He tracked with her, protecting Delaney and Charlotte with his body, making himself as large as possible.
“I said move!” Her voice rose to a shriek, the gun wavering in her grip.
The figure lunged forward. Noah recognized his brother’s broad shoulders as Jasper tackled Lena from the side.
The gun exploded in the silence.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
The Aylett house felt as cold as a tomb.
Delaney stepped inside and stood in the entry, torn between her desire to run upstairs and escape the man whose presence had her emotions all jumbled and her need for a glass of water to wash down a couple of Tylenol tablets.
Behind her, Noah closed and locked the door, then set the alarm, which beeped quietly.
She couldn’t help replaying that terrifying moment. She’d talked through it twice at the police station, and she’d hoped that would help her process it. But it was still broadcasting in the theater of her mind, everything that happened…and could have happened… replaying in slow motion.
She hadn’t been able to see anything from her spot behind Noah. She’d done her very best to keep him positioned between herself, Charlotte, and that gun. Banking on the fact that the crazy stalker woman wouldn’t shoot him.
Though Lena could have lost her patience. She could have shot Noah. She could have killed him.
That thought had kept Delaney’s stomach roiling for hours.
That he might be dead.
She felt both grateful for Noah and furious with him for putting himself in danger. And for firing her. And for having a stalker, which obviously wasn’t his fault.
There were a million other emotions she didn’t have the energy to name.
One moment, he’d been trying to reason with Lena.
The next, he’d thrown himself on top of Delaney and Charlotte, sheltering them with his body.
She’d hear that gunshot for the rest of her life.
And Noah’s strangled cry. “Jaz!” After Delaney and Charlotte were down, he’d scrambled to his feet and hurried to disarm the woman. He’d held her down, his yells frantic. “Are you hit? Are you all right?”
She could still hear the terror in his voice.
But the man who’d tackled Lena stood, unharmed. Thank God.
It could have turned out so much worse.
Delaney had shuffled Charlotte away from the chaos. They’d sat on the curb, and she’d held the terrified little girl until the police arrived.
Now she knew that the man who’d tackled the crazy stalker was Noah’s brother, Charlotte’s father. She’d gotten a good look at Jasper, with his striking blond hair and intense gray eyes. She wasn’t sure what she’d expected after hearing Noah’s description of his brother, but the man who’d saved them seemed like so much more than the “wastrel” Noah had made him out to be. He was as well-built as his brother, with a strong jawline and broad shoulders.
Charlotte’s father, who’d abandoned his daughter to party. Who’d also risked his life.
Jasper Aylett was a mystery.
Which was a distraction from the fact that someone had tried to murder her.
It was crazy.
The whole thing was completely crazy.
“Hey, are you okay?”
