Page 7 of Sinister Promise

How many turns did I take?

Could he have passed the door and continued down the hallway?

I prayed it was true as I tucked myself deeper under the desk.

Even if I did escape this building alive, where did I go from here?

I would have to move now. Get a new job.

Where was I going to work that paid this much?

Maybe I would just stay hidden until morning.

If there were other people around to witness it, surely he wouldn't be able to shoot me.

Just as I pulled the desk chair in to block me off from the rest of the room, all my hopes of escape were dashed.

Wood splintered as the door was kicked open, shattering the grim silence. Light flickered in from the hallway for a brief moment before the room was thrust back into darkness as that same door was slammed shut.

I wasn't alone anymore.

He was here.

On the prowl.

Pavel's footsteps were slow and even as he walked down each aisle, back and forth, methodically searching for me.

My chest rose and fell with ragged gasps as I bit down on my lip, hard enough to draw blood in my effort to stifle the scream trying to claw its way out of my throat.

Shoving my fist against my mouth, I muffled my desperate breathing, the need for silence as he drew closer battling against the sob that wracked through my shaking body.

"Come on out, little kitten."

Why did death sound so seductive?

I squeezed my eyes shut, my body trembling so hard Iwas afraid the desk would shake with me, betraying my hiding place.

He prowled closer.

Slowly.

Purposefully.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are," he purred.

He was enjoying this.

Of course he was.

Predators loved the chase.

They got off on it, and I was stupid enough to have put myself in his crosshairs.

I knew better.

I knew I should never have taken this damn job.

I'd been seduced by the money. Paid to ignore the danger, to look the other way.

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