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.
My mind gave in to the shock, to the pain I had tried to control. My hands trembled, my knees weakened, and I stumbled forward.
Will caught me and pulled me to him.
I let my forehead rest against his chest for a moment, so I could catch my breath. His steady heart thundered close to my ear.
I lifted my face, and his intense gaze burned into mine.
“Listen to me, Ellie. The men who did this will come back. You must leave here with me. Say you’ll walk out with me. Say the words now.”
I could only stare at him, trapped in my fear and the shock.
“If you don’t go willingly, I’ll take you with me anyway,” he added.
“I’ll go,” I whispered.
He steadied me and cradled my face in his hands.
“Good. That’s good.”
“You weren’t part of this, were you?” I asked.
“I didn’t harm your family, and I’ll never hurt you.”
Fierce, wild emotion stirred in his eyes, followed by a beautiful contrast of concern and honesty. An intense, protective instinct drove him—he was a dangerous man, yes, but he wasn’t a danger to me.
An irrational gut-feeling urged me trust him. Maybe because he had ties to Isabel, and I’d always trusted her with my life.
I dropped my gaze to the floor, and in an unguarded, vulnerable moment, my faith in Isabel became the start of my trust for Will. I let out a small gasp.
“Lissie…she’s upstairs,” I blurted.
“Your niece…she’s here…she’s alive?”
I nodded.
“Please, help me. She’s upstairs. She can’t see her mother like this.”
He angled his head toward the staircase.
“Go to her quickly.”
I ran upstairs to Gran’s room, and Will followed closely, the tired stairs groaning under his weight as he talked into a hands-free communication device.
“I’ve got Ellie. Bring the car round front. Ben, get inside and cover the staircase. I’m going up for the little girl.”
When we reached the top, I grabbed our bags and hooked them on my shoulder.
In the secret room, Lissie curled into a ball with her hands covering her head again.
I squatted to pull her to me, but she resisted.
“It’s time to go, Lissie, come with me,” I whispered.
But she wouldn’t come to me.
“There’s no time. Move aside,” Will said.
I searched his eyes for reassurance and then I stepped aside.
He gently lifted Lissie into his arms, shifting her into just one after she accepted him.
My niece was smaller than average for her seven years. She looked almost like a toddler against Will’s broad chest.
I grabbed a sweater and put it over Lissie’s head.
She whimpered and stuck out her hand to grip my shoulder.
Will’s hand covered the small of my back.
“Stay close to me, Ellie.”
A large man with a buzz cut appeared at the bottom of the stairs with a pistol drawn.
My heart pounded faster, and I stiffened, but Will nudged me forward.
“It’s all right. Keep moving. Ben’s with me.”
To keep myself from looking at my family, I concentrated on Ben’s appearance as we came down.
Black hair.
A thick, oblique scar slashed over his forehead.
He dressed like a soldier…black t-shirt, military trousers, combat boots.
Will and Ben shielded me with their bodies as we hurried out the door to the black SUV waiting in the street. Will pushed me onto the backseat, handed Lissie over to me, and climbed in with us. He cuffed the driver’s shoulder.
“Move it, John. Drive north, then take the southbound motorway.”
I held Lissie close, kissing the top of her head while she cried for Isabel. Once the car hit the main highway, I shut my eyes and battled for control of my own emotions.
“I’ll take you to the beach house. It’s safe there for now,” Will said.
It was exactly where I would’ve gone on my own. I had nowhere else to go.
We rode in silence, though he watched me like he waited for me to break.
Finally, he said, “I’ll keep you both safe.”
I turned away from him and stared at the blurred passing roadside, because letting go of one word was all it would take for me to fall apart.
Will slid closer to me and held the back of my head in his hand.
“Look at me, Ellie.”
I turned to him, but for a long moment, neither of us said anything. I swallowed against the lump in my throat and dropped my eyes. He lowered his hand to the nape of my neck. And when I lifted my eyes again, his were still there, waiting for mine to come back.
“You have my word. I’ll protect the two of you at any cost.”
Avoiding his words, the horrific reason he needed to say them, I chose to say something I thought I could handle.
“Who’s Ethan?”
His hand dropped.
“He’s my brother.”
“He knew my sister?”
“Yes, quite well. They spent time together in London.”
Eight years earlier, Isabel studied for an entire summer in London.
I dug into my pocket for the sketch and showed him Ethan’s name and number.
“Is this his phone number?”
“It is.”
“Were they close, Will?”
“I wasn’t with them, but my brother behaves like they were quite close.”
I nodded, fighting back tears. I trusted what he said. I trusted him, and that made no sense. Nothing at all made any sense to me. I choked on the silent panic strangling me.
Five. Four. Three. Two. One.
One damn stupid fucking tear rolled down my face.
“Your sister withheld quite a lot. Once I have the beach house locked down, we’ll talk. I’ll tell you what I know.”
I wiped hard at my cheek and then nodded at our driver.
“Who’s this?”
“John, my youngest brother.”
The distraction helped me, so I asked more questions.
“How many brothers do you have?”
“There are four of us.”
“Tell me all the names and their ages.”
The kindness in his eyes showed me he understood.
“John’s seventeen. Thomas is twenty-eight. And Ethan’s thirty-one.”
“And you? How old are you, Will?”
A small smile hit his mouth for just a second.
“Thirty.”
John lifted his eyes to the rearview mirror to get Will’s attention.
I couldn’t believe how much John looked like Will.
Lissie grumbled, shifted her weight, lifted her face to wipe at her tears, and I used my shirt to help her. Clinging to me with both hands, she tipped up her chin to look at me.
I jerked my gaze back to the mirror.
John’s eyes…Lissie’s...my niece had the same beautiful fiery-blue eyes.
Will watched me as I made the comparison.
“When was she born?” he asked.
But first I studied his eyes, taking a minute before answering him.
“Umm, she turned seven in April.”
Will looked away and cursed under his breath. When he turned back to me, he used his thumb to wipe away the new tear rolling down my cheek. His touch unleashed more, and as the watery pain streaked down my face, something even more crushing struck me.
I’m responsible for Lissie now, for her life.
But I didn’t know how to be that person for her. I had to learn to be stronger for Lissie.
“What’s going to happen to my family, Will?” I asked.
He thumbed away my tears again.
“The medical examiner’s office will hold them while police search for you. Ben will go back and make certain authorities find them right away.”
Leaning in closer, he lifted my chin with his finger.
“I won’t leave you alone.”
Relief washed over me but quickly vanished.
Then we pulled up to my beach house, to what had always been my safe place, the place I went when something in my world failed, when I needed time alone to heal.
But this time, I wouldn’t be safe…and I wasn’t alone.
“Get down,” Will snapped.
He pushed me and Lissie to the floor, drew his gun, and jumped out of the car.