The Princess in Her Tower
Selena's POV
The computer screen exploded with error messages.
"No, no, no!" Selena slammed her fist on the desk. Three hours of work, gone. The police database had kicked her out again.
Her fingers flew across the keyboard, trying to get back in. Sweat dripped down her face. She had been so close to finding something about Mom's case. So close to the truth.
The apartment felt like a prison. Bulletproof windows. Steel doors. Guards everywhere. Dad called it protection. Selena called it a cage.
She rubbed her tired eyes and tried a different password. Her mother's birthday. Her mother's favorite song. Her mother's—
BANG!
Something crashed in the kitchen. Selena froze. The guards were supposed to be outside. No one should be in here with her.
She grabbed the gun from her desk drawer. Her hands shook as she checked if it was loaded. Dad had taught her to shoot when she turned sixteen. "Never trust anyone to protect you," he had said. "Not even family."
Footsteps moved across the marble floor. Slow. Careful. Like a hunter stalking prey.
Selena's heart pounded so loud she was sure the intruder could hear it. She crept toward the kitchen, gun raised. The lights were off. Shadows danced everywhere.
"Hello, princess."
The voice came from behind her. Cold. Calm. Like death itself was speaking.
Selena spun around, finger on the trigger. A man stood by her computer. Tall. Dark hair. Eyes like winter ice. He wasn't pointing a gun at her. He didn't need to. Everything about him screamed danger.
"Who are you?" Her voice cracked. She hated how scared she sounded.
"Someone who knows what you're looking for." He nodded at her computer screen. "Information about your mother's murder."
Selena's blood turned to ice. "How do you—"
"Know about your little hacking hobby?" The man smiled, but it wasn't friendly. "I know lots of things, Selena Rossi. Like how you break into police files every night. How you've been searching for three years. How you're getting close to something that could get you killed."
"My father will—"
"Your father sent me."
The words hit her like a punch to the stomach. Dad knew about her searching? Had he been watching her all this time?
"I don't believe you."
The stranger pulled out his phone and dialed. "Tell her yourself."
Selena heard her father's voice through the speaker. Rough. Tired. "Selena, baby, listen to me. There are people coming for our family. Bad people. This man is going to keep you safe."
"Dad, I don't need—"
"You do need this. They know you've been digging into the past. They know you found something." Her father's voice got quiet. Scared. She had never heard him sound scared before. "Pack a bag. You're leaving. Now."
The call ended. Selena stared at the phone, then at the stranger.
"Pack a bag?" She laughed, but it sounded crazy even to her. "I'm not going anywhere with you. I don't even know your name."
"Names don't matter in my line of work."
"What's your line of work?"
His smile got colder. "I solve problems. Permanently."
Selena's stomach dropped. This man was a killer. Dad had sent a killer to protect her. Or maybe to silence her forever.
"The files on your computer," the man said, walking closer. "What did you find?"
"Nothing." The lie came out too fast.
"Try again."
Selena backed toward the window. "I said nothing."
He moved like a cat. Silent. Deadly. Before she could blink, he was right in front of her. His hand covered hers on the gun. Not fighting for it. Just holding it steady.
"I'm not here to hurt you," he said softly. "But others are. And they'll be here soon."
"What others?"
"The same people who killed your mother."
The world stopped spinning. Selena couldn't breathe. "You're lying."
"Am I?" He let go of her hand and walked back to the computer. "You found a name in those police files, didn't you? Someone who was supposed to be investigating the murder but wasn't."
How did he know? Selena had only found that information tonight. Detective Marcus Webb. He had been assigned to Mom's case but never filed a single report. Like he was being paid to stay quiet.
"Detective Webb," the stranger continued, reading her face. "He's dead. Killed two hours ago. Shot in his car outside a diner."
Selena's legs felt weak. She sat down hard in her chair. "That's impossible."
"Three bullets to the chest. Very professional. The same style that killed your mother."
Tears burned her eyes. "Why are you telling me this?"
"Because whoever killed Webb knows he talked to someone recently. They're cleaning up loose ends." He looked right at her. "You're a loose end, Selena."
Sirens wailed in the distance. Getting closer.
The man tensed. He pulled out a gun that looked like it could stop a truck. "They're early."
"Who's early?"
"The people coming to kill you." He grabbed her arm. "We need to go. Now."
Selena jerked away. "I'm not going anywhere with you! I don't even know if you're telling the truth!"
The sirens got louder. Then stopped. Right outside her building.
The man's phone buzzed. He looked at it and cursed under his breath. "Your guards are down. All of them."
Fear crashed over her like a wave. Those guards had families. Kids. And now they were dead because of her.
"This is your fault," she whispered.
"No. This is your father's fault for letting you dig where you shouldn't have dug." He grabbed her laptop and shoved it in a bag. "But I'm not letting you die for his mistakes."
Heavy footsteps echoed in the hallway outside. Men's voices. Angry. Getting closer to her door.
The stranger moved to the window and looked down. "Twelve floors. Too high to jump. They've got the elevators blocked." He turned to her, and for the first time, she saw something that might have been worry in his cold eyes. "There's only one way out."
"What way?"
He pulled a small device from his pocket. It looked like a garage door opener. "The hard way."
"What does that do?"
The footsteps stopped right outside her door. Someone was picking the lock.
The stranger looked at her with those winter eyes. "Hold on to something."
"Wait, what are you—"
He pressed the button.
The world exploded.
The apartment shook like an earthquake. The lights went out. Emergency alarms screamed everywhere. In the darkness, she felt the stranger's hand grab hers.
"Trust me," he said. "Or die here."
The door burst open. Men with guns poured in, flashlights cutting through the smoke and darkness.
"Go, go, go!" someone yelled.
Selena couldn't see anything. Couldn't breathe. The stranger pulled her forward, and she stumbled after him because she had no choice.
They ran through the smoke toward... nothing. Just the blown-out window and a twelve-story drop to the street below.
"You're crazy!" she screamed.
"Probably."
And then he jumped.
Still holding her hand.
They fell into the darkness together as bullets whistled over their heads and sirens wailed like the end of the world.
Selena screamed all the way down, wondering if the man holding her hand was saving her life...
Or ending it.