“Now we’re going to get up, calmly and quietly retrieve a glass of water from the kitchen, and return to the couch. Once you swallow all twenty pills, you’re going to lie down. I promise you’ll feel no pain. It’ll be like going tosleep.”
Elizabeth’s oxygen-starved mind couldn’t fathom why he’d use pills. Why not just snap her neck, take the diamonds, and run? As her assailant’s hand shifted from her hair to the back of her neck, she tried to raise her head and managed to take a single deep breath before he squeezed his fingers, sending a wave of dizziness washing overher.
“I can render you unconscious in about half a second, so don’t tryanything.”
She managed to nod again, and he pulled her to her feet. “Please,” she whispered. “Just let me go. I haven’t seenyour—”
His thin, raspy laugh sent a chill down her spine, and as they rounded the coffee table, he gave her neck another squeeze, focusing his grip on pressure points behind her ears. Nausea churned in her stomach, and her vision blurred. “Shutup.”
Elizabeth stumbled on her too-high heels, but his hand on her neck kept her upright. “Don’t do thatagain.”
The living room window opposite her overlooked the street where Alexander and Nicholas were likely still on their phones. The door? Or the window? Her gaze flicked to her coffee table. A small metal bowl held her spare mailbox key and a tube of lip gloss. Would it make an adequate weapon? Something about the table seemed wrong, like a melody half a note out oftune.
The man’s gloved fingers tightened, and he prodded her towards the kitchen. “I won’t ask youagain.”
Elizabeth took a step, feigning another stumble. “M-my…shoes…”
As her would-be-murderer shifted, Elizabeth slammed one needle-like heel down on his instep, twisted out of his grip, andscreamed.
She leapt for the door, but the man grabbed her hair and spun her around, throwing her into her coffee table. Her head slammed against the edge. Blood gushed into her eye. Wood splintered. The bowl clattered to thefloor.
Floating in a sea of pain, she couldn’t react quickly enough when her attacker lunged, grabbed her ankles, and yanked her back towardshim.
“Help me!” she screamed with all she had left. Desperate fingers clutched for anything to hold onto—anything she could throw at him. The bowl. Heavy silver. One chance. She swung for her captor’s head. The solid impact sang up her arm, and the man roared anoath.
“You’ll pay for that,bitch.”
Elizabeth tried to focus on him through the haze of dizziness. Brown eyes. Black mask over his face. Blackclothes.
She scrambled back, swinging the bowl in front of her. “Help!” she screamed again, kicking wildly. Her heel caught her assailant in the arm, and he ripped the shoe off her foot. Closing his hand around her calf, he yankedhard.
In the silky dress, she slid easily, and her head slammed into the floor. And then he tackled her. His thumb drove between her ribs again, and she saw stars. Unending spikes of pain shot through her. She could barelywhimper.
Unable to muster the strength to fight him, Elizabeth begged, “Please.” The world went white, and then darkness tinged the edges.Darker.
Dizzy, disoriented, she noted only an inhuman roar as her front door came half off its hinges, the massive weight on top of her lifted, and something crashed to herright.
Breaking glass. Footsteps. The room spun. “Alexander,” she called weakly. “Help.”
“Elizabeth, can you hear me?” He knelt next to her. She watched his lips move, but his words sounded tinny, then faded away completely. With a groan, the darkness envelopedher.
