Page 68 of ’Til You Break

No.

I won’t think it.

I’m the reason Hannah’s in danger. I’ll be the one to get her out of it.

“Okay,” she says. “I’ll do it. Will you stay on the line with me?”

“I wi—“

Metal screams against metal. The impact slams into the side of my car. The world spins. The airbags explode with a gunshot crack.

Too late.

My head whips backward into the headrest, dazing me, and every dream I’d dared to have with Hannah...

Twists back into the nightmare that brought me here.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Hannah

“Vik?” I shout into the receiver, my knuckles turning white around the phone. “What happened? Are you okay?”

My questions go unanswered. And I know why. Because the sound I hear is all too familiar. Screeching tires. Metal crunching against metal.

It’s followed by a broken gasp. Painful, choking coughs.

Then...

Silence.

Endless silence.

“Vik, please say something.” Tears blur my vision as I plead with no one. I sink to the floor, clamping a hand over my mouth.

I want to scream. Nothing comes out. It can’t be. I don’t believe it. I tell myself Vik is fine. That what I heard wasn’t a crash. That he’s simply concentrating on the road.

Lie after lie... Anything to keep reality at bay.

Then, glass shatters somewhere in the house. The sound jerks me back to reality. Another crash follows. Then another. Then another.

They’re here.

I scramble to my feet and run.

All I have to do is reach the garage. Get into one of Vik’s cars. Get away. If I can put enough distance between us, I can call the police and let them deal with this. The way Vik should have from the beginning.

God... I feel so stupid. I could’ve stopped this. If I’d ignored Vik’s wishes and gone to the police sooner, maybe none of this would’ve happened.

Instead, I convinced myself he’d eventually come to his senses. That once he’d found these men... He’d let them go.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

The voice comes from one of the guest bedrooms, just as I reach the hallway. I barely manage another step before a man’s hand clamps around my wrist and yanks me backward. His free arm snakes around my waist, crushing me against his chest.

“Let go of me!” I scream, punching and kicking wildly.

Another pair of hands grabs my ankles, lifting me clean off the floor.