by Em Petrova
Under the window seat was an empty space, not yet filled with books, but Avery had shoved some old sneakers in there when her momma told her to clean her room. The space was big enough to hide in.
Shuffling on hands and knees as fast as she could, she reached the cupboard and yanked it open. Diving inside head-first, she held her breath. Her lungs burned and her head swam. She took a shallow breath and let it trickle out slowly as she drew the door shut.
Too late, she realized she might not be able to open the cupboard door from the inside and could be trapped in here without much air and a pair of dirty old sneakers stuffed in the corner until her parents came home.
In her parents’ room, she heard drawers opening and things hitting the floor as they were tossed about. Ransacked, was the word, she’d read once. Until now, she hadn’t totally understood its meaning.
Pressing a hand over her drumming heart, she strained to listen. She heard a lamp smash, probably the pretty one with flowers her momma liked so much. And then one man said, “Found it.”
“Looks like a .38 Special.”
“Yeah, bullets too. Now find the jewelry and we can get outta here.”
Avery slumped in the cupboard, nose smashed against the wood bottom while tears silently rolled down her cheeks. Please don’t let my mom and dad come home till they’re gone. Please don’t’ let them come for me too.
When the steps moved out of her parents’ room next door to hers, she squeezed her eyes shut and mentally begged them not to come in. Her door burst inward, smashing off the wall.
“Just a kid’s room. Nothin’ here.”
The steps moved on.
She focused on the sound of them moving through the rest of the house and finally heard nothing. Her heart wouldn’t slow, and she was terrified to open the cupboard door to find the men staring at her, so she stayed hidden until she heard her father’s shouts and her mother’s shrill cry.
“Avery!”
It was a long time before she could sleep in her own bed again.
1-CLICK YOUR COPY OF TARGET IN RANGE
Em Petrova
Em Petrova was raised by hippies in the wilds of Pennsylvania but told her parents at the age of four she wanted to be a gypsy when she grew up. She has a soft spot for babies, puppies and 90s Grunge music and believes in Bigfoot and aliens. She started writing at the age of twelve and prides herself on making her characters larger than life and her sex scenes hotter than hot.
She burst into the world of publishing in 2010 after having five beautiful bambinos and figuring they were old enough to get their own snacks while she pounds away at the keys. In her not-so-spare time, she is fur-mommy to a Labradoodle named Daisy Hasselhoff.
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Other Titles by Em Petrova
Ranger Ops
AT CLOSE RANGE
WITHIN RANGE
POINT BLANK RANGE
RANGE OF MOTION
TARGET IN RANGE
OUT OF RANGE
Knight Ops Series
ALL KNIGHTER
HEAT OF THE KNIGHT
HOT LOUISIANA KNIGHT
AFTER MIDKNIGHT
KNIGHT SHIFT
O’ CHRISTMAS KNIGHT
ANGEL OF THE KNIGHT
6-Pack Cowboys Series
6-PACK RANCHER
6-PACK WRANGLER
Wild West Series
SOMETHING ABOUT A LAWMAN
SOMETHING ABOUT A SHERIFF
SOMETHING ABOUT A BOUNTY HUNTER
SOMETHING ABOUT A MOUNTAIN MAN
Operation Cowboy Series
KICKIN’ UP DUST
SPURS & SURRENDER
The Boot Knockers Ranch Series
PUSHIN’ BUTTONS
BODY LANGUAGE
REINING MEN
ROPIN’ HEARTS
ROPE BURN
COWBOY NOT INCLUDED
CUPID COWBOYS
The Boot Knockers Ranch Montana
COWBOY BY CANDLELIGHT
THE BOOT KNOCKER’S BABY
ROPIN’ A ROMEO
Country Fever Series
HARD RIDIN’
LIP LOCK
UNBROKEN
SOMETHIN’ DIRTY
Rope ‘n Ride Series
BUCK
RYDER
RIDGE
WEST
LANE
WYNONNA
Rope ‘n Ride On Series
JINGLE BOOTS
DOUBLE DIPPIN’
LICKS AND PROMISES
A COWBOY FOR CHRISTMAS
LIPSTICK ‘N LEAD
The Dalton Boys
COWBOY CRAZY Hank’s story
COWBOY BARGAIN Cash’s story
COWBOY CRUSHIN’ Witt’s story
COWBOY SECRET Beck’s story
COWBOY RUSH Kade’s Story
COWBOY MISTLETOE a Christmas novella
COWBOY FLIRTATION Ford’s Story
COWBOY TEMPTATION Easton’s Story
COWBOY SURPRISE Justus’s Story
COWGIRL DREAMER Gracie’s Story
COWGIRL MIRACLE Jessamine’s Story
Single Titles and Boxes
STRANDED AND STRADDLED
LASSO MY HEART
SINFUL HEARTS
BLOWN DOWN
FALLEN
FEVERED HEARTS
WRONG SIDE OF LOVE
Firehouse 5 Series
ONE FIERY NIGHT
CONTROLLED BURN
SMOLDERING HEARTS
Club Ties Series
LOVE TIES
HEART TIES
MARKED AS HIS
SOUL TIES
ACE’S WILD
The Quick and the Hot Series
DALLAS NIGHTS
SLICK RIDER
SPURRED ON
