The tears came faster at the sound of her brother’s voice. Why couldn’t this just be over? Why couldn’t Emmanuel let her go? Why couldn’t they find him and arrest him so he could never hurt her, the people she cared about, or anyone else ever again?
“Gracie, what's wrong?”
“M-Matthew,” she managed to get out through her tears.
“What happened to Matthew, sweetie?”
She tried to tell him but all she could think about was the blood.
So much blood.
Matthew was dying, she was sure of it, and it was all her fault. Another death she would have to carry on her conscience. How many other people had been hurt back at the safehouse? Matthew said no one was dead—or at least they hadn't been when she and Matthew had left—but people had been hurt, she knew that. All those people had spouses, children, parents, siblings, friends, they had people who loved them and cared about them and yet they hadn't hesitated to risk their lives to help her.
Now Matthew might die because of that, and so might some of the others.
She was going to be sick.
Dropping to her knees, Grace vomited onto the sidewalk, her stomach cramping painfully as it expelled what little food she’d managed to get down yesterday.
“Gracie, sweetie, tell me what's wrong. Take a deep breath okay, calm yourself down, tell me where you are so I can come and get you.” Elijah’s calm voice coming through the phone she still clutched tightly in one hand managed to help her get herself somewhat under control.
“He was shot,” she choked out. “We crashed the car. He’s bleeding a lot, but he told me to run.”
“He did the right thing, Gracie, you’re the one Emmanuel wants. It’s probably safer for Matthew for you not to be near him right now. If Emmanuel checks out the car and you're there he might kill him out of spite.”
She hadn't thought of that, and it did go a small way toward easing her guilt for leaving. “You’ll send an ambulance to him, right?”
“Of course, sweetie,” Elijah soothed. “Do you know where you are?”
“Just a few streets over from the safehouse, not more than five minutes away.”
“All right, we’re on our way now. I want you to find a place to …”
His voice faded away as Grace lowered the phone from her ear and looked about. While she couldn’t see anything or anyone there had been a change in the atmosphere she couldn’t explain. Her gut probably telling her that something wasn’t right.
Emmanuel must be coming.
If he’d tracked them through his scope from the safehouse to where he’d shot Matthew, then he knew where they were.
He was coming for her.
Elijah was still talking but she blocked him out as she got up and moved slowly further into the darkness away from the streetlights. The house she’d stopped in front of had several large bushes in its front yard and she crawled toward one of them. All she had to do was stay hidden long enough for Elijah and the others to come for her. It shouldn’t take more than about ten minutes, and then help would be here for Matthew, and they’d all go somewhere safe and come up with a different plan to find Emmanuel.
“Gracie! What's going on?”
Realizing she’d been ignoring Elijah’s pleas for her to answer him she lifted the phone to her ear again. “I think he’s coming,” she whispered, her voice a mere hint of a sound. She didn't want to do anything to endanger Matthew more than he already was.
“Okay, sweetie, just hide, and hold on, we’re coming.”
She could see a shadowy figure dressed all in black walking down the street. The person looked out of place with their black jeans, hoodie, gloves, and baseball cap pulled low to cover his face, the night was hot, the clothing was totally inappropriate. It had to be Emmanuel.
It wasn’t until the shadowy black figure moved closer that she saw he wasn’t alone.
He had a hand wrapped around the arm of a woman who was gagged, blindfolded, and had her arms pulled and bound behind her.
Grace recognized the woman, it was the one from the house, the last one who had been brought there before Matthew and Rylla had rescued them. The woman hadn't had to play any games yet, so she didn't know just how truly evil Emmanuel was, but it looked like she was about to find out.
“I know you're nearby, Grace,” Emmanuel called out, stopping just a few yards away from where she was hiding.