Luna on the Run (The Carmsborough Vigilantes #1)

Chapter 22

It takes everything in me to not crumple to the floor and ugly cry.

It's him. I found him. My best friend in the whole wide world is here and unscathed. Untouched, even. Still locked in the same cage Slaphand had stuffed him in.

"Freckles, oh my God! I've missed you so much, dude! We're gonna figure out how to free you now. Ike, it's him!"

Ike glances back. "Alright. Grab him, and we'll bounce. There's no telling how many people are waiting for us."

"Right. Umm, something to open the cage with..."

"Meow."

"Yeah, but I don't see a crowbar or anything."

"Meow."

I look at my waist. "Well, what do we have here? At least one of us is thinking with our brain."

I pull my knife from its sheathe and place the tip between the cage and its door before using my pistol to wedge the blade in. It takes a hot moment, but the knife eventually reaches a point where it doesn't slip, so I pull on its handle with as little force as I can to prevent hurting myself. The cage opens slightly, and Freckles slips one of his paws in the gap.

Together, the two of us pop the cage door off, launching it close to the room's entryway. Ike turns his head again, worried.

"Oh, my sweet baby!"

I offer him a head bump, but he moves to jump onto my shoulders.

"Hold on, Freckles. I've got a broken rib, and I'd rather not suffer any more than I have to."

"Meow."

"You're telling me. You would not believe my life the past few days. I've been working nonstop to make sure Slaphand pays for separating us."

"Luna, c'mon," Ike says, a little nervous.

"Yeah, sorry. Let's go, bud." We do a soft headbutt and follow Ike out of the room.

"Hey, Ike," Agent Jake says through the communicator again, "I've got bad news."

"Let's hear it, Jake." His face grows decades older with just those four words.

"Nobody's gonna be able to make it your way for the next few hours. We're held up with everything else happening, and a round of Nazi ships are harassing our men off the coast."

"Of course they are. Okay, we'll find some other way out of this."

"We can run to the Constellation," I suggest.

"She probably has her men crawling all over it. We've gotta think of something else. Maybe hijacking this ship? It wouldn't take us very far since we'll be a crew of two and a cat, but we'd be gone."

"I could call my boss and see if he can save us."

"Alright. But unless that happens, we're stealing the Crowned Jewel."

I power my watch on. "Hey boss, you there? I realize it's pretty early in the morning, but this is sort of important."

The three of us wait in silence for a minute, but he doesn't answer. I shrug my shoulders but wince when my ribs flare. "Alright, time for my third airship hijacking this week."

"That's the spirit."

We climb the stairs cautiously, weapons in hand. Two henchmen are waiting at the landing and get a few shots in before we do. Ike and I duck to avoid getting hit.

"Meow."

Freckles bounds up the rest of the stairs and attacks the two men. A few gunshots ring out, and one ricochets off of something metal, but the sounds end quickly. We peek again and are met with Freckles standing on top of one of them, claiming his throne.