“I can fight,” they both whispered.
“We know you can,” Ash said. “But do this for me.” He touched his wife’s face. “Please.”
“We will stand behind you” was Dorrie’s concession.
“On the stairs,” Ash added. “Stay here. I do not want a stray bullet to hit you.”
“But it’s okay if—” The remainder of her words were muffled by Ash’s hand.
“Stay.”
Warwick pulled out the pistol.
“Our family are near,” Wolf whispered. “I feel them.”
Warwick slowly opened the door.
“How close is Samantha?” he asked Wolf softly.
“Close but not behind that door. My guess would be that what the boy said was true. She is on the other side of the room.”
They stepped inside, leaving the twins on the stairs.
“Someone is there, I tell you,” a voice whispered.
“These old buildings creak all the time.”
Warwick moved closer to Wolf and waved Ash to his side.
“They’re getting nervous,” he said softly. “How many are there, Wolf?”
“Two plus Samantha.”
“How is her color?”
Wolf’s eyes turned bright green briefly as he looked at the wall. “Weaker but all right.”
“We need a distraction,” Warwick whispered. “If we go in, she could be hurt in the cross fire. It’s too risky.”
“I see Dev and Harry. James too. Others are arriving,” Wolf said.
“Is Eden there?” Warwick asked. Wolf nodded.
He walked across the room and out the door to the stairs his sisters stood on. Holding his finger to his lips, he spoke.
“We need a distraction, Eden,” he said, knowing she’d hear, as her earplugs would also be removed. “Make it loud and do it now. We have no time to wait. Samantha is injured but all right. We need to get her out.”
“I hear you, Warwick.”
“We must lure two men from a room she’s in. Whatever you do make it loud enough for them to think they can leave undetected.”
“We will think of something,” Eden said. “Stay safe, little brother.”
“And you,” he said. He touched his sisters’ cheeks before walking back into the room. “I have asked Eden to make some kind of distraction. Now we get into place and wait,” he whispered.
Warwick, Wolf, and Ash stood to the left and right of the door. Pistols ready.
The sound of raised voices minutes later had him tensing. He heard screams. Next came smashing glass. Warwick looked at Wolf, but he just shrugged as if to say who knew what their family was doing outside.
