Page 37 of Her Delta Force Protector

The dog hesitated as he gave Kade a worried look. Damn dog knew something wasn’t right. Kade pushed Duke’s butt. “Go with her. Keep her safe.” As if Duke understood the seriousness of his job in this strange situation, he raced after Everly.

As Kade headed back to the deck, he pulled out his phone and called Tristan. He’d give anything to have his gun, but he’d locked it up in the safe in his closet when they’d gotten home, and he didn’t have time to go get it. While the phone rang, he grabbed a knife from a kitchen drawer. He doubted the shooter would dare come to the house, but if he did, he’d have a weapon. He went to the open door and peered around the door frame.

Harper was still behind the overturned table, her body flattened to the deck. One advantage of her being military, she knew how to follow orders. She looked over at him and gave him a thumbs-up.Good girl.

When Tristan answered, Kade said, “Active shooter on the property. Come in hot.” He disconnected without waiting for his brother to answer. Tristan would know what to do, and he’d bring reinforcements. If the shooter was still hanging around, the sirens would scare him off.

If it wasn’t for Everly and Harper, and needing to protect them, Kade would go after the asshole who dared to try to hurt his people. But their safety came first, and he wasn’t about to leave them unguarded.

First order of business was getting Harper inside, and the table was too heavy for her to drag to the door. He army-crawled—pulling himself along with his elbows—to her. “You okay?”

“Yeah. Is Everly safe?”

It warmed him that her first concern was Everly. “Affirmative. Now let’s get you safe. I’m going to pull the table to the door while you stick to my side like your life depends on it.” Because it did.

She nodded. “Ready when you are.”

Sirens blared in the distance, and it sounded like Tristan’s entire police force was barreling down on them. Good. “Go.” He dragged the table along as they crawled to the door. With the noise the cops were making, Kade was positive their shooter had beat feet, but he wasn’t taking any chances.

When they reached the doorway, he let go of the table. “Go.” He followed her inside, and as soon as they were away from the sliding door, she jumped into his arms and wrapped her legs around his waist.

“Well, that was exciting...not.” She smashed her face against his neck.

He wrapped his arms around her. “You did good, babe.” And now that she was safe, his heart could stop trying to pound itself out of his chest.Anytime would be good, heart.

Tristan burst in with Parker right behind him. “Where’s Everly?” Parker said.

“Upstairs hiding under my bed with Duke.”

Parker rushed out of the kitchen, and Harper dropped her legs to the floor. Kade wanted to haul her back, keep her safe in his arms, but he let go of her. He’d rather face a dozen tangos alone than have someone shooting at her.

“I can’t stay here,” she said. “I won’t risk Everly getting hurt. Or any of you.”

He’d already decided they had to leave for that very reason. “We’re not staying. Go pack your things.”

“You’re not coming with me. I’ll never forgive myself if something happens to you.”

Silly girl. “You’re with me until we catch these bastards. Go pack. That’s an order, LT.”

Her eyes narrowed as she huffed an annoyed breath. “I don’t like you.”

“You’ll get over it.”

“Doubtful,” she muttered as she stomped off.

“Talk to me,” Tristan said after she left.

Kade told him what happened. “We need to go look around. Can you put two of your men on the front and back doors while we do that?”

“On it. I’ll meet you out back in a few minutes.”

“Tell them not to let Harper sneak out.” She’d totally do it.

“I was planning on it.”

After a detour to his closet to get his gun, he went hunting.

Chapter Eighteen

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