He took a step toward Meg, but she shied away from him, staring at him with wide eyes. Cade swallowed the bile burning his throat. “He broke into the house. He had a gun.”
Meg didn’t move, didn’t even acknowledge he’d spoken, and Cade grew desperate. “He would have killed both of us. It was self-defense, I swear.”
She seemed to snap out of whatever trance she was in. “Yes. Of course.” She turned from the pool as if to shield herself from the grotesque scene. “You had to.”
“We have to get out of here.”
Meg’s gaze snapped back to him. “What?”
“Someone knows we’re here.”
“Your brother,” she whispered as her hand flew to her face.
“No. Travis.”
“How would Travis know where we are? He can barely figure out how to cook a microwave dinner. How could he track us?”
A sick feeling started in Cade’s belly. She was right. He had told his brother about Meg, and exactly where they were. It only made sense that Nicholas had sent someone. But Nicholas couldn’t...could he? It was his brother. His own flesh and blood. “I don’t know,” he finally said. “Maybe. All I know is we’re in trouble.”
Cade peered down at the man still clutching the gun. They needed protection. Even though it was almost too disturbing to think about, he started down the ladder.
“What are you doing?”
“Getting the gun.”
Meg’s high-pitched voice echoed through the room. “You’re going to touch him?”
Cade knelt, careful to avoid the pool of blood. “I have to. We need to be able to defend ourselves.”
Meg didn’t say anything else while he pulled the gun out of the man’s hand and climbed back up the ladder. “We need to leave. Now.”
Meg swallowed and nodded. “Okay.”
“Just grab your essentials. We have no idea if anyone else is coming.”
“You’re limping. Is that blood?”
Cade didn’t stop. “It’s nothing. We have to hurry.”
“It’s not nothing. You’re hurt.” Meg pulled on his arm until he slowed. “How bad is it?”
“Not bad. I just stepped on some glass. It will heal.”
“Let me clean the cut before we leave then.”
Panic rose again in him. “Let’s clean it after we get to a hotel. Right now, we have to get out of here.” The gun felt heavy in his hand.
Meg seemed to quickly calculate something in her head before she nodded. “All right.”
He rushed to gather his clothes and some toiletries, stuffing them into a duffle bag along with the cash his brother had wired. He pulled on his shoes, not even bothering with socks. Meg grabbed her ukulele and headed toward the front door.
“Is that all you’re taking?”
“Most of my clothes are still in the back seat. This is all I care about.”
Cade blew out the jar candles. “All right then. Let’s go.” When they got to the front door, he grabbed Meg. “Wait. Let me go first, in case that guy wasn’t alone.”
Meg jumped back. “You think there could be more of them?”
