Chapter Ten
Veronic a shrieked, and the woman did an about-face, running toward them. Ethan had no doubts that what he’d just heard was a gun going off, and he took hold of Veronica’s arm. So did Livvy, and they pulled her into the parlor and behind the wall.
Both Livvy and he drew their guns.
Waiting and listening.
The shot had definitely come from inside the house, but he hadn’t been able to pinpoint it. He didn’t want either of them to go charging through the place when they could be gunned down. Still, they couldn’t stay put either.
Not when someone’s life might’ve been at stake.
Livvy took out her phone, and he heard her call dispatch to report a shot being fired. Good. It meant backup would soon be on the way. As far as Ethan was concerned, it couldn’t come fast enough.
Because they might be inside with a killer.
“What was that?” someone shouted. Not Chloe but a woman, and Ethan glanced at Veronica since she would likely know who it was.
She did. “That’s Hannah Brooks.”
One of the surrogates, he recalled. He’d seen her in the garden shortly before that attack on Sunny.
“Stay put,” he told Livvy and Veronica.
With Livvy muttering for him to be careful, he went out into the foyer and saw the surrogate rushing toward him. “In here,” Ethan told her, leading her into the parlor. “Did you see what happened? Do you know who fired the shot?”
Hannah’s eyes were wide, and her breath was gusting as she frantically shook her head. “Is it someone after Sunny? Because she’s not here.”
Hell. He’d hoped Hannah might be able to give them some insight as to what was going on. “Could you tell where the shot came from?” he asked.
But before Hannah could answer, there was another gunshot. Then, another. The third bullet ripped through the wall of the parlor too damn close to where Livvy and Veronica were standing.
“Oh, God. Leah and Charlotte are in the kitchen,” Hannah blurted.
Leah was the other surrogate he’d seen, and Charlotte was a client. And Ethan soon heard them or maybe someone else. There were definitely some shrieks coming from the back of the house. That was probably where the kitchen was located.
“Charlotte and Leah, get down,” he shouted. “Everyone get down,” he added in an even louder voice so that anyone upstairs might be able to hear him as well.
Thankfully, Hannah and Veronica instantly complied. Even Livvy ducked down some. Not enough though, and Ethan cursed himself for her once again being in the path of danger. Which meant their baby was in danger, too.
And not just theirs but the babies the surrogates were carrying.
“Is anyone hurt?” Ethan called out a heartbeat later.
“No,” several women answered in unison. One of them might have been Chloe, but he couldn’t be sure. What he was certain of was that Franklin hadn’t responded. He hadn’t heard a male voice.
“Who else is in the house?” he asked Hannah.
She shook her head again, and it took her a couple of seconds to respond. “Chloe and Franklin. And Sienna.”
Ethan recalled that name, too. She was a client, and Leah was carrying her child. “What about Sienna’s husband?”
“He’s not here. Still away on business. And I haven’t seen Sienna this morning.” Hannah stopped talking and screamed when there was another shot.
“All right,” Ethan muttered, pulling his thoughts together. He met Livvy eye to eye. “I’m going to the kitchen to make sure everyone there is safe. Just wait here. I won’t be long.”
She didn’t repeat her Be careful, but he could see it in her eyes. Could see the fear, too. It was always terrifying to be caught up in gunfire. It was worse, though, when they had so many other lives at stake.
Another shot blasted into the wall of the parlor, and this time, Ethan had a better idea of where it’d come from—on the other side of the house where he thought there were offices and treatment areas.
He wished now that he’d actually studied the layout of the place rather than just glancing at it in the background notes.
He gave Livvy one last look that he hoped conveyed that he didn’t want her to take any unnecessary risks. It was just a glance, but a whole lot of things passed between them. They’d both be careful.
And hopefully that would be enough.
Staying low and keeping his gun ready, Ethan slipped out of the parlor. He kept his footsteps as light as possible so he could hear if anyone was approaching. He definitely didn’t want to be ambushed or, worse, have the shooter storm into the parlor and start firing.
He threaded his way through the living and dining rooms and into the massive kitchen that spanned the entire width of the house. His stomach dropped when he didn’t see the women, but he heard some gusting breaths and whirled around to spot them.
Charlotte and Leah were huddled together on the floor next to the fridge. Both of them were holding huge knives. Good for them. Though knives wouldn’t do much good against a gun.
“You’re okay?” he verified in a whisper.
The women nodded and continued to cling to each other. “Who’s shooting?” Charlotte asked.
“Don’t know yet. Have you seen Chloe or Franklin?” he asked.
“No,” they replied.
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 Ethan didn’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.
That didn’t put a whole lot of relief on her face, and he knew why. They still didn’t know where the shooter was. Or any potential victims.