Page 102 of Midnight Secrets

Blood oozed from the wound on his chest and poured over my fingers.

“Holy shit. Jesus Christ, Oz, are you okay?”

“Yeah.” I glanced up. “Call an ambulance. Where are Claire and Mina?”

“Outside.” He pulled out his phone. “I made them stay in the truck. They’re both armed. Your girl’s got a nice hunting rifle collection.”

I could see that by the one hanging over his shoulder. “After you call for help, go back out and get them. We need to stick together. This isn’t over yet.”

CHAPTER 36

Claire

Iclutched the door, leaving nail dents in the leather as I stared out the windshield of Ellis’s truck at the broken front window of Ozzie’s house. My other hand clutched my Mini-14 rifle. I wanted to run in there and help, but Ellis told us to stay in the truck. That we could make things worse since we didn’t know what we were doing.

He was right, but that didn’t make waiting any easier. Especially since we heard gunfire when we arrived.

But it was quiet now.

“This is ridiculous,” Mina growled. She leaned forward from the backseat to stare through the windshield. “Is he okay or not? We haven’t heard any more shots since Ellis went in. Why hasn’t he come back out to tell us if Oscar’s okay?”

Why, indeed? It had only been a minute, but he should be able to assess the situation quickly and pop back out to tell us everything was all right.

Or he was a hostage now and couldn’t.

I glanced back at my friend, holding her gaze in the truck’s dim interior. The same desire to go in blazed in her eyes.

That was enough for me. “Let’s go.” Turning away, I yanked on the door handle.

Mina climbed out the rear door and we met in front of the truck.

“So, how do you want to do this?” Mina asked. “Do we go in through the window, like Ellis?”

“Probably, but we need to approach with caution. If Officer Turner has them both as hostages, I don’t want him to see us. We might be their only chance.” I refused to consider that Ellis might be the only hostage. That he’d walked in to find his brother dead.

Nope.

Not a possibility in my mind.

Sticking to the snow so our shoes wouldn’t make noise on the concrete path, we headed for the house, rifles tucked into our shoulders but pointed down slightly.

I glanced up the street, looking for what, I didn’t know. A neighbor who could call for help, maybe. Ellis was the only one with a phone. Mina’s was on the counter at my house. Mine was on the coffee table. We’d left in such a rush, neither of us grabbed them.

Movement in a white SUV parked in front of the neighbor’s house drew my attention. “You see that car? The white one?” Using just my eyes, I gestured toward it.

Mina took a quick glimpse. “Yeah. What about it?”

“There’s someone in it.”

“It’s probably a neighbor who’s scared shitless. It’s not every day gunfire erupts next door. And definitely not at the cop’s house.”

My lips flattened. Maybe.

“Freeze.”

I jumped, but stopped, and turned toward the female voice from the side yard. A woman in a maroon stocking cap and black coat and leggings aimed a pistol at us. “Put your guns down.”

Oh, hell no. My grip tightened.

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