Samuel frowned. “I don’t want to scare you any more than you already are, love.”
“I’m terrified with what my imagination is coming up with. Please, just tell me.”
Pressing his lips in a flat line, Samuel nodded. “There are four assailants. My contact with the police says they are the four who escaped with Adrien.” He dragged a hand over his weary face and sighed. “They are heavily armed.”
“Can’t the police do something?” Camila bit her lip. “Send in Swat? Or something?”
“They called for backup, it hasn’t arrived yet. Right now, there are eight NYPD officers out there, the two that were here before, patrolling and then the six who showed up to help after the gun fire started.”
“Why hasn’t the backup shown up?” Camila asked, fearful.
“I don’t know.” Samuel’s voice sounded hard and his jaw ticked with the stress he had to be feeling.
Camila squeezed his hand in hers. “Have they gotten the neighbors out?”
“We don’t have any that are that close, so they should be alright.”
Nodding, Camila asked, “So who is texting you?”
“My contact? Officer Jacobs. We were in the military together. He and his partner were the last to arrive on scene. They are outside the gates, and don’t want to draw too much attention by trying to come onto the property. He’s trying to find a way in without getting shot. Right now they are pinned down.”
His phone buzzed again with a new text message. Samuel opened his message app and read over the text. “Not good,” Samuel muttered, looking at the latest update.
“What is it?” Camila asked, her heart skipping a beat in her chest.
Samuel tightened his jaw as he handed over his phone for her to look. Camila read through the quick updates.
Backup was rerouted.
Bank robbery.
We’re on our own.
“Damn it!” Camila cursed in frustration. It really wasn’t going well. “What are we going to do?” she whispered?
Samuel sighed. “I don’t know. Sitting here isn’t doing anything though.” He frowned as he looked around the room. “Jacobs says stay here, they’ll handle it.” The muscle in his jaw ticked again.
“But… isn’t this a bad thing?” she asked, fearful.
He frowned. “How do you mean?”
Camila swallowed, her own thoughts bothering her. She didn’t want to say it out loud, she wanted to stay ignorant. But while she might be naïve about certain things, she was not stupid.
“Aren’t the police really occupied right now?” she asked.
She rubbed a hand over her chest, because it ached. She was very troubled, and this new piece of news didn’t make her feel better. She knew Samuel had been working on hiring security for the estate, but he hadn’t gotten them trained yet. At the time the police had asked him to hold off setting them in place, and told him they would put on extra patrols until they could do background checks and get them properly trained. Now the police were preoccupied dealing with the convicts out front.
“What if it’s a trap?” Camila asked, looking up at him with worry in her eyes.
Samuel frowned as he thought over her words and must have arrived at the same possibility.
“You think Adrien might be using this as a sort of diversion?” he asked slowly.
She nodded quickly. “Think about it. I don’t know how he managed to escape from prison or take those people with him, but if he paid for them to come here, what could be the reason?”
Samuel blew out a harsh breath, not saying anything as her words settled over him.
“Samuel, Adrien could very well be close by. He could be waiting for his cohorts to manage to break in, and then follow right behind them. Are they sure he isn’t one of the ones out there?” Camila looked toward the doorway.
Samuel shook his head. “No. At least, they didn’t count him among the ones in the shootout.” He frowned. “That doesn’t mean he’s not close by though.” He ran his hand over his mouth in frustration. “I don’t know what we can do about it though, if he is out there.” Samuel, squeezing his phone in his grip, glared toward where all the noise was coming from. “Dammit! I knew I should have called my people in, instead of just listening to the police!”
Camila glanced at her mother and Brianna who were cuddled up together on the other sofa. Her mother was rubbing her hands up and down Bri’s arms, trying to keep her calm, but the girl was shaking worse that Camila was herself.
She turned her gaze back to Samuel and laid her head on his shoulder. She didn’t want to think of the stress he was under, worrying about all four of them, worrying about his brother. However way things went, he would lose something, and that made her heart tighten in her chest. If Adrien was really out there, then there was a possibility he might get himself shot down in the street. If he and his cohorts managed to break in, he might hurt them.
Samuel was the kind of man who took his responsibility seriously, and she didn’t have to be in his head to know he thought all of this was his responsibility to deal with, and he was failing at it.
His phone vibrated again, and they both looked at the message this time. Camila would prefer to stay ignorant, but the noise outside had gone on for about half an hour already, and she knew it was bad.
It wasn’t good news.
Backup still delayed.
Bomb squad at Bank.
Hostages on site.
We’re low priority at moment.
It was entirely possible Adrien had set up the bank heist as another distraction to keep them busy.
The final messages sent a chill through her veins.
We’re losing ground.
Two of ours wounded.
Gravely.
“Fuck!” Samuel swore, slamming his fist down on the sofa arm. He stood abruptly, and began to pace. “That’s just going to divide their attention even more. Fucking, Adrien! Damn it!”
