Meredith was tugging on the back of his shirt, almost glued to him. He’d like to just pick her up and carry her down over his shoulder, but it was best for him to have his hands free.
They got down the stairs and to the kitchen quickly.
For someone who couldn’t walk a straight line half the time, she was pretty stealthy in a high-stress situation.
She reached for the door before he could tell her not to and turned the nob.
Alarms went off.
He should have warned her, but didn’t think she’d make a mad dash before he could grab her.
The door was locked from the outside. He heard feet and threw his elbow into the glass pane, breaking it, then reaching to unlock it for her to run. He wasn’t fast enough.
“You got here faster than I thought,” Karl said, coming from inside the house to the kitchen with a gun by his side.
“Go!” Clay shouted at her. “Reach through the glass and unlock it. I’ll cover you.”
Clay aimed his gun at the man who had drugged and kidnapped the woman he loved.
“Don’t go with him, Meredith,” Karl said, shaking his head. “He can’t give you what I can. He made you cry yesterday. I won’t do that. Give me a chance.”
This guy was out of his mind. “Move!” Clay shouted to Meredith.
“If you do, I’ll shoot you,” Karl said. “Both of you.”
She was frozen in place, he saw it. The fear in her eyes, the panic setting in, her eyes fixed on the gun in Karl’s hand aimed at them.
He wasn’t going to be able to get her out without picking her up himself now.
“I’ll put a bullet between your eyes before you can hit the trigger,” Clay said. “If you want to take that chance, go ahead.” His voice was calm, his hand was steady. He was in the element he thrived in that he’d thought he’d never find himself in again.
“Meredith, you don’t want to be with him,” Karl shrieked, his hand shaking on the gun. “You want me. I’ll teach you. I promise.”
“No!” she shouted. “I never did. You need help, Karl.”
“Stop saying that!” Karl yelled. “I’m sick of everyone telling me I’m messed up in the head and that I need help. I don’t. I don’t! Don’t be like my mother!” He was pounding on his skull with his left hand, his right not so steady with the gun.
Clay wanted Meredith to leave, but telling her to go wouldn’t work. She was still frozen in place.
“Let her leave,” Clay said. “You and I can take care of this like men. Isn’t that what you want? To show Meredith that you can protect her like she needs? Like I’m doing right now. Protecting her from you.”
The gun trembled more in Karl’s hand. Clay knew he’d hit a nerve there.
“Being strong doesn’t mean you can protect someone. You have to have the whole package. You need to know what makes her happy. No one helps her like me. No one can take care of her like I learned to do.”
“By stalking me!” she yelled. “That’s not love. That’s not caring. That’s...sick. I’m outraged by you. Revolted. Repulsed.”
“Stooooopppppp!” Karl screeched. The noise was deafening.
Clay saw a flash of a white cruiser out the window moving in fast.
Shit, his brother was here.
“It’s over, Karl. You can’t escape.”
“I can do whatever I want!” Karl screamed again.
The front door kicked in, his brother racing in with his gun pointed.
