“Believe me or not, your parents have been abducted. I’m not putting on an act. Go to the police with me if you trust me; if not, get out of my way. I have lives to save.”
He seemed taken aback—maybe by my calmness, or maybe because, for the first time, I showed real irritation.
I turned to leave, gently pushing Hailey out of my way. But suddenly, she collapsed to the floor.
“That hurts!” Hailey whimpered. She blinked her eyes with an innocent look as tears streamed down her cheeks.
“Shane, don’t be angry at Nat,” she said. “She didn’t shove me on purpose.”
Shane’s face darkened as he rushed to her side. She was grimacing and clutching her hand. It was at that moment I realized I had suffered a cut to my hand.
Shane bellowed at me, “I’ll kill you if anything happens to Hailey!”
Then, he hurriedly brought her to the hospital, leaving me behind in our spacious bedroom.