“Hey, you,” he answered. “Miss me already?”
“Lucas.” Her voice was shaking as she spoke. “I need to talk to you.”
“Sure, what is it?”
“I—not over the phone.” She lowered her voice. “Can you come to my place?”
“Of course.” There was a pause. “What’s wrong? Are you in trouble? Tell me.”
“I can’t tell you over the phone, but I promise I’ll explain everything when we’re alone.” Her heart was beating a mile a minute. “Will you trust me?”
“Of course. I’m headed to your place now.”
“Thank you.” She put her phone away and headed for the parking lot. Driving home allowed her to keep her mind off things, and helped her calm down and think. Everything would be all right. Lucas had a solid alibi. There was no need to panic. Maybe she had overreacted. But all her alarm bells were ringing. Someone was trying to harm Lucas, and there was no way she was going to let them succeed.
She parked in her garage and walked back to her building. Her keys were already in her hand as she approached the building, but she slowed down when she saw two men waiting just outside. They shuffled aside when she approached them. But before she could slip her key into the door, she felt their presence behind her.
Ugh. This was one thing she hated about living in an apartment building. These guys were attempting to slip inside with her. Maybe they had a friend who lived inside or they could be neighbors who forgot their keys. Being a New Yorker, she didn’t know all her neighbors of course, so she wasn’t sure what their business was. She straightened her shoulders and turned around.
“Excuse me, but are you—” Her heart leapt to her throat. Both men crowded into her, and one of them held something shiny. A gun. “Hold on, gentlemen,” she said in her calmest voice. “I have a hundred in my purse. You can have it now and I won’t—”
“Ha! Stupid bitch!” The man holding the gun spun her around and pressed the gun to her back. “Open that door and let’s go up to your place.”
Sofia hesitated, but the muzzle dug into her. What did they want? Did they mean to rob her place? Or worse?
“Go, bitch!”
“All right!” Her hands shook as she turned the key and let them in. She considered calling for help, but that would put her neighbors in danger. These men obviously meant business, and the only two choices in this situation were to follow their instructions or get shot.
She took her time getting to her fourth-floor walkup, trying to figure out what she could do. Given that she was on leave, she had to leave her gun at work. She had a weapon in her dresser, but that would mean having to go into her bedroom.
“Stop stalling!”
Gritting her teeth, she picked up her pace, and soon they were entering her apartment. The sound of her door closing behind them seemed to underscore her impending doom.
“Move,” the man said, pushing her into the middle of the living room, his gun trained at her.
Slowly, she turned around. As a detective, she couldn’t help but observe him. He was massive, probably half a foot over six feet and completely bald.
His companion, on the other hand, was tall and reed-thin with greasy long hair. He gave her a lecherous smile, showing that his mouth was missing a number of teeth.
“What do you want?” she asked. “I don’t have jewelry. The TV’s probably the most expensive thing I own and—”
“Shut it, bitch!” Baldy snarled. “You think we’re here to fence your stuff?”
Thin Man laughed. “What a stupid bitch!”
“We’ve got our eye on a bigger prize.” He lifted his gun. “Bianchi sends his regards.”
Her heart slammed into her ribcage. That sonofabitch.
A knock on the door made them all startle. She should have taken a chance and lunged at Baldy, but the voice on the other side made her freeze.
“Sofia!” Lucas called. He rapped on the door insistently. “Sofia! Are you home?”
Baldy’s face grew grim. “Who’s that?”
“A friend,” she said. “Let me get rid of him. Please.” Oh, God. Lucas. She couldn’t let them hurt him. “You don’t need him dead, just me. It’ll be cleaner.”
Baldy pushed her towards the door, the gun pressed to her skull. “Get rid of him.”
Relief made tears pool at her eyes. She took a deep breath as they walked to the door. “Lucas,” she called, trying to make her voice calm.
“Sofia, sweetheart,” he said. “Sorry I didn’t buzz. Your neighbor let me inside the building. Are you able to … let me in?”
“I’m afraid not.” She swallowed hard. Lucas’s words and calm demeanor made her pause. Did he have an idea what was happening? Surely, he couldn’t have heard what was happening inside. Her door was solid steel, one of the reasons she chose this place. “Lucas, you should go home.”
“What do you need, sweetheart?”
Tears streaked down her cheeks. She’d always thought that she could face dying in the line of duty, that she would be ready for it. She thought about her mom, wondering what she was thinking about the moment before she died. Because right this moment, all she could think about was Lucas, and how she was never going to see him again. “I need you to leave. Go, Lucas. Please.”
This was for the best. Slowly, she turned to face the two men. “Just do it.”
Baldy pulled her arm and tugged her to the middle of the room. She stood there, her entire body eerily still and calm. He raised the gun.
She closed her eyes, waiting for the sound of gunfire. There was a loud boom, and she flinched. But there was no pain
