What Fire Dragons Treasure - Cristina Rayne Page 0,1
for at least another week according to Keri. Most importantly, the house was in no way connected to her or Keri as the place wasn’t being sold by the real estate firm Keri worked for.
Amber hurried up the stone porch steps to sit on the small, wooden porch swing located off to the side just out of the porch light’s reach. She wanted to give the impression that she had been waiting for her ride for longer than a few minutes.
Despite finally able to rest a bit, her heart refused to slow down. Even though it was likely that her husband was still passed out in their bedroom, Amber still felt like a doe with hunting dogs snapping at her heels. At least Matty was still blissfully asleep and unaware of just how much his world was about to change. His soft exhales against the clammy skin of her neck were warm and soothing. Right now, his obliviousness was the most important thing.
It was too dark to see the face of her wristwatch properly, and Amber had, of course, left her phone behind. She didn’t want to risk waking Matty by standing to move closer to the light to see the time. All she could do was sit on that swing trembling with anxiety and pray that she hadn’t missed her ride.
This was it. This was her last shot to save her son from that monster, and it made her sick to even think she might have already failed.
Headlights appeared at the end of the block, and Amber instantly stiffened in alert, her already racing heart increasing with a painful lurch. She watched the vehicle—a car—approach at a slow speed with narrowed eyes. Her arms unconsciously hugged her son more tightly against her chest.
Even though she expected it, when the dark-colored car stopped in front of the empty house, the knot of tension in her chest tightened.
It’s okay. It’s okay. It isn’t him. It’s just the rideshare.
Amber recited those reassuring words over and over like a mantra right up until she was close enough to see that the driver was a young blonde woman and not one of the usual goons that Garrett’s family employed for security.
“Thank you so much, and sorry to call for a ride so late,” Amber said as she carefully, but awkwardly, climbed into the backseat of the car. “Having car trouble at the last minute really is the worst, but I really didn’t want my mom out driving at this hour.”
“No problem. I can always use the extra cash,” the young woman said with a shrug and a friendly smile.
The radio was playing at a fairly low volume, but after glancing at Matty, her driver turned off the radio altogether.
“Nurse?” the driver asked.
Amber smiled. “Yes. Today’s an early shift, unfortunately.”
A complete lie, but given the odd hour, she had dressed in a pair of scrubs, a pair of wire-rimmed glasses, and a wig of long, auburn curls as part of her cover, not only for anyone who might recognize her, but also for her driver. A quick glance down confirmed that none of Matty’s hair was peeking out from under his hood.
Given her comment about her mom and that Keri had instructed her rideshare to drop her off at a second vacant residence clear across town, a working mom and her son would be less likely to stand out in her driver’s mind.
Once her husband woke and realized they were gone, she had no doubt that Garrett would have every cell phone in the state screeching with—ironically—an Amber Alert for their son. Threatening her with charges of kidnapping was one of the asshole’s favorite threats ever since the first time Amber had tried to leave him back when Matty had only been six months old.
Hopefully, they would be long gone from the city when that inevitability happened.
Amber was relieved when her driver didn’t try to chat once they were moving, probably not wanting to wake up Matty. The less she had to say to this woman, the smaller the chance that Amber would trip herself up.
Still, she couldn’t quite relax enough to slow her heartbeat. She really needed to calm down. The last thing she needed was to faint in either the car or out on the street somewhere before she could even reach the next step in her escape plan because her anxiety was shooting her blood pressure through the roof.
What felt like hours later when in actuality it was probably no more than