Page 106 of Betrayed

“You set the fire too, didn’t you? How exactly did you expect to kill him in a house fire?”

“He was supposed to be knocked out.”

“How?”

“I poisoned his whiskey.”

AJ’s stomach churned. That had been a very calculated maneuver. Miles could never have guessed that would be the night Logan would decide to stop drinking. Thank you, Lord, for protecting Logan. Protect us both now.

Miles’s phone buzzed. “There they are.” He opened his laptop and sat beside AJ on the cot.

She tried to put more distance between them, but there wasn’t anywhere to go.

On the laptop he opened six separate camera views. One showed the front door. The others covered the back door, the hidden door to the panic room, the living room, the kitchen, and what appeared to be Miles’s bedroom.

Miles was unreasonably calm. He had full confidence the room they were in was beyond detection.

Adam and Amelia came up to the front door. Logan leaned back against the unmarked police sedan.

Logan! She wished she could run to him.

But this psychotic man stood in her path. How could she get away? There had to be something she could do. She’d need to overpower Miles. The knife was in his pocket, as was the key for her handcuffs, and the key fob that opened the panic room. But how?

As she contemplated a plan, Miles watched Adam bang on the door.

The SWAT team arrived, and they surrounded the house.

Miles sat back against the wall. “They’re brave. If they know I have you, coming in guns blazing could be a really bad idea. Wonder if your husband is thinking about that? Lucky for you, I want you in one piece. They won’t even know we’re here.”

The team busted through the front and began searching the house.

AJ watched it on the screen but couldn’t hear anything through the walls. And she could see they were shouting, talking, making noise, but she couldn’t hear any of it.

“Told you it was soundproof.”

Had Miles invaded her thoughts now too?

“If you can’t hear them, they can’t hear you. Didn’t I do an amazing job on this space? Not exactly how I imagined using it, but it’s working quite nicely if I do say so myself.”

How long was she going to have to endure this man’s endless arrogant prattle?

She’d come up short with how to overpower Miles. She thought about knocking the computer from his hands and then kicking him in the head when he reached for it. But what if he reacted to her before grabbing it? She had a strong sense keeping him calm was her best chance at survival.

She didn’t have enough reach to slide her hand into his pocket to pull out any of the keys. If she could get the key fob and open the door then the SWAT team could find them. But it wasn’t going to happen. Plus she was pretty sure the fob was in the pocket on his far side.

On the screen, she could see the team clearing the house and finding nothing. Cops she knew walked right past the hidden door with no clue she was behind it with a lunatic.

Logan came through the front door with Adam and Amelia. He looked around the living room and strode straight toward the camera. He seemed to search for a moment but found the camera quickly.

“Oh, this should be interesting.” Miles maximized the feed and turned the mic on.

Logan said, “I will find you.”

It was both a threat to Miles and a promise to her. Her heart swelled so much she couldn’t keep a smile from creeping onto her face. She tucked the hope into her heart. If only Logan knew how close he was to them.

Lord, help him find me. Keep us both safe.