Free The Keeper: Alexa LeGardien by Kaytie Reade Page B

ways and talking up conversations with other random people.
    “It’s time,” Alexa whispered as Matt handed her a glass of wine. “We can’t be drinking. We have to keep our game faces on.”
    “I know. It’s soda.”
    Her face brightened again and she happily took the glass from him. “As if I couldn’t love you any more than I already did. Who knew talking this much could make one so thirsty?”
    He smiled and rubbed her shoulders. “Are you ready?”
    “Yup, let’s get this over with.” She walked over to the opposite end of the ballroom, making sure to leave a great distance of space between them before nodding her head visibly. In the next minute, Matt was on the floor asking for help. She smiled proudly. He was good.
    She took the distraction as her queue and slipped away towards the door she needed to go through without being detected. She couldn’t lie to herself though because her heart was beating like she had just taken part in a wrestling competition. It had been so long since she had done anything so risqué. She felt a head rush before finally picking the lock open. She quickly slammed it shut as she stepped in.
    Taking a deep breath, she looked around and quickly recognized the room she was in. Now all she needed was an entryway to the ventilation system.
    “Hi there.” The voice was emitted from her earpiece, startling her for a short minute.
    “Matt, you were good. I’m considering handing over my Oscar over to you.”
    “And I would willingly accept.”
    “Where are you now?” she asked, instinctively glancing back one more time to ensure that she was alone.
    “In a black van with Mr. Black-suit-and-tie.”
    It took her another long second to catch on to Matt’s words because her mind was still wandering around the room, looking for the vents that were supposed to be there. “Who, Davidson?” she smiled as she finally saw it. It had been weirdly covered up to flow with the Victorian era décor that the room had been decorated in.
    “Yeah. Are you in the vent yet?”
    “Um . . . I’m working up to that.” She hadn’t quite put the dress in her thoughts when she finally finished up the retrieval plan. “I’m ripping the dress apart.”
    “Leeman said it was a one-of-a-kind dress. I don’t think you can just rip it in two.”
    “Yeah, well, I just did.” And she had. Her red dress now included a very large slit on one of its sides. “Way more flexibility this way.”
    She heard Matt chuckle through the intercom. “Did you purposely invoke those images in me, or what?”
    “Eww, Matt.”
    “A boy can dream.”
    “Well, don’t.” She finally entered the vent, locking it back as securely as she could in order not to be infected. “Okay, I’m in.”

9
    “I ’M heading east right now and it’s getting darker than expected.” Alexa had already gained a few scabs on her arms due to unseen sharp edges along the vents.
    “Are you good?” That voice belonged to Matt.
    “Yeah.” She reached out to the band around her right thigh and pulled out a tiny flashlight. “It’s so quiet up here,” she stated mostly to herself and no one else in particular. She cleared her throat before speaking to Matt again. “I’ve got about two more turns before I make it to the room.”
    She crawled as covertly as she could in order to avoid the loud clanking echoes that her movements made. “Shit.”
    “What’s wrong?”
    “It’s nothing. You know, just . . . it’s all glass—clear glass.” The appearance took her by surprise, because the last thing she expected was this big of change. The plans must have been upgraded since then. This change made her return impossible. There was no visible way for her to make it back up.
    “What are you talking about?” Matt asked worriedly.
    She shook her head and surveyed the area once more. “From here on, it’s no longer just steel. This wasn’t in the blueprints. I can easily get it out of the way and get through. The safe won’t