What Fire Dragons Treasure - Cristina Rayne
CHAPTER ONE
The floorboards behind her creaked, and Amber Davis instantly froze in momentary terror, her heart nearly in her throat. One second, two, then a handful more, and she could suddenly breathe again when Garrett’s expected angry growl didn’t materialize. It had just been the house settling. Even so, that unexpected sound had spooked her enough to add as much speed as she dared to her hurried steps as she made her way on cat feet down the hall to her son, Matthew’s, room.
It was true that Garrett slept like the dead whenever he passed out after one of his drinking binges, but that didn’t at all guarantee that he wouldn’t wake up if she made even the slightest sound. Amber had been waiting for this very opportunity for the past month, and she wasn’t about to screw it up by waking him prematurely.
An image of Matty’s wide, terrified eyes flashed in her mind, and Amber clenched her jaw angrily. No, she didn’t dare wait any longer.
She had purposely left the door of her son’s bedroom open wide enough for her to walk through sideways without touching when she had put him to bed that night, not wanting to risk the hinges squeaking. She had also put Matty to bed fully clothed and with a thin jacket and hood up to completely cover his blond locks as the nights had been a bit chilly that week.
Amber pulled out her cell phone to look at the time. 2:00 a.m. Good. She still had thirty minutes to get to the designated street corner a few blocks away.
After putting the cell phone on Matty’s nightstand, she dropped to her knees and felt under his bed for the backpack she had hidden there only just today. She slipped it on and then turned to her sleeping son. Her heart clenched at the sight. He looked like a doll sprawled out with one hand fisted up near his head and his blankets bunched up around his feet.
As carefully as she could, Amber scooped him up into her arms and slowly positioned him until his little head rested on her shoulder. She was relieved when his only reaction to being disturbed was a single, heavy sigh. She prayed with everything she had in her that he wouldn’t wake up. At three years old, Matty was currently at the stage of asking endless questions and would likely not understand their need for silence.
Her eyes fell on the stuffed T-rex lying against his pillow. It was his favorite. Despite the risk of jostling him awake, Amber bent to snatch it up. He would need something familiar and beloved to comfort him during the uncertain days ahead.
Despite all her caution, it seemed the floorboards creaked horrifyingly loud with every step she took, as though the damned house was just as determined as her husband to keep her and Matty prisoners within. It was a wonder she hadn’t had a heart attack from the anxiety by the time she made it out the back door.
The night was still and quiet, the only sounds her anxious breathing and the crunch of leaves beneath her feet as Amber hurried across the backyard to the gate that opened into an alley. That the expected bellowing of her husband never materialized behind her only served to feed the huge knot of fear that was painfully making it difficult to breathe.
She couldn’t fail here. She couldn’t.
A renewed sense of determination injected speed into her legs as she sped-walked as fast as she dared down the dark alley, mindful of waking Matty. A child talking loudly at this ungodly hour would be remembered if any of their neighbors happened to be awake. She would leave the bastard no clues if at all possible.
Luckily for her heart, no cars moved down the neighborhood streets as Amber hurried down shadowy sidewalks, or miracle upon miracles, no barking dogs to announce their passage. She had never realized just how quiet her neighborhood was until that night.
Small favors. Maybe the Fates weren’t quite the assholes she always thought them to be.
By the time Amber made it to the corner house a few blocks north of her own house that her friend, Keri, had designated to the rideshare app for pickup, Matty seemed to have gained twenty pounds even with all the excess adrenaline wreaking havoc throughout her body. The house was completely dark inside, a dim porchlight its only illumination. The property was currently empty and wouldn’t appear on the market