I turned the handle once, twice, and then a third time, pushing against the door at the same time, but it didn’t budge.

“Shit.”

My hands started to shake ever so slightly. It felt as though someone had turned up the temperature of the night by ten degrees, even though it was actually cool and pleasant. Almost growing chilly.

I entered the code again and turned the handle.

Still nothing.

A dog started barking a couple of houses away, sharp, insistent yelps that pierced the night. Could it have seen or heard me?

Then a voice cut through the darkness. “Knock it off, Sparkle!”

For some reason, I wondered why anyone would name their dog Sparkle.

But I shook that thought from my head and refocused. I knew I’d already tried twice, and my margin for error might be gone.

I guessed three made for a good magic number. Three failed attempts might trigger a response from the system. So I had to make the next one count.

Had I been wrong about the code? Was I missing something?

I reached into my pocket and brought out the paper. It was creased and limp, and my sweaty hands made it stick to my fingers and difficult to open. I unfolded it quickly, using the ambient light from the stars and the reappearing moon and the houses nearby to read Blake’s note.

1-7-9-2.

Hadn’t I entered that?

Had the code changed, and Blake didn’t know?

I decided to try one more time. And if it didn’t work, I’d get the hell out of there before the police were summoned.

Or before Sparkle came over and bit my leg off.

I took a deep breath, wiped my sweaty hands on my shorts, and carefully entered the code.

When I tried to turn the handle again, it stuck, refusing to open. And my mind raced, imagining at that very moment an alarm ringing like a fire bell in the police station just two miles away.

I tried one more time and felt the handle give a little. I pushed against the door, leaning my shoulder into it, and it gave more.

With a little more pressure, the door opened, and I almost fell across the threshold and stumbled inside the house. But I stayed on my feet, took one quick look back to make sure nobody saw me, and then I slipped inside, pulling the door shut behind me.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Everything was dark.

Since I’d spent so much time walking through the night, my eyes had mostly adjusted, so I could pretty quickly see where I was.