And he was out there. Right out there!

She flipped on the light and tried to catch her breath as she stared at the doorknob, her heart pounding a million beats a minute. Muffled cursing came from the hallway, and she could picture him climbing to his feet. The man was big. Strong. Much stronger than she was, and now he was probably pissed, too, because she’d kneed him in the groin.

Frantic, she looked around. There was no furniture in the little room—only stacks of file boxes lined up along the baseboards. She looked at the latch again. It was a flimsy interior door lock identical to the one in her own office. You could pick it with a paper clip! And it was the only thing standing between her and her attacker.

Leigh grabbed the nearest box. It was heavy, filled to the brim with case files, and she heaved it to the floor in front of the door. She grabbed another box and another and another, building a tower. Then she made a second stack with the three remaining boxes.

She glanced around the room, panting and sweating. No more boxes, only a clunky black paper shredder and a brown shopping bag. She knew from experience that the paper shredder was heavier than it looked. She limped over to it, and only then did she notice she was missing a shoe. Her other heel was in the hallway. She kicked off the remaining shoe, bouncing it off the far wall. Then she lifted the paper shredder and hefted it to the top of the second stack of boxes.

Panting, she studied the barricade. It was laughable. Tears sprang into her eyes, and she felt a fresh wave of panic. He was right out there, and he was huge. A man his size could probably bust through the door and the barrier in no time.

She pressed her cheek against the door and listened. He was out there. She could hear the scuff of his shoes on the floor, along with drawers opening and closing. Was he in her office? The one beside hers? What the hell was he doing? At least he wasn’t talking to anyone.

Dear God, let him be alone.

She cast a look around the room, desperate for a way out. No windows. There was a vent, but it was much too small to offer any hope. Her gaze landed on the brown shopping bag and she hurried across the room to look inside.

Rummaging through, she found a stapler, legal pads, and several jumbo-size boxes of paper clips. But no box cutter or letter opener or anything else that might be used as a weapon.