“Hunter? How’re you here?” he asked,shocked.
Hunter grinned. “Hello, Chandler. Longtime.”
“Put the gun down,” I said. “I’ll shoot you if you move. And I have excellent aim.” I wasn’t bluffing. I really did have greataim.
He took his attention off of Chandler to study me. “I believe you, but I don’t believe you could kill me so easily. Have you ever taken alife?”
I snarled my lip at him. “Shut up, psycho. For the last time, put the gundown.”
My dad and brothers didn't tell me everything I needed to know about a high-stress, intense situation when they taught me to shoot a gun. My family taught me as a formality, because they believed every woman should be armed for her own protection. Maybe they didn't think I'd ever actually be in the situation to need to pull my gun onsomeone.
They were wrong. My heart felt like it was going to jump out of my chest. It sounded like the ocean roared in my ears. My blood pumped so hard I began to see spots in my vision. It didn't help that I was trying not toblink.
I'd resolved myself to shoot at any sign of movement, so when Hunter dropped to the ground behind the totes, I fired off a round. It went through the highest tote but missed Hunter. I screamed infrustration.
Chandler grabbed my arm in a vice grip and pulled me through the door. I held my gun in my other hand and tried to point it in the general direction of where Hunter had dropped, but it was nearly impossible to successfully aim a gun while beingdragged.
Once we were through the door and it was securely shut behind us, I turned to Chandler, angry. “Why'd you yank me away? He's going to hideagain.”
He released my arm. “Think, Linda. Once he dropped behind the totes, he had cover and we didn't. He could've picked us offeasily.”
I turned back to the door. “Can he shoot throughthis?”
“No,” he said, turning the deadbolt and punching in a code on a keypad beside the doorframe. “It's reinforced. Griffin suspected the fire back home was set intentionally and made sure to put in extra securitymeasures.”
“Did the fire department not investigate?” I asked as we jogged back to thehouse.
“Of course they did. It was blamed on faulty wiring. But the house was so new, Griffin never believedit.”
My adrenaline wore off about the time we reached the library. Tears pricked my eyes, and throbs started back up in my head and abdomen. Chandler led us through the library door and pushed another hidden latch to close the bookshelf. He pulled aside a false front on the shelf beside the door and keyed in another set of numbers to arm that door aswell.
I was glad to see all the codes beingpressed.
“We hadn't turned on the alarm before now because… Well, I guess it has been so long since the fire, we got complacent. There are so few people in this part of the world. One guest is a huge anomaly, much less a guest and a murderingpsychopath.”
“I’d think a murdering psychopath is an anomaly anywhere in the world.” I tried to joke, but my terrible, rotten week was catching up to me. Tears fell and Chandler turned to look at me. “I'm having a really bad week,” I said as the sobsbegan.
Chandler pulled me into his arms and hugged me. I gasped when he pressed his hands against the back of my head. The spot where Hunter hit me hurt enough to take mybreath.
He jerked back. “What's wrong?” heasked.
“Hunter knocked me out. That's how he got me tied up and stuffed into theSUV.”
“You were tied up and stuffed into an SUV?” he asked,scandalized.
I sighed and pulled him close again. I wanted the comfort. I rubbed my face on his soft gray sweater and mumbled, “I'll tell all of you about it at once. I'm so tired all of a sudden. I probably have a damn concussion now,too.”
He rubbed his hands across my arms, trying to comfort me without causing further pain. “Come on, let's go find theothers.”
He took my hand, and we walked to the living room where Griffin and Ellion sat watching anothermovie.
Ellion jumped up. “What's wrong?” he asked, worry in hiseyes.
Chandler gave me a sympathetic smile before replying. “She was attacked in the barn.” He turned to Griffin, who stared at us from the couch with a bored expression on his face. “By HunterLange.”
Griffin’s expression went from bored to infuriated in a hurry. “How could Hunter Lange have attacked Linda? That’s impossible.” He turned his rage-filled expression to me. “Where’d you hear that name? How’d you know to say his name toChandler?”
He thought I was making it up and telling them a story. “I know the name because he told me it just now inyourbarn!” That asshole. I wanted to knock his big jerky assout.
