“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.”