Staring into the stranger’s shadowed eyes was enough to freeze her heart. Darcy didn’t know if he could see her eyeballs through the gap in the slats, but if he saw movement, he would know she was awake and watching him. She had to get to the phone! The man abruptly turned and walked along the wall, then disappeared around the corner. Going where? To seal the back door too? Darcy released the blinds and ran toward the kitchen. White venetian blinds covered all of the windows in the family room adjacent to the kitchen. From her vantage point, the back door looked undisturbed. She considered making a run for it now, into the garage, into her Chevy, into the night. But she hesitated—surely there was an explanation for all of this. Who’d ever heard of a woman being sealed in her own home by a man with a hammer? If he wanted in, he would have just shattered the door, not nailed it shut. Run, Darcy! Get out now while you still can. She ran for the garage door, thinking she should grab a knife just in case.
