“There’s someone else out there,” Caroline whispered.
Even though her voice had been barely loud enough for him to hear, those words roared through his head. “Is it Gunnar?” he mouthed.
“No. Someone else. I think it’s the same woman I saw before. She’s still out there by the trees.”
So that meant it was a henchman in the house, so maybe the fake therapy conversation with Caroline didn’t matter. If this thug had orders to kill, then he wouldn’t care what they were saying. Wouldn’t care if Caroline remembered anything or not, since the plan was for her to be dead soon.
Jack wasn’t going to let that plan happen.
Clarie sent another text. Probably to Gunnar again so she could give him a heads-up. No way did they want the deputy walking into an ambush, since the woman by the tree could gun him down. Of course, Gunnar would be looking for exactly that sort of thing.
Jack finally heard another footstep, closer this time, and he considered doing more of the fake conversation with Caroline. He decided against it, though, in case the intruder could use his voice to pinpoint their location in the house.
Another footstep. Then another. The person was coming closer, and Jack knew it wouldn’t be long before the person made it to the foyer. It seemed to him that the intruder was making a beeline toward those flashlights.
“The woman outside is moving,” Caroline whispered. “And I see Gunnar.”
Jack wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not. Certainly Gunnar had gotten Clarie’s warning, but the deputy might not have seen the woman.
Or she might have seen him.
Jack considered having Clarie send Gunnar another warning text, but it was too risky with the intruder this close to them. And the person was indeed close. Even though there were no more footsteps, Jack could hear some kind of movement. Maybe he or she was getting his or her own weapon ready to launch the attack.
It felt as if everything went still. As if everyone and everything were holding their breath. Waiting for something to happen.
And it did.
There was a plinking sound. Something metal had dropped to the floor.
At first, Jack wondered if the intruder had let something slip and fall. Maybe his weapon. But he soon realized that it wasn’t an accident.
Jack caught the first scent of the tear gas.
Chapter Sixteen
Caroline had had no trouble hearing the sound of something falling on the old wood floor of the inn. But she didn’t know what it was and had no idea what had suddenly put that troubled look on Jack’s face.
But she soon found out.
“Tear gas,” Clarie managed to say at the exact moment the deputy began coughing.
Almost immediately, Caroline felt her eyes, nose and throat start to burn, and if it truly was tear gas, she figured it wouldn’t be long before it basically incapacitated them. It wouldn’t knock them unconscious, but they wouldn’t be able to fight if they couldn’t breathe. If they couldn’t see.
And it was quickly getting to that point.
“This way,” Jack snapped, and he tipped his head toward the hall. He had his left arm crooked and pressed to his face while he continued to grip his weapon in his right hand.
Both Caroline and Clarie rushed away from the window and toward him. When she looked out into the hall, she saw the wisps of the white fog. Yes, definitely tear gas. And as bad as it was right now, they weren’t getting the full impact yet. That fog was rolling their way.
But where was the intruder who’d likely set all of this in motion?
She didn’t see any signs of anyone, but it was possible the person had put on a gas mask. If so, he or she could come through that fog after them.
Jack’s eyes had to be burning like fire—hers certainly were—but his gaze still slashed all around. A few seconds crawled by, and then he motioned for Clarie and her to follow him. The three of them barreled out into the hall with Jack in front of her and Clarie behind.
They ran fast but didn’t go far, only a couple of yards, before Jack ducked into one of the other rooms, and he shut the door behind them. Caroline soon saw why he’d chosen this one. There were no boards on the window, something he’d probably learned from Gunnar and Manuel when they’d done their initial search of the place. No boards would mean both easy access for an intruder and escape for them.
Jack hurried to the window and threw it open. “Keep watch,” he said, his voice rough and raw.
