Page 61 of After You Returned

“I love it when you get all bloodthirsty.”

“I hate losing.”

“I know, little Miss Competitive.”

The light above the escape room flashes red. “Here we go.”

The door opens automatically and we rush inside. I glance around the room searching for clues and my gaze falls upon an open bootlegger’s notebook. “The rum is in the…”

“The chicken coop,” Miles says from where he’s glancing over my shoulder.

“Correct answer!” I high-five him before picking up the first shot of moonshine.

Miles points to a card laying on a side table. “Next clue.”

The card has pictures of three bottles – moonshine, whiskey, and rum – on it. I read the riddle out loud.

“A smuggler walks into a bar and orders the only drink that won’t get the cops suspicious. What does he order?”

Miles snorts. “It’s a trick question. He orders water.”

We drink our next shot. I twirl around the room searching for the next riddle. “Here!” I shout when I notice a riddle written on a card next to a lantern.

“Bootleggers couldn’t text, so they used light. One flash meant danger. Two meant…?”

“Bring the booze, obviously.” Miles flashes the lantern twice and it illuminates the radio on the other side of the room. I rush toward it but he shackles my wrist.

“Forgetting something?”

I grab the shot of moonshine from him and down it as quick as I can. When it doesn’t burn, I know I’ve had too many, but I can’t stop now. I’m winning the festival this year if my blood turns to moonshine.

The sign on the radio reads ‘Tune to the frequency bootleggers used to warn each other aboutraids.’

Miles frowns. “I have no idea.”

I elbow him out of the way. “Too easy.”

I move the dial to the correct station – 1-9-2-0. “It’s the start of Prohibition.”

Miles hands me a shot as the radio plays our next clue. “To find what you seek, look where rum sleeps and secrets keep. Three taps on the barrel will open the way.”

“Where rum sleeps and secrets keep.” Miles searches the room.

“Hold on. Did you say your brothers were before or after us in line for the escape room?”

“After. Why?”

I smirk. “Because I have the best idea to slow them down.”

“This is why I love you. You’re devious.” He gives me a quick, hard kiss. “Tell me the plan.”

The plan?The plan is to get my heart to start beating again after he said he loved me. Slow your flipper loving roll, Miles didn’t say he loves me. It was merely an expression. Nothing more. Nothing less.

I point to the radio. “This is a retro looking radio, but it’s actually modern inside.” I push the retro radio out of the way to reveal a Bluetooth speaker. “If we switch the input mode, it won’t play the next clue.”

Miles barks out a laugh. “Devious and genius. Let’s do it.”

I quickly switch the input mode from radio to aux. “All the teams after us are screwed.”