His pregnant wife.
Krista put the butt of the gun up to her shoulder and looked through it, then nodded. “Got it.”
I was positive my mouth was on the floor. “You’re pregnant, Krista!”
She winked at me. “Makes no difference. Just now I have more to fight for. Besides, I can still kick ass.”
Yeah, my mouth was definitely on the ground.
Then MaryAnne appeared. She held a handgun in her hand and started to motion for us to get out of the living room. “Too many open windows, let’s get into the pantry.”
Krista grabbed my hand and started toward the kitchen. I looked back at the four men ready to leave the house and head into danger. They were going to leave us alone in the house.
“Wait! We’ll be alone if they all leave. You don’t think that is what they want?”
“We don’t know what they want right now. The best thing for us is to get in the pantry and wait.”
I nodded and followed both women into the large room. MaryAnne shut the door and looked around. “I don’t know what we can use to wedge the door shut.”
Krista and I both started to look around and found nothing.
“We’ll just have to hope we won’t need to keep the door locked,” I said with a shrug.
We waited for a few minutes in silence before I said, “Billy said it was a trap. If it was, why did they all rush out there?”
MaryAnne was pacing as she replied, “Most likely to stop the barn from burning.”
“Mallory!”
The sound of Liam’s voice caused me to fly up and run out to the kitchen. “Liam!”
I ran to him and threw my body into his. “Is everyone okay? Is the barn okay?”
“The fire was outside the barn, and Bubba got it put out.”
“What happened? Did someone set it?” MaryAnne asked, relieved to see Billy and the others walk through the front door. Krista rushed to Chad and hugged him.
“There were some rags on the side of the barn that must have spontaneously combusted. I totally forgot they were there. They ignited, and the heat from the small fire caused a lid to blow off something, and that was the loud noise everyone heard.”
I put my hand to my chest and sagged in relief. “I thought maybe Jonathon had started the fire to draw everyone out.”
Liam shook his head. “No. The fire is out, and I think we’re all beyond exhausted. Randy said they aren’t going to start searching the property until morning when they can see, so I say we all go to bed and try to get some sleep.”
MaryAnne and Krista both started for the steps.
“Sounds good to me. I can hardly keep my eyes open.”
“I’m with Krista,” MaryAnne stated. “I think I’m mentally and physically exhausted.”
Once everyone headed upstairs, I turned to Liam. “This may sound crazy, but I feel like someone is out there, watching us.”
Liam drew me in and hugged me. “I feel the same way. Trust me, Mallory, everything will be fine.”
My eyes went to the window, and I stared out into the blackness. Everything inside of me was screaming Liam was wrong.
“I hope you’re right.”
He kissed me on the mouth, then guided me to our bedroom. I waited for him to take a shower, and once he got into bed, I started to tell him how I couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was out there, watching us.
