Page 86 of Mountain Hero

I don’t want to waste time arguing, so I take matters into my own hands. First, I call 911 and put it on speaker. Then I pick up Winter and carry her toward the kitchen.

“Enzo! Stop it. I won’t stay inside.”

“Please, Winter. Just do this.”

The 911 operator picks up, and I quickly rattle off my address and explain the situation. I’m nearly to the pantry with a wriggling Winter when I hear a voice bellowing from out front of the house.

“I’m here for Winter! If she doesn’t get out here right now, I’ll burn this place down!”

Winter yelps; a tiny sound filled with fear.

My heart flies into my throat. If he tries to burn the house down… there’s an escape from the safe room. But will I be able to convince Winter to leave?

A second later, she snaps, “Enzo Rossi. Put me down right now. I mean it.”

Part of me wants to ignore her command. Get her in the room. But if she’ll come out anyway…

“Fine.” I lower her to the floor. “Stay with me, then. But if I tell you to drop, to run, you do it. No question.”

From the kitchen counter, Winter’s phone buzzes insistently, and I can just make out the words Bliss Police Department on the screen. Calling to tell her Thomas has escaped?

A bit late for that, I think.

“I’m not fucking around! I know she’s in there. Winter! Get out here! Or I’ll torch this house and everyone inside!”

Winter sucks in a sharp breath. “Enzo. We have to stop him.”

“I will. The police will be here soon. I’ll go outside and handle it.”

“No. You can’t.” Her voice quivers. “He’ll set the house on fire.”

Then she rushes back into the living room.

“Winter, get back!” It’s nearly a shout as I race after her. Fear wraps around my chest, getting tighter by the second.

“We have to see.” She dashes over to the window and stands off to the side of it, craning her neck just enough to peek outside. A moment later, she curses under her breath.

The 911 operator is still talking, and I hear her say faintly, “The police are on their way. They’ll be there as soon as possible.”

But that’s not terribly comforting since we’re a good ten minutes outside Bliss, and the police station is right in the center of it.

And it’s even less comforting as I stand beside Winter—trying to shield her as best I can—and get a look at the scene outside.

It’s not good.

Thomas is standing on the lawn about thirty feet from the front of the house with a pickup truck idling behind him. He’s holding two bright red gas cans, gleaming wetly as the afternoon sun hits them, and another can sits at his feet.

He’s wearing a police uniform two-sizes too small, smeared with dirt and splattered with something dark—oil? mud? blood?—and he looks completely unhinged. His eyes are wide and wild, his hair is going in every direction, and his teeth are bared in a rictus of a grin.

“Come out now!” he screams as he waves the gas cans around, sending splashes of liquid flying. “Or I’ll do it! How fast do you think this old house will burn? Pretty fast I bet!”

Winter ducks back from the window and stares at me in horror. “He’ll do it. You know he will.”

“The police?—”

“No, Enzo. What if they don’t get here in time?”

“Winter!” Thomas yells, “you have one minute to decide! Come out or I’ll set this place on fire!”

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