“Did you hear that?”
Mara looked back at her. The fear in her eyes echoed the rising hysteria Kaylee felt. They both backed away from the wall.
“Gunshots. It sounded like gunshots to me,” Mara whispered.
Kay took Hope from Mara and held her close. Hope peered around them curiously but didn’t cry. Kay buried her face in the baby’s soft curls. Even though help was on the way, she had no idea where Eli and Matt were or whether they’d been in the house when those gunshots had been fired. All she could do was hope and pray they were safe.
“Please let them be all right. Please. Please.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
AT THE SOUND of gunshots they all stopped and turned in unison. “Oh my God. What was that? Did he shoot Kay?” Sasha whimpered.
“Pull up the video feed,” Eli growled as he pushed to the front of the van. He wasn’t even sure he believed her story, but it was just crazy enough to be true. Either way he looked at it, Sasha had led trouble right to their doorstep. Even if she hadn’t meant to, if Kay got hurt then none of that mattered.
“He’s in the house. He broke the glass on the back door,” Matt said. He pointed to one of the screens. It was a grainy picture, but he could clearly see the entire back sliding glass door had been smashed in.
“I have to get in there.” He pulled out his weapon, satisfied that he at least hadn’t walked out of the house unarmed, then checked the clip. “I need more firepower.”
Tank took the Beretta he held and handed him the Glock 23 he always carried. “What’s our plan?”
“The plan is for me to go in there and put a round in whoever the hell just broke into my place.”
“You can’t go in there alone,” Matt said.
Eli climbed to the edge of the van and shoved the doors open. “Kay is in there and so is your sister. Do you want to sit here and talk about plans when they could have a gun to their heads right now?”
Tank grabbed him by the back of the collar and yanked him back into the van. His grip felt like iron. Eli was a solid 220 pounds of muscle, so it wasn’t often he was manhandled like a rag doll.
“Maybe you’re going to fire me after this, but I’m not letting you go in there alone,” Tank growled. “I get it. Your girl is in there. But you’re not doing her any favors by charging in with no plan in place. Kaylee is smart. I’m sure she heard the alarm go off.”
Tank let go and Eli rolled his shoulders. Adrenaline flowed through his system, and he checked his natural instinct to go for the other man’s throat. He was talking sense; intellectually he knew that. But Kay could be in trouble right now and he was standing outside talking. He needed to get in there. He needed to save her.
“Just let me go in and distract the shooter. You guys can come in after me.”
Tank clapped a hand on his shoulder. “If you go in there with no plan, you might as well just shoot yourself right here and now. Just wait.”
Matt’s phone beeped and he snatched it off his belt. “It’s Mara. The girls are safe in the panic room.”
“Tell them to stay there,” Eli ordered.
Matt typed out the message, his thumbs flying over the screen. Then he handed Eli an earpiece. “Put this on. We need to be able to communicate.”
Tank took the other one and slipped it over his ear. “I’ll go around back. All you have to do is get him near the back door. Since he already broke that glass, I should have a clear shot.”
“And I’ll take the front,” Matt added. “We’ve got this covered. Let’s nail this bastard.”
Tank loaded his rifle ammunition into a bag and hopped out of the van. He looked both ways and disappeared around the side of the house into the trees. There were plenty of places he could take cover back there.
He pulled out his phone and sent Agent Harris’s number to Matt. “Call this number and tell them what’s going on. I don’t have time for questions right now, but we’ll need them as backup.”
Matt looked at the information that had just popped up on his phone’s screen. “The FBI?”
“Yeah. I’ve been consulting with them on a case. If this guy has been looking for me, then they’ll want to know about it.” He glanced at Sasha. “And what about her?”
“I’ll take care of her, don’t worry about it.”
Sasha shivered and pressed back against the wall. Eli nodded at her and then walked to the front of the house. The wind lashed his face, but he couldn’t feel the cold, just the tears it brought to his eyes. His focus was on one thing—getting inside the house. He couldn’t think about what he might find when he opened that door or whether Kay might be injured.