Sleight of Hand [Show 'em Who's Boss #1]

12: Decidophobia

Wearing black skinny jeans, a leather jacket and knee high boots I felt like the main character in a video game who was about to save the world. In reality, I was a pathetically scared girl who was pretending to be brave whilst going on an overly ambitious mission that was going to land me in big trouble. At least I look good in black.

Jakob had probably assumed that I would just go to the warehouse where Morrisby is being kept without a plan. He thought I'd just walk straight in there and try my best to bust Morrisby out of there. I'm generally quite an impulsive person. However, I had formed a rough plan in my head. It was not a perfect plan and this mission could still go terribly wrong but I knew I had to try. I just didn't understand how Jakob could just stand by and watch whilst his friend was in danger, especially when he had the knowledge and ability to save him.

The building James Morrisby was being held in had a very useful air vent system which I planned to use for the rescue mission. When I got there I noticed that it was a huge place which was crumbling to pieces. It was obvious that it hadn't been used in years. Despite this it still had a tall metal fence topped with barbed wire surrounding the perimeter. As soon as it was in sight I stopped the motorbike and left it concealed by a bush at the side of the road.

I walked towards the wire fence, glad that I'd chosen my soft, flat black boots as they created soundless footsteps. If this had been a comic or a video game I have no doubt that the creator would have put the female superhero in high-heels which is ridiculous. They're hard to walk in and allow all the bad guys to hear you're coming no matter how hard you try to sneak.

When I surveyed the fence my heart dropped and I almost thought that I might not have been able to complete my quest. There was only one way through the fence and that was through a gate that was sealed with a padlock. I wasn't going to be able to climb the fence either because of the barbed wire. If only I had brought something with me to cover the wire as I climbed over.

I paced around the fence, trying to find a way in and then I saw it. There was a small hole that some kind of animal, such as a fox, had dug to get under the fence and the hole looked like it was big enough for me to crawl through.

The next step was to climb the fire escape ladder up on to the roof and then to find the disused ventilation entrance. Soon enough, I was crawling through the ventilation system trying to recall the way which I'd memorised from the warehouse blueprints that were in the folder. This part was rather boring so I can't remember it all that well. I did eventually find the room which Morrisby was being held in. It helped that there was an opening in the ventilation pipe covered by a big grate. I could see the top of his head through the small gaps in it. He didn't look like he was in a good state and I barely recognised him. I checked that he was alone in the room before I continued with my plan; he was.

The grate was screwed on but I had prepared for something like this. I grabbed a screwdriver from my rucksack and began to carefully loosen the screws. Although he was alone in the room I was aware that it was still wise to make as little noise as possible. Once the grate was loose I carefully pulled it off.

"James," I whispered into the room. He looked up at me and I saw that he wasn't gagged but just tied to the chair he was seated in.

"Ebony Williams?" he whispered back in confusion.

"Yeah, it's me. There's no time to explain right now, we need to get you out of here."

I lowered myself down from the air vent feet first and carefully jumped the rest of the way to the ground. Then immediately began to untie the rope at Morrisby's hands and feet.

"Are you injured? Will you be able to climb up into the ventilation system?" I asked as I worked on the knots.

"I'm sure I can manage it."