“Oh…I’m sorry,” she smiled sweetly. “I’m notorious for wishful thinking.”
I felt Jared’s warm hand gently encompass mine. “Let’s just take one thing at a time. We don’t want to scare Nina off.”
I smiled at Jared. “It would take a lot more than that to scare me off. As if that could ever happen.”
Claire stiffened in her seat, and almost simultaneously Jared did the same. Lillian watched her son. She was waiting for something, but didn’t seem afraid. Jared turned his head, listening intently. He reminded me of a wild animal sensing danger, on alert, ears scanning the air for movement. Suddenly Claire stood up and kicked her chair against the wall. I jumped at the noise, and then it was dark.
“Bex,” Claire whispered.
Jared grabbed my arm and whisked me up the stairs, with Lillian just behind us. We rushed down a long hall, and then entered the last door to our right. He backed me into a corner and gently put his finger to my mouth. It was then that I realized something was very wrong.
I could barely make out Jared’s form in the darkness as I saw him lean over Bex’s bed and whisper in his brother’s ear before disappearing silently from the room.
It was quiet for a long time, and I jerked when I felt Lillian’s hand on my arm. My eyes darted back and forth between the door and Bex, who was lying as still as a statue in his bed.
Suddenly, a loud crash echoed from downstairs and I closed my eyes. My heart threatened to punch through my chest with every beat. Another crash came from a different area of the lower level and then two gun shots rang out. I heard scuffling, and then a male voice cried out, abruptly cutting off.
Bex remained in his bed. The room became clearer as my vision adjusted to the darkness. Unable to discern who was in the house, how many, and who was winning, I told myself that Jared was alive as long as I was.
In the next moment, a stranger dressed in black burst through the door. The bed lit up with the beam of a flashlight, and in the next moment the man charged, yanking Bex from his bed. I lunged forward when the man pressed cold metal against the boy’s temple.
“No!” I screamed. Lillian grabbed my shoulders and jerked me against her chest.
Claire appeared in the door way, targeting the intruder with her handgun. She jerked her head up once, breathing heavily. “It’s been awhile, Crenshaw.”
Even in the darkness I could see a smug smile on Claire’s face, as if she had the upper hand. Crenshaw pressed the barrel of his gun against Bex’s head.
“Claire?” Bex said, sounding as terrified as I felt.
“It’s okay. Everything’s going to be all right,” Claire assured him.
“Just let me take her, and I’ll go quietly. I’ll leave the boy down the street,” the man growled, true fear underlying his demand.
“You know that’s not going to happen, Crenshaw. Just take your life and go,” Claire said, looking down the sights of her firearm.
Crenshaw tightened his grip on his gun. “I can’t go back without her — you know that. Hand Jack’s kid over and I’ll leave the boy,” he rasped.
Bex’s head tilted from the pressure of the barrel pressing harder against his skin.
Claire’s expression was frightening, even in the darkness. “Do you know what I’ll do to you if you leave a mark on him? Ease up on that barrel, Harry.”
“I’ll go!” I said, desperate to end the standoff.
Crenshaw’s attention jerked toward me, then. “Nina?”
“I’ll go with you. Just leave them alone,” I blurted out, a tear burning down my cheek.
Claire sighed in exasperation, keeping her eyes on Crenshaw. “I’m not going to trade one brother for another, Nina. Stay where you are.”
Crenshaw cocked his weapon and Claire took one hand off her gun and held it palm-out, toward Crenshaw. “Okay. Okay, Harry. I’m laying down my weapon. Easy does it,” she said, moving slowly to lay her gun flat on the floor.
Lillian held her breath and her nails lightly dug into my shoulders.
“Your heart is racing, Crenshaw.” Claire said, standing up slowly with both hands in front of her.
“So?”
“So they warned you about us, didn’t they?”
“Yeah…so?” he sniffed.
“So, when they warned you about Jared and I, and they sent twelve of you to take on two of us, and you all came in here, guns blazing, knowing most of you wouldn’t make it out…,” she raised one eyebrow before getting to her point, “…did they warn you about Bex?”
Crenshaw’s head darted around to each side of him, unclear what Claire meant, but he looked terrified.
A small hand slowly rose into the air. “Nice to meet you, Crenshaw. I’m Bex.”
In the same second Bex’s body blurred in movement, and Crenshaw’s dark form bent unnaturally as he cried out. I heard bones snap as the intruder’s gun fell to the floor. In the next moment, Bex stood over his assailant. In one swift jerk, Bex pulled Crenshaw’s neck and a loud crack pierced the room.
Lillian exhaled as Bex stood over Crenshaw’s broken body. Claire walked over to her slightly taller, younger brother and hugged him.
“I underestimated you,” Claire said, smiling at the overgrown boy in her arms.
“And you said I wouldn’t be able to act scared enough,” he taunted.
“I admit it. I was totally wrong. There for a second I thought you were going to cry like a little girl. He didn’t see you coming for a second,” she said, pressing her fist against his jaw.
Bex playfully punched her in the arm and she ruffled his hair.
“Are you okay, Nina?” Bex asked, turning to me with a concerned expression.
I could only lift the corners of my mouth for a second, grateful when Claire motioned for him to follow her downstairs. I recoiled as I watched Bex step over Harry Crenshaw’s body like he was a piece of furniture.
Jared came through the door moments later, and after surveying the scene, walked straight to me.
“You okay, sweetheart?” he asked, pulling me tightly into his arms.
I nodded. “Where were you?”
“I had to take care of a few things downstairs. Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked again, holding my cheeks in his hands and scanning my face.
I nodded again, and then my knees buckled. Jared lifted me into his arms and carried me downstairs through the darkness.
“Should I get the lights?” Lillian asked.
“Not yet,” Jared answered.
I heard Claire trot down the stairs and rummage through a cabinet in the bathroom. With a small flashlight in her mouth, she turned to look at her back in the mirror as she flattened a pink Hello Kitty band-aid against a deep cut on her shoulder.
Jared took me outside into the night air. “Take a few slow, deep breaths. You’ll feel better soon.”
I felt a blanket surround me as Lillian kissed my forehead. “I’m so sorry, Baby. We’ll try again another night.”
I couldn’t reply. She acted as if she’d burned the pot roast, not that a group of men had broken into her home and assaulted her family to kidnap one of her guests.
“I need to take Nina home. Claire and Bex can clean up. Call me if there is a problem,” Jared said.
Lillian nodded and kissed her son.
“I am so sorry,” I choked, the guilt crushing me.
Jared’s mother cupped my cheek in her palm and stared at me with deep sympathy. “This is not your fault, Nina. It’s no one’s fault. It is what it is.” She shrugged with a small smile and I tried to return her expression, but I was afraid if I let the numbness escape me for even a moment, I would break down in front of everyone.
Once in the SUV, I asked Jared to take me to Andrews.
“Why?” he asked, genuinely surprised.
“I just want to go home,” I said, looking out the window.
Jared traced my fingers with his. “I’d feel better if you stayed with me tonight.”
“I think I…I just want to sleep in my bed,” I said, stumbling over my words. I had made the decision before I
