Predator

15

Outside, the roar of the off-road vehicle's engine and the hunting dogs' defiant barking gradually faded into the distance.

They left in a hurry, and Liam was almost the last to get into the car after settling Amelia. Through the tinted window, he exchanged a glance with Amelia, who stood by the third-floor window.

She shouldn't have been able to see him, only able to stare blankly at the off-road vehicle heading toward the suburbs.

It wasn't until the figure at the window shrank to a sesame-sized dot that Liam looked away, asking in fluent Swahili, "Did you find the baby elephant?"

"Yes, the old thing hid it in a cave near Tsavo East."

The driver, a Nairobi native, glanced at the excited hunting dogs in the back through the rearview mirror, barely able to contain his excitement. "Today, we might have another big haul."

In contrast to his excitement, Liam in the backseat seemed somewhat distracted.

As the driver sharply turned the wheel to the right, the Nairobi man sneaked a glance at Liam's somber face through the rearview mirror.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing..." Liam pinched the bridge of his nose, his tone giving away nothing. "Left in a hurry. I didn't close the birdcage properly. Wondering if the bird will fly away."

"Oh, you've taken an interest? What kind of bird?"

A small one nestled in his arms, cunning and calculating, with a lovely voice when thoroughly subdued.

"A nightingale, perhaps."

"Well, if it flies away, that would indeed be a pity."

As he spoke, a hartebeest suddenly darted onto the road. The off-road vehicle skidded to a halt, prompting curses from the passengers.

Liam remained calm, pulling out an obviously feminine phone from his pocket. He stared at the battery's remaining charge, then at the smiling girl in the screensaver photo.

"The world is so big. Where could she fly to?"

Wherever she goes, he can catch her, break her wings, and pluck her feathers until she becomes a helpless bird, begging for his protection.

With a heavy breath, filled with dominance, savagery, and extreme invasion, he would force her into submission, praying for his intrusion.

Just the thought of it made his heart itch.

"Drive faster."

After Liam left, Amelia hugged herself, covering her chest and struggling to close her legs. She turned her face away, not wanting to look at the mess of fluids on the bed, a mixture of semen, virginal blood, tears, and sweat. She strained her neck to look out the window.

Her nose brushed against the slight draft from the window's crack, trying to dispel the room's lewd scent and the man's overpowering presence that clung to her.

Wind?

Her tormented mind regained a moment of clarity. Her eyes followed the source of the draft, finally spotting a hidden latch in the window's shadows.

What did an unsealed third-floor window mean?

It meant the possibility of freedom.