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They were thrown across the bed in disarray, as if they'd been thrown off in a hurry. Jennifer's pulse spiked. "Mom?" she cried out, but there was no response.

The ensuite bathroom door was open and the bathroom behind it empty. Jennifer rushed down the hall, throwing open doors in search of Arabelle, but there was no sign of her anywhere.

"Mom? This isn't funny, where did you go?" she called out.

She wanted to believe her mom was just playing a prank on her, but the immediate fear that leaped on her chest like a rabid wildcat was that the assassins after Markdidmake it into the house, and they took Arabelle instead of him.

"Mom!"

Footsteps sounded nearby, and she whirled in their direction, only to find Jake turning around the corner. "What's wrong?" he said.

"My mom is missing, I can't find her anywhere."

"Shit." He glanced around, and he had to be thinking the same thing as her: the house was so damn big that if she was hiding somewhere inside, it would take forever to find her. "It'll be fine. Stay calm. You take a look through the house, I'll go outside."

But what if she hurt herself?

What if she was taken?

What if it was neither, and she'd tricked them and ran outside on her own?

"She has to have gone outside," Jennifer said, trying to convince herself of the most likely scenario. "Let me come help you."

She followed him to the threshold, but he stopped her. "No, you have to stay inside, Mark's orders. I'll find Mrs. Wright, don't worry, okay? Everything is going to be fine."

"She's my mom, I have to help you. It'll be faster with the both of us."

"And Mark will kill us both if you go outside in the middle of this mess. The chances of anything happening are low, but for everyone's peace of mind, just wait here, check all of the rooms. Upstairs, too, just in case. I'll find her and be back in a few minutes."

Tears stung Jennifer's eyes. She didn't want to make Mark and Jake worry more by going outside when there was potential danger there. So she bit her lip and shoved down as much of her concern as she could, willing herself to sit on the sidelines for now if that was what it took to make sure her mom was safe.

"Be fast," she said. "If you're not back by the time I look through every room, I'm coming out to search, too."

Jake nodded his assent, and then he was gone, shutting the door behind him.

Jennifer took a minute to collect herself, steady her breathing, and wipe the tears blurring her eyes.

"Mom, are you in here somewhere?" she called out. "Please, you're making us all worried."

She searched behind curtains, in closets, under tables. Jennifer would much rather find that her mom was just trying to trick her than her being taken or hurt. She wanted Arabelleto jump out of a hiding spot and spook her, but as Jennifer ran through all the rooms on the first floor, the less and less it grew likely that that was going to happen. There was no reason for Arabelle to go hiding in the house in the first place ... it didn't make any sense.

Jennifer played back the moments after she left Arabelle's bedroom in her head over again. Arabelle had tucked herself into bed, and Jennifer hadn't noticed anything abnormal besides her mom's grumpiness, but Dr. Variety said that was because of the medication; she was starting to get her energy and mobility back, only to get locked inside the house.

After leaving the bedroom, Jennifer never heard the front door open, but she had gone to the kitchen and was chatting with Jake. She'd only been gone for a few minutes, that was plenty of time for her mother to sneak out of the house if she had really wanted to.

Or enough for someone quick to come in and snatch her away.

Jennifer shook her head, placing her index fingers to her temples. No, that didn't happen, Mark and Jake both assured her it wouldn't.

Arabelle broke the rules and went outside. But Jennifer was still overreacting. Her nerves were on edge because of Mark and Jake's warnings, and because of tales about assassins and Mark's family. They both said that being in the house was safe. So long as Arabelle didn't wandertoofar, she had to be fine wherever she was outside, too. That was what Jennifer believed.

But just thechancethat something would go wrong had her pacing between the rooms, trying to think of where she hadn't checked.

Jake would find her outside. It wasn't like Arabelle was the most mobile right now, either. She couldn't have gone far.

As the minutes passed into ten, and then twenty, Jennifer became less convinced of her own beliefs—the truth she tried to convince herself of. Jake was supposed to be back by now.

The only reason that would happen was if something went wrong.