Chapter 462: Tomorrow Night

"Shit..."

Keith dropped down beside him immediately.

The anger disappeared so quickly that it left him cold.

This was not supposed to happen.

He had only wanted to hit him once.

He had only wanted Liam to shut up.

Keith reached toward Liam’s neck with shaking fingers, checking for a pulse.

For one terrifying second, he felt nothing.

Then—

There.

A weak pulse.

Liam was breathing.

Still alive.

Keith let out a breath he did not realize he had been holding.

But the relief only lasted a moment.

Because Liam was unconscious.

Bleeding.

Keith’s heart was beating so hard that it felt painful.

He stayed crouched beside Liam for another second, staring down at him as blood slowly darkened the dirt beneath the back of his head.

Liam was alive.

Keith had checked.

He was breathing.

But that did not make the situation any better.

If Keith dragged him to one of the doctors, Liam would wake up eventually. And when he did, he would know exactly who had done this to him.

He would not forgive Keith.

The escape plan would be over before it even began.

But if Keith left him here, someone else could find him.

If Liam woke up before tomorrow night, he could sound the alarm. He could check his pockets, realize his keys were gone, and immediately know that Mei and Keith were planning something.

Keith’s breathing became uneven.

The keys.

He still needed the damn keys.

He quickly searched Liam’s body.

His hands shook as he checked Liam’s jacket, then his belt, then the pockets of his pants. For one horrible second, he thought the keys were not there.

Then his fingers touched cold metal.

Keith pulled the key ring from Liam’s pocket.

The sound of the keys lightly clinking together seemed far too loud in the narrow space between the buildings.

He stared at them.

There were several keys attached to the ring.

But among them were the ones they needed.

The keys to Mei’s and Keith’s rooms.

Keith’s grip tightened around them.

For a moment, he considered simply running.

He had the keys.

Mei and he would no longer be locked inside at night.

They could get Emily.

They could reach the boat.

They could try to leave immediately.

But Tommy was right.

Leaving tonight would be reckless.

Ryan had not been warned yet. Rachel and Lucy would not be waiting across the water. They would reach the other side with no backup, no protection, and no way to know whether Callighan’s people had already noticed something was wrong.

They needed the plan.

They needed to do this properly.

Even if nothing about this felt proper anymore.

Keith looked at Liam again.

Then he grabbed him beneath the arms and dragged him farther away from the road, toward a darker space behind the abandoned house.

Liam’s body was heavier than Keith expected.

His boots scraped across the dirt, leaving a faint trail that Keith tried to cover with his foot afterward. He pulled him behind a stack of broken boards and damaged furniture, where he would be harder to spot unless someone came looking.

It was not a good hiding place.

But it was the best Keith could do without wasting more time.

Then he turned and ran.

He moved through Brigantine as quickly as he could without looking like he was running from something. His chest still hurt from Liam’s knee strike, and every breath pulled at his stomach, but he ignored it.

He needed Tommy.

Now.

Thankfully, he found him sooner than expected.

Tommy was near one of the work areas, carrying a small crate with another prisoner. When he spotted Keith approaching, he immediately frowned.

Keith must have looked terrified.

Tommy set the crate down.

"What happened?"

"Come with me," Keith said.

Tommy’s expression changed.

"What did you do?"

"Just come on."

Keith led him away from the work area and back through the narrow streets. Tommy followed quickly, though his eyes kept moving around as if he expected guards to stop them at any moment.

Neither of them spoke until they reached the hidden space behind the abandoned house.

Then Tommy saw Liam.

He froze.

Liam lay unconscious behind the broken boards, his face pale and blood visible in his hair.

Tommy stared at him.

Then he slowly turned toward Keith.

"What the fuck happened?"

Keith rubbed a hand over his face.

"It doesn’t matter."

"It fucking matters."

"Liam said something about Mei."

Tommy’s expression darkened.

Keith continued before he could ask more.

