Total pages in book: 139
Estimated words: 128083 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 640(@200wpm)___ 512(@250wpm)___ 427(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 128083 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 640(@200wpm)___ 512(@250wpm)___ 427(@300wpm)
His arms unclamped, and he threw her forward so that she landed on her stomach with a breath-stealing thud. “Get the tape,” she heard the man say to the other one he’d called AJ. Cami raised her head and turned it slightly, only catching a glimpse of black hair leaving the room as the man with the tape kneeled on her back and bound her hands. Hot tears slid down her cheeks and another scream lodged in her throat when she raised her head again and saw her mother and sister sitting against the opposite wall, their eyes rimmed in red, duct tape covering their mouths.
“Mom!” she sobbed, scrambling to get up. But the knee at her back pressed down, causing her to yelp and hit the floor again. A hand reached around her neck, holding her head steady as a piece of tape was stretched over her mouth. The man rose, and she attempted to kick backward again, but he stepped aside and then punched the back of her head. She groaned as her mom’s and sister’s muffled cries intensified behind their tape. Then one of the men used her hair to pull her lolling head up, and she felt another piece of tape being pressed over her mouth.
She sank to the floor, heart pounding wildly with terror, adrenaline sluicing through her veins as she opened her eyes. Then she and her mom and baby sister stared at each other in wordless horror.
Chapter Three
Cami worked to catch her breath through her nostrils, the intensity of her fear making her woozy. Her mom widened her tear-filled eyes, nodding in silent encouragement as she watched her eldest daughter attempt to calm herself. Dad. Where’s Dad? He wasn’t home yet, but he should be soon. Would they surprise him like they’d done to her? He’d be able to fight them, though. He was stronger. Did they have weapons? She had thought she’d felt a weapon in the man’s waistband as he’d carried her from the mudroom up the stairs, but in her panicked state, she couldn’t be sure.
Her thoughts burst in every direction, firing so quickly she could barely hold on to any of them.
Elle’s shoulders shook with soundless sobs, and that was the sight that allowed Cami to get hold of her hysteria. She held eyes with Elle as she drew a breath through her nose that made it past her throat, expanding her diaphragm and slowing her heart rate infinitesimally. But it was enough to build on, and over the next thirty seconds as she locked eyes with her little sister, the two kidnappers’ voices a low drone as they conversed somewhere down the hall, she calmed down enough that her thoughts became coherent.
Cami drew herself up and then scooted closer to her mom and sister. The three of them gathered, hugging in the only way they could, laying heads on each other’s shoulders and rubbing cheeks. She could smell her mom’s scent under the sharp tang of sweat and terror. She took comfort in it because it was all that she had. A link to safety. To normalcy.
When they moved apart, she stared at her mom, hoping she could read in her eyes what Cami was trying to convey: We’re going to be okay. We will survive this. Any other outcome was inconceivable.
They all tensed as the sound of footsteps approached the primary bedroom where they were, and the man who’d first surprised her in the mudroom returned. He had a gun by his side, confirming that he had a weapon. “Mr. Cortlandt should be here soon, and so we’re going to have to make sure none of you do something stupid that we’d all regret.”
She heard the sounds of her mother’s and sister’s muffled cries again and glanced at them quickly to see their shoulders shaking as he approached. Cami focused her eyes back on the man, committing what she could see of him to memory. About six feet, wavy brown hair that was short on the sides and longer on the top, combed into place with gel, a sharp nose and hollow cheeks. He was wearing jeans and blue tennis shoes that looked straight from a store shelf and a green polo shirt with the creases where it’d been folded still sharp and obvious. If she had to guess, she’d say he’d just bought the outfit today. There was a scar through the end of his right eyebrow, and he had a mole just beneath his left ear.
I can’t wait to describe you to the police, asshole. The mask can only hide so much. And you aren’t even wearing it over your nose.
“You,” he said, pointing to Elle. “Get up and come with me.”
Elle turned her head into their mom and hid her face as she cried. Their mom made sounds of protest as she appealed to the armed man. But Cami could tell by his face that he was both enjoying their begging and becoming impatient from it. “Get up!” he yelled, startling all three of them.