AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She wrapped her arms around her middle and followed Cas, Devan right behind her, Asa somewhere behind her. After an elevator ride and a walk down a hallway, they stopped at a door. The man Cas had met in the garage opened the door and she went inside.
It was larger than she expected and fully furnished. But it wasn’t the house she’d grown accustomed to in East Lincoln Park. It wasn’t home.
“So what makes this better than where I was?” she asked Cas, ignoring Asa entirely.
“It’s the most secure residence building in the city. On site security guards, cameras, and it’s un-hackable,” Cas explained.
“What does that mean?”
Cas shrugged. “Not even the government can get to you.”
Well.
That sounded pretty secure. Still. She wasn’t happy about how this had happened.
Devan lifted her eyebrows at Cas and gestured toward the door.
Cas took a breath. “Right.” He faced Zara. “We have to go check out the Lincoln Park house. On our way over here, the alarm was tripped and then disabled.”
Zara’s breathing stopped. “What?” she breathed. “The house alarm?”
Cas held her eyes for a beat, face hard as stone. “The alarms on the terrace. Do not leave here. Promise me.”
Zara’s gaze flicked to Asa who had a hand on the back of his neck but was watching her closely. She swallowed but her throat felt tight. “Okay.”
“Promise,” Cas repeated.
“I promise.” She sucked in a breath. “Do you have to go? Can’t you send the police?”
A muscle jumped in Cas’s cheek. “I’ll be right back,” he said, sounding more confident than she felt.
She nodded and her stomach churned as she watched him and Devan walk out the door. She caught a glimpse of a man in black standing guard outside the door right before it closed.
The silence in the apartment filled her head until her ears rang.
What if it was Kramer? Or someone else? How had they found where she was living so fast? The photos had only gone public an hour ago. Maybe it was nothing. Maybe it was a blip in the electricity. Or the property owner checking in on things.
What if Cas and Devan got hurt?
Because of her.
She pressed a hand to her stomach and started to pace.
“Are you okay?” Asa asked.
She ignored him and kept pacing. Her stomach roiled and she squeezed her eyes shut.
No, no, no, no, no. I’m not going to be sick. No. Not now.
But then she thought about Cas and Devan walking into an unknown situationbecause of herand she was bolting down the hall, hoping the bathroom was nearby.
It was.
“Hey.” Asa knocked on the door of the bathroom. “Are you okay?”
Zara turned off the faucet and looked at herself in the mirror. Mascara pooled in black smears under her eyes, above flushed cheeks. She grabbed a towel and dried her face.
She didn’t even have a toothbrush here. Tears welled in her eyes again and she sank back to her knees on the floor.