"I hit him. He attacked me. I pushed him back, and he hit his head on a rock."

Tommy looked down at Liam again.

His jaw tightened.

"Keith..."

"I know!" Keith snapped, then lowered his voice again. "I know. But what do we do now?"

He held up the key ring.

"I got the keys. Do we leave tonight?"

Tommy’s eyes went to the keys.

For a moment, Keith thought he might agree.

They had what they needed.

The boat was hidden.

Liam was unconscious.

Mei and Keith could get out of their room whenever they wanted.

It almost felt like the situation was forcing them to run tonight.

But Tommy shook his head.

"No."

Keith stared at him.

"What?"

"Not tonight."

"Tommy, Liam could wake up."

"I know."

"Then we don’t have time!"

"We can’t rush this."

Tommy’s hands clenched into fists at his sides.

His face looked tense, but his voice remained firm.

"Tomorrow. We leave tomorrow."

Keith shook his head.

"That makes no sense."

"It does."

Tommy stepped closer.

"Ryan needs to know. If we leave tonight and something goes wrong, we have nobody to help us."

"But Liam—"

"If we leave tonight, we might escape Brigantine only to get caught somewhere else," Tommy cut in. "Or we might reach the other side and find nobody there. We have one chance. We do not throw it away because things got messy."

Keith looked down.

He hated that Tommy was right.

The plan had already gone wrong.

But that did not mean they should make it worse by panicking.

"What about Liam?" Keith asked.

His voice was quieter now.

"If he wakes up—"

"We make sure he doesn’t wake up where someone can find him," Tommy said.

Keith looked at him.

Tommy’s expression showed that he did not like the idea either.

But they had run out of good options.

"We tie him up," Tommy continued. "Then hide him somewhere safer. Somewhere nobody will notice him until tomorrow."

Keith nodded quickly.

"Right."

Tommy looked back at Liam and cursed under his breath.

"Damn it."

For a few seconds, neither of them moved.

The reality of what they were about to do settled over them.

This had not been part of the plan.

They had wanted Liam drunk, distracted, careless.

They had wanted to take the keys and disappear before he noticed.

Instead, Liam was unconscious behind a building, and they were going to have to keep him hidden until the next night.

Tommy exhaled slowly.

"Alright," he said. "I’ll stay here and watch him."

Keith nodded.

"Get rope," Tommy added. "Anything we can use to secure him. And bring something to cover the blood or clean it up."

"Right."

Keith turned to leave.

"Keith."

He stopped.

Tommy held out his hand.

"The keys."

Keith looked down at the key ring.

"Right."

He placed the keys in Tommy’s hand.

Tommy closed his fingers around them.

"Go," he said. "And be careful."

Keith nodded once before moving away.

Tommy watched him disappear around the corner.

Then he looked down at Liam.

"This really wasn’t supposed to happen," he muttered.

Liam remained unconscious.

The blood beneath his head had stopped spreading as quickly, but Tommy knew that did not mean he was safe. He would need treatment eventually.

They could not leave him like this forever.

But they could not let him wake up before the escape.

Tommy looked down at the keys in his hand.

At least one problem was solved.

Mei and Keith would no longer be trapped in their rooms.

They could slip out at night without needing Liam to unlock their doors.

But that only created another problem.

Without Liam, the guards might notice sooner that something was wrong.

Anyone taking care of them would notice it actually as usually Liam would be there to open the doors and close them.

His friends especially might find it weird, he disappeared suddenly and he didn’t show for their night games or whatever it was.

At least Tommy could try to find some excuse explaining Liam’s absence but either way, it wouldn’t last long.

And if they noticed before tomorrow night, then the keys would not matter at all.

They would be screwed.

Regardless, they had no more choices now.

Tomorrow night.

Somehow he felt relieved despite their situation because this time it would happen and there would be no more delays and they had everything they needed as well.

He just needed now to warn Ryan and get Emily and then tomorrow night, they leave finally.