Camila’s heart was already troubled, but her stress was just increased tenfold with this latest round of texts. She hadn't thought she could be more scared. She didn’t like the idea of someone dying because of her, and it was because of her, even if it was indirectly. “This is my fault,” she said softly. “Those men are hurt because of me.” She looked up at Samuel with watery eyes.
“No, baby, it’s not your fault.” Samuel rushed to her, bending down on her knees and taking her hands in his. “This is all on Adrien. It’s his fault. Don’t you dare blame yourself.”
Tears spilled from her eyes. Her heart, which had been so full of love for the man in front of her an hour earlier, was now filled with dread that she was going to be the ruin of his family. If only… if only she’d known Adrien’s true face before trying to date him.” Her lips trembled as she moved into Samuel’s arms. She knew it was way too late to regret it now, but all her trouble had come with that one, stupid decision.
When will this end? she cried in her aching heart.
Chapter Fourteen
Another ten minutes passed, and the fight was still going on.
Camila had herself back under control, but Samuel had reached his breaking point. Camila could only watch as he stood up and paced around angrily. He’d started dialing the minute he was on his feet and now his phone was pressed to his ear. She didn’t know who he was talking to, his friend, Officer Jacobs, or the people he’d intended to call before the police had derailed that plan.
Even if she had wanted to get up to go and stand at his side, she didn’t think she could. Her legs were still wobbly, after all, and she feared that if she tried to stand, she would only fall.
At the moment, she didn’t have the strength to carry herself, let alone another person.
Her phone vibrated where it sat in her pocket, startling her. Terrified it might be Adrien, she pulled it out of her back pocket, surprised it had stayed put after her romp with Samuel earlier. She had forgotten she still had it with her. Hesitantly, she opened the screen and clicked
the message icon. When she saw it was a message from work, she let out the breath she’d been holding. She clicked the message and read.
Cami, have you finished that project yet? We are holding a spot for it, need it ASAP.
“Crap,” she muttered. With everything going on, Camila had forgotten she had work to do. Well, of course in the current situation, she couldn’t think of anything besides her safety. What was she supposed to do about work? Yesterday, because everything was still right with the world, she’d been relaxed and she’d wasted time. She’d thought she would have the time to finish it, but she never did get to it.
She didn’t know when she could work again.
She sent a text back, I’m so sorry, I am in the middle of an emergency and will have to take a break from work. She hesitated to give details, before mentioning the police were involved, so she simply continued with, I will explain more fully later.
No way was she going to tell her boss, via text, that not only was she seeing Samuel Kane and currently in his house while they were under siege thanks to his brother. The people at work would flip.
After sending the message, Camila turned her phone off. It would be bad if someone else tried to contact her, though it would really only be work. She might not be doing a thing at the moment, but it would probably be bad regardless if she let herself be distracted.
“Camila?”
At the call of her name, she looked up at Samuel. He was watching her with barely concealed worry, his expression gentle as he walked back over to her.
“Are you hungry?”
Camila winced at just the thought of food. “Um, actually, no. I don’t think I can stomach anything right now.”
With how nauseous she felt, she might just make herself sick trying to eat.
“Do you think you can try, sweetheart? Please? You haven’t had anything to eat all day, it’s really not healthy.”
“You haven’t eaten all day, either,” she said in complaint.
Samuel tightened his jaw stubbornly and just watched her.
She tried to be stubborn, but she didn’t think she could be strong right then. After a minute, she sighed in reluctance. “Fine,” she muttered. “I’ll eat something.”
His expression relaxed minutely, and he reached for her hand. “If your stomach doesn’t feel well, then don’t force yourself. Have something light, but try to get some energy into you, okay, love? Brianna and your mom are having sandwiches. I’ll eat after you do, all right?”
Camila looked over at them, seeing them both eating what appeared to be turkey and Swiss on rye.
“I offered to make you one too, Camila, but you didn’t answer.” Her mother frowned at her.
Camila sighed again, but she nodded. “I didn’t really hear you, I think.” She looked back to Samuel and saw the look of worry he wore. “I’ll have a sandwich.”
He helped her up, and she was almost surprised when she could stand on her legs. They trembled a little as she walked toward the kitchen, but she realized after a minute that it might not just be fear making her tremble.
Since Samuel had gotten that call in the middle of dinner yesterday, she hadn’t finish her meal, and she hadn’t eaten anything for the whole day, either. It was already moving well into the evening. No wonder my body has no energy at all. She shook her head, reprimanding herself. I need to take better care of myself.
What if something happened and she needed to run? She couldn’t do that on no energy.
She went to the kitchen. She hadn’t seen any of the servants today, but she hadn't thought it was strange. A lot of them seemed to be hiding in the kitchen, though, looking worried. When they saw her walk in, one of them stood up, Maria she thought her name was.
“I just wanted something to eat,” she said softly.
“I cooked, but with everything, well I didn’t know if I should bring it out,” the woman commented. “Shall I warm some up for you? It’s just a chicken casserole.”
“Thank you, please.” Camila nodded.
