A Baby Before Dawn by Linda Castillo Read Free Book Online Page B

there was no chance of doing so without being seen. All she could do was hide and hope they didn’t find her.
    Slinking back into the hallway, Lily cradled her abdomen and tried to think. Beyond, the hall continued past the main room to a rear exit. Could she make it to the door without being spotted, then get back inside to warn Chase?
    She peeked around the corner again. The men separated, one walking toward the front of the room, the other starting toward her. Lily’s heart leaped into a hard staccato, and her pulse pounded like a freight train in her ears. Oh dear God, he was coming her way, and she was trapped.
    She looked around wildly. In the dim light she spotted a second door midway to the exit. Twenty feet separated her from the man. Knowing it was now or never, she ducked low and darted toward the door, praying it was unlocked.
    She twisted the knob and shoved. Relief made her legs go weak when the door opened. The room was nearly pitch-black, lit only by a slant of pre-dawn light filtering in through the single window. Blindly, Lily felt her way along the wall. Her thigh bumped into something solid. Eyes wide, she reached out and ran her hands over the piece of furniture. A desk, she realized.
    Footfalls sounded outside the door. Struggling to control her breathing, Lily sidled around the desk and bumped into a chair. The sound seemed thunderous in the small room. Had he heard her? Pushing the chair back, she knelt and crawled beneath the desk. She was in the process of pulling the chair into the kneehole when the door swung open.
    Lily stopped breathing. Her heart pounded so loud she feared it might give away her position. Squeezing her eyes closed, she put her hand over her mouth to stifle the scream creeping up her throat. She could hear her breaths rushing through her nose and prayed the man with the gun didn’t hear her.
    Seconds passed like hours. Light slashed through the darkness, and she realized the man had a flashlight. The only thing separating her from certain discovery was the desk’s modesty panel. The beam swept left and right. Lily glanced at the floor, saw the toes of wing-tip shoes inches from where she crouched. He stood less than a foot away from her, so close she could hear him breathing.
    After what seemed like an eternity, he cursed and stepped back. She heard his shoes shuffle against the floor. The beam made a final sweep of the room then winked out behind the closing door.
    Relief brought tears to her eyes, but she didn’t make a sound. She remained unmoving for several minutes. When she could stand it no longer, she silently pushed the chair from the kneehole and crawled out. Her legs tingled from lack of circulation, but she barely noticed the discomfort. She was just glad to be alive.
    Intent on finding Chase to warn him, she tiptoed to the door and opened it an inch. Two inches. She peered into the hall, relief sliding through her when she found it empty. Silently closing the door, she pressed her back to it and tried to get a grip on the fear. Had the men gone? Was it safe to venture from the room? Where was Chase?
    She’d decided to wait a few more minutes just to be sure the man was gone when suddenly the doorknob squeaked. She darted back, paralyzed with terror as the door swung open. Horror swept through her at the sight of the gunman. His face was a pale oval in the darkness. She saw the pistol in his right hand, the flashlight in his left.
    “You think I’m stupid?” he snarled.
    A scream poured from her throat. Lily turned to run, but in the tiny office, there was no place to go. She was trapped with a monster bent on killing her. Looking around for a weapon, anything she could use to protect herself, she spied the letter opener on the desk and snatched it up.
    “Get away from me!” she screamed.
    The gun came up. Realizing she couldn’t get close enough to use the letter opener, she threw it with all her might, hoping to strike him in the face. But he deflected