The rear door opened immediately.
“Amelia!”
My father reached for me.
I scrambled inside, and he pulled the door shut.
My mother was sitting beside him.
The moment she saw me, she wrapped both arms around my shoulders.
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.
Then she began crying.
“I thought we were going to be too late.”
I stared at my parents.
“What is going on? Why was Derek outside my apartment with those men?”
My father looked older than he had the previous week.
He took a tablet from the seat beside him.
“Six weeks ago, after someone tried to get into your apartment while you were at work, you agreed to let us arrange a security camera near your front door. Remember?”
I nodded.
The camera had been installed with the building manager’s permission, and my parents had access to its emergency alerts.
My father continued.
