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“I’ll stop by tomorrow,” she says, pulling the door open, “to see if—”
Her words are unexpectedly cut off when she’s suddenly shoved backwards. She falls against me, and I barely catch the two of us before we fall.
“What in the—”
“Get back in the fucking house.”
My head jerks toward the door at the anger-fueled words. Dread seeps into my bones when my eyes meet a pair of incensed brown ones. Phillip keeps shoving us backward until he can slam the door closed.
“What are you doing here?” I ask.
“Same thing as when I came to your office. To get what’s owed to me.”
He stands with his back to the door. He looks even worse than he did when he was in my office, which is saying something because he looked pretty bad then. His hair looks like he dipped his head in a bowl of oil then sprinkled salt on it. His clothes are torn in several spots and his hairy cheeks are splotched with dirt.
If it wasn’t for everything he’s put us through as kids, I might be able to dredge a tiny bit of pity. As it is, the man can rot in hell for all I care.
“I don’t owe you anything,” I spew at him, letting every bit of hate I feel for the man come out in my tone.
“This says you do.”
From his front pocket, he pulls out a small handgun and waves it around. The three of us stiffen and fear slithers down my spine.
I straighten my backbone and step in front of my two sisters. They both grab my arms like they’re going to pull me back, but I yank away from them.
“Put the gun down, Phillip, and let’s talk about this like adults.”
I put as much confidence in my voice as I can muster. On the outside, I appear calm, but the inside is a different story. I’m terrified, because Phillip looks like he’s on the verge of becoming unhinged.
“Now’s not the time for talking. I want my fucking money, and I want it now.” He moves the gun to point over my left shoulder where Harley is standing. “You’ve always loved your sisters and brother so much,” he sneers, spit flying from his mouth. “Doing everything you can to protect them. You don’t get me my money in the next five minutes, one of them dies.”
Terror tightens the muscles in my throat.
“I don’t have that kind of money lying around.” When I see his finger move to the trigger of the gun, I quickly add, “But I can get it. The banks don’t close for another hour. Why don’t we go together?”
He barks out a laugh. “You think I’m stupid? As soon as we step foot out the door, those two bitches will be on the phone with the cops.”
“You can tie them up. We’ll leave them here while we go to the bank. It’ll be the fastest way. I’ll even give you my car afterward so you can get away.”
From the look in his eyes, he seems to be mulling over my suggestion. He had to know when he came here, I wouldn’t have that kind of money on hand. No one has that kind of cash readily available. As much as I don’t want to cave to his demands—a mistake I realize I’ve been making for years—if giving in will get him away from my sisters, I’ll do it.
“You got rope and tape?” he asks.
“Yes. In the garage.”
He flicks the gun in the direction of the kitchen. “All three of you go.”
Turning, I meet the eyes of my sisters. They both look just as frightened as I do. I hate that they’re in this situation. I hate even more than I’m the reason they are. Phillip is here because he knew I would give him what he wanted to protect my sisters. I’ve been doing it for years. He knows I would never let anything happen to them.
“Move,” he growls, coming up behind me and poking the gun into my lower back.
Camila and Harley turn and the three of us walk to the kitchen with Phillip following. Just before we get to the door of the kitchen that leads to the mud room, which in turn leads to the garage, I see a shadow move inside the doorway. My heart rate picks up when I realize it must be Kai. He was with a friend a couple of blocks over and wasn’t due back for another hour or so, but he must have come back early.
I’m not sure if Harley and Camila noticed the shadow, so I shuffle closer to them before they step over the threshold. Just as I step into the mudroom, I shove them both forward hard so the three of us fall to the floor.
“Hey! What are—?”
Phillip doesn’t get the chance to finish his question because Kai jumps from around the corner. I roll to my back and look up just as the gun goes off. A mixture of adrenaline and fear fills my stomach when I see Kai fighting Phillip for the gun. Kai’s got his hand wrapped around Phillip’s and he keeps the gun pointed away from my sisters and me.
