Steele throws a glass mug that Skyler barely dodges, letting it crash against the wall behind him.
In the few seconds his focus is no longer on him, the officer pulls his gun from his belt, pointing it directly at Skyler.
On instinct, he puts his hands up in surrender. Skyler might be a hell of a fighter, but a pair of fists isn’t gonna do much against a man with a gun that has no qualms about getting his hands dirty.
I can’t hear it go off, but the bright spark and blood splattering through Skyler’s shoulder onto the wall behind him are enough to know Steele isn’t hesitating or holding back.
It shouldn’t be a kill shot, but the next one could very well be.
Cormac abandons all hope of being subtle or sneaky, running down the stairs and into the kitchen.
He finds the scene unfolding, and again, I wish I could hear any of what they’re saying to understand what the hell is happening.
The only thing I can understand is that Benjamin Steele is standing there, pointing a gun at Cormac, yelling something at him, and Skyler is in agonizing pain, using the wall to support himself as he holds onto his shoulder with his other hand, blood pouring from the wound in sickening spurts.
Looking at the situation before me, my stomach fills with knots.
Skyler is going to be completely useless with a bullet wound in his shoulder. Cormac might be insanely talented with a knife, but he’s way too far from his target to be able to use it. There's no way for them to get out of this alone.
If I open the door, there’s a slight chance I’m giving a dirty cop the keys to everything Cormac and Skyler have ever done.
But if I don’t, there’s not a doubt in my mind he’s going to kill them.
Texting either one of them right now to let them in on my plan would be foolish. Distracting either one of them with a text would be the absolute dumbest thing I could do.
Well, second dumbest. Behind what I’m actually about to do.
Before I can make a decision, I watch another shot spark out of Steele’s gun and abandon all rational thought, readying to flee from the safe room as Cormac collapses and Steele approaches him.
Chapter 37
Did I Say That Out Loud?
CORMAC
Parking half a block down the road, Skyler and I spill out of the car and run toward the house.
My heart is racing with fury and fear, my only thought keeping that fucking prick as far away from my girl as possible.
“I’ll go in here, you go climb into a window or something,” Skyler grumbles, still fighting against the nausea from the car ride.
I nod, filtering off to sneak around the building.
I’ve thought a thousand times since I’ve been back about how I would break into my own house if I had to.
Truthfully, I do it for almost every house I see, some weird form of meditation or something I picked up with my other unhealthy habits.
Starting from the fence, I pull myself up onto the ledge overlooking my small yard before using all of my upper body strength to hold myself up with one hand and open the window with the other.
Sliding through the opening, I land silently, listening for any kind of clue about what’s happening downstairs.
I can vaguely hear Skyler’s voice followed by Ben’s, but it’s impossible to tell what they’re saying. As long as there’s no shouting or shooting, I’ll assume Sky is just getting a little information out of him before deciding how to deal with it.
As I reach the top of the stairs, my phone silently vibrates in my pocket.
There’s almost no one who has my new number. Basically just Brigit, Sky, and Stella.
Knowing it has to be one of them, and likely one of the two within the walls of this house, I pull my phone out and see a text from Brigit, telling me Skyler and Steele are in the kitchen.
