house, what were the odds they weren’t armed, all the way out here in the country?
About the same odds as you getting ambushed at your boyfriend’s country house.
She got up and walked back to Lucy. “We need to find out if anyone’s home, and if they have a phone we can use to call the police.”
“You think someone’s home?” Lucy asked. “Wouldn’t they have heard the gunshots?”
“Maybe they’re just really deep sleepers. I don’t know. But we need to go find out either way.” She put a hand on Apollo’s head and scratched his scalp. “You stay here,” she said to the dog. “Guard Lucy. Understand?”
Apollo blinked back at her.
“That’s a good boy,” she said, and stood up. To Lucy: “Stay here until I call for you.”
“What if he finds us?”
“Then you run to me and yell as loud as you can.”
Lucy nodded, uncertainty all over her face. She was scared, and Allie didn’t blame her. Lucy was fifteen and had spent most of her life in the city. Running around out here in the woods being chased by a man with a submachine gun was not something she had any experience with. Allie wished she could have said the same for herself.
“I’ll be back as soon as I can,” she said, and left them behind in the shadows.
At the edge of the clearing, she leaned outside, just enough to see but not be seen. Then she took a deep breath and stepped out into the open. She walked across the front lawn, making a beeline toward the brightly lit porch, doing her very best to look unthreatening, which meant keeping both hands visible and to her sides.
The windows remained closed and dark as she approached the house from a distance. Closer, she glimpsed linen curtains on the other side of the windows, but still there were no faces looking back out at her. Which might have been for the best; a strange face peering outward, from the darkness, might have given her a heart attack.
The feel of the Glock against her waistband kept her moving steadily forward, the cold Polymer plastic pressing against her back doing wonders to reassure her that should anything go wrong, the gun would be there, within reach. She flexed her fingers to keep the blood circulating, ready to reach for the handgun at a moment’s notice.
The stillness of the front yard and emptiness emanating from every panel of the house was unchanged by the time she stepped into the light and was twenty yards from the porch. There was something welcoming about the building despite the loneliness. Maybe it was the bright LEDs all around her. Whoever owned this place hadn’t skimped on the security. Which made her wonder what she was going to do when she reached the door and found it locked, because there was a very good chance it was going to be. With an alarm, possibly, just like at Walter’s house.
That was it, then. She wouldn’t even have to go into the house to call the police. All she had to do was trigger the alarm. If she was lucky, it would be a silent alarm, and she and Lucy could stay hidden from Jack and his buddy while they waited for the cops to arrive. If cops even came this far out, at this time of night.
Feeling suddenly more optimistic than she had been all day, Allie climbed up the front porch. She fought the urge to reach for the Glock with every step, somehow succeeding all the way to the door—
“Allie!”
She spun back toward the woods just as a figure raced out of the shadows.
Lucy!
“He’s here!” Lucy shouted. “He found us!”
She looked past Lucy in search of Apollo, expecting him to burst out of the woods behind her, but the dog was nowhere to be seen. That didn’t make any sense, but she managed to push the question aside long enough to hurry down the steps, pulling out the Glock and slipping her forefinger into the trigger guard by the time she was halfway down.
“Where’s Apollo?” she shouted across the front yard.
Lucy shook her head—or Allie thought she did. The girl was running as fast as she
About the same odds as you getting ambushed at your boyfriend’s country house.
She got up and walked back to Lucy. “We need to find out if anyone’s home, and if they have a phone we can use to call the police.”
“You think someone’s home?” Lucy asked. “Wouldn’t they have heard the gunshots?”
“Maybe they’re just really deep sleepers. I don’t know. But we need to go find out either way.” She put a hand on Apollo’s head and scratched his scalp. “You stay here,” she said to the dog. “Guard Lucy. Understand?”
Apollo blinked back at her.
“That’s a good boy,” she said, and stood up. To Lucy: “Stay here until I call for you.”
“What if he finds us?”
“Then you run to me and yell as loud as you can.”
Lucy nodded, uncertainty all over her face. She was scared, and Allie didn’t blame her. Lucy was fifteen and had spent most of her life in the city. Running around out here in the woods being chased by a man with a submachine gun was not something she had any experience with. Allie wished she could have said the same for herself.
“I’ll be back as soon as I can,” she said, and left them behind in the shadows.
At the edge of the clearing, she leaned outside, just enough to see but not be seen. Then she took a deep breath and stepped out into the open. She walked across the front lawn, making a beeline toward the brightly lit porch, doing her very best to look unthreatening, which meant keeping both hands visible and to her sides.
The windows remained closed and dark as she approached the house from a distance. Closer, she glimpsed linen curtains on the other side of the windows, but still there were no faces looking back out at her. Which might have been for the best; a strange face peering outward, from the darkness, might have given her a heart attack.
The feel of the Glock against her waistband kept her moving steadily forward, the cold Polymer plastic pressing against her back doing wonders to reassure her that should anything go wrong, the gun would be there, within reach. She flexed her fingers to keep the blood circulating, ready to reach for the handgun at a moment’s notice.
The stillness of the front yard and emptiness emanating from every panel of the house was unchanged by the time she stepped into the light and was twenty yards from the porch. There was something welcoming about the building despite the loneliness. Maybe it was the bright LEDs all around her. Whoever owned this place hadn’t skimped on the security. Which made her wonder what she was going to do when she reached the door and found it locked, because there was a very good chance it was going to be. With an alarm, possibly, just like at Walter’s house.
That was it, then. She wouldn’t even have to go into the house to call the police. All she had to do was trigger the alarm. If she was lucky, it would be a silent alarm, and she and Lucy could stay hidden from Jack and his buddy while they waited for the cops to arrive. If cops even came this far out, at this time of night.
Feeling suddenly more optimistic than she had been all day, Allie climbed up the front porch. She fought the urge to reach for the Glock with every step, somehow succeeding all the way to the door—
“Allie!”
She spun back toward the woods just as a figure raced out of the shadows.
Lucy!
“He’s here!” Lucy shouted. “He found us!”
She looked past Lucy in search of Apollo, expecting him to burst out of the woods behind her, but the dog was nowhere to be seen. That didn’t make any sense, but she managed to push the question aside long enough to hurry down the steps, pulling out the Glock and slipping her forefinger into the trigger guard by the time she was halfway down.
“Where’s Apollo?” she shouted across the front yard.
Lucy shook her head—or Allie thought she did. The girl was running as fast as she
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