Page 24 of Sin of Silence

The process was tedious, and Shaun was becoming progressively more tired. She fulfilled Jozef’s wish by purchasing enough items to fill a wardrobe. She also picked up some toiletries and accessories. After each tour through a new store, one of the bodyguards was sent back to a vehicle, his arms laden with packages.

Though constantly vigilant for an opportunity to escape, Shaun hadn't once come up with a reasonable way to ditch her escort. The guards were always near. Even when she was in a change room, she could see the polished shoes of a man on the other side of the curtain.

Leeza constantly hovered near her, never entering the change rooms herself. It was as though she thought the moment she turned her back, Shaun would bolt. Shaun was going to give the other woman the benefit of the doubt though and say that she was hovering out of concern rather than a desire to keep an eye on Shaun.

"It's almost five.” Leeza looked down at the time on her phone. "We'll have to hustle back to the house so we can get ready for our evening meal."

"Does the entire family eat all together, like this morning?"

It was Saskia who spoke from the other side of the curtain, where she was changing out of a burlap inspired dress. "Every single evening. Daddy insists. Though we don't usually do breakfast together. Today was a special occasion just for you." The last part was spoken in a snarky tone.

Leeza rolled her eyes toward Shaun, but Shaun shook her head. It didn't matter if Saskia was slow to warm up to her. She wasn't going to be around for long anyway.

If they were headed back to the mansion after the shop, this was her last chance to act. She glanced around and snatched up the first item she saw, then reached out for a pair of shoes.

"I think I'll try these on," she said quickly. Too quickly. Dammit.

Leeza gave her a penetrating look but then smiled and nodded. "Come out when you're done so we can see what it looks like."

"Judging from what she's already bought today, I can tell you what it'll look like," Saskia piped up from the other side of the curtain.

"Okay, brat, not all of us want to look like homeless tramps." Leeza shook her head and stepped to the side as Shaun walked around her toward the changing room.

Shaun chose one on the end, but she knew she wasn't going to be able to escape from it. There were people everywhere and even though the change rooms were off to the side, the whole row of cubicles were in the main part of the store.

She frantically looked around the tiny room, trying desperately to come up with a plan. She could smash the glass mirror and cause a distraction, maybe enough of one to run past everyone. But she knew that wouldn't work. Even if she managed to distract a few people, not all of the guards would react slowly. They acted as security for an elite crime family for a reason. Their reflexes would be fast and they likely never let their guard down.

She quickly changed out of her borrowed skirt and shirt and tugged on the dress she’d grabbed off the rack. She didn't even look in the mirror, she was so frantic to find a way to escape.

Shaun snatched up her purse, one that she'd bought earlier in the day, and grabbed a tube of red lipstick, purchased at a pharmacy. She tried to be as quiet as she could while taking off the cellophane wrapper. Then she dug through her purse for anything she could use for notepaper. She came up with nothing.

She bit her lip and stared at the curtain, wondering how long she could stay in there before they came looking for her. No doubt Leeza would be concerned in less than a minute. She was the one who’d stayed closest to Shaun throughout the day, either out of a sense of loyalty to her family or concern for Shaun.

An idea hit her as she was staring blankly at the white curtain. She jumped to her feet, took the edge of the curtain and gently peeled it back, pressing it against the wall beside the opening. Hopefully the guard on the other side wouldn’t notice the rustling of fabric. She took the tube of red lipstick and quickly wrote a message along the seam of the curtain. When she allowed it to fall back into place, the lipstick smears were barely visible.

Her heart was racing and her palms were sweaty. She’d never done anything like this. Then again, she’d never been kidnapped before. The whole scenario was all new to her.

She shoved the items back in her purse and stepped out of the cubicle.

A long low whistle greeted her, snapping Shaun out of her momentary panic over being caught. She stared at Saskia uncomprehending.

"Damn, girl," Saskia said excitedly, her eyes roving over Shaun’s body. "I take it back; your fashion sense doesn't suck as bad as I thought. Holy shit, I've never seen anything so gorgeous."

Shaun was startled. Considering this compliment came from Saskia, the dress really must be something. She glanced down at herself and saw a waterfall of clinging silver fabric. Leeza took her by the shoulder and turned her toward the floor length mirror beside the dressing rooms.

Shaun gasped and took a tentative step closer to the mirror. Saskia hadn't been kidding. Shaun had never looked so good. Nor she had she ever been transformed so completely by a single item of clothing. The silver fabric had different shades to it which worked to trick the eye into believing that the dress came to life, flowing across her body every time she moved. It was a bias cut at the thigh, with the slit high enough that if she wore low-cut panties everyone would see. On the other side the fabric draped to her feet. The top was practically nonexistent, plunging in a cowl neck to her bellybutton with spaghetti straps going over her shoulders and ending midway down her back.

"Wow," Shaun whispered.

"Wow,” Leeza said from beside her.

"I wouldn't kick you out of my bed if you were wearing that dress," Saskia joined in.

Leeza looked over at Saskia with exasperation. Saskia shrugged, scooped up her purchases and headed toward the hovering salesclerk, who happily took them from her, ringing them up and bagging them.

"I'll just change out of this." Shaun moved reluctantly away from the mirror. While she had no desire to remain a captive, she couldn't pretend it wasn't fun to use Jozef’s credit card on some pretty extravagant purchases.

She reached for the changing room curtain, but a salesclerk got there before her.

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