Page 44 of Asher

“Yes, your highness,” Tippetts replied like the weak-kneed follower she was. “I will find them and bring them to you as soon as I finish setting up the cameras and audio you req—”

A long metallic arm with a finger that resembled a pliers at the end elevated out of the back of the chair and stabbed the center of the table. “I said here! Now! She dies first, but only after she screams so loud and long that Stewart finally understands what revenge is. Let her brother bleed and watch. Stewart will die a thousand deaths for what he did to me. When I’m finished, it’ll be—”

The feed went black. Thank God. Marlowe couldn’t bear to hear another word out of that bastard’s foul mouth. Her throat had already gone parchment dry, and her eyes were glued to precious little Lexie. That sweet little girl had wrapped herself in a pink slumber bag and was snoring quietly beside one of the couches. She was oblivious to the threat and she was safe. Bradley lay on his back in the center of the room, both arms spread wide, sound asleep beside protectiveWhipper.

Once again, Marlowe was thankful for Alex’s foresight in building this room.

“Steady ladies,” that same male voice whispered through their earpieces. “I’ll return you to your previously scheduled programming as soon as we take out the trash. Sit tight.”

“Like hell,” Marlowe growled, taking possession of Kelsey’s tablet like she owned it. “I have to know they’re dead. I need to see them die. Kill them both, Harley! Make it hurt!”

“Yes, ma’am,” the voice replied, like she was in charge.

“Harley?”

“Yes, darlin’, it’s me. Now go hug my wife because I know Judy’s worried. Would you do that for me?” He wasn’t the tease she’d met in the barn, not tonight.

“Yes, of course.”

“Good, cuz I’m a little busy. Bye, darlin’. Bye, Kels. Love you gals.”

“Be careful!” Marlowe ordered, but too late. Harley was already gone.

She was on her feet without the walker and on her way to do what Harley asked. But by the time Marlowe made it to the couch where Judy and Libby were sitting, her feet felt like she’d walked miles over flaming coals. Too bad. So sad. Plopping down between them, she shook off the ache and pulled her sisters in for one-armed hugs.

“I’m here, and I’m not letting go until everything’s over. Don’t even argue with me. Harley’s orders,” she snapped.Gulp. I have sisters. Five of them.Maybe more.

China and Persia flashed smiles and thumbs-ups at her. As if they sensed her emotions, both Darling and Walter climbed up on the same couch and sat on Marlowe.

“Oh, my gosh. It’s either us or the dogs, girlfriend,” Libby grumbled. “You have to choose.”

“Pick the dogs. You’re suffocating me,” Judy growled.

“Oops, sorry,” Marlowe answered, trading her girlfriends for the couch opposite them. Of course, the puppies followed. Darling promptly fell asleep on her lap. Walter stretched alongside her thigh and put his chin on his paws. He might be deaf, but he snored just like Lexie.

BOOM!Another explosion rattled the house, and Marlowe’s world narrowed down to the confines of the safe room and the people in it. No one spoke. It seemed as if everyone was holding their breath. Marlowe surely was. She couldn’t wrap her head around how Alex could’ve let a brutal murderer enter Kelsey’s beautiful house, though. The toad of Syria was just feet away from Alex’s wife and children, breathing the very same air. What was Alex thinking?

“What’ll we do if Tippetts shoots the doorknob off and finds us?” Marlowe asked quietly.

“There is no doorknob,” Libby replied. “Right, Kelsey? This room is just like ours, isn’t it?”

“Right. Alex installed what amounts to bank vault doors on every TEAM agent’s safe room, then secured those doors behind wooden panels that slide into place in case of emergencies like this one. The panel outside this room looks like ordinary walls. Ours has a family portrait hung in the middle of it. I activated vault and panel protocol after Alex called, Marlowe. There’s noway anyone can get into this room. They don’t even know it’s here. And if, by some bizarre miracle, that witch does find us…” Kelsey’s fingertips fluttered over the pistol at her side. “I’ll kill her.”

“We’ll all kill her,” Persia added, her tone as cold as ice. “Trust us. We take care of our own, Marlowe.”

“But I don’t see a bank vault door, just a regular, ordinary wooden door,” Marlowe murmured.

“That’s what you see from this side,” Kelsey explained. “If you’d looked closer when you entered this room, you would’ve seen the mechanics of the vault door hidden within the doorjamb. It almost works like a pocket door, except it’s a thousand times more secure and the jamb is quite a bit thicker. Make sense now?”

Marlowe looked over her shoulder at the ordinary looking door. “What if Jamah brought enough explosives to level the whole house? What if—?”

The lights flickered, then went out. The room turned dark. Marlowe’s throat closed. This was it. The end.

“Relax,” China ordered, as she activated the flashlight feature on her cell phone and focused its beam downward. Kelsey, Libby, Judy, and Persia did the same. “We’ve got you covered. We’re safe. So are you.”

“I’m not worried about me,” Marlowe insisted.

“We just have to sit tight and—“

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