“Who the fuck did you tell?”
Oh God. Oh God, protect me. They must have been watching one of my brothers. They think I told. Oh God, what do I do? Kyara's mind spun wildly for some way out of this.
“No one, nothing, I swear. They just came for Christmas. That's all.” Kyara fought hard to keep her voice steady.
“Bitch, don't lie to me,” screamed the gun holder. “We know you met with a lawyer and the cops. You were in there all day!”
Oh, God, I'm going to die. Please, protect me.
“No, it wasn't like that. My brother got arrested was all. We had to get him out. I swear, no one knows anything,” Kyara's voice sounded slightly hysterical, even to herself.
Another of the intruders stepped forward, up behind the gun holder.
“Man, that's what the old lady at the store said. See? I told you she was OK,” Devante's voice sounded young, almost boyish, compared to the obvious leader.
I didn't know he did that for me.
The masked figure in front shook his head.
“I don't know how you convinced D to let her live in the first place. And I sure as hell didn't drive my ass all the way up here to let her live. Her not telling anyone just makes it cleaner, is all.”
His hands tightened on the gun.
A knock came at the door behind them.
Everyone froze.
The knock came again.
Without a word, Devante and the third man disappeared into the bathroom. The gun-holder slid sideways, going to stand in the kitchen. His weapon never moved off of her as he jerked his head, indicating that she should get the door.
The knock came again, harder and louder even against the background of the storm.
Slowly, Kyara stood and walked to answer the knock.
Jason stood in the cold, his face red and chapped from the biting wind. Kyara's heart leapt to her throat.
No. Don't be here. If anything happened to you, I can't go through that. I can't bear to see you hurt.
“Kyara,” he said, his voice strained. “Can I come in?”
I have to get him out of here. I have to keep him safe.
“No,” she said shortly. “It's cold. Go home, Jason.”
Jason looked as though she'd slapped him.
“Alright,” he said, “It's just my grandma said that there were some guys in town asking about you. And they had Georgia plates, so she really wanted, and I really wanted, well, I just figured that, because you were worried about being found, you'd want to know.”
No. No, no, no. Now they know I told people something. You have to get out of here.
“It's fine,” said Kyara. “I'm not worried about it.”
Jason gave her an inquiring look, but Kyara cut him off before he could open his mouth again.
“I can take care of myself. Have a good night, Jason.”
Jason stared at her as she slammed the door in his face.