“Give me my goddamn laptop back, you little bitch,” Valerie hissed at me.

I clutched the laptop that I was still holding in my hands. I held it in front of my chest like it was a bulletproof vest. She was stupider than I thought if she believed I was going to hand over the only bargaining chip I had.

Sure, I had a gun pointed at me many times, but I wasn’t the one I was worried about. I was terrified that Valerie was going to kill the man I ...