“Who
The time for stealth was over. Logan raised his gun and fired through the open door from inside the house. Though he was a good marksman, it was dark and the weapon was an unfamiliar one, hindered by the suppressor. The bullet went left of its intended target, clipping Dr. Paskota in the arm instead of hitting her in the shoulder like he’d intended.
She jerked sideways and dropped to the ground, facing the house.
Clausen hit the grass, too.
“Who’s in there?” the doctor yelled.
Logan stepped to the side, out of direct line of the guns. He pointed at the window on the other side of the door. Dev nodded, dropped into a crouch, and snuck over to it.
Staying in the darkness, Logan edged back out just enough so he could see the woman.
“The next shot takes you down,” Logan yelled.
Bullets flew into the house, but hit only wall.
“You want to try again?” Logan asked.
“Harper?” Dr. Paskota said.
“Right on the first try, Doctor.”
There was a pause. “How about we make a deal? We walk away, and you can come out and help your friends.”
Dev whispered, “The other one’s sneaking up to the house.”
That wasn’t a surprise. Logan hadn’t believed the woman for a second.
“How about you put your guns down and we don’t kill you?” Logan countered.
“I don’t think so. Tell me, is the woman with you?”
“Not anymore. Right now she’s with her husband and baby. Oh, and my dad, too.”
“I guess I misjudged you, huh?”
“I guess so.”
Dev looked over. “Can’t see him anymore.”
Logan stepped back so he could no longer see what was going on.
“So tell me, Dr. Paskota, what are your clients going to say when the FBI shows up at their homes and starts asking about these babies you’ve created for them?”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I know enough to know that creating children just so they could provide parts for a biological parent is probably going to get you quite a few years in prison.”
Silence, then, “That’s not going to happen. Once we take care of you, I’ll find the girl, and this will all just be a bad memory.”
Logan was about to agree with the last part, but before he could say anything, someone shouted, “No!”
Then Reggie barked.
CHAPTER EIGHTY — TWO
Alan wasn’t about to just stand around and wait. As soon as Mr. Harper was on the phone, he quickly made his way back to the corner.
He was only halfway to his sister’s house when he heard several dull thuds coming from somewhere near her place. He picked up his speed.
The front door was open, but he was smart enough to not rush through it. Instead, he decided the best idea would be to circle around the house. That way, he might be in a position to surprise the people who were trying to hurt his wife.
With effort, he climbed the fence and let himself down gently on the other side. Reggie was in the pen. When he saw that his visitor was Alan, he struggled to his feet, loped over, and began licking Alan’s hand.
“No, Reggie,” Alan whispered, petting the dog on the head.
He moved over to the gate of the pen and slipped his hand through the wire, undoing the latch. Suddenly there were more of the thuds. This time they were accompanied by voices-a woman and Logan Harper.
It was clear the woman was one of the people after his wife and daughter. All the anger and emotions that had plagued him since his wife left suddenly had focus.
This woman. She was the problem.
He tried to focus on what was being said, but was having a hard time making some of the connections. Logan was saying something about creating children and biological parents and prison, but it didn’t fully make sense.
What he heard next did.
“That’s not going to happen,” the woman said. “Once we take care of you, I’ll find the girl, and this will all just be a bad memory.”
Emily. She meant Emily.
Without even realizing it, he was running through the gate.
“No!”
CHAPTER EIGHTY — THREE
“It’s Alan,” Dev said, his view on that part of the yard better than Logan’s.
Immediately they both raced for the door.
“She’s not yours!” Alan yelled.
Logan sent a bullet toward Paskota. He twisted to the side as he raced out the doorway, and fired twice at the man along the wall. As Logan’s bullet caught him in the shoulder, the man spun and reflexively pulled his own trigger.
Alan, who had just rounded the corner, yelped as he fell to the ground.
“Watch him!” Logan said to Dev, with a quick nod at the guy he’d just shot. He whipped back around to cover the doctor, but Dr. Paskota wasn’t there anymore.
If shehad gone into the bushes, Logan would have heard that. So the only place she could be was along the side of the garden shed.
“It’s over, Dr. Paskota,” Logan yelled. “You know it is.”
As soon as the last word was out of his mouth, he raced quietly across the grass to the shed.
“You’re a dead man, Harper,” the woman said.
CHAPTER EIGHTY — FOUR
“It’S over, Dr. Paskota,” Harper yelled. “You know it is.”
Erica’s mind raced. There had to be some way out of this. She was Dr. Erica Paskota! She was the one who called the shots. She was the one in charge. Things couldn’t be this fucked up. They just couldn’t!
She winced as pain radiated out of her wound. Her
