Briana's rigid facial expression, enhanced by the glow of the night lamp, distorted as she focused on her phone before flipping the duvet off her body and swinging her feet over the edge of the bed in her daughter's guest room.
The suddenness of it rattled the last bit of sleep out of Richard's system. The bright light of the room burned his eyes to a squint as he called out to her. "What's wrong, Bri?" He barely lifted his head from the pillow, while his wife was already wriggling her leg into some jeans.
"Our daughter is in danger."
"Why do you think so?" He scratched his head, mussing his already disarrayed hair as he let out a long, sleepy yawn.
"Someone forcefully cut off our phone call conversation."
"Are you sure it was not you who accidentally pressed the end call button? I mean, we are not exactly handy with technology."
Briana shot him a glare, which made it clear what she thought of his comment. "I know what I'm talking about. And you know it too. There was something off about what Cherry said."
How have you both been? Are you enjoying your vacation?
The cheerful voice of their daughter rang in their ears.
"She sounded so sure that we were the ones on holiday? Why?"
"Maybe Brandon told her that to make her more at ease," Richard offered.
Tying up her wavy brown hair, gray fading in from the roots, Briana gave Richard a disapproving look. "Why do you look so unconcerned about this?"
"Honey, I am concerned, trust me. I'm just trying to stay rational. Look at you. You're about to dash out of this place in the dead of the night. You don't even know where our daughter is." He pointed out, his shadow looming over her as he now stood behind her. Placing his hands on her shoulders, he gave her a tender squeeze.
Briana fell silent, the turmoil in her chest receding back as she let her husband's words sink in. She placed her hand on his and leaned back in his embrace, whispering in a rueful voice, "I'm just so worried, Richard. Something is happening. I can feel it."
He kissed her temple. "I'll have someone look into this. Cherry didn't sound like she was in danger, so let's not make any hasty decisions before acquiring evidence."
"Shouldn't we contact Brandon first and ask if he knows what's wrong?" Briana asked only to see her husband shake his head.
"No. It pains me to say this, but if our daughter is truly in danger, then I'm afraid Brandon is the cause of it. When I calmly think about it, somebody had to tell Cherry that we were on vacation. Only Brandon knows that we have been staying here, and he's also the only one who has been with Cherry ever since the accident."
"So you're saying Brandon lied to Cherry? Why?"
"I don't know, so I really hope we are wrong about this—"
CRASH!
Their heads jerked towards the door, their ears perked as their breath receded into their throats, allowing the silence to creep in. A second rattle broke the stillness, and their eyes met, a flicker of apprehension passing between them.
"Wait here." Richard said tersely.
"Be careful." Her whispers followed behind him as he tiptoed to the door and surreptitiously poked his head out. Concluding that there was no immediate danger in sight, he commanded over his shoulder, "Lock the room after I leave, and unless I say it's safe, never open it."
Briana couldn't use her voice, afraid she couldn't control the volume and stammer of it, so she opted to bobbing her head copiously. Only after seeing her nod did he close the door behind him. With lead-like legs she dragged herself to the door and locked it with a snick, but she didn't move away from it, pressing her ear against the cool surface.
Her chest felt increasingly heavy as time wore on, and her eyebrows drew closer together in concern. "Why isn't he back yet?" She didn't dare to call out his name for fear of exposing her and, who knows, his position to the intruders. Richard's warning rang in her mind, and she bit her lower lip. But what if he needs my help?
The thought of her husband lying somewhere in this house injured spurred her into action. She unlocked the door and hurried out to find Richard until—
"Took you long enough."
Her head snapped to the side to see a looming man in a suit leaning indolently against the wall next to her. His skin bore the same age lines as hers, and despite it being nighttime, wore shades perched on his head, combing the tufts of salt and pepper hair back to expose the blue gimlet eyes adorned by a menacing grin.
"Who—?"
The words died on her lips as excruciating pain exploded in the back of her head and her vision quickly faded to black.