And longer term, a friendship—and mentorship—could be gratifying for both of them.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

Kayla scrutinized her. Nodded. “Okay, then. But it may not be an issue if we don’t get out of here. I’d like to believe Reverend Wilson will tell someone where we are, but I’m not counting on that.”

“Me neither.” Cate examined the ceiling. “I think we have to come up with a plan to escape on our own.”

“You don’t happen to be a rock climber, do you?”

“Sadly, no. I do have decent upper body strength thanks to my workouts, but I was never into rock climbing. How about you?”

“Nope. Besides, even if we could find a toehold in the bricks, that sloping ceiling would work against us. The opening is in the center. We couldn’t reach it.”

She had a point.

Cate scanned the walls and ceiling.

They were solid brick, with no protrusions to offer a leg up or to cling to. Other than some disintegrating mortar on a section of bricks near the bottom, the surface was smooth and—

Wait.

Disintegrating mortar.

Cate gauged the distance from the floor to the cover at the top of the access tube.

It appeared to be about ten or eleven feet to the apex, as Wilson had said.

Her pulse picked up as an idea began to percolate in her mind.

Kayla was an inch or two shorter than her five foot seven, giving them a combined height of around eleven feet.

If they added another few inches to that, this could work.

“I have an idea.”

“Tell me.” Kayla angled toward her.

“If we could pry out a few of the bricks and build a small platform, one of us could climb on the other’s shoulders and try to push off the cap. Then that person could lever herself up and out through the opening.”