"Wait." Isabella's hand shot out, stopping me from moving toward the window. "Wait."
She was staring at the door, listening.
The knock came again. Harder this time.
"Mrs. Castellano. We need to speak with you."
But something was wrong. The voice was different. Less aggressive. Almost... polite.
Isabella frowned, moved to the peephole. I looked through it for a long moment.
Then her shoulders sagged with relief.
"It's the landlord," she said quietly. "Just the landlord doing his monthly inspection." She turned to look at us, color slowly returning to her face. "I thought God, I thought they'd found me."
Sarah moved back to the window, looked down at the street again. "The Mercedes is gone. Must have been someone else's car."
The adrenaline was still coursing through me, making my hands shake. For a moment, I'd been absolutely certain we were about to die.
She leaned against the door, breathing hard.
