They pulledup outside the cottage in the warm afternoon sunlight. Josh let out a slow breath as his body finally released the tension he’d held all day. They were home.
Home.
Somehow, this hidden cottage had become his home. It was the place he wanted to come back to at the end of the day. To the peaceful garden, the lush vegetable patch, the steamy art, and the curious, bright-eyed friendship from Nissy. But mostly, it was Ellie he wanted to come back to.
They climbed out of the car, stretching tiredly. The last few days—especially the effort he’d poured into making himself solid enough for his family to see—had utterly drained him, and Ellie looked just as wiped. She had her video call to make, and then they were done. Then they could finally rest for a few moments. Thank fuck.
And yet… a frisson of something traveled up his spine. A strange spike of awareness.
Victoria’s car was still parked on the drive. The cottage still looked like something out of a fairy tale, with its aged stone walls covered in flowering clematis, all surrounded by forest. But with every step they took toward the door, his hackles rose.
Perhaps it was exhaustion. Perhaps it was all the hours of stress. But something wasn’t right.
Ellie must have felt it too. Her shoulders tightened, and her steps slowed. She pulled her phone out and double checked her new alarms. “Nothing has been triggered,” she said quietly.
But then why did it still feel so wrong? Josh ran his eye over the cottage again, looking for anything out of place. “Where’s Nissy?” he asked. Usually, she’d be sitting on the windowsill enjoying the sunbeam. But she wasn’t there.
“I don’t know.” Ellie looked around them before shaking her head. “Maybe’s she’s out the back.”
Maybe. Hopefully. But she didn’t sound convinced. And neither was he.
They let themselves inside. Ellie dropped her keys in the bowl in the hallway before lifting her eyes to meet his in the mirror. It was so much like the first moment he’d seen her, and yet so different. Because now he would give anything—everything—to stay with her.
He stepped forward, wrapped his arms around her waist, and dropped his chin to her shoulder so they could watch each other in their reflection.
Ellie closed her eyes, leaning back into him, and he used the time to watch her face, to memorize it. They held each other, resting together. And he very nearly started to relax. Until a rough sound—a strange, hushed scraping noise—cut into the silence, and her eyes flew back open.
“Vic?” Ellie called. “Is that you?”
Nobody answered.
“Nissy?” Ellie squeezed his arm and then pulled away to stride toward the kitchen. “Victoria?”
Her hand was on the door, just pushing it open, when Josh heard the whimper. And then he knew.
Alarms didn’t work if they weren’t set. No security system in the world could keep out an intruder who’d been invited in.
He flew forward, desperately reaching for her. “Ellie! Stop!”
But it was too late. The door was already open, and Ellie was already frozen in the doorway, her face draining of color as she stared, horrified, inside.
Josh grabbed her shoulder, ready to pull her back from whatever was in that room, but she dug her heels in and refused to move. And he could immediately see why.
Victoria was sitting at Ellie’s beautiful polished wood table. Her hands were tied in front of her with rope, her mouth was stuffed full of navy fabric—a tie perhaps—and a scowling man sat beside her playing with a wicked-looking carving knife.
A quick glance at the wall showed a gap on Ellie’s magnetic knife holder where it used to be.
The man looked athletic, with perfectly styled dark hair, a short, well-groomed beard, and the coldest eyes Josh had ever seen.
“Warren,” Ellie hissed. “What the hell are you doing?”
“Come in, Ellie-belly.” Warren gestured her inside with the blade. “We were just talking about you, weren’t we, darling?”
Victoria shook her head frantically, and Ellie’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t call me that.”
But Warren only sneered. “Come in,” he demanded. “Right now.”
Ellie glanced back toward the door, and Warren immediately shifted the knife to Victoria’s throat. “Don’t even think about it. In fact,Ellie-belly”—he stressed the words—“let’s see those hands while you take a nice big step forward.”
