I creep to the door and listen. My heart pounds so hard I almost don’t hear the footsteps moving down the hall. Yeah, they’re not gone.
This is stupid. I should just let her hit the panic button, but then whoever it is will get away. We won’t have any answers, just more questions.
But we’ll be safe. Fuck.
“Stay here,” I mouth to her.
Harper
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
Nico touches my face before he slowly unlocks the door, trying not to make a sound.
He shouldn’t go out there. I should press the button. The police will come, but we can tell Mom that Luke had an emergency and Nico came over so I wasn’t alone.
It’s the truth. I won’t get in trouble. This isn’t smart. What if it really is a break-in? What if this person has a gun?
“Don’t,” I whisper when his hand is on the door. My fingers tremble as I hold my hand out to stop him.
His dark eyes meet mine and he draws in a breath.
When my phone buzzes, I glance down.
Jack:
I’ve got the cameras back up, but the alarm system is still down.
Me:
Do you see anything?
Jack:
No
Me:
Nico is going to look around
Jack:
I’ll have eyes on him
Everything inside me says we should stay put. We should hide. I hold my phone up to Nico. He gestures to the bathroom.
I get it. I do. The person will get away and we’re too much in the dark.
My pulse is racing like I’ve run for miles. I back away and shut myself in. If I stayed out there, I would just be a distraction for Nico. Like when I tried to help Luke.
I sit on the closed toilet and wait.
Jack:
He won’t be alone, sweetheart
If you need me, text.
What does that mean? Everyone else is asleep in their beds. Fuck, why didn’t I bring the computer in here?
