Page 13 of You Can Run

Relief punched through him. “Good.”.

A soft thud sounded over the line. Ryan tightened his grip on the wheel.

“Ryan,” she whispered. “I think he's in the living room.”

“Stay still,” he said. “No matter what you hear. Don’t open that door unless I tell you to.”

“And if he gets through it?”

Ryan didn’t hesitate. “Then you fight. You don't stop until he's dead, Jessica. Do you hear me?”

He floored the accelerator.

The road blurred under the headlights, the distance collapsing into numbers he didn’t like. He glanced at the phone, still connected to Jessica’s line.

He tapped the screen, adding another call.

The line rang once, twice.

Then–

“Who the hell is this?”

Ryan didn't bother with a reintroduction. “Someone’s inside her apartment.”

Silence on the other end of the line. It didn't feel like disbelief, it felt more like processing.

“She’s barricaded,” Ryan continued. “For now.”

Dante exhaled, sharp and controlled. “I’m closer.”

“Good,” he said. “Then move.”

He switched back to Jessica’s line.

“Jessica,” he said, voice steady. “If another call comes through, answer it.”

Her voice tightened. “You called Dante.”

“Yes.”

A pause. Then, quietly, “I wish you hadn't.”

“I know,” Ryan said. “You can yell at me later.”

A dull thud echoed over the line.

Jessica sucked in a breath.

“Ryan,” she whispered. “They’re getting closer.”

“Stay still,” he said. He merged onto the highway, engine roaring.

Dante was driving in from the south. Ryan tearing east. And in the middle, Jessica was holding a phone and a gun, waiting for the shadows to find her.

Dante lowered the phone slowly.

Someone was inside Jessica’s apartment.