I grab hold of the ballooning panic and wrench it back.
Then I rise on my hands and knees, so I’m still shielding Vienna. I scan her face and body, searching for blood.
Thank fuck, I don’t see any.
“Someone shot at us,” I confirm. As I look into her frightened eyes, panic recedes and determination takes over. “I’m going to get you someplace safe. And then I’m going after them.”
CHAPTER 9
VIENNA
“Come on.”
Caleb yanks open the basement door and nudges me ahead of him. “Hurry,” he urges. “It’s going to be okay. I just need to get you safe.”
I want to do what he’s telling me. I know I need to. But my body doesn’t seem to agree.
Shock,my brain notes as if it’s observing from a distance.Understandable, given that someone just shot at you.
Or Caleb,it adds.The bullet could have been meant for him. The two of you were standing pretty close. So there’s no way to know for sure.
“Vienna.” His voice is like a whip cracking. It startles me into awareness, and I turn to look at him. “You need to go downstairs,” he says. “Now.”
“I—” My throat clicks. “Someoneshotat us.”
“Yes.” Caleb’s expression gentles for a second. “Iknow it’s scary. But you’ll be safe in the basement. I just need to get you down there before…”
He doesn’t say the rest. But I have a terrible feeling I know what he’s thinking.
Before the person who shot at us makes it inside. Because once they realize they missed, chances are, they’ll try again. And they may not bother shooting through a window this time. They could just kick out the broken glass and come right in.
Behind my eyes, I’m caught up in a vision of a dark-clothed man slinking through the window, the barrel of his gun huge and looming as he aims at us. Then he cocks the trigger, like I’ve seen actors do on TV. He fires. The bullet explodes in a burst of fire and sound, moving too fast to see. Then a cry of pain as it finds its target, and?—
The terrifying images are enough to break through my paralysis.
On wobbly legs, I take the first step into the stairwell, then the next.
My bad leg threatens to buckle.
Caleb’s hand comes around my upper arm, his grip firm, but not painful. “I won’t let you fall,” he says. “Just keep going. I’ve got you.”
He’s got me.I keep reminding myself of that as I make my way down the stairs.He won’t let me fall. He won’t let anyone hurt me.
Maybe I shouldn’t put as much trust in Caleb as I am. After all, I’ve been let down by people who’ve known me much longer than he has.
But Idotrust him.
And I keep going.
Pulse whooshing in my ears, my footsteps hollow thunks on worn wood, I make it down to the basement and wait for Caleb to join me. I’m dimly aware that my entire body is shaking. My breath comes in shallow, frantic gasps, making me lightheaded.
As soon as Caleb reaches the bottom of the stairs, only moments after me, he slings his arm around me and hustles me into the gloom. A motion-sensor nightlight flicks on, casting a dim glow that casts long shadows from stacks of boxes.
“I don’t want to turn any lights on down here,” he says. “Even though the door locks from inside, I’d rather not…’’
Once again, he doesn’t have to say it.
Caleb leads me into the far left corner of the basement, past the furnace and hot water heater and something that might be a water treatment system. There’s a workbench over here, with racks of tools shining dully above it. He pulls a wheeled stool aside and motions for me to climb beneath the table.
