Hendry led the way out into the baking sun. We moved quickly to the middle of the road, making sure not to linger in the small patches of shade from nearby cars parked along the curb.

I took the end of the ladder closest to us since that was what we'd planned, and Hendry moved past to pick up the end closest to the building we aimed for. The metal scorched my fingertips and dug the embedded window shards deeper into my skin, but I swallowed back the pain and ignored it the best ...