I needed something—anything—solid between us.
Space wasn’t going to save me.
Across the room was a wooden desk we used as a counter. It had only the register and a few odds and ends on it. An antique, it was constructed of some hardwood that had taken a beating throughout the years, but it was strong and sturdy.
More importantly, the owner kept the security system behind the counter—an aluminum bat that had served her well for years.
A counter might buy me seconds.
Seconds could be the difference between breathing… and not.
Another glance around the store told me that his goons were still in place, blocking the door.
Think. I had to think.
My gaze flicked to the stairs leading to my apartment.
My cellphone was upstairs.
No good. One wrong step and I’d be cornered.
The storage room.
It had a steel door with a deadbolt, and a landline inside, a lifeline if I could get to it. Thank god, the sweet store owner was too old to trust mobile phones.
Out of the corner of my eye, the man shifted slightly. Just enough to block the aisle I’d need to reach the back.
A test.
He wanted to see where I looked.
Where I needed to go.
Play it smart.
Calling the police would make my mother livid…
But being alive would irritate her even more.
She’d mourn me beautifully. A full mascara tragedy, black power suit hugging ambition, wringing my death into votes.
She’d fundraise off my corpse.
Hell, she’d probably thank whoever killed me, as long as they paid into her campaign.
“Bluetooth is preferable,” he said.
His voice was too close. Too certain.
I forced my lips into a polite retail smile and hid my trembling hands behind my back.
“Of course. Just…one second. Let me check what we have in stock.”
I stepped toward the counter.
The bat was inches from my hand as I pretended to focus on the inventory system. I wasn’t stupid enough to grab it without a real plan.
I’d had training, or at least the sanitized version of it. Weekends in the Catskills where the children of senators and billionaire CEOs learned a handful of self-defense moves and were told, repeatedly, to call someone who fixed problems.
