I frantically looked from Amanda's face to that of each of my guards. There was only one way to proceed here: i would have to tell them what was going on. 

"Frank has been trying to steal my necklace," I said, opening up the email on my phone. "So I decided to try to lure him into a trap - I sent out an email suggesting I was keeping the necklace at the mall and I was going to try to get him to reveal himself there, in public. But, instead, it seems like he tried to have me killed."

I bit my lip, eyes pleading to be believed. Now that people were shooting at it, it was abundantly clear that I needed my guards. I couldn't let them retreat from the situation, even if some of them had been shot, because if they left, I was bound to be next!

It had been foolish of me to leave the house, to leave the one place that was protecting me. But what choice did I have? My necklace was somewhere out there - I would have to chase after it before long. How could I do that without leaving my home?

"Please," I muttered, just loud enough for the people around me to hear, "I need your help. Frank is going to try to kill me again - please, stop him!"