Stunned, she stared at the empty space. Her pulse pounded as black spots danced before her eyes.
“No, no, no, no—it can’t be.” Refusing to believe it was missing, she ripped the drawer from the bureau and upended it onto the floor. Dropping to her knees, she threw everything aside, uncaring of where it landed, desperate to find the watch.
Nothing. It wasn’t there. She wanted to scream and tear her hair from her head.
“No!” Frantic and unable to comprehend it was really gone, she snatched and clawed at the fabrics. Her nails dug into the rug beneath, cracking and splitting under her assault.
It wasn’t there. She ran her fingers through her hair, only weakly reacting when a ragged nail scraped against her scalp.
The truth of her loss finally sank in, and she did the only thing she could think of.
“Perez” she called out. “Perez, please, you have to be here. You can’t be gone.” As a cry of despair wrenched from her throat, she tried again. “Perez, please! I know I wasn’t nice to you the last time we talked, but I’m ready to listen now. I’m ready to do whatever needs to be done to get me home.” Sheheard the desperation in her voice and fell on her face. Fear and hopelessness settled over her. “Perez,” she whimpered. “Where did you go? Please, tell me something, anything.”
She cried into the yawning silence. Her chest and back ached from the racking sobs.
Suddenly, a familiar sensation passed over her, a chilling presence that should have warmed her.
“Perez?” she asked warily.
She wiped at her eyes, and rubbed her forehead, begging for clarity and calm.
She strained to hear even a wisp of a voice and heaved a heavy sigh of relief when a single word flitted across her ear. “Stolen....”
The meaning of his words pushed past the fog in her mind, and she blurted, “Someone stole you? Like, came into my room and took you?” Anger and disquiet wove together in her heart. Heat rose over her face, and the hairs on her neck stood on end.
More whispered words. “Danger....”
Another chill slammed into her, nearly knocking her back.
Haven rose to her feet, pushing up from the side of the bed where she’d been slumped.
Vulnerable.
Most of the room was visible from where she stood, but shadows and flickering candlelight played havoc with her vision. She let out a pained huff and swallowed into her parched throat. Sliding trembling hands through her hair, she dared to exhale her next words.
“Danger? How am I in danger?”
She hadn’t finished her sentence before a blast of dark, heavy intent collided within her chest. Sagging against the edge of the bed, she gasped in shock and rising terror. Immobilized by fear, she was paralyzed, quivering, and breathless when a figure emerged from an insidious shadow.
Stepping out from the darkness, Angelous Kroger smiled brightly, his blue eyes glinting in the candlelight.
Letting out a gasp of surprise, she quaked as he crossed the floor toward her, a wicked looking knife held firm in his hand.
The blood drained from her face and into her feet. Why couldn’t she move?
She couldn’t fathom why Mr. Kroger was in her room holding a knife. Why he was moving toward her with such malevolent purpose.
Struggling to gain control of her body, she managed to ask, “Mr. Kroger, wha-what are you doing in my room? How long have you been standing there?”
How long had he been spying on her as she cried over Logan?
Logan.She only had to make it to the door, then she could scream, and Logan would hear. He would come to rescue her. Wouldn’t he?
Yes, he would.
She shifted from one foot to the other, her hands flexing in the folds of her dress. If she screamed, he would come. But she had to get to the door first.
With a scrap of promise grasped tightly to her chest, she bolstered her courage, took a deep breath, and pushed away from the bed. She made it two feet before he stood before her, his knife slicing into the fabric of her bodice. She couldn’t breathe. The knife pressed too close to her chest.
