“There’s always a blind spot.”
“You would know,” I say quickly. Too quickly. It feels like all the ground we covered just rushed back between us. “I’m sorry. I—”
He drops my arm and runs a hand over his beard. “Let’s just go check together, okay?”
I nod and then head for the front entry. Once there, he stands behind the door to remain unseen and whispers for me to open it only a crack.
Slowly, I unlock the two deadbolts and inch the door open.
“Mrs. Morrison, what a surprise!” I muster all the Christmas spirit I can into my voice. I fear I fall short… or insincere at the very least.
“Merry Christmas, dear.” She smiles her fifty percent fake smile, not just because half of it has been surgically altered. “The Hartwells told me you were here for the holidays, and I thought I’d bring over some cheer.”
I don’t believe her for a second. The Hartwells aren’t close enough to anyone to reach out on my behalf.
Mrs. Morrison has been over to visit the Hartwells a couple of times since I came to work here, but each visit is awkward and stilted, lasting ten minutes at most. I don’t know what she talks about with them, but it’s a conversation no one cares to entertain long. According to the staff gossip, Mrs. Morrison has been bitter ever since the Hartwells bought this apartment three years ago. She wanted it herself and almost prevented them from getting it by paying off the inspector. But in the end they won, and she’d been forced to “settle” with the smaller top-floor penthouse down the street.
“How sweet,” I say, reaching for the cookies, but Mrs. Morrison has placed herself far enough away to prevent me from taking them. She’s waiting for an invitation she’s not going to get. I know her real motivation. She wants gossip.
“Where is that sweet little girl?” She peers over my shoulder, and I pull the door closer to my body. Never has she referred to Bella as sweet.
“She’s packing for a trip with her parents,” I say, choosing my words carefully. There’s no telling which ones the nosy neighbor will fixate on.
“A trip? How fun. I thought they were already on one.” She tilts her head to the side, in an attempt to entice out more information I won’t be giving.
“Mm-hmm,” I say simply, then try again, unsuccessfully, to reach for the cookies. I didn’t want the sugar, anyway.
Lies. I really do. I bet it's even real sugar. And after the Christmas I’ve had, I feel like I deserve it. I send one last longing look at the chocolate chip circles of goodness. “Well, thanks again for stopping by.” I move to close the door on her scowl when a sound stops me.
A scream.
Bella. I turn, sprinting away from Mrs. Morrison and her privileged cookies and up the stairs.
I’m not sure where Soren is, but he’s not behind me.
The scream comes again but not from Bella’s room. It’s coming from the library.
Why is she there?
I come to a screeching halt in the doorway. A man dressed in black has a hold on Bella, a crystal box raised in the other hand like he aims to hurt her with it.
My heart plummets to the floor, and for a moment I feel like I’m going to hurl.
Soren somehow beat me here and is ten feet away, arms out, trying to calm the man in the mask and also comfort Bella, who has never seemed so small.
“Where is it?” the masked man yells.
“Let the girl go, and we’ll talk,” Soren says, inching closer to Bella, whose wide, tearful eyes plead with me to save her. The guy has only a crystal box. I could rush him and save Bella before he did anything to either of us. The worstI’d get is a concussion. Two in forty-eight hours probably isn’t ideal, but there’s nothing I won’t do to save her.
I try to communicate telepathically to Soren that I’m going in, but he’s not looking at me as he scoots forward a step.
I inch my way closer as well.
“Give it to me first,” the man sneers.
“What is it you’re looking for?” I ask, my voice braver than I imagined. I guess that’s what happens when you’ve already come face-to-face with one thief on Christmas. Something tells me this isn’t another ex. No one could possibly be that unlucky.
“Don’t,” Soren hisses to me, but this man has my favorite little girl in the world, and I’m not afraid.
