Page 90 of A Wife's Duty

Boone looked at him. The fucker was lying.

Enzo started laughing.

“He figured she may not get eaten by a dog, because she is one of them. A fucking ugly dog. So, I’m guessing if you’re fast enough, you might be able to say your goodbyes, because if what you’re saying is true, then my dad is on his way to finish what those dogs didn’t do.”

It had to be fucking lies. Boone looked at him, but it made an odd kind of sense. Leandro had known where they were, rigged the car, and it was only because Boone had been quick and knew what he was looking for, that nothing had happened. He couldn’t believe it, but it made sense. The apartment Leandro targeted. The guy that followed them from their safe house.

He had to get back to Lucia.

After one last look at Enzo, he pulled out his gun and fired a single shot into the man’s forehead. Pulling out his cell phone, he began to dial Frank. If he got through to him, there might be a chance for him to save her.

****

Lucia stroked Betty’s head and smiled at the cute little dog. Frank had just stepped out to make a phone call. All the pups were whining. It had been two days since they were born, and they already seemed to want to move around. Not that they were experts or anything.

“You did good,” she said, kissing the top of Betty’s head.

She’d stayed awake with them all through the night. There was no way she was going to risk going to bed while Betty was hurting, so she stayed, watched, and did what she could. It was all she could do.

Kissing the top of her head, she couldn’t help but think about Boone. He hadn’t been here to see it, but Frank had taken pictures and promised to send them to him, which she was grateful for. She had a feeling Boone would have loved to be with them.

Lucia was just about to get to her feet, when the sound of the alarm shocked her. At first, it didn’t quite register to her what was happening. Boone had told her about the alarm, given her a little taste of what it meant, and what she needed to do. He ran through the scenarios, and she couldn’t believe someone had penetrated the gates and walls.

Betty began to stress, and Lucia didn’t hesitate. The closet held the panic room. She attempted to pick up the dog bed, but it was no use.

Making sure all dogs were accounted for, she began to drag the bed into the panic room. She typed in the code with speed, feeling herself panic as she quickly went through the motions. The door opened and Lucia pulled the dogs inside and quickly pressed the alert. She went to the main security camera and started to check them. That was when she saw two men coming close to the house.

Just as she was about to look for weapons with a quick scan of the main house, and she saw Frank had stumbled upstairs. He didn’t look good. She zoomed in and on closer inspection, she saw he was holding his abdomen. He’d been shot.

There was no time to lose. She couldn’t leave him there to die, and she quickly got to the door and typed in the code to open it. She rushed outside. According to the cameras, the people who had invaded the grounds hadn’t made it to the house yet. Frank was leaning up against the stairwell, and he looked so bad.

“You need to get in the fucking panic room,” he said.

“Don’t start with me. That is where I was, and do you think I’m going to leave you out here to die!” She growled at him, and as she did, she heard the sound of gunshots.

“Get back to that panic room.”

“Then get your ass with me. Do you think I’m going to leave you here to die? Hell, no, and I’m not going to allow your wife or your kids to be without a husband and father.” She started trying to pull him. “Move. They’re coming, and we have the means to be there.”

Frank growled as he got to his feet, and Lucia put his arm across her shoulders and rushed him into the room, turning off the lights, closing the closet door, then entering the panic room. She secured the door and closed it. Going to the security cameras, the two men were wearing masks. Lucia had no idea who the men were, or what they were doing.

Frank groaned and her attention quickly changed to him.

“You’ve got to be quiet. I don’t know if they’ll be able to hear us,” she said, whispering.

Opening his jacket, she saw his blood was soaking through the shirt he wore.

“It’s going to be okay,” she said.

“You don’t have to lie to me. I know this is not good. This is bad, very bad.”

She wanted to argue with him, but instead she remained silent. She didn’t know what a good or bad bullet wound was.

Betty was being quiet, but she too started to whimper.

Lucia glanced toward her. “What is it, girl?”

She looked to the bed of pups, and once she counted, she hated that she must have miscounted. She went to the door.

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