The pain was real.
Which meant she was awake now.
Kira breathed out.
"You scared me just now,' Giana said. 'Bad dream
Kira touched her chest.
Her heart was beating wildly like it wanted to break out of the rib cage.
Kira wiped the sweat from her forehead.
Her fringe was wet.
"I had a nightmare"
The scene was so vivid in her mind.
The sound of the gunshot was still ringing in her ears.
She even thought she smelled gunpowder.
Ghana hugged her shoulders. It's okay now, You're okay Nothing bad happened. It was just a
dream"
Kira felt the reassuring warmth of Giana's embrace
She exhaled. 'You're right. It's just a dream."
Her hands and feet were still cold, though
The ultrarealistic nightmare had triggered her fight or flight system
'I'll get you a glass of warm milk. Giana got out of bed
Kira sat up, clutching the blanket.
She dug out her phone and called Austyn again.
Still no response.
By now, anger had morphed into anxiety which had escalated into dread.
She was gripped by an unshakable premonition.
Something bad must have happened.
'Get up. Drink this Giana set down a glass of warm milk on the bedside table.
'Thank you.' Kira sipped at it.
'Are you going home later?' Giana checked the time.
It was almost five o'clock.
Her parents would be back in a couple of hours.
She needed to get started on dinner.
Kira shook her head. 'Can I stay with you tonight?"
'Sure, I'll just cook for five then. What do you want to eat?"
Anything you make is fine. Kira set down the glass. 'Can I help? 'Do you know how to cook?
'A little bit.'
Giana thought about it, 'You can help me peel the onions if you don't mind."
'Sure.
Kira followed Giana into the kitchen.
It was small but fully stocked.
She grabbed an onion, chopped it in half with a sharp knife and then cut off the stem ends.
She pulled on the papery layers and started peeling.
Her eyes watered.
Her phone trilled in her pocket.
'Shoot.' Kira saw the message.
""What's wrong?"
'Elsie has prepared dinner. She's asking when I'll be back."
"Who's Elsie?'
'Um, the housekeeper.'
'Wow, so that's how the other half lives. You've got a housekeeper now.' Giana teased her friend.
'She's not my housekeeper. She works for Austyn.
Kira dithered,
Austyn was probably still not home.
Elsie was going to be crushed if no one showed up for dinner.
Giana took the half-peeled onion from her hand. "You should go home."
Hoping Against Hope
'But I promised to help you in the kitchen,' Kira said.
'I can handle it,' Giana said. 'Your housekeeper probably went to a lot of trouble to make dinner. You shouldn't let all that food go to waste.' Kira nodded.
Elsie took pride in her cooking.
'Sorry about running out on you again."
'It's fine. We can always cook together some other time."
Kira hugged her friend. "Thank you, Giana. You're the best."
'Is that why you're smearing onion juice all over my shirt?'
'Sorry.' Kira quickly pulled back. 'I forgot to wash my hands.'
Go home. Call me if you want to talk
Kira shot a quick text to Elsie to say she would be back in an hour.
She had something to do first.
Kira flagged down a cab on the street.
It took her 53.50 dollars and twenty-two minutes to arrive at Sunglade Condo.
There were two security guards on duty.
One was dozing off in a chair inside the guard shack
The other had stepped away for a smoke.
Kira slipped past the entrance without anyone noticing.Text content © .
She was getting better at sneaking around.
She loitered in the small garden in front of Block A, waited for a resident to come out of the lobby and dashed inside before the door could shut completely.
The lift took her to the eighteenth floor.
She found Unit 18-20 and banged on the door.
'Miss Connelly!
No response.
She slammed a fist against the door. 'Austyn McCarthy, come out! I know you're in there! Stop
hiding!
She shouted and kept thumping away.
No one came out.
She put her ear against the door and heard nothing
Kira kicked the door, frustrated.
If Austyn wanted to shack up with Deborah in this love nest, he should at least have the courtesy to break up with her first!
'What are you doing?"
Kira almost jumped out of her skin.
She whirled around and saw a uniformed security guard standing behind her, eyeing her suspiciously.
'I, uh, I'm a friend of the woman who lives here Kira improvised. I haven't been able to get
in touch with her for two days. I'm worried something bad may have happened,"
'Did you try calling her?'
'I did. She didn't pick up. Her phone must be switched off."
"Then I think you should call the police."
'But what if she isn't missing? What if she's just...taking some alone time? I don't want to make a false report.
The security guard stroked his chin.
He checked the unit number. '18-20. I remember the tenant. A woman, right, mid-twenties? Moved in here about two weeks ago?"
'Right. Have you seen her?"
'Can't say that I do.' The guard gave Kira another once-over. 'You should keep trying her number. Or else, call the police. But you can't keep banging on the door like that. A tenant downstairs has called us to complain." 'Oh, sorry.' Kira was mortified.
She had gotten carried away.
'Could you help me?' She pleaded with the guard, 'Could you find out if there's someone in the house? I'm really worried about hi-l meant, her
'What do you expect me to do?"
'Do you have a key to the apartment?"
'Of course not!'
The guard sounded indignant. 'We would never intrude on our tenants' privacy like that.'
"Then, um, could you go knock on the door?"
'You've been doing that for the past ten minutes. If you can't get her to open up, what makes you think I can?"
Kira was running out of ideas.
The guard took in the anxious look on her face and his attitude softened.
The girl was young and didn't look like the stalker type they often got at the condo.
Still, he had a job to do.
'I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to leave,' he said, pointing towards the lift. 'You're disturbing
the other tenants."
Kira hung her head, dejected.
She tossed one last look at the door, which remained tightly shut.
Could she be wrong?
Was Deborah really not home?
She followed the guard towards the lift.
If Deborah wasn't here, where else could she be?
More importantly, where was Austyn?
She left Sunglade in a daze, putting one foot in front of the other mechanically.
She wasn't sure how she got home.
Her heart sank when she didn't spot the Hummer's familiar hulking shape in the driveway.
'Young Madam!' Elsie ran out to greet her. "Thank god you're home! I was getting worried!!
She pointed to her watch. 'It's almost eight o'clock!'
'Sorry, I got held up."
Kira didn't need to ask Elsie.
The look on the housekeeper's face told her what she needed to know-Austyn wasn't home.
'Dinner's gone cold. I'll go warm it up.'