He paused longer than he ever had on a phone call. When he finally spoke his voice dropped into a level calm that felt far more alarming than panic.
“Alright. Do not make a sound. Tell me if there is another exit.”
“There is a small bathroom attached to this room.” I said. “But the window is very small.”
“Go into that bathroom. Lock yourself in. Move slowly.”
Before I could reach the bathroom I heard it. A soft scrape. A quiet shift of weight outside the door. Then a small tapping sound against the lock. My breath clung to my throat.
Flynn whispered urgently. “Someone is out there. Is that correct”
Before I answered, a voice from the hall spoke quietly. “Do not move.”
Every part of me froze. I recognized the voice instantly. It belonged to Briella’s friend Kellen, the man who had been staying with her temporarily. He claimed he needed a place to stay until he sorted out a job situation in another city. He was polite enough, yet something about the way he observed people made me uneasy. His stare often lingered too long. His compliments sounded too keen even when uninvited. Briella considered him completely harmless, and I had told myself that my discomfort was simply caution.
But now Kellen was standing behind a locked door in the middle of the night.
He spoke again with the same soft tone. “You are awake. I heard you moving. Open the door.”
I pressed Alden closer against my shoulder and whispered silently into his hair. Flynn spoke into my ear with a voice that trembled with contained urgency.
“He came to my workplace tonight. He was acting erratic. Security asked him to leave. Before he walked out he said something unsettling. He said he was going to make sure you did not interfere with him anymore.”
A cold wave rolled through me. “What does that mean”
“I do not know fully. But do not open anything. Do not speak to him.”
Outside the door, Kellen jiggled the doorknob with a slow testing motion. “Come on.” he said. “We need to talk. I am not going to hurt you. You just misunderstand what is happening.”
His tone had a forced calmness that made my knees weaken.
“Flynn.” I whispered. “He is trying the door.”
“Get into that bathroom now.” he replied. “Go.”
I shuffled quietly across the carpet and slipped inside the bathroom. I turned the lock and leaned my body weight against the door. I placed Alden on the bathmat. His small voice quivered.
“Mama. What is happening”