Maria warmed a plate for her, and as she sat at the counter to eat, the rest of the staff scurried off to other parts of the house. “Don’t mind them, Miss. They are just worried.”
Camila nodded and began to eat. Even though she felt queasy, she ate most of what was on her plate, then took a drink of water. She smiled at Maria. “Thank you, it was very good.”
“Of course, Miss.”
Camila felt a little better, though her heart was still unsettled because she could hear the noise still coming from outside. How long have they kept this up? she wondered. How much longer can they keep it up?
It had been over an hour already. Sure, they weren’t always shooting, sometimes there was silence, and then the shooting started up again sometime later. She was surprised it had been this long and they still weren’t done. What about that back-up? Was she right in thinking Adrien had arranged that bank heist as a distraction for the police? To keep they away from Samuel’s estate?
Crap.
Camila knew Adrien was smart, and that he wasn’t exactly a good person, but she never would have thought he could orchestrate something like this. She wondered what he even gave those convicts to have them go up against the police with no hesitation. If it was money, it would have been a heck load of it, because wouldn’t you be running away and trying to hide after getting away from prison? And for them to put up this much of a fight, maybe there were really more than just four of them?
Done with her meal, she went back to the small parlor. She stopped just outside of it. Samuel was still pacing, one hand in his pocket, the other holding the phone. He kept turning his head toward the noise, as if he wanted to go see how things were holding up for himself, too, but he didn’t dare.
She stepped further into the room, only to stop. Her mom was still there, sitting back on the couch. Her head was tilted back, eyes half closed and hands folded over her stomach, but Camila knew she was the furthest thing from relaxed.
Brianna was nowhere to be found though, she noted with surprise.
When did she leave?
Admittedly, she hadn't been paying attention to what was happening inside the mansion with all the dangerous stuff going on outside. She knew Brianna was scared, but she hadn't gone to try and comfort her once. She felt guilty about it, now that she remembered. Briana had probably vanished into her room out of fear at some point.
Camila looked at the two in the room. Both her mom and Samuel wouldn’t need comforting from her. If anything, she would be the one getting reassured if she went back in there. But Brianna was off by herself again.
It had taken so much effort to pry the girl out of her shell, and Camila thought it would be a shame if she shoved her way back in because of this incident.
I should probably go find her, she thought, and decided, she headed for the stairs without alerting the other two in the room that she’d come back.
Besides, the further away she got from all the noise, the better. Brianna’s room was located toward the back, too, so she might hear the gunshots less and give her heart some time to relax.
She stopped in front of Brianna’s door and raised her hand to gently knock.
“Brianna?” she called. “It’s me, Camila. I’m coming in, okay?”
The last thing she wanted to do was to bother Brianna, so she waited a few seconds before opening the door. There was a muffled sound behind the door. It was odd, making her frown.
“Brianna?” she said once more, pushing the door slowly open.
Her eyes took in the room. She had been in it before several times, and she counted herself lucky that Brianna loved having her in her room often. Even Samuel wasn’t always invited, since to Brianna, this was her sanctuary.
Camila expected to find Brianna on her bed, or seated at her desk. She expected to find her alone. But to her horror, Adrien was there, holding Brianna hostage with an arm wrapped around her neck and a gun in his other hand.
How did he get in?
They were by the window, and when she caught sight of the trellis outside, she knew. He’d used not only the bank heist as a diversion to keep the rest of the police from showing up, but the entire gun fight had been a diversion to keep them in the house and the police distracted! Her heart beat erratically, her lungs squeezing all the air out of her.
Adrien must have had his eyes on the door, probably because she called out before opening. He met her gaze, and he grinned.
Camila couldn’t help it. She screamed.
Chapter Fifteen
Camila’s scream was loud, and because the door was still open, it carried. In no time at all, her mom and Samuel had come running up behind her, and when they saw her standing there, terrified, they both rushed forward, only to see the same thing she had.
They acted quickly.
“Camila!” Samuel called, tugging her out of the way, gently, but with enough force that she couldn’t resist.
She was moved out of the room as Samuel and Morganna rushed in, both of them pulling out guns.
Camila held back the urge to let out another scream. She knew about her mom’s weapon, but she hadn’t known Samuel had been walking around with a gun. When had he grabbed it? Had he had it on him when they were together in the bedroom? She frowned. She knew he was former military, so he probably knew how to use one. However, it had never crossed her mind that he was prepared for something like this.
Brianna could do nothing but stand still, making soft sounds in her throat, as Adrien held her threateningly. She shot pleading looks to the three of them, and watching her, Camila put a hand over her mouth as a sob nearly broke through, her eyes misting with tears.
Why did this have to affect Brianna, too? And in such a way. She looked so terrified and it was making Camila’s heart ache, because she felt she was to blame for this.
“Adrien,” Samuel said, his voice low and dangerous. “Let Brianna go, right now. Whatever plan you have, stop it right now, or I swear I will shoot you.”
Tangled Obsession: Book 2 of the Obsession Trilogy Page 8
