CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Reva

Ridge isn’t gone five minutes before the alarm goes off. I am putting on my shoes, but I drop them. I go for Ridge’s closet, the high shelf, the code. I get my gun out and put a clip in, slam the safe shut so there’s not a loaded arsenal waiting for whoever is coming after us. I run for Lydia’s room.

“Wake up, baby, come with me,” I say. I shake her, try to get her to get up quietly and come along. We don’t have time to waste.

She grunts, turns over. I put the safety on and stuff the gun down the back of my jeans, pick her up. She’s dead weight, whimpering and trying to reach for the bed. I swat her sharply on the butt. I’ve never spanked a child, but this is the time, I think.

“Lydia. Wake up and come with me. Now,” I bark at her.

Her eyes fly open. She starts to cry, buries her face in my shoulder. I tell her I’m sorry, that we have to hurry. I’m looking around, trying to decide where to go to hide her. They’re coming for her, that much I know. They must have done something at Carter Security just to get Ridge to leave, so we’d be alone when they came for her. I won’t let them take her. I won’t let them hurt her. Not as long as there’s breath in my body. Which may not be for long.

It’s dark and still, my heart thudding, the little girl in my arms crying. It’s like a horror movie, but it’s too real. I try to make myself think, but I can’t. I’m nothing but adrenaline and fear now.

I hear glass shatter, a breaking window. A shrill alarm blares, the lights flash disorienting me. Panicked, I have to get Lydia someplace safe. Is there someplace safe? I wish there was a safe room, is what I think. I don’t know where to go, where the best place is. I take her to my room, lock the door. It’s a tiny doorknob lock that won’t slow anyone down. I go through to my bathroom and lock us in there. I put her down on the floor and call the guards. There’s no answer. I use the panic app. I see a missed call from Ridge. Please be coming, Ridge, I think.

I hear running footsteps and hope it’s the guards. Lydia is awake now and crying. I grab a towel from the cabinet to use as a blanket and cover her up.

“Hush,” I say, “be quiet. It’s okay. Daddy’s coming. I’m here. But you have to stay quiet. We don’t want them to know where we are.”

She whimpers, clings to my arm. I take the gun out of my waistband and flip off the safety.

“Get in the shower,” I tell her, “stay down. You can’t grab me when I have this out. It’s okay,” I say, my voice high and shaky. I kiss her head.

I hear gunfire, loud cracks and things breaking. I try to call Ridge again and get nothing. I text him. “They’re in the house I’m so scared we love you.” He might as well know I love him since I’m probably about to die. I set my phone down and bite my lip to keep from screaming. It’s like being in the middle of a storm, a disaster, only it’s worse because it’s coming for us, for her.

There are sirens, more gunshots, and always the high wail of the alarm. I’m crying. I can’t help it. I’m scared. I won’t let them take Lydia. They’ll have to kill me first. Which they will. I don’t think it will even slow them down. I’ve never been so terrified in my life. My vision has gone bright. I’m holding the gun with shaking hands, pointing it at the white door I know won’t keep anyone out.

This is it. This is all.

I keep whispering to Lydia that it’s going to be okay. All I can do is put myself between the invaders and Lydia, but Lydia keeps crawling out of the shower and holding on to me. She’s terrified and doesn’t understand what’s going on. I don’t know what to do. My instincts tell me to hold her and comfort her, but I can’t fire a gun with a kid in my lap. I lower the gun put my arm around her, hugging her against my side. She’s crying so hard. I hold her tighter. My heart is pounding so hard I am not sure I can even hear the alarm any more.

“Honey, you have to let go,” I tell her, “Get back in the shower, hide.”

She shakes her head. I’m the only safe thing she knows right now. I can’t blame her, but I have to protect her. I hope I can get two shots off before they kill me. I hope if she’s behind the shower curtain she won’t see them kill me. I don’t want her to have to remember that.

“I love you,” I tell her, “please get in the shower.”

She can’t let go of me. I plead with her, both of us crying. I hear a crash. Our door, our last defense is broken open. I scream, cover Lydia with my body. I hold her tight.

“It’s me,” Ridge says. I know his voice even in my terror. Lydia is screaming too. I release the clip from the gun, shove it behind the toilet because the last thing we need is my damn gun going off.

I try to scramble to my feet with Lydia in my arms but my legs won’t hold me. Ridge crouches down to us, takes us in his arms. I’m crying and he’s holding us both. He kisses Lydia’s head, asks her if she’s okay, kisses me on the mouth. I cling to him, kissing him, feeling alive and so relieved.

The cops storm in, all of us in the tiny bathroom.

“Ridge Carter, you’re under arrest for assaulting an officer and leaving the scene of a traffic stop,” an officer says, hauling him away from us and putting him in handcuffs. I can’t believe it. They’re arresting him, taking him away after he saved us.

“Daddy, no!” Lydia wails as I hold her and watch them take him away.