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She charged up the stairs, knowing there were only two people to find, and knowing by the tears on Mrs. Fallow’s face that she was likely to find them together.
She ran at full tilt, taking the stairs two at a time and then nearly falling at the top, but not stopping as she raced along the corridor. A room at the end of the hall was spilling light from the windows in a diamond pattern out on the floor, and Laura recognized it. She knew the door, the carpet and wallpaper she could glimpse inside.
She knew the silhouette of the man who stood there, belt raised in his hand.
Raised high, as if to strike.
“Fallow!” Laura yelled, calling on something deep down inside of her; what came out of her mouth was a screech of righteous fury, like she was possessed by a demon. He faltered and turned to look at her, the belt dropping by his side.
Her momentum could not be interrupted. Just two moments later Laura staggered to a stop in the doorway, looking past him, past his dumbstruck face and the belt hanging loose at his side.
Past him, at Amy.
The little girl was curled up into a ball in the center of her bed, crying, her body shaking up and down silently as she sobbed hard. Her mouth was hanging open, snot trailing down from her nose.
“You can’t be in here,” the governor said, finding his voice.
Laura looked straight at him and moved her hand to her hip, to the grip of her gun. She waited until his eyes flicked down and took in the silent threat.
“Amy,” she said, keeping her eyes on him a moment longer, but softening her voice. “Amy, do you remember me?”
“Ye-yeah,” Amy sobbed, wiping the back of her hand over her nose. “My a-angel.”
“Come here to me,” Laura said. She stepped into the room with her hand outstretched, planting herself between the governor and the bed. “Come on, now. It’s going to be okay.”
“You can’t be in here,” the governor repeated. “You’ve got no right.”
When Amy slowly stumbled from the bed and then to Laura’s side, Laura was quick to take hold of her arm and pull her back toward the door. She kept her eyes on the governor; his eyes flicked down to her hip over and over again. He was slowly reddening, even further than he had been when she arrived.
“Let’s go,” Laura said quietly, turning and picking Amy up, lifting her from the floor and setting her on the opposite hip—away from the gun—to get her out of there quicker. Her heart was beating a mile a minute in her chest. Whether it was fear they’d be caught and stopped, or anger at what Governor Fallow had done, she could no longer tell.
“I’m going to have you fired,” the governor said, raising his voice as he followed them. “You hear me? I’m going to make a call and get the cops here. You’re going to be stripped of your badge. You won’t get away with this.”
“It’s going to be all right,” Laura said lightly, brightly, glancing into Amy’s eyes. The girl clung to her, her arms going around Laura’s neck. Even though she was clearly still distressed, she was no longer crying. She kept looking at Laura, not around or back at her father. Like Laura was her rock.
And that was all Laura had ever wanted to be.
Governor Fallow was shouting and screaming behind her, his voice on crescendo after crescendo, threatening her with legal action, telling her everything she was going to lose. Laura didn’t care. She stopped listening.
At the door, she turned back. There was no one else in sight. The housekeeper had disappeared. Mrs. Fallow had not emerged. Even she had to know that this was what was best for her daughter.
It was only her and the governor.
“You,” she said, her voice quiet and low, aimed directly at him like a bullet between his eyes. “If you make a fuss about this, if you so much as make an offhand comment to my boss, I will end you. I will testify in court about what I’ve seen, and so will others. And I won’t even need to. With the footage I’ve seen from that room, no one would let this defenseless, innocent little girl back in a room with you. And you can kiss your political career goodbye, too. One word—and everything you have goes up in flames. Do you understand me?”
She didn’t wait to hear if he understood. She took in his wide eyes, red face, his spluttering mouth, and turned away. She carried on walking, marching Amy right to the car and setting her inside, putting on her seatbelt in the backseat.
As she walked back to her door and got behind the wheel, Laura dared to take one look back at the house. The door was gaping empty, the governor gone. He’d either believed her, or he hadn’t. The wide-eyed look he’d had when she threatened his career was at least promising.
Implying that the FBI had been secretly recording him had been inspired, if a complete falsehood. Psychic visions couldn’t be submitted as evidence of wrongdoing. If the governor ignored her warnings and tried to retaliate, Laura would be in serious trouble. She could be fired for this. Arrested for kidnapping.
But for now, Amy was safe in the back of her car. And, as she drove away, Laura couldn’t be worried about that. She could only be relieved.
She had no idea where she would take her, what she would do next, but as she put distance between their car and the mansion, she knew that distance was everything.
Hell would rain down on her.
