Page 128 of Secrets in the Deep

He hadn’t even been listening. It may aswellbe just her and her mother then.

She turned back to the coffees and opened the sugar cannister.

Empty.

Coffee without sugar? Absolutely not. She needed sugar. With this company, caffeine just wasn’t enough. She moved to the pantry and searched the shelves.

Come on. One bag. Heck, three teaspoons. It was all she needed.

She spotted a bag of cookies. Huh. It wasn’t sugar for her coffee, but these would be nice as a side.

She was still rummaging around another shelf when a loud thump sounded, like something heavy hitting the floor.

She gasped, quickly stepping out of the pantry and searching the room.

The first thing she saw was shoes. Just the soles of them poking out from the other side of the kitchen island.

Her mother’s shoes.

Her brain barely had a second to process what she was looking at before an arm wrapped around her throat from behind. It locked just beneath her jaw, tightening so quickly she didn’t have time to react.

She grabbed at the arm, her fingernails digging into skin, clawing with both her hands.

Then a cloth came over her mouth and nose.

Panic hit first. Then the smell. A chemical scent, but also sweet.

She thrashed, driving an elbow into Roscoe’s ribs, then threw her weight to the side, trying to knock him off-balance. He moved with her.

The kitchen began to tilt, black dots edging her vision.

Her arms suddenly felt heavy. They dropped. Then the world went black.

29

Ryan pressed his foot to the floor, forcing his truck to move far beyond the speed limit as he sped to the house.

He used the truck’s Bluetooth to call her again.

Come on, Emily. Answer my call. Tell me you’re okay.

The call went to voicemail.

Dammit.

He turned onto his street, but there were no cars in the drive or on the road.

Was she home? Was she with her mother? Maybe she just hadn’t had a chance to look at the screen.

Please, God, say that’s the case.

He climbed from his truck, Glock in hand, and raced toward the door, the sound of another truck pulling up behind him.

He turned the knob.

Unlocked.

He entered the house low and fast, clearing left then right before he was fully through the door. He was scanning the living room and kitchen when he saw her…