Page 168 of Waiting For A Girl Like You
Claudia was humming to soothe Madi. That much was clear. But it didn’t make sense. Why hum at all? They were running for their lives, and keeping calm should be impossible.
Another wave of dizziness slammed into her, and her mind tilted toward unconsciousness again.
But it was okay.
She was in Liam’s arms.
Safe.
He would always keep her safe.
Snuggling close, she curled against his chest, liking the way his heartbeat sounded. The organ pounded as he carried her, drumming in time to his hurried footsteps.
“That’s enough, my sleepy princess,” Laura Jean crooned, brushing the hair back from Jamison’s eyes. “It’s time to wake up now.”
As it had been this entire time, her mother’s touch lit her veins, burning through the haze caused by Parker. He was dead. That she knew with absolute certainty. Directly before she was knocked out, Liam’s gun had gone off, and Jamison was pretty sure she had seen Parker’s head half explode when the bullet hit.
Blinking a few times, the fire and ice touch of her mother disappeared, and she tried to straighten. Liam’s heavy breathing penetrated her brain first, and lifting her head to see him better, Jamison realized the fog wasn’t only in her mind, but everywhere.
“Where are we?” she rasped.
“Almost to the property line,” Liam told her. “Can you walk?”
Reality returned in a rush, pouncing on her like a wolf in the mist as she tried to comprehend what she was seeing. Liam was bringing up the rear, carrying her with long, swift strides. Ahead, Claudia held Madison draped around her, stroking her daughter’s head as she hummed, the tune losing steam the faster they jogged. Emily was at her side, the women working together to keep Madison calm. Leading the group—barely upright—was Michael, dragging Damon along with Emmett Watson bracing the other side.
Wait.
Michael wasn’t in the lead.
With one hand, Michael held a gun aimed squarely at the back of Taylor’s head as she stumbled forward. Hands cuffed behind her back, she struggled to walk, her tight skirt and heels hindering her progress.
Jamison tapped Liam’s chest. “Let me down.”
He set her down without pause, urgency tightening every movement. Behind them, the house loomed tall and proud, yet hardly discernible through the dense wall of white.
Already breathless, she fell into step beside him. “How long do we have?”
“Twelve minutes. Give or take.”
Movement flared at the edge of her vision. Phantom flickers that had her whipping her head around, only to see that nothing was there. “What about the people inside?”
From somewhere behind them, a shrill alarm wailed, echoing across the compound.
“Pick up the pace,” Liam shouted the order so the others could hear him over the sound. “Sinclair, is that the ten-minute alarm?”
“It is.” Michael stopped and turned his head to address Damon, slumped between him and Emmett. “You’ll have to go the rest of the way alone.”
Damon nodded, but when released by both Michael and Emmett, he collapsed forward onto his hands and knees.
“I’ve got it,” he wheezed as his sisters tried to help him. “Get Madi out of here.”
Emily tugged on Damon’s arm, her hysterical state causing her to scream. “We are not leaving you, you big asshole. Now get up!”
Emmett helped haul Damon upright, but Emily pushed the man away when he tried to follow. “Leave us alone!”
“I’m coming with you. You’re mine, Emily,” Emmett yelled in her face, his pot belly pumping hard after all the effort he’d put in to carry Damon. “That was what we said.”
Michael didn’t even look at Emmett, his attention solely on Taylor as he spoke. “I said if you helped me get them out, I’d let you go. And I meant it, Emmett. Now go, or I’ll change my mind.”
