house, a window was open, and the old curtains from the previous owner were blowing in.
Grace walked in the room and attempted to slide the window closed.
She tugged twice and then put some muscle behind it on the third.
The window slid closed with a loud click.
Grace shook off the rain that had blown in on her as she turned.
Her stocking feet then stepped in a soaked carpet. Only when she looked down, it wasn’t rainwater she noticed. It was mud.
Muddy footprints.
“I’m sorry about your dad. Damn, Max.”
Max kept shaking his head. “I fucked up, Dameon. I let my dick get in the way of a solid friendship.”
Dameon motioned out the windshield. “The house I’m using is just up the way.”
“Yeah, I know. I was just there. Your girlfriend wouldn’t let me in.”
That made Dameon smile. “She’s a smart woman.”
Max grinned briefly.
“Follow me up.”
They made eye contact. With a single nod, Max rolled up his window and pulled forward. It took a four-point turn, but he pulled in behind Dameon and they both drove back toward the house.
Oh shit.
Oh shit.
Oh shit.
Grace’s hands shook, her heart rate took off like a racehorse, and her breathing became erratic.
Someone was in the house.
Her first thought was Max. But she’d seen him drive away.
She spun in a circle. There was absolutely nothing in the empty room to grab. Her hand grasped the curtain and she looked up.
Without a second thought, she ripped the cheap rod from the wall and quickly pushed the curtains off and onto the floor.
Her eyes traveled to the closed closet doors.
On the carpet, the footprints stopped in front of them.
The door to the room was in the opposite direction so she ran for it.
She made it down the hall before a man stepped in front of her and pushed her against the wall.
She screamed and swung the cheap metal curtain rod with every ounce of power she had.
The rod made contact and the man spoke.
“Fucking bitch.”
She looked up and kept swinging.
It was Sokolov. He tried to disguise his face with nylons pulled over his head, but she could tell it was him.
The third time she swung the rod, he grabbed it and wrestled it out of her hands.
She turned to run back the way she came when a second man, this one bigger, grabbed her by her shoulders.
“Now where do you think you’re going?”
The man holding her also wore nylons over his face, squishing it in a way that made his features unrecognizable.
He turned her to face Sokolov.
“You’re not going to get away with this,” she yelled.
Sokolov lifted his hands to the room. “Who is going to stop me?”
She tried to wiggle free to no avail. “I know it’s you, Sokolov.”
He took a step closer. Almost in kicking range.
Her mind scrambled.
“Oh yeah?” He pulled the nylons off his face. “That’s too bad. But that look on your face right now is worth it.”
“Dameon will be here any second.”
Sokolov started to laugh.
The man holding her did as well.
“Did you hear that? The cavalry is coming.”
Another step closer.
“I got to thinking. If I’m going to be accused of assault and battery, I might as well do the crime, right?” Sokolov ran his tongue over his lips, his eyes moving slowly from her face to her chest.
Oh shit.
Another step closer . . .
“Besides, you owe me fifteen grand. You didn’t think I’d let that go, did you?” He stopped too far away to kick and looked back at her face. “So this is what we’re going to do. I’m going to give you a little taste of what I’m going to do to your friends. I know where they all live and when they’re alone. So even if you’re stupid enough to call the police, I have friends like my buddy here, who will make sure to take care of them one at a time.”
She thought of Erin and Parker. Her mom and dad. His words were screwing with her head.
“I have a rock-solid alibi as to where I am right now, and it’s not here, little lady.”
She struggled against her hold again.
Nothing.
The music played in the living room with an upbeat song, mocking what was happening at that moment.
“I’ll get your money back,” she told him.
She noticed a lift in his lips.
Her arms started to scream in pain from the man holding her.
“Just don’t hurt me.”
Sokolov liked that. His shoulders relaxed and he looked to the man behind her. “Did you hear that? She’s singing a different tune now.” He took another step,