Page 65 of Protecting Kelli
She was moving before she thought about what she was doing. Kelli leaped out of bed, looking around frantically. Where should she go? If she left the bedroom, whoever had broken in would see her immediately. It wasn’t that big of a space. The bathroom was in the hall, so that was also out. Not that anywhere in there would make a good hiding place. And she couldn’t hide under her bed because it was a captain’s bed…there were drawers filling in the space.
For a second, she panicked—then Kelli swore she heard Flash’s voice in her head. Telling her to take a breath. To be smart.
Whipping around, Kelli quickly and quietly remade her bed, pulling the covers up so it looked like she hadn’tbeen there at all. Of course, the sheets were still warm, but she couldn’t do anything about that.
Grabbing her phone, she went to the only place that was an option.
Her closet.
It was fairly large, something she’d been thrilled about when she first rented the place. She had two racks of clothes against one wall—her shirts on the higher one, her pants on the lower. She could hide behind the pants, but there wasn’t much room and whoever had broken in would surely spot her.
Her frantic gaze finally landed on the suitcase she’d unpacked a week ago. It was lying in the back corner where she’d left it, too lazy to so much as zip it closed, much less put it in the hall closet where it was usually stored.
Moving instinctively, and thanking her lucky stars that she was only five-two, she opened the top, stepped inside, and crouched down. She curled into a fetal position, lowered the lid, then fumbled with the zipper.
Whoever had broken in was moving down the hall. She could hear their footsteps coming closer and closer.
Finally, she was able to get hold of the tab and partially close the zipper around the suitcase.
She held her breath when she heard a male voice swear as he entered her bedroom.
Kelli had never been so scared. Not even when she’d had a gun pointed in her face. And she realized it was because at least then, Flash had been there. His presence hadn’t made it any more or less likely that she’d be shot, but simply going through that experience with someone else made it not quite as terrifying.
Lying in the dark, curled into a ball, hearing whoever was in her apartment throwing things around, wasmorethan terrifying. It almost paralyzed her with fear.
Feeling her hand throbbing, Kelli suddenly realized that she was gripping her phone so tightly, it was surely leaving marks on her palm.
Her phone! In her panic, she’d completely forgotten she’d grabbed her cell from the table next to her bed!
She was about to dial 9-1-1 when the intruder entered her closet. The light came on and Kelli realized she was seconds away from being discovered and probably raped and maybe killed.
The man—she could definitely tell it was a guy now, because he was constantly swearing and muttering under his breath—shuffled through her clothes. Then a large crash made Kelli flinch in her hiding place. She felt a weight settle on top of the suitcase. He’d pulled one of the entire racks of clothes off, and it had obviously landed right where she was hiding.
But that was good. Not the destruction he was wreaking on her belongings, but that she was buried under clothes. It meant he had no reason to believe she was there, in that suitcase. Right under his nose.
She still refused to risk moving even an inch while he was in the same room. The light from the phone screen might show through the open portion of suitcase. Or he’d see the clothes moving if she shifted even a fraction. No, she had to stay completely still and silent.
Of course, right then, her nose started to itch.
If she sneezed, she was as good as dead.
Closing her eyes tightly, Kelli did her best to suppress her body’s involuntary reaction to her surroundings.
To her immense relief, the man left the closet. She could still hear him throwing things around in her bedroom. So the danger was still very real.
Taking a chance, Kelli looked at the phone she still held in a death grip and tapped the screen. The light made her wince, but she quickly turned it down, brought up her recent calls, and clicked on Flash’s name.
It was stupid. She should call 9-1-1. But the first and only person she thought to call was Flash. He’d help her. He knew where she lived. He wouldn’t hesitate to come. Of that, she had no doubt.
Awkwardly, she brought the phone up to her ear, because there was no way she could put it on speaker, not if she wanted to stay hidden. It rang twice before Flash answered.
“Kelli? What’s wrong? Are you okay?”
Opening her mouth to tell him that, no, she definitely wasn’t okay and she needed him, she froze when the intruder reentered the closet.
“Kelli?”
His voice sounded loud. Too loud. But once more, Kelli was afraid to move even one muscle. Why had the man come back? Did he know she was there? Had he figured out there was literally no other place for her to hide?
