She was pretty sure her heart couldn’t cope with that.
Turning the engine off she glanced around. There hadn't been another car pull in after her, and if Emmanuel was following her on a bike or something then she would have noticed it. Matthew had told her to go inside and call 911, but when she went to open the door she saw shadows moving in the far corner of the gas station.
Emmanuel?
Grace slipped her phone out of her purse and was dialing 911 when she saw someone walking toward her. Unbuckling her seatbelt, she scrunched down in her seat. Maybe if she hid then whoever it was wouldn’t realize she was there.
No doubt she was being paranoid, there was no way to know that the person had anything to do with her. In fact, it was unlikely they had anything to do with her.
Yet she could hear footsteps.
She slipped down onto the floor. This couldn’t be happening again. No way would she survive again in Emmanuel’s house.
Shadows moved above her.
A figure appeared in the passenger window.
Someone was opening the door.
Why was this happening to her again?
Fear threatened to paralyze her, but then a heavy dose of anger hit.
How dare Emmanuel think of her as just a toy in his game. She wasn’t a toy, she was a person with her own thoughts and emotions, her own wants and needs, and she’d been victimized enough. She wanted her chance with Matthew, surely she deserved it after everything she had been through.
As the passenger door opened, Grace threw open the driver’s door and scrambled out. There was no way she was going down without a fight.
Grace took off at a run toward the street. If it was Emmanuel—and she couldn’t think of anyone else who would be trying to get into Matthew’s car—then he would expect her to run toward the store not away from it. But if she got to the street then she could hide in a front yard, call the cops, and then text Matthew and let him know where she was.
It sounded so easy, but as she took off running, she heard footsteps behind her.
No.
She couldn’t go back.
A hand closed around her shoulder, and she flung out a fist as she was spun around.
“Whoa, Gracie, easy, sweetie. It’s only me.”
“Elijah,” she said on a shudder. “Don’t do that to me.” She swung a fist at his shoulder and threw her entire bodyweight into it.
Her brother grunted as her fist connected. “Ow, Gracie.”
“You deserved it,” she muttered. “You scared me almost to death. I thought you were Emmanuel. Why didn't you say anything?”
“I thought you were inside.”
“Then why were you at the car?”
“I was going to check it for trackers, see if Emmanuel had planted one on there at some point.”
“You could have called out when you chased me.” She huffed, but even though he’d about given her a heart attack she was glad to see him. “How did you know I was here?”
“Matthew texted. Ali and I came right over,” Elijah explained.
“Elijah, she’s not inside,” Ali called out as she came rushing out of the store.
“It’s, okay, I got her, she was hiding in the car,” Elijah assured his wife.