Another thud of bone against flesh and Kehoe’s grasp broke completely.
“Run, Alice. Get out of here.”
“Thad?” she gasped, amazed. She squinted, making out the shadow of another figure. There was another thud, and Thad’s shadow staggered back. Kehoe had retaliated for Thad’s surprise attack. Alice hesitated. If Kehoe had wanted to throw Alice over the bluff, he probably wouldn’t hesitate to do the same to Thad for interfering.
“You dumb-ass, Schaefer,” Kehoe said, his tone thick with exhausted disdain. Alice thought she saw Kehoe’s hand push back roughly on Thad’s shoulder. Thad’s shadow stumbled. Kehoe’s daily workouts must really work. But it was more than that. His strength was that of a madness long held in check, and suddenly liberated. “No wonder you’re father thinks you’re such an idiot. God, is it impossible to hire anybody decent these days?” Kehoe wondered disgustedly.
She heard another thud and a grunt of pain.
“Thad?”
There was another surprised grunt, and this time, Alice thought it was Kehoe. Thad had got in a good one.
“Go, Alice,” Thad seethed.
This time, Alice didn’t hesitate.
She whipped the telltale shirt over her head and tossed it aside. Wearing only a black exercise bra now, she lurched in the direction of the castle. Her feet held her, but barely. She kept veering unintentionally to the left. Kehoe’s blow to her head had done something to her brain’s steering mechanism. The vertigo wouldn’t go away. She crashed into some shrubbery and we
nt to her knees.
Somehow, she managed to get herself upright again. There was a horrible, pulsing wail in her head. Her trip through the backyard was the blurry, claustrophobic, fear-soaked stuff of nightmares.
Her feet hitting the stone terrace was a major triumph. It only struck her as she staggered toward the back doors of the castle that the wailing claxon wasn’t in her head. The castle alarms were blaring. They seemed to pulse in rhythm with the pain in her head and jaw. When she finally reached the French doors, she realized one of them was hanging open.
God, she was so confused. And she was so nauseated. She was never going to feel right again.
Where was Dylan? She needed him so much . . .
Kehoe could be right behind her.
Run, Addie. Hide.
The thought galvanized her. She entered the castle like a drunkard, staggering and bumping into furniture. One thought consumed her: Find the closest secret place and hide. Her feet took her to the kitchen. She reached for the pantry door. Without turning on the light, she shut the door behind her. In the closed room, the security alarm was muted a bit. It mingled with the sound of her harsh breathing.
“I can do it in the dark. Do you want me to show you how?”
Mommy could do everything. But she could do it, too. The dark wasn’t scary. The dark could hide you. Her hands outstretched, she found the back wall of the pantry. Her fingers traced the edge of a shelf and sought.
No, you were littler then. Lower down.
Again, she couldn’t find it. Was that a banging sound in the distance? Someone was coming. Panic rose in her. Lower still.
Using the shelves to support her wavering body, she bent and finally found the lever. She pulled. There was a click, and the back wall of the pantry loosened. Alice pushed, and the shelved wall swung inward. She hastened into the revealed space and pushed the wall back into place.
Her entire body began to shake. Or maybe it’d been shaking all along, and she hadn’t stood still long enough to feel it. Her rubbery legs gave way and she sunk onto the floor.
“There. You did it. You’re safe now, Addie.”
That was her imagined mother’s voice, talking to her. Alice wanted to believe her, but she wasn’t entirely convinced. Her body was finished running, however. She could go no further. She scooted a few inches, finding the corner of the hidey-hole. Her head fell back against the wall. She finally succumbed to the heavy, thick haze of unconsciousness.
THANKS to the loud beach party, Dylan didn’t hear the castle’s alarm blaring in the distance until he reached the horse path. He’d been running already, but he picked up his pace even more when he heard the alarm.
Something’s definitely wrong.
He’d already contacted Jim and told him to meet him at the castle, but hopefully the knowledge that the house had been breached would rush him all the more.
When he reached the terrace doors, he realized one was hanging open. A quick check informed him that the pane near the lock had been broken. Someone had busted the pane.