Page 7 of Better Hide

Did Jo just…lock us out?

I scan the keycard and try to open the door. It catches on the chain hinge.

I glance at Jayden.

That minx just locked us out.

4

JO

“Mary,”Jayden’s voice is low in warning.

I cross my arms, glaring at the door. He hasn’t called me Mary since the beginning. The door rattles. The chain lock holds it shut.

“What, you don’t like it when someone takes away your choice?” My legs tremble, but I stand my ground. I searched through their bags while they were talking and threw their shit around when I didn’t find a phone or keys.

I know it was stupid, but the idea of them silencing my voice makes me angry. I fucking chose to come back with them.

This is not how this is going to go.

The door rattles as a huge body presses against it. The lock holds, but I take a step back.

A body slams into the door with a startling bang. Cole’s voice comes through the crack, low and soft. “Better hide, Jo. Because when we get our hands on you, nothing will stop us from teaching you a goddamn lesson.”

Goosebumps crawl up my arms, moving over the back of my neck. I glance at the old hotel phone. “Maybe I’ll just call the cops. Stop this right here and now.”

Deadly silence follows.

“Do you have a death wish?” Jayden growls.

My stomach drops out. I turn back to the phone, looking at it again.

Would he actually kill me? Like Sage? Suddenly, I feel like I did when we first met—afraid.

Another slam into the door makes me jump. “If you touch that phone, you’ll be begging us for mercy.”

Heat rolls through me. I don’t fucking beg.

I reach to grab the phone just as the door crashes open. Both men come darting into the room.

Yelping, I jump over the bed to get as far away from them as possible. I spin around. Both slow once they see I’m not close to the phone.

Cole smirks. “I thought I told you to hide, lemon drop.”

Every nerve ending lights on fire hearing that old nickname. “And I thought I told you to give me my phone.”

Cole laughs, his eyes flaring with challenge. “Oh, you’re just begging to be tortured. If you wanted to come all night long, you could have just asked.” He takes a slow step toward me.

“No time.” Jayden starts throwing their things together. “Grab her, and let’s go.”

Cole watches me with a predator’s stare but doesn’t step any closer. “We have some games to play, Jay.”

“Not now.” Jayden throws a backpack at Cole. “It doesn’t take long to check our GPS’s. We need to ditch the phones and get a new car.”

Their GPS? Get a new car? What is going on?

I glance between the men. Jayden packs the last of the stuff I threw around the room.

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