Page 28 of Two Hearts
“I’ll chuck these at one of the other doors.It’ll make noise.He’ll go to check it out.And you’ll be able to get inside without getting yourself killed.”
Jack nodded.“Good plan.”
“What if he has others in there with him?”
Jack shook his head.“I don’t think he does.The place doesn’t look like any kind of home base.Looks deserted.He may have called for some help by now, but I don’t think any has arrived.”
She nodded.“Okay, then.Let’s get on with it.”
Together, they crept closer to the large garagelike structure.Until Jack signaled her to stop.
Grace lifted the first rock.“I’ll aim for the door on the far end,” she said.“It’ll take him longer to check it out and come back that way.”
Jack looked at the door, then looked at her.“You’ll never reach that far.”
She lifted both brows and tipped her head to one side, then chucked her first stone.Jack’s head moved to follow its flight path, and when the stone clattered against the far side of the farthest door, he muttered, “I’ll be damned.”
“Go.”She gave him a shove, and even as he took off, she pegged the second rock.It hit louder than the first, and she reached for the third.
But before she could throw it, Jack was shouldering the little door open, vanishing inside.Swallowing hard, Grace pulled back to throw the third stone…but froze in place when a gunshot ripped through the gathering gray dawn and the sound of her sister’s voice screaming her husband’s name made Gracie’s blood gel in her veins.
“That’s real clever, isn’t it now?”a voice said from just behind her, close to her ear.“You got a nice arm on you, you know that?”
Instinct told her to spin, knee his groin, twist his arm and floor him.She bit the instinct back.She needed to get inside, find out what had happened to Jack, and to Hope.Maybe it was best to play the helpless victim for just a little while.At least she wouldn’t get shot the second she walked through the door…
The way Jack just did….
No!She wouldn’t let the thought linger.Stiffening her spine, she put up her hands.“Just tell me what you want me to do,” she said.She tried to make her voice unsteady and tainted with fear.
“Walk.”The gun barrel dug into her spine.
Gracie walked.
The rain had eased to a light but steady drizzle, and the clouds hung so low the air seemed to have turned gray, holding off the dawn.As she was prodded farther, Grace’s gaze fixed on the white door looming ever larger before her like some Pandora’s box waiting to be opened.She was scared to death of what was waiting on the other side.What she would see.
The man behind her shoved her nose almost into the wood, and barked out, “It’s Benny.Lemme in.”
Grace half expected the maniac on the other side to blow a hole through the door and her belly.But he didn’t.Instead the door opened, and Grace’s worst nightmare revealed itself in an ever-widening arc as the door swung slowly back.
Jack was on the cement floor, back braced against the far wall, arm crossed over his middle…but not quite hiding the blood staining his shirt.
She slid her gaze higher, meeting his eyes.They looked back at her, sharp and clear.Not dulled with pain or delirium…not until the shooter glanced his way, and then he seemed to deliberately lose focus, his eyes going droopy and dull.
Grace’s brows knit as she watched him.But she was distracted by her sister’s voice.“Oh, God, Gracie, they got you, too?”
Sliding her gaze sideways, Gracie saw Hope sitting much the same way Jack was.She looked as if her arm was broken, and there was a huge lump forming on the front of her head.She was pale and sweating despite the chill in the air.
“My sister needs a doctor,” Grace said slowly, turning her gaze back to the leader of the group.He was sitting in a dusty old swivel chair that had been forest-green once but was now faded.A desk stood to one side, big and wooden and peeling.Across his lap, he held a shotgun, and he faced the door.
“Tough,” was all he said.
“Letting her die isn’t going to do you any good,” Grace said, fighting to keep her voice calm.
“Neither is lettin’ her live.”
Grace tilted her head to one side.“A live hostage is a hundred times more valuable than a dead one, Mr.Darius.”
He shrugged.“Lucky for me, I got a live one.Thanks for coming, by the way.”
