“Damn it!” Camila cursed in frustration. It really wasn’t going well. “What are we going to do?” she whispered?
Samuel sighed. “I don’t know. Sitting here isn’t doing anything though.” He frowned as he looked around the room. “Jacobs says stay here, they’ll handle it.” The muscle in his jaw ticked again.
“But… isn’t this a bad thing?” she asked, fearful.
He frowned. “How do you mean?”
Camila swallowed, her own thoughts bothering her. She didn’t want to say it out loud, she wanted to stay ignorant. But while she might be naïve about certain things, she was not stupid.
“Aren’t the police really occupied right now?” she asked.
She rubbed a hand over her chest, because it ached. She was very troubled, and this new piece of news didn’t make her feel better. She knew Samuel had been working on hiring security for the estate, but he hadn’t gotten them trained yet. At the time the police had asked him to hold off setting them in place, and told him they would put on extra patrols until they could do background checks and get them properly trained. Now the police were preoccupied dealing with the convicts out front.
“What if it’s a trap?” Camila asked, looking up at him with worry in her eyes.
Samuel frowned as he thought over her words and must have arrived at the same possibility.
“You think Adrien might be using this as a sort of diversion?” he asked slowly.
She nodded quickly. “Think about it. I don’t know how he managed to escape from prison or take those people with him, but if he paid for them to come here, what could be the reason?”
Samuel blew out a harsh breath, not saying anything as her words settled over him.
“Samuel, Adrien could very well be close by. He could be waiting for his cohorts to manage to break in, and then follow right behind them. Are they sure he isn’t one of the ones out there?” Camila looked toward the doorway.
Samuel shook his head. “No. At least, they didn’t count him among the ones in the shootout.” He frowned. “That doesn’t mean he’s not close by though.” He ran his hand over his mouth in frustration. “I don’t know what we can do about it though, if he is out there.” Samuel, squeezing his phone in his grip, glared toward where all the noise was coming from. “Dammit! I knew I should have called my people in, instead of just listening to the police!”
Camila glanced at her mother and Brianna who were cuddled up together on the other sofa. Her mother was rubbing her hands up and down Bri’s arms, trying to keep her calm, but the girl was shaking worse that Camila was herself.
She turned her gaze back to Samuel and laid her head on his shoulder. She didn’t want to think of the stress he was under, worrying about all four of them, worrying about his brother. However way things went, he would lose something, and that made her heart tighten in her chest. If Adrien was really out there, then there was a possibility he might get himself shot down in the street. If he and his cohorts managed to break in, he might hurt them.
Samuel was the kind of man who took his responsibility seriously, and she didn’t have to be in his head to know he thought all of this was his responsibility to deal with, and he was failing at it.
His phone vibrated again, and they both looked at the message this time. Camila would prefer to stay ignorant, but the noise outside had gone on for about half an hour already, and she knew it was bad.
It wasn’t good news.
Backup still delayed.
Bomb squad at Bank.
Hostages on site.
We’re low priority at moment.
It was entirely possible Adrien had set up the bank heist as another distraction to keep them busy.
The final messages sent a chill through her veins.
We’re losing ground.
Two of ours wounded.
Gravely.
“Fuck!” Samuel swore, slamming his fist down on the sofa arm. He stood abruptly, and began to pace. “That’s just going to divide their attention even more. Fucking, Adrien! Damn it!”
Camila’s heart was already troubled, but her stress was just increased tenfold with this latest round of texts. She hadn't thought she could be more scared. She didn’t like the idea of someone dying because of her, and it was because of her, even if it was indirectly. “This is my fault,” she said softly. “Those men are hurt because of me.” She looked up at Samuel with watery eyes.
“No, baby, it’s not your fault.” Samuel rushed to her, bending down on her knees and taking her hands in his. “This is all on Adrien. It’s his fault. Don’t you dare blame yourself.”
Tears spilled from her eyes. Her heart, which had been so full of love for the man in front of her an hour earlier, was now filled with dread that she was going to be the ruin of his family. If only… if only she’d known Adrien’s true face before trying to date him.” Her lips trembled as she moved into Samuel’s arms. She knew it was way too late to regret it now, but all her trouble had come with that one, stupid decision.
When will this end?she cried in her aching heart.