Page 73 of Guarded from Danger

There’s a click.

My heart stops.

“Don’t move. Don’t make a sound. Or Iwillshoot you.”

Oh, God.

Terror rushes through me so quickly I’m lightheaded from it.

I’m frozen, but I can’t stop my body from trembling.

A low whimper starts in the back of my throat.

“Don’t even think about moving,” the man hisses. “Or I’ll shoot you. And your rent-a-cop boyfriend, too.”

Xavier.

My parents.

What is this man going to do to them?

Whatdidhe do?

The thing pressed against my head jabs hard enough to bruise—a gun, it has to be a gun, I know what it sounds like when a safety is clicked off—and that terrible voice growls, “You’re going to keep your hands just where they are. And you’re going to walk very slowly.”

No.

Even as my body is in full panic-mode, my mind is whirring at triple speed.

He’s going to force me into the sitting room. Use me as a shield. Even though I know Xavier could disarm the man behind me, he won’t try anything if there’s a gun to my head.

But I could warn him. This man could have shot me already if he wanted. So he wants me alive for something.

I’m just opening my mouth when a hand wraps around my throat. It’s tight, even painful, but not enough to cut off my breath. Damp breath whispers into my ear. “Try it, and I’ll kill your parents, too.”

My voice shrivels.

Panic threatens to take over.

Tears leak down my cheeks as I desperately try to hold back the sobs building inside me.

How can this be happening?

The man—I can’t even see him—releases my neck. A second later, a voice calls out, “Xavier. I’m just helping my parents in the bathroom. I’ll let you know when they’re ready.”

What?

That voice.

It’sme.

The voice changes, whispering so only I can hear it. “Amazing what technology can do these days, isn’t it, Lucy?”

The puzzle pieces slot together.

It wasn’t my mom calling.

This was all a trap.

---