Page 68 of Savage Elites

My eyes snapped open, and a breath caught in the back of my throat. Heart rattling against my chest, I crept out of bed, through my bedroom, and out into the hallway. I crouched at the top of the stairs and waited.

Through the stained glass windows, I caught sight of a man standing at the door, peering inside through the letterbox. A moment later, he straightened, revealing a tall, broad-shouldered figure backlit against the street light.

“Pssst, psst!” he made the kind of noise people used when trying to catch a cat’s attention.

I bit down hard on my bottom lip. Was he a burglar, casing the house for occupants, or something else? The man fiddled with the front door, which was locked and bolted shut.

“Shit,” he hissed and walked away.

I rushed back to my bedroom and peeped through the gap in the curtains. The man wore black and covered his face with a balaclava. I rushed to the cordless phone and called nine-nine-nine.

“Hello, emergency service operator,” said the cheery voice at the end of the other line. “Which service do you require? fire, police, or ambulance?”

“Police,” I whispered.

“I’ll just connect you now.”

After a barely audible click, another voice said, “Hello, this is the police.”

“I’m at fifty-six Appletree Road, Cummersdale, in Cumbria. A man is lurking around my house, and I’m home alone.”

“Your name, please?”

“W-Willow Evergreen.”

A loud click from the kitchen indicated that he had forced open the door. My heart exploded across my chest. I rushed into Mom and Dad’s room, wriggled under the bed between the suitcases they kept there.

“He’s inside the house,” I whispered.

“Where are you?”

I was about to repeat my address when I realized she meant to ask where in the house I was located. “In the back room, under the bed.”

“Stay on the line with me until the police arrive,” the operator whispered. “A squad car is on its way. Please remained silent.”

I slowed my breathing to the quietest rasp, but my heart wouldn’t stop thudding.

Heavy footsteps creaked up the stairs at a painfully slow pace. The intruder’s feet hit the middle of the tread, not knowing that tiptoeing on the edges while holding the railing was the stealthy way to ascend. Because of that, I guessed it probably wasn’t Ashley or anyone she had sent to cause me trouble.

He went straight to my room and flung open the curtains. Then a heavy creak of wood filled the air, making me wonder if he had lifted one end of the bed. How did he even know which room was mine?

Next, he searched Ashley’s room then walked into Mom and Dad’s. My entire chest felt like a boom box with my pulse beating so hard. If he lifted the bed and found me hiding here, what the hell would he do?

Sirens blared in the distance, making the man halt his steps. Then the sound filled the house, nearly drowning out my frantic heartbeat. I bit down hard on my lip. If this man reached me before the police got here, there might be just enough time for him to do some severe damage.

A heavy fist pounded on the front door. “Police!”

The man dropped something metallic and bolted down the stairs.

The fist continued banging.

“He might have gone,” I whispered to the operator.

“Don’t chance it,” she murmured back. “The police will walk around the house and come to you through the intruder’s point of entry.”

“Hello,” shouted a voice. “Miss Evergreen?”

Relief washed through my insides, and tears spilled from my eyes. “Y-yes?”