She rushed to her vanity and pulled out the electric stun gun. Fully charged.
She turned toward the door to make sure he wasn't back yet.Her breath came fast and shallow—she kept swallowing hard.
Her chest felt tight. Like she was seconds from a heart attack.
"Don't mess this up.
Don't mess this up.
Don't mess this up.
Stay calm."
She kept repeating it to herself like a prayer.
Just to be sure, she tested the stun gun once.
The sharp zap of electricity made her flinch.
She remembered the one time she'd touched it by accident—how unbelievably painful it was.
A flash of guilt hit her. She hesitated.
Did she really want to hurt Jacob like that?
Sure, she didn't know him well, but…
He hadn't exactly hurt her either.
Not yet.
She shoved the thought down.
-Don't get soft now. Don't let your head play games with you.
They were strangers.
God knows what they wanted with her.
She'd already paid enough for trusting the wrong people.
The last thing she needed was to end up locked in some stranger's house, powerless.
She stuffed the stun gun into the pocket of her sweatshirt.
Grabbed a box of random junk—nothing valuable, just to keep up the act.
It was kind of heavy.
She walked out of the room, box in hand, and went to the intercom.
There he was—Jacob.
His little figure showed up on the screen.
He was on his phone, smoking a cigarette.
She couldn't quite hear what he was saying.
She pressed the call button.
_"Should I come up?"
he asked, pausing his call.
-"Yeah, if you can. I've got a box—it's kind of heavy."
_"Alright, I'll be right up."
She walked to the kitchen and poured herself a glass of water. She was sure her blood pressure had dropped—her hands were shaking, her palms were sweaty.