It was Charlotte who continued, “And the other woman who was here left about ten minutes ago.”
Ethan’s forehead bunched up. “What other woman? A client?”
“I don’t think so,” she replied. “She was older, maybe in her mid-fifties.”
“She came to see Chloe, and I heard her say her name,” Leah provided. “Vernice something.”
Hell. What was Vernice doing here? Ethan very much wanted the answer to that, but for now, he had a more immediate problem on his hands. He needed to keep these two as safe as possible while he went to check on Chloe and Franklin.
Of course, one of them could be the shooter. And if so, he’d have to stop them before someone else got hurt or killed.
Ethan hurried to the pantry and threw open the door. It wasn’t as large as he’d expected, but he shoved aside some boxes of supplies and motioned for the women to get in.
“Wait in here and stay quiet,” he told them. “Backup is on the way.”
That news didn’t actually soothe the women, but they both scurried into the pantry. Ethan shut the door and hoped it was enough protection for them. It was safer than moving them to the parlor since that was where several bullets had landed.
Ethan hurried back into the parlor, still listening for any other sounds. There were no more gunshots, but he wasn’t hearing Chloe, Franklin or the other client, Sienna, either.
“Charlotte and Leah are okay,” he told the others and then looked at Livvy. “Vernice was here earlier.”
She was clearly just as shocked by that info as Ethan had been. “What was she doing here?”
“Don’t know,” Ethan replied just as Veronica added, “She didn’t stay long and left before you got here.”
Maybe his former mother-in-law had left. But it occurred to him that Vernice could be the one who’d fired the shots. He wasn’t sure why she would do something like that, but given as much as she loathed Livvy and him, Vernice might have used their visit as an attempt to kill them.
But how would Vernice have known they’d come here? Maybe she had his house staked out, waiting for her chance to get to them.
And that had Ethan debating what to do.
If Vernice was still in the house and if she had killing on her mind, she would almost certainly have Livvy as her primary target. And him. It sickened Ethan to think the woman might do something like that, but he had to at least consider the possibility. But unless she’d had a total break, Vernice would have no reason to hurt any of the surrogates.
“Go to the kitchen,” he told Veronica and Hannah. “Take cover in the pantry with Charlotte and Leah. Don’t come out until we come get you.”
Whenever that would be. Once backup arrived, the entire place would have to be searched.
The women seemed more than eager to do as Ethan had said, and he couldn’t blame them. Especially when there was another shot. This one didn’t tear through the parlor wall, but Ethandidn’t want them to wait around for that to happen. Even if they weren’t the intended targets, a bullet could end up killing them.
“Stay low and move fast,” he instructed the women, and Livvy and he hurried with them to the kitchen.
Once they were inside the pantry, he shifted his attention back to Livvy. “Please stay behind me,” he muttered.
She didn’t argue, but he saw the worry in her eyes. “Just be careful,” she whispered.
“You, too,” he insisted.
And they started toward the other side of the house, where he was pretty sure those gunshots had been fired. He didn’t call out to Chloe, Franklin or Sienna. No need to give the shooter their location.
They made their way across the foyer, ducking behind a desk for a moment and listening. There were no sounds other than their quick breaths so they kept moving into the corridors on the west side of the house.
He’d been right about the treatment rooms being here. Two of them. The doors were open, and one resembled the kind of exam area in a doctor’s office, complete with adjustable table. The other was more of a surgical suite.
Since there was a lot of equipment in each room, Livvy and he had to check them both out in case the shooter was hiding. Or Sienna, who could be terrified or hurt. But after a thorough search, they didn’t find anyone.
In the distance, he heard the sound of sirens. Good. Backup was nearly here, and while he kept watch around them, he took out his phone and texted Grace to let her know their location in the house. Ethan added for backup to approach with caution, and he also mentioned the whereabouts of the women in the pantry.
“They’re less than two minutes out,” he whispered to Livvy once he’d finished the text.
