Page 151 of Safe and Sound

“Where’s the necklace?” a cold voice demanded.

My blood ran to ice as I staggered back. “W-Who is this?”

“We want the necklace.”

“What are you talking about? What necklace?”

“Don’t play dumb with me.”

“I swear, I’m not. I wear lots of necklaces.”

“The one you were wearing at the casino opening.”

A shudder ran through me as the face of the appraiser flashed in my mind. “Why?”

“It doesn’t belong to you.”

“No, it’s an heirloom of my parents’,” I argued feebly.

“Liar! Tell me where it is!”

“I-It’s not at t-the house.”

“You better not be fucking lying to me.”

“I’m not. I swear!” I sobbed.

A snarl erupted on the line. “We’ll give you twenty-four hours to produce it, or we’ll start taking out more members of your family.”

And then the line went dead.

At the scream that escaped my lips, Dare grabbed my shoulders. “Ava? What’s wrong?”

Fear cut off my breath, and my chest caved. Before my eyes, I could only see Piper. In my ears, the gasping, gurgling noises Nick was making played on repeat.

“Ava? What’s happened?”

“Piper,” I gasped.

“Is she hurt?”

“I-I don’t know.” I then related to him what the man had said.

“Fuck! My men aren’t answering!” Dare cried in agony.

I clung to the front of his shirt. “We have to get to her. She needs us.”

“Come on,” Dare said

We raced down the hallway. After bursting out the back door, Dare whistled for Niall. He glanced up from the driver’s seat of the SUV. Instead of waiting for him, we began sprinting across the parking lot.

When we reached the SUV, Dare jerked the door open. “What’s wrong?” Niall asked.

“Brody and Eric aren’t answering. The house is compromised.”

“Fuck,” Niall muttered.

As soon as Dare shut the door, Niall slung the SUV into reverse. We careened out of the restaurant’s parking lot. Through my sobs, I prayed for Piper to be safe.

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