Page 101 of This Moment

Shooting me a dirty look, he said, “Be quiet, will you?”

Holding up my hands, I said, “I’m just saying.”

He did it again, and the door broke. I made a mental note to see how to make it harder for someone to break into the cabin—that is, if I got through all of this.

Glancing over his shoulder, Michael grinned. “Looks like they don’t have the alarm set.”

Or so you think.

He motioned for me to walk in, and I did. I glanced at the alarm panel on the wall. It was blinking three times in a row, which I knew wasn’t normal. The alarm had been triggered. I almost let out a sigh of relief. Now, to wait for the cavalry to show up and keep Michael occupied so he didn’t see them coming.

“Cute place,” Michael said as he walked over and tossed the bags onto the sofa I had picked out with Kian weeks ago.

I looked around the cabin in utter shock. We were standing in my rented cabin, and Michael had no idea. I almost laughed at how absurd it all was.

“What’s wrong? If you’re worried I’m going to take advantage of you, I hope you know me better than that.”

I did laugh then. “You killed someone, Michael. You kidnapped me, and you’re bringing me to your father, who is most likely going to kill me. Of course, I’m worried.”

He scoffed. “Do you have to keep bringing up the fact that I killed someone?”

“Oh, I’m sorry, does it bother you?”

“Yes!” he yelled back. “It does fucking bother me. I can’t sleep at night because I only see his face.”

“Not my problem,” I said as I turned and walked toward the bedroom. I doubted he would look in the closet, but if he did, did I have any clothes he would recognize? Would he figure it out that I rented this place? I didn’t have much thatI brought with me from Boston, but I couldn’t risk him even thinking I had a connection to this cabin.

“Food is in the fridge, so someone lives here for sure,” Michael called out. “Wonder when they’ll be back.”

“Sooner than you think,” I softly said. Turning away from the closed closet, I walked back into the main living area.

He was opening the pantry and looking inside. “I think we have enough food here to make it through the night. I figured once they realize you’re gone, the first thing they’ll do is assume I’m taking you back to Boston. So, we’ll stay here tonight and then head there tomorrow.”

I rolled my eyes. He really was terrible at this.

“I’m not hungry.”

He shut the pantry door. “We’ve got all day, and tonight, you will be hungry.”

“What do you suggest we do, Michael? Cook up a meal together and pretend all is well?”

Giving me a dirty look, he walked over to one of the bags and unzipped it. He reached in and grabbed something and tossed it to me, and I caught it.

“Protein bar?”

He shrugged. “I needed something to eat while sitting in my car trying to work out my plan.”

Little did he know his plan would have been great if he hadn’t brought me to the very cabin I was renting.

Opening the wrapper, I took a bite and walked toward the front door.

“Don’t even think about it, Katy.”

Sighing, I stared out the window as I spoke. “I’m not stupid, Michael. I’m not going to run.”

“Good. I don’t want to shoot you.”

I turned and faced him. “Not yet, you mean.”

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