Page 34 of Stone Cold Savage

Nash picked her up off the ground and held her tight, “Thank God you’re okay. Don’t ever scare me like that again.”

“I didn’t mean to scare you, Nash.” She said softly. “I didn’t think there would be any harm in coming here. I needed answers and wanted to help your family… Even if my dad knows something about all this, which I don’t think he does, I know he’d never hurt me.”

“It isn’t your dad that I’m worried about. It’s whoever was in here that I got into it with, and that worries me. Whoever that was and whoever they work for, don’t mess around. That guy tried to kill me, and he would have tried to kill you.” Nash shared.

“He’s right, Charlotte,” Coy said. “That’s why we locked down the ranch. Tonight could have ended much worse.”

Kenzie shined a flashlight on her face, “We can’t be too careful now.”

Nash and Charlotte gasped at the battle scars she was wearing.

“Honey, you need to let me fix you up, or you’re going to have some nasty scars.” Charlotte rushed to Kenzie’s side and began evaluating the injuries, “Where else are you hurt?”

“I’m okay. I’ll let you clean these up at the ranch. My point, though, is this could have been what was coming for you too.” Kenzie shared, turning off her flashlight. “We have to be more careful.”

“Whoever this was here tonight… they weren’t here for me,” Charlotte said. “They were already here in Daddy’s den when I arrived. They had to have been.”

“You saw them?” Nash asked.

“No, I had no idea. I heard someone enter the house, and I ducked into a room down the hall. I thought I’d been followed. I only made it another room or two before I heard Coy and Kenzie come in.” Charlotte shared. “If you walked in that room and found yourself a fight, that means they were already in there waiting for someone.”

“I caught them in the act.” Nash shook his head. “The place was already tossed when I went in. I started in that room because I saw a light go out.”

“As did we. We must’ve been right on your heels, Nash.” Coy shared.

“That means we have another problem,” Kenzie said. “If they were already here tossing the place, then they weren’t here for any of us.”

“They were looking for something.” Coy finished her thought.

“My father wasn’t here when I arrived. You don’t suppose…”

“Let’s not jump to conclusions. If they were rifling through his things incognito like they were, then they likely waited for him to leave. I think Nash surprised the shit out of them. Did you get a good look at them?”

“It was too dark. All I can say is it was a guy, roughly my size, dressed in all black.” Nash shared.

“Close your eyes for a second,” Kenzie asked of him.

“Close my eyes?”

“Just… humor me.”

He tossed his arms out to the side in defeat and closed his eyes, “Alright.”

“Think back to when you first walked in. How did you know it was a man?” she asked.

“Size?”

“But it’s dark, Nash, and he was in dark clothing. How could you tell his size in the dark from across the room?”

“Well, I guess I couldn’t.”

“Okay, good. Think hard now. You’re standing in the doorway and see someone suspicious. It isn’t Mr. Bridges, so who is it?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never seen him before.”

“Describe him.”

“I can’t really see him yet. I…”

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