Page 6 of Trick's Trap

The last thing she saw was the scratched wooden floor as it flew up to meet her face.

Tahlia knewwhere she was before she opened her eyes. The smell and the way the cloth coverlet felt under her hands were too familiar to mistake.

I’m home.

Wincing, she sat up. The Spartan lines of her childhood bedroom came into focus.

Everything was the same. The plain furnishings and scant decor hadn’t been touched. The only thing she had in abundance was books. They lined the shelves and littered the tables.

The volumes hadn’t been bought for her. There was no Sweet Valley High or Babysitter’s Club in the bunch. Most of them were at least fifty years old. She’d pilfered them all from their library, up until her father caught on and made her stop. He didn’t like how the gaps on the shelves appeared. But he hadn’t made her put these, her very favorites, back.

Her clothes were different. Her blue dress was gone, replaced by a pristine white one. There was even a pair of white slip-on shoes set on the floor by the bed to match.

Tahlia shuddered, wondering who undressed her. She hoped it was a maid, but the unceremonious way she’d been brought here meant all the maids and lower-level staff had been dismissed for the day. That was what her father always did when he hosted a special ‘family event’.

Her stomach roiled as she tried to stand, but her legs could barely support her. Aching all over, she shoved her feet into the shoes and pulled herself up with the aid of the bedpost.

What the hell was in that syringe?She wrapped her arms around her middle, trembling from head to toe. The remains of whatever drug had been pumped into her were making themselves felt.

Why was she here alone? Dante and Cain dragged her all the way from Boston only to dump her in a room without a guard. They hadn’t even bothered to tie her up.

Maybe the drug was supposed to last longer?

Tahlia wobbled to the door unsteadily. Whoever put her in bed hadn’t even bothered to close it. Voices sounded somewhere in the distance, but she couldn’t make out what was being said.

Unlike the other bedrooms in the house, hers was on the ground floor. She paused at the threshold, listening.

“It’s too late!”

Sucking in a sharp breath, Tahlia shrank back. That was her uncle Lucas.

The impulse to run and hide was overpowering.Calm down. She needed to speak to her father. There must be a reason he’d allowed Dante and Cain to kidnap her from school.

She squeezed her eyes shut and counted to three, willing her feet to move forward. The numbness started wearing off, sending pins and needles shooting up her soles. People were moving around, but she got lucky. No one ran out to tackle her.

Inching her way down the hall, she peeked through door after door. The only visible person was outside, a fast-moving figure dressed in a suit passing one of the windows. It could have been any of her male relatives or one of the estate’s many bodyguards.

The figure passed out of sight, and she unfroze.Get moving.

She had a tentative plan. There was always cashed stashed in the drawers of her father’s desk. Her purse was long gone, along with her identification, but she’d regroup in Boston. Getting back there was imperative. There was money stashed there, and another fake ID.

Like her bedroom, the door to her father’s office was open a crack. He must have been out because it was usually kept it closed.

She hurried inside, running behind the desk, hastily pulling drawers open. It wasn’t until after she found the money that she glanced up. The beige and green patterned Persian rug was soaked red with blood.

Her father’s sightless eyes stared straight at her.

The ringing in her head was back. It drowned out all other sound. Even the bright sunlight in the room felt like it was pulling back, leaving her in the dark.

“Get that room fucking cleaned up now!”

Tahlia jumped, her head whipping to the door. That was Lucas again. He was closer now.

Go.

She bolted for the window, shoving the open sash wide. Her feet hit the ground with a little thump. Praying no one was close enough to hear, Tahlia turned and ran for the distant glitter of the private beach, the adrenaline fueling her flight.

She didn’t look back.

---