Page 7 of Everything We Found

“What are you doing here?” she asked gently.

“I live here.”

“I mean why are you way out here. It’s just you in this big house. Don’t you want to be near your family?” James and his boys lived on Kauai. She assumed his mother, Claire, split her time between California and the Islands. She didn’t know where Phil was living and could care less.

Something raw slid across his features. Without thinking, she took a half-step toward him before catching herself.

“We aren’t speaking,” he said. Her mouth parted, but he stopped her from prying further. “It is what it is. I just want to live a quiet life knowing James and his family are safe.”

“What about you?” Was he safe? He had to be lonely.

He forced air out his nose in an irritated huff and shifted his weight. “Panic room. Can you get it done?”

Before Nadia could answer, the giant window behind Thomas exploded. Glass shards propelled toward them at high velocity. Something sharp and hot sliced her cheek and whizzed past her ear with a high-pitched crack as it punctured the drywall behind her.

Thomas threw himself at her. They both went down hard, him landing on her, knocking the wind from her. Her head slammed into the hardwood floor and stars clouded her vision.

Disoriented, Nadia registered two things before her world went dark.

The alarmed, frenzied shout of her name and that someone had just shot her.

3

THOMAS

Thomas was already falling, taking Nadia down with him, before he realized that he’d lunged at her. It had been instinctual. Glass exploded behind him and he reacted. He landed hard on top of her.

He lifted his head to peer at her face, panicked he’d hurt her. Her eyes were rolling back in her head. Blood seeped from a thin line across her cheek, red ribbons leaking into her hair and over her ear.

“Nadia!”

No, no, no.

He hadn’t been quick enough. A shard of glass had struck her face. She was bleeding.

He slid off and crouched beside her, gently clasped her uninjured cheek. “Nadia.”

She lay absolutely still, unresponsive. He checked the pulse in her neck, his other hand feeling the back of her head. An egg was already forming. He swore under his breath, guilt clawing at him. He’d knocked her unconscious.

A pop sounded above him as something hit the wall. Pieces of drywall rained onto the floor beside her. A fine dusting coated her hair which fanned out from her head.

Thomas looked up at the wall, frowning at two newly formed holes, not quite comprehending what was happening.

Pop!

A third hole appeared right before his eyes and his heart rate skyrocketed. Someone was shooting at them.

He dropped over Nadia, covering both their heads as three more bullets hit the wall. Cold terror struck him. Nadia hadn’t been hit by glass. She’d been shot in the face.

Four more bullets fired, shattering two more windows before the deafening noise of broken glass stopped.

Thomas risked looking over his shoulder outside. He didn’t know who was shooting at them, how many shooters there were, or where they were. They could be on the ridge across the small valley or on the edge of his property, which was way too close for his liking.

His hands shook. His pulse pounded in his ears. He and Nadia were too exposed. They needed to get out of the line of fire.

More shots went off, blowing out the windows one by one. He grabbed Nadia’s arm and the waistband of her pants and dragged her with him as he scooted backward behind the bed.

She groaned and her eyes fluttered open. She stared at the ceiling then abruptly sat up. Thomas planted a hand on her chest and pushed her to the floor. “Stay down.”