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When they’d been discussing emergency drills, Sean had explained that if anyone unfamiliar approached or in the unlikely event that someone attacked, the guards would press a panic button and that light would go off in every room. Her mind blanked for a moment as she tried to remember what she was supposed to do.
The panic room!
Liv jumped off the couch and ran to the bedroom, pushing on the paneling that hid the secret room. Once the keypad was revealed, she cursed. What was the damn code? He’d told her and had her repeat it several times, but with her fear riding up her throat, all the numbers slid from her thoughts like raindrops on glass. She tried twice. The loud beeping, as it rejected her attempt, made her want to cry.
Fuck this.
Like a child hiding from the monsters in the dark, she dropped to the ground and crawled under the bed. She kept moving until she curled in a ball near the head of the bed where the nightstand and hopefully the darkness would hide her. The sound of splintering wood and broken glass told her that she’d reacted barely in time to get out of sight. Using her arm to muffle her excited breaths, Liv waited and did her best to remain still and silent.
The sounds of her movie still played in the distance, but she thought she heard footsteps. It was almost impossible not to run with all the adrenaline flooding her system, but she knew that it would be too late.
“Little Livy.” Luis’ shouted voice wasn’t unexpected, but she had to bite back a whimper. “Come out now and I promise to make this quick.”
As if she would believe a word the man said. He spoke in rapid fire Spanish and she couldn’t understand what he was saying, but it did mean that Luis wasn’t alone. How many men had he brought with him and where were the men who were supposed to be guarding her? She should have paid attention when Sean had been telling her about the guards, but it had been easier to pretend that they didn’t exist.
Now her protectors might be dead and she hadn’t even taken the time to learn their names or even know how many of them there were. She prayed silently to the universe that those men were alive and sent word to Sean. He’d been gone for almost two hours, so he was probably back in Philadelphia. Even if he left now, she would need to stay safe for a really long time if she wanted him to rescue her. Would he call the local police?
“Found something.”
Liv barely kept from jumping at the voice she didn’t recognize. She’d been so caught up in her thoughts that she hadn’t even noticed someone coming into the room where she hid. Biting down on her lip, she forced her breathing to remain slow and quiet.
“What is it?” Luis’ voice was angry.
“Looks like a panic room. Got a camera up there so she can probably see us out here.”
“Get it open!”
She could barely make out three pairs of feet under the skirt at the bottom of the bed. “These things are usually concrete and steel. We don’t have explosives, and I don’t think there is any other way to get it open.” The man’s voice sounded as if he was terrified of his boss’ reaction.
“Little Livy. I know you can hear me, Puta. You better come out or your mama is going to suffer worse than you sister did.”
Her mother? She’d rarely heard from or seen her mom since she’d taken off when Liv was barely sixteen. How did Luis even find her?
“My men have her flying high as a kite right now, but if you don’t come out, I’ll spend days making her scream.”
Had Amelia told Luis about their junkie mother? The person who’d given birth to her was an awful human being and an even worse mother. Liv didn’t even have a single positive memory of the woman. Guilt swirled in her stomach. Was she a bad person for not even considering giving herself up to save her mom from being tortured by this lunatic?
Gunfire sounded again and Liv couldn’t tell if it was the movie in the living room or coming from outside.
“Go see what that is.” Luis growled.
Two of the sets of legs disappeared quickly from her view. A loud crash made her flinch, but she barely held off from making any sound. She saw the broken pieces of the lamp that had once been on the dresser scattered on the floor. Hopefully he wouldn’t start tossing the rest of the furniture or he might find her hiding place.
Luis screamed, the yell filled with rage, and she trembled as rapid fire gunshots echoed through the room. What was he shooting? Would she remain quiet if his bullets somehow found her? When the gun finally clicked empty, her ears were ringing.
“DEA! You are under arrest.” Liv thought she was hallucinating when she recognized Agent Hassick’s voice shouting from the front of the cabin.
“Mierda.” Luis cursed and from the sounds, Liv guessed he was running for the windows.
She bit her lip, trying to hold back a hysterical laugh. He wasn’t going to get out that way. She remembered Sean’s explanation that the bedroom windows didn’t open unless you knew how to work the special catch. There was a banging noise that she guessed was Luis smashing something against the bulletproof material. The image of Luis trying and failing to escape made her want to giggle completely inappropriately.
“Freeze asshole.”
Sean! A part of her wanted to roll out from under the bed and throw herself into his arms, but fear held her motionless.
Luis’ snarl was followed by an explosion of gunfire. Did Luis have another gun? Oh god was Sean now dead? He couldn’t be! She hadn’t told him that she loved him. Hadn’t gotten a chance to forgive him or at least hear whatever lame excuse he would give for being a jerk.
When her sister died, she’d felt numb. Then slipped directly into anger and never left that stage of grief. But if Sean was dead, she didn’t know what she would do. Even in the years they’d been separated, he’d held a spot in her heart that had gotten her through some of the toughest times. He’d been the first person to show her that not everyone was a selfish asshole.
