Page 104 of No Safe Place

Sunday | Evening

Field

‘Callum,’ she called through the door. ‘Callum, are you there? We need to speak to you. We need to know you’re safe.’

She stepped back and waited, listening hard. Riley was holding an enforcer, ready to break the door down. The other cars were still five minutes away at least.

‘What do you want to do, boss?’ Riley asked.

Field rubbed her forehead with the heel of her hand.

It could be an empty house. She could smash the door down and find that Callum and Lily weren’t home, that she was in the wrong place entirely.

But if they were home, if Ruby had found them—

‘Do it.’

The door, the flimsy front door that probably hadn’t been changed for forty years, splintered on the first impact.

Raised voices from inside the house told her they had made the right call, and Riley hit it again.

But the door that should have swung open straight away didn’t yield. It was open, just a crack—

‘There’s something behind it,’ Riley said, dropping the enforcer into the weeds, and throwing his shoulder against it.

They pushed, together, but whatever was behind it was the width of the hallway and wouldn’t budge.

Riley turned to her again, desperate, waiting for her to make a decision.

‘Break a window.’