“What’s going on?”
Cheryl’s eyes flicked past me, toward the street. “Why don’t you come inside first?” she said quickly, stepping aside.
That alone was enough to set off alarms. Two days ago, I wasn’t family. Now I was “sweetheart” again?
I didn’t move. “Not until you tell me why there are five black SUVs outside.”
A car door slammed. Heavy footsteps followed.
Cheryl’s voice dropped to a whisper. “They’re not here for me.”
“Then who—”
“For you.”
My stomach twisted. “That’s not funny.”
“I’m not joking.” Her hands trembled as she gripped the door. “Your dad… he didn’t tell you anything before he died?”
“Tell me what?”
Before she could answer, a man in a dark suit stepped onto the porch. Sunglasses, earpiece—the whole movie cliché, except this felt way too real.
“Good morning,” he said calmly. “We’ve been looking for you.”
I glanced at Cheryl. She looked like she might faint.
“Looking for me? Why?”
The man reached into his jacket. My heart jumped, but instead of a weapon, he pulled out a thin folder.
“Your father was under our protection,” he said. “After his passing, that protection transfers to you.”
I laughed—short, disbelieving. “Protection from what?”
The man held my gaze. “From the people who just found you.”
Silence swallowed the porch.
Behind him, the other SUV doors opened—slow, deliberate.
More men stepped out.
Not in suits.
And definitely not friendly.
Cheryl grabbed my arm, panic finally spilling over. “This is why I told you to leave,” she whispered. “I thought if you weren’t here, they’d stop watching the house.”
“You kicked me out to protect me?” I said, stunned.
“I didn’t know what else to do!”
The suited man stepped closer. “We need to move. Now.”
One of the other men across the street raised something—metal glinting in the morning light.
Everything snapped into focus.
“Inside,” the agent ordered.
A deafening crack split the air.
The front window shattered.
Cheryl screamed.
And suddenly, whatever life I thought I had ended the moment I walked back up that driveway.
