Chapter Thirteen
Camila wasn’t sure how much time had passed exactly, maybe two or three minutes, but when she came back to herself, she was seated on one of the seats, with Samuel beside her. When they’d heard the glass shatter, they’d all dropped to the carpet and Samuel had placed his body over hers. His phone had rung and he’d pulled it out to answer, but hadn’t moved from protecting her.
“What!” he’d demanded.
Camila hadn’t been able to hear what was said from the person on the other end, but she hadn’t cared. She’d stayed put.
“Bri, Morganna, are you okay?” he’d called.
“We’re good,” her mother had called from the other side of the couch.
“We’re good,” he’d said into the phone. “Yeah, we’ll move further into the house.”
When he’d closed his phone, he’d helped her up and the four of them had moved to the smaller parlor deeper in the house, away from the gun fire.
Now, Samuel sat with her on the small loveseat with his arm around her shoulders and his other hand clutching tightly onto his phone. It vibrated and he anxiously read the message.
His expression got grimmer with every message.
Camila was even more terrified after what had happened so far. She had no idea what they could possibly do to get out of this situation besides wait, but at least her thoughts could function normally again. She wasn’t sure about her body, though. Even sitting down, her heart and her legs both trembled, and she feared that if Samuel didn’t hold onto her, she would really fall apart.
In the current situation, that would be a bad thing.
Taking a breath, Camila glanced at the phone in Samuel’s hand. She had to know what was going on. This waiting was going to drive her insane. “What’s going on, Samuel?” she asked softly. She looked up at him with pleading eyes. “What are they saying?”
Samuel frowned. “I don’t want to scare you any more than you already are, love.”
“I’m terrified with what my imagination is coming up with. Please, just tell me.”
Pressing his lips in a flat line, Samuel nodded. “There are four assailants. My contact with the police says they are the four who escaped with Adrien.” He dragged a hand over his weary face and sighed. “They are heavily armed.”
“Can’t the police do something?” Camila bit her lip. “Send in Swat? Or something?”
“They called for backup, it hasn’t arrived yet. Right now, there are eight NYPD officers out there, the two that were here before, patrolling and then the six who showed up to help after the gun fire started.”
“Why hasn’t the backup shown up?” Camila asked, fearful.
“I don’t know.” Samuel’s voice sounded hard and his jaw ticked with the stress he had to be feeling.
Camila squeezed his hand in hers. “Have they gotten the neighbors out?”
“We don’t have any that are that close, so they should be alright.”
Nodding, Camila asked, “So who is texting you?”
“My contact? Officer Jacobs. We were in the military together. He and his partner were the last to arrive on scene. They are outside the gates, and don’t want to draw too much attention by trying to come onto the property. He’s trying to find a way in without getting shot. Right now they are pinned down.”
His phone buzzed again with a new text message. Samuel opened his message app and read over the text. “Not good,” Samuel muttered, looking at the latest update.
“What is it?” Camila asked, her heart skipping a beat in her chest.
Samuel tightened his jaw as he handed over his phone for her to look. Camila read through the quick updates.
Backup was rerouted.
Bank robbery.
We’re on our own.