not to antagonize him. Better to keep him off-balance, keep him talking.
“Yes, of course, of course I do,” she said, breathing hard.
“I have a box in my closet with two hundred thousand dollars in it. Two hundred thousand. It was Emma’s money, and thanks to her will, now it’s ours, her gift to us. I kept it here in case of an emergency. We’ll go somewhere. We can live off that money. Believe me, you’ll be so happy. I’ll make you so happy.”
She forced her body to relax even while his other hand continued to grip her neck. She was responding to him, letting him know how much she liked his plan, while Daisy, still locked in the crate, let her presence be known as well.
“Please, Simon, please let her go,” Glen called out from his room. “It won’t work. It can’t ever work now.”
But Nina wasn’t focused on Glen. All her attention was given to Simon. Control your breathing. Control your fear. Make him believe. She forced herself to relax. It could be as he wanted, or that’s what she was trying to tell him with her body, leaning in, pressing against him. Even with his hand still clutching at her throat, Simon was getting the message. She saw joy blossom on Simon’s face. He relaxed his fingers, letting air, precious air, rush into Nina’s lungs. He pushed against her harder, kissing her ear, her neck. She responded to his touch, her fingers now tugging at his hair, a soft noise escaping her lips.
Nina drew in a breath. She placed her lips against his ear. “Simon,” she whispered, breathing heavily, pushing into him. “Simon,” she said again.
“Yes, yes,” Simon said breathlessly.
“Simon.”
A piercing cry exploded from Simon’s mouth after Nina brought her knee up fast and hard, ramming into his crotch with all her might. Simon’s hand flew up in reflex, and the gun went off—two loud pops that put holes directly in the ceiling, sending bits of plaster raining down on them.
He slumped to the floor, gasping for air. His body lay motionless, blocking the bottom stair—the only way out. Nina had no idea if Simon had managed to hold on to the gun or not as she tried to hurdle him to make her escape. But he seized hold of her ankle as she went up and over and would not let go. Nina hopped awkwardly on one foot to stay upright as Simon managed to slowly get to his knees, still holding her ankle in his viselike grip. With another push and groan, Simon was soon standing. He kicked Nina’s other foot out from under her and she went down, hard, using her hands to break her fall.
Nina spun onto her back. She looked up in horror as Simon loomed over her. Fury pulsated in his face. He began to drag her toward Glen’s room by the ankle, limping to compensate for the pain in his groin. With no balance, no leverage, Nina tried to twist free, but could not. Simon pulled her toward him like a fisherman reeling in his catch. He let go of her leg to take hold of her from behind, wrapping one arm tightly around her chest, lifting her into him as if she weighed nothing. Nina kicked and thrashed to slip free, but it was impossible to break his hold.
Now she got her answer as to what had happened to that gun. With his free hand, he put the weapon back to her head.
“Calm down, Nina,” he said, huffing and hobbling, compensating for his injury. “Just take it easy. Okay? You don’t want this going off accidentally. You don’t want to leave Connor and Maggie without a mother.”
That got Nina to still. Daisy went wild, her barking escalating. Driven by instinct more than anything—fight or flight—Nina snapped her head forward and bit Simon hard on the arm he’d used to wrap around her chest. Simon yowled in pain as he tossed Nina onto the floor. The left side of her skull connected hard with the television. She lay there dazed, her vision blurred. Inching toward her, Simon aimed the gun—a gun she’d never known he owned—at her heart.
“Don’t!” Glen cried out, as loud as his weakened voice could carry. “Leave her alone. Leave her, Simon. Please.”
Coming as far forward as his chain would allow, Glen pawed frantically to get to Simon, but the chain wouldn’t let him go far enough. Simon moved in front of Nina, still pointing the gun at