Page 70 of A Captive Situation

Graham didn’t see I was cognizant again. No one did. They thought I was still in shock, except Jake, who holstered his gun. His eyes were trained on me, inspecting me. He ran his gaze down my body, darkening, before lifting to meet my eyes once more.

Graham’s arm swept in the air, cutting through it. “She wouldn’t tell me, but she asked me to pick her up in someone else’s car. She was scared of her own shadow when I got there. Who are you?”

“What?” Clara screeched. “Why is this the first we’re hearing about this? She’s my niece.”

“Mine too,” Bess huffed, her mouth twisting as she went back to patting my foot.

Oliver cursed under his breath, standing up. “I’m calling the police.”

“No police,” Jake ordered, his voice sharp, silencing everyone. Even the dogs stopped barking.

It lasted a second.

He asked me, quieting, “Are you okay?”

Oliver drew in air, blinking at me.

Bess, Clara, and Graham all fixed me with stares.

“Oh, baby.” Bess’s hand gripped my foot.

Clara started to push into the room.

Graham took a step forward.

All of them crowded around me.

Their concern and panic pounded at me from all sides, mixing with my own, but I forced it down. “I’m fine.” I cringed. That came out like a squeak.

Jake’s eyes narrowed, a dark emotion flashing there before it was banked. His jawline clenched and he came toward me, standing over me. I tilted back, still holding his gaze. He lifted a finger to touch under my chin, running along the length of my jawline before he moved it over my forehead, his mouth turning down at whatever he saw there. He tucked some hair behind my ear, tracing down the rest of my facebefore ending again under my chin. He tilted me back a little farther, his next words coming out softly, “You were only a person of interest, but an hour ago, a price was put on you too. You’re listed as a secondary bonus.”

All of my insides took a nosedive to the floor. That wasn’t good.

I whispered, “Did you find out who’s behind it?”

His eyes went dead, his mouth flattening. “I did. That’s why I left, to find out.”

That was good. That meant he could fix this.

“Sawyer, honey.” Bess’s voice dipped. She was fighting back tears. Her hand squeezed my foot. “Who is this man?Whatis going on?”

Oliver suddenly stood up. “We need to call the police. Those were gunshots. Our neighbors would’ve heard.”

I looked to Jake for those answers, seeing he was barely restraining himself. “They won’t know which fucking house it came from. Your curtains are drawn. No lights are visible. The police will send a squad car to drive through your neighborhood. They won’t find a disturbance unless you create one, and I already said no fucking police.”

“Fuck this,” Graham muttered, pulling out his phone.

Jake was across the room in the next second, ripping it away.

“Hey!”

Jake ignored him, pulling his gun again.

Bess gasped, shrinking in next to me.

“Jake!” I snapped a reprimand.

He ignored me.

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