Chapter 21
Silence consumed Layla. It was nothing like the quiet stillness of being home alone. It was something else entirely. It surrounded her, consumed her. This silence was so loud it was deafening. Her heart slammed helplessly against her chest, her breaths sawing in and out in shaky gasps.
Every sound was heightened, every emotion running through her, impossible to ignore. Her nerves were like rubber bands pulled too tight, ready to snap at any moment. Were these what her final moments would be like? Deadly silence?
She had heard Trigger on the phone with Declan. She wanted to scream and yell, plead with him not to come, but there was no use. Her words wouldn’t be heard, her cries would go undetected, muffled by the suffocating tape over her lips.
She sniffled back the rising em
