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* * *
Kara looked through the window and saw Tyler’s eyes light up when he saw her face. She put a finger to her lips, to tell him to keep quiet, and he nodded with a broad smile. Then she put her legs through, sitting on the sill, and slid inside. It was a tight squeeze. It wouldn’t be for Tyler, though.
As soon as she was in, she scooped Tyler off the toilet seat and hugged him hard. “Are you okay?” she whispered.
“Uh-huh. I missed you.”
“Me, too. Now we have to be quiet.”
“I know,” he said. “It’s a s’prise.”
She carried him to the window. He patted her shoulder. “What about my braces?”
“We’ll get them later. Come on now, up you go.” She hefted him up, and Selene gripped him from outside and drew him easily out through the window.
Kara heard footsteps approaching the bathroom door. “Go!” she whispered urgently. “Go, Selene.”
Selene turned and started across the grass toward the waiting car. The bathroom door swung open and Kara spun around, her back to the wall.
The man who stood there had to be Vinnie. He was tall, thin and very, very angry. “What the hell is this!” Even as he said it, he reached for her with one hand while drawing a gun with the other. He shoved her, and she hit the side of the tub so hard she thought her knee cracked. Then he was at the window, pointing the gun. “Stop!” he shouted. “I’ll kill you, bitch!”
Kara launched herself at him and a shot rang out “Run, Selene! Don’t stop, run!” she shrieked.
The man hit her in the head with the gun. Her head exploded in pain, and she went down hard, her ears ringing. But she heard the sound of squealing tires and she knew Selene was away.
Tyler was safe.
The man leaned over her, swearing brutally. He gripped her by the front of her shirt and hauled her to her feet. “Some kinda hero, aren’t you? You’re gonna die for this, you realize that, right?”
“I don’t care. Tyler’s safe and you’re going to prison. That’s all that matters.”
He hit her again—with his fist or the gun, she wasn’t sure. But the lights went out, and Kara collapsed to the floor.
* * *
Jim was speeding toward the motel when he spotted Selene’s little car—the one she and Kara had been driving—racing toward him. He flashed his lights, and the car pulled over to the side.
He skidded to a stop, reversed until he was even with it, jumped out of his car and ran across the street.
Selene was already out, opening the passenger door, and then he saw Tyler as she gathered him into her arms. God, he was safe. He was safe! Jim’s knees went weak, every muscle turned to water. He managed to go to his son, took him from Selene and held him hard.
“Dad! You’re squishing me!”
He eased his grip a little, kissing his son’s face, hugging him, rocking him back and forth. “You’re okay. Thank God, thank God, you’re really okay.”
“Sure, I’m okay. Why’s everyone keep saying that?”
He pressed Tyler’s head to his shoulder and met Selene’s eyes. And the look in them made him go cold. “What happened?” he asked. “Where’s Kara?”
“I didn’t want to let her do it, Jim.”
“Do what? Where is she?” Suddenly the ice-cold fear was alive again, clutching his heart in its frigid hands.
“Kara slid in through the bathroom window to get Tyler out. She handed him out to me, but that man came in before she could get back out again. They have her, Jim. God, we have to get her back. You have to go.”
“I’ll get her,” he said and he didn’t think he’d ever uttered words and meant them more. “I’ll get her back, I swear. How far?”
“Two miles back that way, on the left. Room fifteen. It’s in the first block of rooms, ground floor. There’s a bathroom window in the back. One door and a big window in front. He has a gun. Took a shot at us as we ran for it.”
