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My head whipped up, figuring she'd gotten swatted, but when I looked, her hand was still pressing on Franklin's head.
But her entire body had stiffened.
Her eyes were saucers.
"Belle, what?" I asked, stomach flipping over, knowing something had just gone very wrong. "Belle?"
"McCoy!" she shrieked, her voice a raw, primal cry.
McCoy was in the shower.
But clearly someone was down there that had set off my sister. My hand went instinctively into my knife drawer, grabbing the biggest one I had, and rushing out of the kitchen.
"Who is it? Get away from the window," I demanded. "Belle!" I called.
"What's going on?" McCoy asked, rushing out of the bathroom freshly changed into his usual jeans, tee, and boots. "Belle," he barked as he got closer.
"That's one of them," Belle told him, stabbing a finger at the window.
"One of the ones who took you?" McCoy clarified, moving closer, and looking over my sister's shoulder. "Which one, hon?" he asked as I tried to wedge in to see too.
"Red shirt," Belle told him, voice trembling.
"Okay. He looks alone. Did he roll up alone? No?" he asked when her head started shaking.
"No."
"Shit," McCoy said, reaching for Belle, yanking her away from the window before turning and rushing toward the door. "Babe, here, take... nice," he said, looking down at the knife. "Take my phone," he demanded. "Take my phone and call Huck," he told me, leaning out into the hallway.
"You can't leave us!" Belle cried, eyes huge, panicked. Her whole body was shaking.
"I'm not leaving you. You're leaving me," McCoy told us. "Babe, take your sister and the knife and my phone and get to the stairs. Head up. Up," he repeated. "You can see from up there. And you can block the door. Worst case, you can head down on the fire escape. Got it?"
"Got it," I agreed, thinking I should be freaking out, but feeling oddly calm and focused.
"Good," McCoy said as the elevator around the corner chimed. "Go," he said, whispering.
I didn't stop to think twice.
I tucked McCoy's phone under my arm, grabbed Belle's hand, and ran.
"Up," I demanded, pushing Belle in front of me. "Run, Belle," I added, releasing her hand as we got to the stairs. I pulled out the phone, and swiped for Huck's number as Belle finally started running, and I took off after her.
"McCoy. Told you we would call if we had something," Huck said in my ear.
"Huck," I said, sucking in a greedy breath as we tore up the second flight.
"Shy, what's going on?" Huck asked, tone serious.
"Belle saw one of the guys at my apartment."
"Okay. We're on our way. What's going on?"
"I don't know. McCoy told us to run up. We're going to the roof," I told him between gasping breaths.
"Okay. Good. Block the door when you get there. Don't open it unless you hear me or McCoy."
"Okay," I agreed.
"You're going to be alright," Huck assured me.
"Okay," I agreed, unable to manage anything other than that since I was not what you would call dedicated to my physical fitness. Which meant the last time I'd actually run up a flight of stairs was when a neighbor's dog had broken off leash and was chasing me.
With that, the line went dead, and I was thankful not to have to attempt to talk anymore as we tore up the final flight, and burst through the door onto the roof.
As soon as we were there, Belle rushed over toward the air units, dropping down between two of them, curling small, wrapping her arms around her legs, and resting her head on her knees, hiding her face as she rocked.
"Okay. Alright," I said to myself, closing the door, and looking around the roof.
Admittedly, I'd never been on the roof. I guess I expected more than a wide open space with a few air conditioning unit things, a couple of cigarette butts, and used bottles.
"There has to be something," I mumbled to myself, running around behind the air conditioning units, forcing my gaze away from my sister who was clearly losing it. I couldn't help her if I didn't find a way to block the door. "Damn it damn it damn it," I cried as I did a second lap, but found nothing.
Taking a deep breath, I went back to the door, doing the only thing I could, sitting down with my back to it, and bracing my legs against the air conditioning unit. I wasn't delusional enough to think I could fend off a grown man, but it would at least slow someone down. Long enough, maybe, for Huck and the others to arrive and help McCoy.
Oh, God.
McCoy.
All alone to face at least one of the guys who had taken Belle, who had hurt her, who had been willing to turn a normal person into a killer.
He would be okay.
He had to be.
