Page 53 of Caught By the Chief of Staff

“Ryan! Rick!” Jules shouts. “Come quick!”

I hear heavy footfalls, and still I don’t care. How could I care about anything right now? Or ever again? Nothing matters now. All that matters is Rachel.

Strong arms close around me and hold me tight. I struggle. I don’t want this. I don’t want to be calm. I want to fight.

“Hush,” Rick says calmly as he pulls me into his lap, but it only serves to make me struggle more.

“No!” I scream. In my frantic attempt at flight, I see everyone file out of the kitchen quietly, but I don’t care. “Let me go.”

“No.”

“Let me go!” I scream.

“Never!” Rick roars back. He holds me tighter.

“You have to let me go,” I cry harder. “This is all my fault.”

“It’s not.”

“It is!” I sob as Rick cradles me in his arms. “I could have stopped this.”

“No, honey,” he says sadly. “They always would have come for me.”

“Why Rachel?” I rasp, my voice is now completely shattered. “Why my baby?”

“I’m going to get her back,” Rick promises as he tucks my face into the crook of his neck. “You have to believe me. I’m going to get her back.”

“It should have been me,” I pant as my chest feels too tight. I can’t get a breath in. I claw at my neck, but it’s no use.

As it turns out, those were the last words I spoke before everything went black.

Apparently, now is the time to panic.