Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 72074 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 360(@200wpm)___ 288(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72074 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 360(@200wpm)___ 288(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
“Olivia!” I can still hear Casey yelling my name through my phone. I want to reach down and grab the phone, but the screaming in my head takes over, so I turn and run down the hallway. As I’m making my way up the stairs, the sound of glass breaking echoes in the silent house. My breathing now sounds like it’s on speaker as I run to the end of the hall.
“Olivia.” He says my name, and a shiver runs up my spine when I run toward the media room where Casey showed me a hidden closet. The sound of my heart thumping in my chest is the only thing I can hear as I turn to look over my shoulder. Seeing no one there, I go to the little closet that I laughed about when Casey showed me.
“What can you possibly keep in here?” I laughed, and then he knocked me on my ass with his answer.
“It’s a hiding spot for my nieces and nephews,” he said with a smile.
I open the closet door and climb in, closing it gently behind me so as not to make any noise. The sound of my heart pounding and my heavy breathing fills the small, dark space. I sit with my legs tucked to my chest in the darkness as my eyes get used to the darkness. The only light I see comes from the crack under the door.
“Olivia, don’t make this any harder than it has to be,” he says, and I close my eyes, hoping that this is a dream. But then I open my eyes again, and I’m still in the darkness. “Olivia.” He says my name again, and this time, I hear the floor creaking under his feet as he makes his way farther into the house. “If you make me find you, it’ll just be worse.”
I try to swallow, but my throat is closed off, and only then do I realize tears are running down my face. My hands shake as I put them around my knees, and I think about how this is going to end.
How I’m going to die in this closet, and I haven’t ever really fallen in love. I haven’t even learned how to make my favorite meal yet. I haven’t been to Bora Bora and swam in the blue water. I haven’t ever had a man tell me he loves me and believe it. I’ve never been cherished. The tears now pour out like a river going downstream, and even if I tried to stop them, I don’t think I would be able to. My body starts to shake, and I can hear my teeth chattering, and in the tight space, it sounds like it’s full blast on speaker.
The sound of his footsteps makes my heart stop, and I hold my breath. “Olivia, just give me what I want, and I’ll be gone.”
I don’t even know what he wants. I don’t know what anyone wants from me because I have nothing. I know nothing, yet every single day, I get two calls from blocked numbers.
“Don’t make me angry,” he says. His voice is getting louder, and I hear the creaking of the stairs as he climbs them.
“I have all the time in the world.”
My breaths quicken, and my whole body shakes when I hear his footsteps coming closer. “I’ve been watching you,” he says, and he sounds like he is right outside the closet door. Then I see a shadow under the door. I know he’s close, so I hold my breath, hoping he doesn’t find me and walks away. But instead, the sound of creaking fills the room, and I suck in a breath when he opens the door and stands there with a gun pointed at my face. “Hello, Olivia.” He smirks, and a shiver runs up my spine. I take a second to look at the man who is going to end my life. For what, I will never know.
“Put down the gun.” I hear Casey’s voice, and I gasp when the man sneers at me, then turns around and shots are fired. I don’t know what happens next because everything around me goes black.
Chapter Two
Casey
“Olivia!” After screaming her name in the phone again, I strain to listen to what is going on when I hear a man’s voice.
“Olivia,” he says. My blood runs cold, and rage fills me from the tips of my toes to the top of my head. A rage I’ve never, ever felt before competes with the helplessness of not being there. I look at the phone, and my stomach sinks when I know I have to hang up and call Derek, my second in command at the security firm.
When I dial his number, it feels like forever before he answers even though it’s less than one ring. “There is someone in my house!” I shout to him. “Get the feeds,” I say and hang up before he can answer. Taking the curve to the farm faster than I should, I almost skid off the road with the rocks under the back tires.