Page 81 of Through the Fire
Closing the closet door, she propped Dee’s desk chair under the knob. As she left the room, she pushed in the button lock on the door behind her, swinging the baseball bat at her side. The door locked from the inside, so it wouldn’t help hold Theo and Hugh if they managed to escape the closet, but it would keep any nosy children from accidentally discovering them.
She trotted down the stairs, giving Sam a smile as she passed him. “Good morning.”
His usual silence and suspicious glare didn’t bother her. It was a wonderful day, and she wasn’t about to let a sullen teenager take away from it. Humming to herself, she propped the baseball bat against the wall by the front door and walked to the kitchen.
Jules, Grace, Sarah, and the kids were sitting around the table, laughing at something that Alex hadn’t caught, as Otto leaned against the counter, sipping coffee and smiling a little as he watched his wife.
“Otto,” Alex said sweetly, drawing everyone’s attention to her. She dropped her gaze, using her pretend shyness to hide her unusual giddiness. It was just that everything was going so well. Kit had been snowed in at Wes’s tower, safely out of the way, and she’d been Alex’s biggest obstacle until now. “Could you help me get something out of the hall closet?”
“Oh, I can help,” Jules said, popping up out of her seat. “What do you need?”
“Actually, I need someone really tall, just for a second.”
Jules sat back in her seat. “I have to admit that Otto does have a slight height advantage over me.”
The other women laughed. “He’s very handy that way,” Sarah said, tipping her head back to smile up at him.
Setting his coffee mug on the counter, he took advantage of his wife’s upturned face to give her a kiss and then followed Alex out into the hall. It’s like leading lambs to slaughter, she thought happily. “Thanks, Otto. I tossed my hat onto the top shelf last night, and now I can’t reach it. Would you mind…?”
He gave her a small nod, turning his back to her to look in the closet. Picking up the bat, Alex swung, connecting with the back of his head. For a second, he stayed upright, making her wonder if she’d not hit hard enough, but then he swayed and fell, crashing down like a felled tree. The loud thump as he connected with the floor worried her for a moment, but then a burst of laughter came from the kitchen. They were talking so noisily that they didn’t even realize Alex was picking them off, one by one.
After zip-tying Otto’s wrists behind his back, she rolled him into the closet, huffing a little with the effort of shifting his huge form. A small sound, barely a squeak, made Alex whirl around, pulling the pistol Bendsie had given her from her waistband.
Dee stood behind her, her mouth slightly open in shock. “What… What are you doing?”
“Getting revenge,” Alex said, closing the closet door without taking her gaze or the gun off the little girl. “You can help.”
Reaching out, she grabbed Dee and yanked the little girl against her. Dee let out a yelp as Alex pressed the muzzle of the gun against her head. “I didn’t want to kill you,” Alex said, moving toward the kitchen with Dee’s back pressed against her. “I don’t especially enjoy killing children. That’s why I called Courtney and told her to come here and get you and your brothers. That didn’t quite work out as planned.”
Dee made a choking sound, as if she was having trouble breathing.
“This works, too.” Keeping the gun against the girl’s head, Alex walked into the kitchen.
Chapter 24
The trick with Dee had worked perfectly. It was amazing how compliant adults became when a child was threatened.
Fifi the dog was locked in the basement, and Jules, Grace, and Sarah were all zip-tied—wrists and ankles—with duct tape covering their mouths, sitting in a line on the living room couch. The twins, also bound, and Dee were sitting against the opposite wall.
“Yell for Sam,” Alex told Ty.
Clamping his lips together stubbornly, he glared at her. Apparently, the sweet little crush he’d had on her was over.
Unperturbed, she tucked her gun away and pulled Tio’s special Swiss Army knife out of her pocket. Tapping the side so the blade extended, she hauled Dee to her feet and touched the tip of the knife to the girl’s tear-streaked cheek. Jules shouted something, but the duct tape muffled the sound. Alex ignored her.
“Call for Sam.”
Ty went white. “Sam.” It came out soft and cracked. When Alex moved the knife closer, pressing the blade ever so lightly into his little sister’s skin, he yelled loudly, “Sam!”
Smiling in triumph, Alex released Dee, returned the refolded knife to her pocket, and retrieved her bat. “Sit,” she ordered, and Dee slid down to huddle next to Ty. Standing to the side of the door, Alex waited, listening to the rhythm of his feet on the stairs, first one flight and then the next.
“Ty?” he called from the hallway.
“Run!” Ty yelled, making Alex smirk. Didn’t he know his brother at all?
As she’d expected, Sam rushed into the living room, stopping abruptly when he saw everyone. Even as the other kids shouted warnings, Alex swung, clipping him in the back of the head.
