He leaned to the right but couldn’t see all the way to the end. Standing, he walked to the threshold. A light was on in one room. Another door led to a bathroom and the one next to it must be for a second bedroom. Passing the bathroom, he peered into the first bedroom. It contained a twin bed and a dresser and not much more. It was a small room. At the end of the hall, he looked into the lit bedroom. A queen-sized bed with a colorful quilt, dresser and chair filled it. He looked back toward the entrance to the spare bedroom. The wall ended before the linen closet.
Where had Demi gone?
He entered her bedroom. There was no bathroom off this room. He opened the closet. Just clothes hanging and some folded on an upper shelf. Shoes lined the floor. He parted the clothes. No passage there. Hurrying to the hall, he opened the linen closet. Nothing unusual here.
In the spare bedroom he noticed there was no window on the left wall and the window straight ahead was right at the room’s corner. He went there and looked outside. Snow fell much thicker now, but when he looked left, he saw the house extended farther than this room.
Going back to Demi’s closet, he shoved the clothes aside and searched the back wall. There had to be a hidden entrance in here. He felt the paneling until his fingers caught on a latch. Opening that, he found himself inside a nursery. The cradle was empty and the barred window was open. He shut it to keep out the cold.
He ran to the front of the cabin. Bursting through the front door, he saw Demi running for the Jeep through the heavy fall of snow. She held a bundle in front of her—the baby.
She had lied to him. She did have a baby.
“Demi! Wait!” he shouted.
Just then, gunfire erupted through the blowing wind and snow. Demi shrieked and had to duck in front of the Jeep. Lucas took out his gun and tried to determine the location of the gunman. It was difficult to see.
More bullets followed. Glass shattered and the Jeep sank as its front tire was blown out.
Lucas shot in the general direction of the gunfire. The gunman returned fire. Lucas pulled his head behind the pillar of the front porch where he’d taken cover, then leaned out and shot back several times.
Taking shelter again, he heard no more gunshots. He left the protection of the post and ran for the woods, seeing Demi with a crying baby still crouched in front of the Jeep.
Lucas slowed at the origin of the gunshots and saw footprints.
Wolf’s cries overpowered Demi’s fear. Holding him against her in the baby carrier pack she’d put on, she tried to calm him and keep him quiet. How had Devlin found her? Had Lucas led him here?
The Jeep was useless with a flat tire. She’d have to change it, and how would she do that without being noticed or being killed? Had she been able to reach the Jeep before the gunfire exploded, Wolf wouldn’t be in tears and she’d be gone. Now only her baby’s safety mattered. She had to get back to the cabin.
If she could find Lucas’s keys, she could still get away, but that would have to wait. Her conscience nettled her that she’d be leaving him here with a killer. No matter what he said, he intended to hand her over to authorities. What else could she do? She had to think of Wolf. If she was arrested, what would happen to him?
Seeing Lucas disappear into the woods, she ran to the cabin, going in the front. She took a moment to calm Wolf, rocking him and looking down into his teary green eyes. He had red hair and a cute face. Right now his cheeks were bulbous with his open and crying mouth.
“I’m sorry.” She kissed his head. “I’m sorry.” This was all Devlin’s fault. Her son should not have to endure this. He should be sleeping in his crib, warm, safe and dry.
The baby began to quiet, looking up at her in a way that always melted her, with such trust and love. His sleepy eyes closed and opened. She’d put him to bed once she was sure he felt safe again.
Demi looked around the cabin. Lucas had left nothing behind. She went to the window he’d broken in through and looked outside. There was a backpack there.
She covered Wolf in the soft blanket and checked her surroundings on the porch, making sure the gunman had fled. Lucas had no doubt chased him through the woods. She hurried to the side of the cabin. Crouching at the backpack, holding Wolf securely against her, even though the baby carrier did that for her, she saw he’d fallen asleep. She dug through the contents of Lucas’s bag. The main compartment held nothing but extra clothes and water bottles. The smaller pockets held other essentials like trail mix, a GPS and a small first aid kit. No mobile phone. No handcuffs. No keys.
Standing, she returned to the front, not seeing Lucas and not hearing any gunfire. He had his keys on him. She was trapped here. She closed and locked the door and put Wolf to bed. Seeing that Lucas had closed the window, she locked it and then the secret door before going back into the living room. It was cold in the cabin. She went to the window he’d compromised and closed and locked that. Getting duct tape from the kitchen junk drawer that served as her tool box, she taped up the hole in the glass. Before closing the drapes, she saw that two or three inches of fresh snow already covered the ground.
A knock on the front door told her Lucas had returned. He’d spent a while out there, tracking the shooter.
She went to the door and said, “Just go away, Lucas.”
“I can’t leave, Demi, especially now. Devlin got away.”
He was that sure it was Devlin who’d shot at them? Devlin could afford to hire a gunman. He’d hired witnesses. Why not a hit man?
“Go away.”
“Let me in.”
“No.”
“Demi...”
“No! Go away. You should have never come here.” She kept her voice low enough not to disturb Wolf but loud enough for Lucas to hear her.
“You need me. Let me in.”
“I don’t need you,” she snapped, her defenses flaring. What made him think she needed him?
“You have a baby. You need help. You can’t defend him on your own. Surely you can see that. I can protect you both.”
A few months ago, when she responded to Shane’s text saying that the baby was okay, she’d immediately known she’d made a mistake. She could trust her brother, but he worked with cops. They’d know to look for a woman and infant. That had been a rare error on her part.
And Lucas did have a good point. When the shooter had fired at her, she’d gone wild with anxiety that Wolf would be harmed.
But this was Lucas offering his protection.
“How can I be sure you’re going to help me?”
“You won’t be. This storm is getting bad and you have a flat tire and broken windows in your Jeep. You need a vehicle. You can’t stay here anymore, Demi. Once the storm clears, I’ll get you out of here.”
Did
