A Lifetime

A Lifetime / Chapter 10

But she had to tell someone where she was. She couldn't even remember if Chance had his phone with him.

She quickly texted Kyle. She purposely took no additional time for punctuation. She needed someone to know a lot of information. Fast!

"we r n trouble"

"masked men here"

"shots fired"

"im hiding"

"was at meeting"

She was so nervous that she couldn't remember the company's name.

"i dont know if help is coming"

"i dont know where chance is"

"do not call him!!!!!"

"he may be hiding too...phone could put him in danger"

"help"

She texted each thought separately as it came to her. Her daughter would always do this to get her attention. She would often miss a single text. The one beep was easy to miss. But several texts always got her attention and became a funny joke between her daughter and her. When beep after beep would resonate from her phone, it would finally make her grab the phone and look. She always knew ahead of time that it was her daughter. She smiled before she ever looked.

This time was so much different. She hoped it worked on Kyle the same way that it worked on her.

Now she just kept staring at her phone.

Watching.

Waiting. For anything.

Only a few seconds passed, but it felt like minutes, and she was about to start the entire process all over again when a text came through,

"Help is on the way! Stay where you are. It's going to be okay. Have not heard from Chance, but we'll find him once the police arrive. Do not move. Stay safe. I'm so sorry."

"ok"

"i have the owners daughter with me"

"shes ok too"

"Oh my god, good Kat"

"please lmk whats going on"

"its so quiet now"

"Oliver is on the phone with the police. I'm right here with you"

"ok"

A few moments passed again. She wondered what Kyle and Oliver were discussing and with whom. What was going on outside of this closet door?

"im so scared for chance."

"he wasnt with me when men got here."

More silence. Outside and on her phone. She began to get more scared

"I'm here...getting update"

She let out a sigh of relief.

She kissed the little girl on the head and just whispered again, "It's okay."

The two smiled at each other. Both knowing that their smile wasn't the most authentic.

"What floor are you on"

"8"

More crippling silence. She could hear her heart pounding. The heartbeat felt like it had the power to rock her body where it sat. Once she thought it was footsteps and tried not to alarm the girl but began listening intently. She could hear her heart beating in her ears.

Loud noises again rang outside of the steel door that was in front of them.

Gunshots began again.

"more gunshots"