Chapter 39
We’re once again roused from sleep by Johnny, but this time it’s still dark out. He signals for us to stay quiet. I freeze when I spot the revolver in his hand.
“There’s someone in the house,” he whispers, voice like steel. “Axel, grab a gun and stay with Lina. Lock yourselves in, and don’t leave her. No matter what. I need to find out what’s going on.”
He’s gone before we can respond.
Axel moves fast, disappearing through the bathroom into his room to retrieve the Glock from his gun safe. I lock the door behind Johnny and wait, heart pounding. Axel returns within a minute and locks the bathroom door behind him, sealing us in.
We sit in silence, our ears straining to hear anything beyond the pounding of our own hearts.
Every creak, every breath feels too loud.
Minutes stretch like hours. I’m about to ask if we should check on everyone, when two gunshots ring out.
One after another. Followed a few seconds later by a third.
I cry out and grasp onto Axel, shaking like a leaf.
“In the closet, now. You need to hide.” He grabs me by the arm and forces me into the tiny space.
“No! Don’t leave me!” I clutch onto him, desperately. I can’t be alone. Not again. Not with this kind of fear crawling up my spine.
“I’m not leaving the room, Princess,” he promises. “I’ll be right here, guarding the doors. But I need you in here so I know where you are and that you’re safe. Okay?”
The last thing I want is to be a distraction. But, seconds later, footsteps thunder up the stairs.
“Axel! Lina! We need you!” Johnny yells.
Relieved to hear his voice alive and well, I clumsily follow Axel’s hurried footfalls. As if in a daze, I make my way downstairs, not quite comprehending the situation.
Johnny says something to Axel, and they take off through the front door. Ben yells something after them. He’s crouched behind the leather couch, speaking frantically to someone on his cellphone.
“Yes, we need an ambulance! My wife’s been shot!”
The words slam into me.
I round the couch, and there she is. Maryanne lies in a rapidly growing pool of blood, her face ashen. Her body trembling.
“Lina! I need pressure on this!” Ben yells.
I can’t feel my legs when I kneel down on Maryanne’s other side. My hands shake when I take over pressing the towel to her stomach. The towel is warm and sticky, already saturated with her blood, and I have to fight the urge not to puke.
Maryanne’s shivering. She looks so small. So helpless. Nothing like the woman I’ve grown to care for and respect.
“It’s going to be okay,” Ben repeats over and over, more for him than for her. He stands and starts pacing, gripping his hair, barely holding it together.
Finally, we hear the wail of sirens in the distance.
“Lina, I need you to stay with her. Johnny and Axel ran after him. I need to make sure they don’t do something they can’t come back from. Please. Don’t leave her.”
“I won’t,” I quietly promise.
At my word, he runs out the door, gun in tow. I focus on Maryanne. Her lips move slightly. She’s not speaking, but her eyes lock on mine, seeming to silently convey the words she can’t say.
“You’re going to be okay,” I tell her, trying to believe it. “You have to be. Ben and Johnny and Axel need you. I need you. So don’t you dare give up. You fight, Maryanne.”
Flashing lights bathe the front porch. The paramedics rush in and take over.
I back away as they swarm her, calling vitals, issuing orders, radioing the hospital.
In mere moments, they have her on a stretcher and out the door.
All that remains is the dark, red stain on the rug, seeping into the floor like a wound.
I follow them, unable to let her go alone. Ben, Johnny, and Axel are still missing.
Flagging down a police officer, I quickly tell him what I know.
“There was an intruder. My father and stepbrothers went after him. Everyone’s armed.”
He relays the information to the others, and a group of them disappear into the night. I climb into the ambulance beside Maryanne. Everything is chaos. The flashing lights, shouted medical terms, the beeping of machines I don’t understand...
I have a good idea who was in our house. But I’m praying that I’m wrong. Because if I’m right, this is all my fault.
I turn my focus on watching the paramedic work to keep Maryanne stable.
But by the time we arrive at the hospital, it’s too late.
She’s gone.