Chapter Sixteen #2
And Addie had to pray that it would be enough. Thankfully, it was an old-fashioned cast-iron one that might stop any gunfire from getting to them.
Etta Jean had plenty of fear on her face, and she was shaking her head before Addie even finished. “You should wait in here, too. You should stay with us where you’ll be safe.”
Maybe. But she couldn’t. Addie had to put a barrier between the twins and the killer, and if necessary, she’d do that with her own body.
“Bennie’s in the bedroom,” Addie reminded the woman. “And Judson will be here soon.”
She had no doubts about that. Well, he would be arriving soon if he’d heard the window shattering.
Or if he’d realized the killer was breaking into the house.
If not, well…she didn’t want to consider that right now.
Addie only wanted to focus on stopping the monster who had put her babies in harm’s way.
Addie brushed a quick kiss on the twins’ cheeks. “I’ll lock the door behind me,” she added to Etta Jean.
And with that, she hurried out of the bathroom.
She did indeed lock the door, and Addie immediately glanced around to find Bennie. He was in the open doorway of her bedroom, and with his gun ready, he was peering into the hall. Or rather, he had been until he heard her behind him, and he threw her a quick look from over his shoulder.
Correction: a quick glare.
Addie could see that even though the only illumination in the room came from the twins’ night-light and the light in the hall.
“You’re supposed to stay in the bathroom,” Bennie reminded her in a hoarse grumble.
That had indeed been the plan when Judson had left to hurry up to the roof. But that was when the attacker had still been outside. The broken window had changed everything.
“I have my gun,” she replied. “And there’s no window in the bathroom. The killer will have to get through us to get in there.”
Bennie muttered some profanity, but he didn’t order her back into the bathroom. He just continued to keep watch of the hall. “Rory thinks there could be two of them,” Bennie whispered. “So, keep an eye on the windows in here.”
Sweet heaven. She had already known that was a possibility, but it shook her to the core to hear Bennie spell it out.
Rory and Calvin would also be aware there was a pair of attackers, and that probably meant they wouldn’t be coming into the house to help.
They were likely looking for the second one before he or she could get inside as well.
Since there could be two of them working together, did that mean this was Jennifer and Elijah? Or, heck, Jennifer and Shane?
Maybe.
But it could be none of them if they’d gone the route of hiring thugs to do their dirty work. That didn’t make the situation any less dangerous. Just the opposite. Because they might not be dealing with amateurs but rather trained killers.
That thought was eating at her like acid, so she had to nudge it aside. Addie also had to tamp down her breathing so that she didn’t risk hyperventilating.
Her heartbeat was a problem, too.
It was so loud in her ears that it was making it hard for her to hear, which was critical when it came to stopping someone trying to get in through the windows or approaching up the hall.
She kept a firm grip on her gun. Stayed vigilant. Listening. Waiting. She also calculated that it’d been less than two minutes since she’d first heard that sound of the breaking glass.
Not long.
But it felt like an eternity.
If Judson had heard the glass, too, he would have likely made his way off the roof by now and was racing through the attic to get to the ladder in the second-floor hall. So, Addie listened for his footsteps as well.
And she heard something.
After a few more seconds, there was a heavy thud above her. Maybe the sound of Judson dropping from that ladder to the floor. If so, he would have immediately broken into a run, which meant he’d be here in under a minute.
And that caused every muscle in her body to twist and knot.
Mercy. Judson could be running straight into the killer. In fact, the killer might be waiting in the shadows to gun Judson down. Then, he or she would have a clearer path to getting to her.
She was about to call out to Judson, to warn him, but as she opened her mouth, the night-light blinked off. So did the overhead light in the hall, plunging them into total darkness.
Oh, God.
The killer had done this.
Had somehow managed to cut the power. Which wouldn’t have been hard to do, if he or she had gotten to the fuse box on the kitchen wall.
But then she remembered something. One of the ranch hands was supposed to be in the kitchen. Had the killer knocked him out? Or murdered him? She prayed not, but if he was capable of it, the hand would have probably called out to let them know there was immediate danger.
Once again, Addie had to try to level her breathing so she could stay focused and listen. And she soon heard something.
Footsteps.
Not someone running. These were slow, cautious steps. And they were coming straight for the bedroom. Maybe Judson.
Perhaps the killer.
Heck, it could be both of them, one coming from the front of the hall and the other from the back that fed off the kitchen. Without any illumination and no windows, the hall was pitch-black. Judson wouldn’t be able to see the killer.
And vice versa.
Except maybe that wasn’t true.
If the killer had made plans to cut the power, then he or she could have also brought along night vision goggles. Which meant the killer could see Judson and shoot him.
Addie couldn’t stop herself from moving closer to Bennie and the door. She wanted to be able to help Judson if he needed it. She also wanted to stop the killer from claiming a fourth victim.
She had to shut out thoughts of Judson dying. Of him being hurt and bleeding out the way Yvette had done. She was trying to shut out everything but the sounds around her. The footsteps.
Yes, she could hear them. From the front of the hall. That would probably be Judson, making his way to them. Risking his life to try to protect them.
Addie could also hear the faint whimpering of one of the babies, and she prayed Lily and Rose weren’t frightened, that they weren’t picking up on all the danger around them. Also, if the whimpering turned to full-out cries, the killer would have no trouble pinpointing their location.
That got Addie moving even closer to the door, but she came to a dead stop at the sound of the gunshot. It roared through the house, a deafening blast that sent her heart racing and her fears skyrocketing.
Mercy.
Had Judson been shot?
She couldn’t accept that. Wouldn’t. And she tried to listen for any indication that he was hurt. But all she could hear now were those full-out cries from not just one baby but both of them. Probably from the sound of that gunshot. She hated that the little girls were being put through this.
Addie blinked several times, trying to get her eyes to adjust to the darkness, and she could finally see Bennie. Well, the outline of him, anyway. She couldn’t see anything or anyone in the hall, though. It was a black void where a killer no doubt was coming for them.
But where was Judson?
Was he lying in wait, too? Waiting until he could see the killer before he tried to take him out?
There was more movement. Footsteps this time. And she heard Bennie mutter something under his breath that she didn’t catch. But she had no trouble catching the next sound.
Another gunshot.
This one seemed even louder than the first, something she hadn’t thought possible. Maybe because it was closer? Was the killer right outside the bedroom door? It certainly seemed as if he was.
There was a flash of light. A bright burst of it, and Addie thought of those old cameras with the bulbs. It caused spots in her vision, smears and blurs blending with the darkness. It must have done the same for Bennie, because he rubbed at his eyes with the back of his left hand.
There was another shot.
Even louder, and closer, than the last one.
Bennie made a sound. A sort of grunt, and now that she could see slightly better, Addie saw something she definitely hadn’t wanted to see.
The deputy collapsed in the doorway.
God, had Bennie been shot?
Addie couldn’t see any blood, but it would have been next to impossible to catch sight of that anyway in the darkness and based on the way he’d fallen. Bennie was curled up in a heap on the floor.
However, she had no trouble seeing the figure that hurdled over Bennie. It happened at the exact second she heard another gunshot. But it wasn’t coming from the figure wearing all black and night-vision goggles.
The shot had come from the hall.
Addie brought up her gun, trying to take aim.
But it was too late.
Everything was too late. The killer charged right at her, ramming into her and knocking her to the floor.