Page 13 of Perfect Liar

We just celebrated her twenty-eighth birthday two weeks earlier.

I pushed the preloaded magazine into Pearl, slid the gun into the back of my cutoffs for lack of a better plan, and pulled the closet door shut, listening before entering the hallway.

In Lissie’s room, I stuffed her backpack with as much as possible before hurrying to my room, where I grabbed my bag, phone charger, and car keys.

But damn it, my phone still laid on the foyer floor.

The one landline phone we still had wasn’t any closer, so I tiptoed down the wooden stairs, my back to the wall, my eyes focused on the chandelier.

I got down and crawled past the entry door.

Vomit burned my throat.

I forced it back and reached out my hand, fumbling until I found my phone.

I dropped my head for a second to fight my body’s overwhelming urge to give in.

My chest tightened more. I counted back from five to calm myself.

Breathe. Five. Four. Breathe. Three. Two. One.

I had to get on my feet and get us out of the house.

A floorboard creaked behind me.

The thrashing of my heart filled my ears.

Someone was inside the house again.

I’d screwed up…we shouldn’t have still been there.

Footsteps behind me.

An intruder’s voice echoed my thoughts.

“You shouldn’t be here,” he said.

CHAPTER 4

The intruder’s voice was unmistakable.

Will Hastings pulled the gun out of my waistband and lifted me from the floor. He covered my mouth, so I couldn’t scream.

Then he restrained my wrists in one of his hands, and like I weighed nothing at all, he carried me to the living room with my back pressed tightly against his chest. His physical strength was more than I’d ever experienced.

Will didn’t remove his hand from my mouth or turn me around to face him…he didn’t have to…I knew it was him the moment he’d spoken.

“I’ll release you, Ellie, if you promise not to scream or run from me. I want you to be quiet and as calm as possible. All right?”

I nodded, and he let me go.

So many thoughts spun through my head all at once.

Oh god, I’d left Lissie all alone.

I was alone.

We had no one left.