Page 76 of Cowboy Under Siege

Her old room was just as she’d last seen it, though the gleaming walnut furniture had a layer of dust.

She immediately walked over to her bed and dropped to her knees.Please let it be there.She snaked an arm under the bed in search of a bag she always kept there filled with items she’d need in the event she wanted a quick getaway from her mother.

How ironic that she was still trying to run even after coming to the realization that she was closing that door on her life. When it came to facing her emotions and claiming her life as her own, she wasn’t running. That included Jaren. But getting away from this psycho boyfriend of her mother’s? She was more than ready to hit the road.

Her fingers brushed against cloth, and she let out a small cry as she yanked the bag toward her. When she opened it and saw the things she’d need to escape—a set of car keys to the Bentley, which was her mother’srealbaby, a set of clothes and a toothbrush, and a burner phone—she felt relief hit like a wave.

For a moment, she bowed her head in thanksgiving. The Trinny she used to be was a smart woman, even if she didn’t think so at the time she’d put this bag together.

If there was any way out of here, she had it zipped up in one small bag.

She just needed to distract Dom so she could make a break for it. But how?

Hands shaking as she took out the phone, she racked her brain for a way to reach Jaren. She didn’t know his number. Nobody knew each other’s numbers these days—they were all stored in a cell phone.

But she could reach the WEST Protection office.

She leaped up and ran to the door on light feet. Holding her breath, she chanced a peek into the hallway, gulping when she didn’t see her captor right outside her door.

Swiftly, she strode into her walk-in closet and poised a finger over the phone. It was nearly dead, the charge gone from being left in that bag so long. But it had enough battery to get a call out.

Please let luck be on my side!

When she dialed 411 and got an operator on the line, she sagged against the wall and tears stung her eyes.

“WEST Protection office in Stone Pass, Montana,” she whispered. “Hurry!”

“Connecting you to that listing.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught movement at the closet doorway and let out a shriek. She dropped the phone just as Dom brought a hand down on her arm and yanked her toward him.

His eyes were frigid as he glared down at her. “I have cameras installed all over this house in places you’ll never find them.” He looked at the phone on the floor.

The phone that was probably now connected with the WEST team.

Heart leaping with hope, a scream hit her lips. She shouted out her address for someone—anyone—to hear.

A hard slap rocked her head and she tasted blood in her mouth. Fury was a red haze in her mind that made her body shake.

Dom dragged her out of the closet and threw her down on the bed. Panic ripped through her as she thought of all the terrible things he could do to her on that bed, but he grabbed her escape bag instead.

When he pulled out the car keys, he made atskingsound. “Your mother searched high and low for these keys. But we can put them to use. We’ll take the Bentley to the bank.” He offered her a smile that sent chills tearing through her. “I like doing things in style.”

“Even murdering congressmen’s daughters?” she blurted.

He stopped, lowering the fist that gripped the keys, and pierced her in a dark glare. “What did you say?”

She’d struck a nerve though she had no idea where that question had even come from. She was grasping at straws to distract him from the fact she was still sprawled on the bed and vulnerable—but she’d struck a chord.

Scooting to the edge, she gained her feet and met his eyes again. “You heard me.”

“What do you know about that?”

She hoped he didn’t see the blood draining from her face. What would Jaren want her to do in her situation? Fight? Hide? Hurl words at him?

Her bodyguard didn’t play by the same set of rules others did. He’d probably find a spike heel and jam it into Dom’s eye, grab the keys and make a run for it.

Slanting a glance at the phone on the floor, she wondered if the team really was connected and if so, if they could hear her.

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