“Then you know we don’t have much of a choice because I don’t care what that bitch told you, this is some persuasive evidence that you committed a felony, and you know as well as I do, she’ll use it if she has to.”

I shivered at the thought of what Logan had done for me. How he’d risked his entire future for the choice I’d made. And even though I’d do it again as long as it meant keeping Clementine safe and out of harm’s way, it didn’t temper my guilt.

Logan’s eyes burned into me and I knew he could see my despair. With a squeeze of my hand, he gave me a small smile. I gave him one in return to reassure him I was fine. Even so, he still flung Miles a filthy look.

Just then, my phone rang. I let go of Logan’s hand and quickly reached for my purse to silence it. I’d received three blocked calls at dinner. Including the one from yesterday, that made four in two days. Logan insisted on answering them himself, but whoever was on the other end hung up at the sound of his voice every time.

“Give it to me,” Logan said through gritted teeth.

I shook my head. “Let’s just ignore it.”

Miles and Declan were having their own conversation and weren’t aware of what was going on. “Maybe Elle can help,” Declan said, drawing my attention back to the table.

Miles cocked his head as if he understood what the glances and glares were about and then slid a pad of paper my way. “Can you show me what the keypad looks like?”

I knew it was my decision whether or not I tried to get into Michael’s panic room, but I still found myself glancing back to Logan. When I saw his face was twisted up in anguish, my heart banged in my chest. I hated what this was doing to him, but I knew it had to be done. We had to find out the truth. Both Logan’s and Clementine’s futures depended on it. With that in mind, I averted my gaze to the empty paper in front of me and proceeded to draw the rectangular box as I remembered it.

When I was done, my heartbeat had not yet slowed. If just the very idea of what I had agreed to do was making me nervous, how was I going to react when I was actually doing it? With a deep breath, I slid the paper back over to Miles. “The outside was stainless steel, the inside was black with blue number pads. Above the numbers were a red, a yellow, and a green light.”

He looked at my drawing. “It appears to be a standard digital two-relay keypad with a magnetic lock.”

“Which means?” Logan asked with a harshness in his tone that made me wince.

Miles ignored Logan’s hostility. “It means once you enter the assigned code, the number sequence will deactivate the magnetic lock, and the door will open. If the keypad is programmed to toggle mode, then when you enter the same code it will either release the lock again or reactivate it.”

“I don’t understand. Why would Elle have to release the lock again?”

“These types of locks are complicated. Once the lock is deactivated, there are two possible outcomes. The door could automatically close itself after thirty seconds or it might remain in the open position.”

“How will I know which one to expect?”

The sigh Miles gave told me the news wasn’t good. “You won’t. It’s programmed during the initial installation and I have no way of knowing.”

Logan cursed and scrubbed his jaw.

Stiffening my spine, I tried not to worry. Logan was doing enough of that for the two of us. “Okay, so worst outcome, it closes on its own. All I have to do is reenter the same code to get out. I got it,” I said, my throat thick, my tone sounding choked.

I hated the weakness I was showing.

“There’s one minor caveat.”

Logan cursed again.

“If the alarm was not installed in toggle mode, and the door has closed, then there will very likely be a different release code. If you can’t figure it out and you continually try, you could trigger the second relay. Most of the time, the relay is wired to the existing home burglar alarm and will set if off.”

Then Michael would know what I was up to.

“Can’t she just lodge the door open?” Declan asked.

“No, an alarm will sound if the door is programmed to close itself.”

The fluorescent lights in the ceiling bounced off Logan’s handsome face and I could see the torment in his expression. “So you’re telling me if the release code isn’t the same as the entry code, she’ll be stuck in the panic room.”

“Yes.”

“And there’s no way for you to determine this before she goes in there?”

“No. It all depends on how the door was initially set up, which unfortunately we don’t have any way of knowing.”

“Fuck that then. She’s not going in there. We can’t take that risk,” Logan said. Then he added, “I’ll do it.”

“No,” I gasped. “Michael would know.”

“She’s right, Logan,” Miles said, then he looked toward me. “Do you think you know the code? It would be a series of four numbers.”

My brain was thinking it through and I talked out loud. “His computer password was Clementine’s birthday, which was six numbers. It would make sense that the code for the panic room would be similar. Maybe just the month and date or the month and year?”

The corners of Miles’s mouth tipped up. “Sounds logical.”

Miles was all muscle. Large, broad, and ripped, he was intimidating looking. He also had way more girth than Logan’s lean body bore. But Logan didn’t seem intimidated by this. He didn’t seem to notice or care. My guess was that they were equally powerful.

“And if she’s wrong?” Logan asked tersely.

Miles, on the other hand, seemed oddly nervous in the presence of Logan, especially tonight. Perhaps it was due to Logan’s natural brooding demeanor or his obvious dislike for Miles’s plan. I wasn’t really sure, but as usual, he answered quickly. “If the house and panic room alarms are linked, a breach will trigger, and the entire house will be activated. If it is connected to the BPD, they’ll be alerted to an intruder. If they aren’t linked, then the lock will blink in a series of red flashes repeatedly until—”

“That’s it!” I yelled, clasping my hands together and grabbing the attention of all three men in the room.

Logan’s hand gripped my knee. “What’s it, Elle?”

“That night I saw someone in Michael’s study. I saw a red blinking glow. It had to be the keypad. And what if the person was my sister? She could have been trying to break into the panic room.”

Logan nodded in agreement.

“But she must not have gotten in. That’s why I saw the red blinking light. If Lizzy couldn’t guess what the code was, then it can’t be Clementine’s birthday or her name or anything of significance to do with her daughter.”

Everyone around the room looked grim.

Logan leaned forward and put his elbows on the table and his head down.

As it started to register, I realized that wasn’t good news at all. “How many attempts can I make until the light is activated?” I asked Miles.

“Three; after that it will lock you out from even attempting a new code and continue to blink until a bypass code is entered.”

“Shit!” Logan said, slamming his hands on the table. “She has to stop after two attempts. O’Shea isn’t stupid. If he sees the red light blinking, he’ll know someone was trying to break in and it won’t be too hard to guess who.”

Miles hunched over his laptop and hit a few keys. “You’re right. I say we put that idea aside for now, but at least we know that the panic room isn’t connected to the home alarm, which is good news because then O’Shea won’t get an alert.”

My phone beeped, this time with a text. I would have turned it off, but I was worried Michael might be trying to reach me, and I needed to be accessible for Clementine. I pulled it out of my purse again. The text read, Blessed are those who do not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers.

Shivers went through me.