Chapter Five
When there was a knock, she stopped abruptly and frantically looked around. Then remembered the small balcony out on the side of her window. She had planned to put flowers out but hadn’t had a chance or wanted to spend the money. She hefted the backpack over her shoulder and bit her lip to keep from crying out in pain.
“Shelby, honey. It’s Warrick.”
She pressed her hand to her mouth. Oh, God. They’d come to arrest her. She hurried to the window and opened it, cringing when it squeaked. Then she climbed out and closed it before plastering herself to the side.
She heard him call out a few more times before her door opened. How in the heck did they open it? They hadn’t kicked it in because she would have heard it, so how had they gotten it open so quickly?
“Dammit, why the fuck did she run?” Warrick said.
“I have no idea. No one but the three of us knew about her leaving with us.”
“Even if she did, why would she run?” Reid asked.
She tried to slow down her breathing because she was very close to hyperventilating, and if she did that and passed out, she’d fall from the balcony.
She heard them go through the apartment and jerked when she heard one of them curse in the bedroom.
“Warrick, come here.”
“What’s up?” Warrick called out.
“She’s bleeding.”
She heard something slam and then hurried steps into the bathroom.
“What in the fuck is going on?” Warrick yelled. “How in the hell did she hurt herself?”
“Man, we’ll find her.”
“You’re damn right we will. I’m not going back without her.”
She closed her eyes, rested the back of her head against the brick, and let the tears fall. Maybe she should just turn herself in? She wasn’t cut out for a life on the run. It was the thought of being behind bars with horrible people that liked to hurt others that kept her going. She could never fight against that.
She didn’t understand what they said next because they talked too softly.
“Let’s go canvas the block,” Warrick said in a normal voice.
The apartment door closed. She peeked around the corner, and when she didn’t see anything, she pushed the window back open and crawled in. Then she saw the shadow out the corner of her eye as she was closing the window.
She twirled around to see all three men standing there with their arms crossed. She bit back the scream that clawed up her throat. She frantically looked around.
“Don’t even think about it, honey,” Warrick said.
She couldn’t hold back the tears. “Warrick, I can’t go to jail. I know what I did was wrong, but all I did was get into a few places. I never did anything to them, but I did leave a note telling them to build better walls. I’m—”
“You’re not going to jail,” Warrick said.
“I’m really telling the truth. I can write down the places if you want, and I’ll even apoli—”
“Baby, you’re not going to jail.”
“I’ll die if I go to jail. I can’t fight worth a darn. Just ask a few of my siblings.” She cringed away from Warrick as he walked toward her.
He grabbed onto her shoulders. “Baby,” he said. “Listen to me.”
“It’s just—”