Page 73 of Deadline for Love

“Run! It’s him! Run!”

Janette’s shrill voice filled the hallway, and I froze because I finally understood what she was saying.

I stared at Julian, who had now completely tensed. He hissed something under his breath and then banged hard on the door again.

My body automatically took a few steps back. I pushed Amara with me as she stood still frozen in shock.

We reached my door, but suddenly, Julian turned around and roared with laughter, which made me stop. His laugh was like something out of a bad movie.

“Actually, today wasn’t supposed to be like this,” he announced, brushing his hair out of his face. Lifting his arm, he pointed at me. In his palm was a gun.

“And this was meant to be different, too.”

I quickly opened the door and tried to push Amara into my apartment, but Julian clicked the gun. “Don’t move. I’d hate to leave a mess behind.”

Amara let go of me and raised her hands anxiously while I released my door.

Julian sighed and stepped over to us until he stood just inches away. My blood drained from my body with every step he took. He swung the gun alternately toward Amara and me until it eventually stopped right at Amara, and my whole body started to shake.

I glanced over at her, whose eyes were wide open, her face showed her fear, the trembling intensified.

“Julian, why do you have a gun? We—”

“Stop it. Neither of us is stupid. Acting like you are now is useless.”

He moved close enough to stand exactly in front of us, his gun now pointed at my forehead. The cold metal hit my skin, and I had to swallow hard. The clicking of the weapon made it clear how real this situation was. The self-defense techniques Nathan had taught me hadn’t prepared me for a problem with a gun. So many things were going through my mind, but now there wasnothing I could do except remain standing and pray that nothing would happen.

“I need to focus now, so I don’t want any of you speaking.” He rubbed his head with his free hand before hissing loudly.

I still kept my right hand in my pocket and felt the pepper spray. Slowly, I reached for it, adrenaline rushing through my body. If I pulled it out now, what would happen? Would he be quicker and shoot? Could I manage to help Amara escape? Could I protect her? My eyes flicked over to her; it looked like she was going to collapse at any second.

“So,” Julian shoved the gun against me to make me look at him again. His face was neutral, even his deep blue eyes looked emotionless.

“I’ll make a simple suggestion. You will follow me now with no objections, and in exchange, I will leave them alone.” He pointed with his head to Janette’s door and then to Amara, who returned to her senses after his words. She shook her head violently.

“No—please,” she begged, but this made him laugh again.

“I can shoot, but that would make a hell of a mess, so I prefer to take the easy way out.”

Again, she shook her head, causing Julian to point the gun at her and pull the trigger once. My heart stopped at that moment, and a scream escaped my mouth. I clung to Amara, who almost fell over in shock. My eyes wandered across her face to see if anything had happened, but she was okay. No wound, no shot.

“Nothing in the chamber now, but the next one will not be so kind.”

His serious look showed no sign of a lie, and I didn’t even want to call his bluff. Within seconds, I almost lost my best friend and that alone was too much for me.

“I’m going with you. Please, leave her alone.”

He grinned again and nodded. “Then let her go, and she can go into the apartment.” His orders were clear, but Amara didn’t move.

“My patience is thin, so do not make me repeat myself.”

“Why? Are you afraid the police will show up?” my voice slipped out. I feared he would get angry. Instead, he grinned confidently. “The police won’t come.”

Confused, I stared at him. Janette must have called the police by now. So, how was he so confident?

“I’m sure you have lots of questions, but we can discuss them calmly in a moment.”

“Can I take Amara to Janette?” I asked, which made his grin disappear. He stared at me blankly for a moment.

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