The wall moved, and he pushed Marie inside. The space wasn’t huge but it wasn’t small either. “You’ll be safe here. There’s a phone in the top drawer,” he pointed to the small dresser at the back. “Dial 9-2-4 and tell whoever answers that someone is in my house. Help will come. But you’ll be safe here. The walls are bulletproof, and no one can get in but me.”
Marie’s eyes widened and her fingers gripped the clothes tighter. “And what happens if you die? How will anyone be able to get me out.”
There wasn’t a lot of time to have this conversation, but he needed to reassure her that shouldsomething bad happen to him, she would be safe. “If that happens, Cass can work her magic and override the system. She helped design this room for me.”
“Of course, she did.” Marie gave him a little shove, whatever fear she’d been feeling she’d swallowed it down. “Go, and you better be the one that opens this door. I’ve not gone and fallen in love with you only for you to leave me now.”
There was so much to unpack in those sentences, and Isaac wished he had time to do it all, but the one thing that stood out was her declaration of love. One he was more than happy to reciprocate. “Seeing as I’m in love with you too, I’m not going anywhere.” He pulled her close for a quick bruising kiss before nudging her back into the room and closing the door.
That wasn’t how he wanted to tell Marie he loved her, but should anything happen to him, at least she’d know how important she was to him. That their time together meant something. Not that he had any plans of not getting out of this situation alive. He had too much to live for.
He’d moved quickly and efficiently, grabbing another pair of sweatpants, pulling them on just as the tell-tale click of a gun being cocked sounded behind him.
“We meet again.”
Isaac stilled; he didn’t recognize the raspy voice, but clearly this person knew him. He slowly turned, keeping his arms raised, wishing that he’d had an extra few seconds to grab a weapon. “You!”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Marie pulled the clothes on,swimming in Isaac’s pants and shirt, but at least she was covered. She strained to see if she could hear anything, but there was a stillness about the room, as if sound couldn’t penetrate it, and if she screamed no one would hear her. Not that she was about to test that theory.
Once she’d rolled up the legs and waistband of the sweats Isaac had thrust at her, she raced over to the dresser, pulling open the top drawer. Inside was a row of phones stacked in a holder. There were also two guns. She avoided the guns and picked up the phone, almost dropping it because her hands were shaking so much.
Marie gripped the side of the cabinet and took a couple of deep breaths. She was an ER doctor, shehandled high pressure situations on a day-to-day basis, she should be able to pick up a damn phone and dial three numbers.
But this wasn’t a situation she’d been trained for. This was completely different. She needed to keep a cool head, because it was Isaac’s life in danger. Feeling a little more in control of herself, she turned the phone on and prayed that it was fully charged. There was no reason for it not to be, Isaac wouldn’t have told her to use one if he’d known they’d have been useless.
Four power bars showed up on the screen, and she pressed the numbers Isaac told her to.
“Isaac, what do you need?” A female voice answered immediately.
“Cass? Is that you?”
“Marie? Yes, it's me. What’s going on? What’s happening?” The tell-tale click of a keyboard was a background noise to Cass’s question.
Just hearing Cass’s calm voice, along with her typing, dimmed the anxiety within her giving her the confidence to continue. “There’s someone here. I don’t know who. Isaac shoved me in his safe room and told me to call.”
“Okay, good. I thought as much. Believe me when I say you’re safe there. Even if someone found the room, they can’t get in. It’s impossible.”
“I’d like to believe that, but I’ve seen plenty ofmovies where that has proved to be the opposite.” Marie had wanted to believe that the room was impenetrable, but nothing was indestructible, and if someone wanted in, they would find a way.
“That may be true in movies, but not this room.” She paused, the click-clacking of her keyboard increased.
How fast did that woman type?
And why was she thinking about her typing speed when anything could be happening to Isaac beyond the safety of the room she was in.
Marie paced the small space as the silence from Cass seemed to stretch until it was almost unbearable to take. “Please tell me you’re sending help here?” she said, needing to fill the void.
“I am. I hacked into the security system. Issac was dragged out of the house about five minutes ago.”
Marie gasped. “Is he okay? Wait, stupid question, of course he’s not okay. Someone has taken him.”
“He was walking under his own steam, if they’d hurt him, there would be some sign that he wasn’t okay.”
Cass’s assurance should’ve made her feel better, but it didn’t. Isaac may have left the house okay, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to be hurt wherever they took him. Or worse. “Right. Is it safe for me tocome out? Isaac said you were the only one who could get in.”
“I don’t know. Isaac doesn’t have any cameras in the house. Nor does he have any in the safe room. It’s too risky to let you out without any visuals. There could be someone waiting for you, ready to take you and use you as a way to force Isaac to do whatever they want.”
