Page 200 of You Betrayed Me (The Cahills 3)

Sophia’s throat closed in fear again, and she had to force herself to back off the worries, to slow her suddenly panicked breathing. Eventually, her parents would start to wonder, despite the fact that they’d been estranged.

Oh, what a fool she’d been to trust Julia.

She closed her eyes.

Waited.

In the dark.

Alone.

As she had been for days.

Time ticked slowly by, and Sophia could only keep her panic at bay for so long before the questions that had plagued her started repeating, over and over again, in a never-ending loop.

Would Julia ever know the angst of . . . ? Wait!

Sophia froze, her ears straining.

Had she imagined the noise, the whine of a struggling engine?

Her heart nearly stopped.

But there it was again.

The rumble getting ever louder.

She shifted on the ledge, stared out the windows as her lungs constricted.

Oh, please!

A flash of light caught in the surrounding firs, and the sound of the engine grew closer.

Julia!

Sophia licked her lips.

Come on, Sister! Let’s do this!

The engine stopped.

Once again, the night was quiet.

Sophia swallowed against a dry throat.

A car door slammed.

Oh. God. Oh. God.

Her every muscle tensed. Her every nerve was strung tight as a bowstring.

And then, over footsteps, the faint growl of an engine—

What?

Had the car started again? Panicked, she strained to see out the small windows, but the engine was moving, coming closer, and sounded larger. Oh, crap, was there a second vehicle?

What?

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