and Spence alive.
She clicked on his nightstand lamp. Shades covered his windows, probably so he could sleep after getting off a night shift at the hospital.
“Spence, wake up.” She gave his shoulder a gentle nudge.
More pounding echoed from the front door.
“Spence?” When that didn’t work, she decided to use his full name. “Dr. Kyle Spencer, wake up.”
The doctor moaned and blinked his eyes open. “What, where am I?”
Her breath caught in her throat. Did he really not know he was in his own bedroom? Or was he disoriented because she’d awakened him from a deep sleep?
“What is that racket?” He rolled onto his back and threw an arm across his eyes as if he intended to fall back asleep.
“You can’t go back to sleep. Someone’s trying to break in.”
“What?” He sat up abruptly and gripped his head with both hands. “Ah, man.” He looked at her with bloodshot eyes. “What are you still doing here?”
“Yell at me later. Do you keep any weapons in the cabin?”
“I’m a doctor,” he said, as if that was explanation enough.
“So no weapons then.”
“Is it the same guy?”
“Unless you have other enemies we don’t know about.”
He shot her a look, then said, “We can sneak out through the window.” He wavered as he crossed the room, looking like someone who’d been overserved at the local pub.
Maddie knew that running wasn’t an option. With Spence in his current state they’d be easy prey in the wilderness. At least inside the cabin they could hold their ground.
His started to open the window.
“Don’t,” she said. “I’ve got a better idea. I saw chili powder in your kitchen earlier.”
“Chili powder?”
“Come on.” She motioned to him.
Instead, he stared at her.
The pounding stopped. Which was not necessarily a good thing. The guy could be gearing up to bust his way through the door with an ax. She’d noticed one on the front porch, probably for chopping wood.
She dashed out of the bedroom and whipped open a kitchen cabinet. Spence came up behind her, opened a drawer and took out a butcher knife. He glanced at her, the knife clutched in his hand.
“He could just as easily use that on us.” She grabbed chili powder and flung open the cabinet beneath the sink. “Here, you take the fire extinguisher.” She handed it to him. “Spray him in the face and whack him over the head with the tank. Got it?”
“Spray and whack, sure.”
There wasn’t much confidence in his voice. He was probably still groggy from sleep, or the head injury, or a combination of both.
She’d have to rely on her own strength and determination to get them out of this dangerous situation.
Tapping echoed from the bedroom. The guy was trying to get in through the bedroom window. She encouraged the doctor to crouch behind the kitchen island, out of sight. “Stay down.”
She spotted a hiking stick propped against the wall by the front door. After temporarily blinding the attacker with the chili powder, she’d use the stick as a defensive weapon. Karate class would come in handy tonight.
She would position herself behind a large leather armchair, the perfect position from which to make her attack. On her way to the hiding spot, she opened the front door to confuse the intruder, making it look like she and the doc had fled—a risky move if there was a second assailant but good strategy if the guy was alone.
She’d be ready either way.
A crash echoed from the bedroom.
Heart hammering against her chest, she ducked behind the chair, gripping the stick in one hand and the chili powder in the other. No one entered through the front door, which was certainly a good sign. It meant they were dealing with only the one intruder who had breached the bedroom window, most likely the same guy who’d attacked the doctor in the mountains and shoved her against the wall in the hospital last night.
Maddie waited, calmed her breathing and prayed to God for help. She wasn’t a violent person by nature, but needed to do what was necessary to protect herself and the doc.
The wooden floorboards creaked as the guy made his way through the cabin.
“Doctor?” he said. “Where are you?”
Silence rang in her ears.
“Get out of my cabin!” Dr. Spencer ordered.
What? She’d told him to stay hidden, out of sight. Did his brain injury cause him to forget her instructions? Maddie peered around the chair she was using as cover. The intruder was stalking Dr. Spencer from the other side of the kitchen island.
“You need to come with me,” the guy said.
“Why, so you can kill me?” Spence was gripping the fire extinguisher to his chest, but not pointing it at the guy.
The guy was tall, broad-shouldered, wearing a black jacket but no mask, which meant he wasn’t worried about being identified because he planned to kill the witness to this attack.
He planned to kill the doctor.
But Spence wasn’t the only witness.
The assailant drew a knife. “One way or another, Doc.”
Maddie jumped out of her hiding spot. “Hey!”
The guy turned to her, more irritated than anything else. He had a full beard of dark hair and piercing brown eyes.
He started toward her.
“The cops are on the way,” she said, clutching the hiking stick.
She had to make him drop the knife.
He took a step closer. “You weren’t supposed to be here.”
If only he’d get close enough. She fingered the container of chili powder in her other hand.
Spence suddenly grabbed him from behind.
“No!” she cried, fearing the bearded guy would slash him with the knife.
The guy elbowed Spence in the ribs and the doctor released his grip, dropping to his knees.
As the stranger turned his attention to Maddie, she lunged...
Hurling chili powder into his eyes.
The
