Page 55 of Protecting Christina

“Come on,” I muttered.

I texted her a message in case she was with Simon so she could get back to us later.

“I just texted her. Let’s give her some time to respond.”

Mr. Grumpy Pants sighed and looked at his watch. “She’s got ten minutes.”

I stepped closer to him. “She’s got as much time as she needs. We are going to stand here and wait for someone to answer this door or hear back from Donna. Is that clear?”

“You can’t order me around.”

“Do you want to take off that badge and say that, or will you hide behind the uniform?”

He considered it, but his friend stepped in. “Let’s just wait and see what happens. We’ve got time.”

“That sounds reasonable,” I said and turned to Mr. Grumpy.

He crossed his arms. “Fine.”

I crossed mine—my T-shirt barely covered my biceps—and his eyes widened.

He huffed and turned around, pretending to look through the front window, but the blinds were drawn as usual.

“I don’t know what we’re doing here, wasting our time,” he muttered under his breath. But I ignored him.

I walked down the porch and discreetly put my earpiece in. I heard some rustling inside, but no voices. Someone was in there. I was sure of it. Did he lock Donna and the women away from the phone and the front door? That was possible.

No one was in the backyard, and the blinds were drawn here, too. Something was going on. I could feel it in my gut.

As I walked back toward the front porch, a man’s voice stopped me. “Hey, are you Christina’s friend?”

A man wearing baggy jeans and a white tank top approached from next door. “Yes. Who are you?”

“They call me Lucky.”

“Hi, Lucky. Have you seen or heard anything this morning?”

He shook his head. “Nah, it’s been unusually quiet.”

“What do you mean?”

“No cars, no guys smoking up in the back. It looks like nobody’s around.”

I watched Lucky as he told me this. His eyes shifted from my face to behind me, looking at the police cruisers.

“I’m not a cop.”

“But you hang with them.”

I nodded. “How much did he pay you to say this to me?”

Lucky’s eyes didn’t widen, but he took a swift intake of breath. I watched him closely.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“They’re holding three women hostage in there. One of them is Christina’s sister.”

“Donna?”

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