Page 53 of Maverick Detective Dad
Maybe, but if so, why hadn’t he just attacked when Noah had crossed the room to get the monitor? Or worse, why hadn’t he broken down the door of the bathroom where Noah and she had had sex? They’d certainly been distracted then and would have made easy targets. The killer could have simply opened the door and murdered them where they stood before Noah could even get to his gun.
Noah was almost certainly thinking about that now, thinking about how the killer could have heard their most private moments, and he was mentally beating himself up about that. Later, she would do that as well, but for now Everly knew she needed to focus on getting Noah and her out of this alive. The killer had already claimed too many victims, and she didn’t want them to be his next victims.
Her heart was beating too hard, too fast, and Everly had to try to rein that in. It wouldn’t help things now if she gave in to the panic. In fact, that might be exactly what the killer wanted her to do. Panic and run, and then he could get the added thrill of seeing her fear before he struck.
“Last chance,” Noah snapped, with his gun still aimed at the bed. “Come out or die.”
Again, Everly waited, trying to steel herself up for whatever was about to happen. But there was no response.
“Put your hands over your ears,” Noah whispered to her. “I’m going to fire a warning shot.”
Everly somehow managed to do as he said despite the fact that she was still holding the baby monitor and her hands were trembling. She silently cursed that trembling. Cursed that she was so unsteady at a time when she needed a clear head.
Noah gave her a couple of seconds, and he fired, the sound of the shot blasting through the air. The bullet slammed into her headboard and sent bits of wood flying. What it didn’t do was send a killer scrambling out from beneath the bed.
His phone dinged with a text, but Noah kept his attention and his aim on the bed. “It’s probably one of the deputies,” he whispered. “Take my phone from my pocket and see.”
Since her hands were shaking even harder now, it took Everly more time than she wanted to get out his phone. “It’s Deputy Molina,” she relayed to him. “He heard the shot.”
“Text him back and tell him the killer might be in the house. I want him to hold his position for now and be ready to respond if he hears another shot or any signs of trouble.”
Noah’s voice was a lot steadier than hers, and since he hadn’t hesitated with his response, it meant he’d already given that some thought. If the killer wasn’t under the bed, then he was likely somewhere else in the house, and he might gun down the deputy if he tried to come in.
She sent the text and got a quick reply. “Should I contact Grayson?”
“Not yet,” Noah said after she showed him the screen. “The storm’s still bad, and this might be some kind of ruse.”
“Is there anything else on the monitor to show what the intruder did after he got under your bed?” Noah asked her after she’d sent the second text to Deputy Molina.
Everly certainly hadn’t forgotten that she was still holding the monitor. She’d had to shift it in her hand to reply to the deputy’s text, and she shifted it again now so she could see the screen. She hit fast-forward until she spotted Noah checking out the nursery after they’d come here from the hospital. Everly watched, too, as Noah had gone into the bedroom where they are now.
Where the killer had been.
The camera stayed triggered for thirty seconds after Noah had gone back into the front of the house where she’d been waiting for him. Then, nothing.
“There isn’t anything else on the feed except for you going in the nursery,” she explained. “That triggered the camera. The killer could have maybe crawled out of the bedroom to keep from triggering it again.”
And if so, that meant he could be anywhere in the house.
Noah took his phone from her and shoved it into his pocket before he reached down and pulled out a small gun from a boot holster. “My backup weapon,” he continued to whisper. “You know how to shoot, right?”
“Yes,” Everly managed to say. She’d taken shooting lessons after a former client had threatened her when she’d lost his case. She had managed to hit the targets, but she wasn’t so sure she could shoot another person.
But she immediately rethought that.
She’d kill if she had to protect Noah or Ainsley. She would kill to stop the vicious snake who was after them.
“What are you going to do?” she asked, reaching out for Noah when he took a step away from her. “Please tell me you’re not going to check under the bed.”
“No,” he assured her. “If he’s under there, I’d be an easy target to gun down. But I want us closer to the front door.”
Everly started to ask why, and then it occurred to her that they might have to run for their lives. That definitely didn’t help tamp down the panic, but she knew Noah was right. They had to be prepared for whatever the killer tried to do to them. Plus, if one of the deputies had to get in, they’d need to release the dead bolt.
“Stay right next to me, and when we get away from the wall, I want us back-to-back,” Noah instructed. “You keep watch behind us, and I’ll cover the rest.”
She nodded and wished there was time to say something. Everly wasn’t sure what that something would be, but she knew she couldn’t bear the thought of losing Noah. She blamed the sex for that.
But then she had to mentally shake her head.
