Page 1 of Under Fire

CHAPTER ONE

Someone had been in her house. Delilah Frost fought back the panic threatening to overwhelm her as she stared at the almond milk carton on her counter, the almond milk she hadn’t used that morning. She listened for any sounds that might betray the continued presence of an intruder and didn’t hear anything. Maybe the person had left already.

Should she go further into the house? Only if she wanted to be the too-stupid-to-live woman in a B-grade movie. Besides, she could destroy any clues the police might gather to catch the person who broke in. Delilah set her bags of groceries on the kitchen counter and turned toward the door.

She had to get out of this house. Now. The person could still be here. Hand shaking, Delilah reached for the door knob, intent on escaping and calling the police.

A heavy footstep sounded behind her.

Heart racing, she grasped the knob. Before she could flee into the yard, hard hands shoved her into the door. Delilah’s head slammed against the panel hard enough to edge her vision with black.

She fought the darkness as she slid to the floor. If she lost consciousness, Delilah wouldn’t be able to defend herself. Not like she’d done such a great job to this point. Awake, she had a chance to fight back if he tried to haul her out of the house or kill her.

She heard a siren in the distance and a frantic whisper. A low growl preceded a kick to her side. Delilah yelped and curled into a ball to protect her ribs. The man cursed, kicked her away from the door, yanked it open, and fled.

Gasping with her hands pressed to her side, she scooted toward her purse in slow motion. That creep kicked like a mule.

Delilah snagged the strap and tugged her bag close enough to thrust her hand inside and find her cell phone. She called up her contact list and called the one man she knew could save her. As soon as his voice greeted her, she dragged in a painful breath and said, “Help me.”

#

Adrenaline poured into Matt Rainer’s veins at Delilah’s words. “Where are you?” He gave a hand signal to his teammates from Bravo unit that had all of them grabbing their gear and slipping into battle mode.

“Home.”

“Are you sick?”

“Intruder.”

Matt raced from the main building on the campus of Personal Security International and sprinted toward his SUV. His best friend, Cade Ramsey, caught up with him and held out his hand for the keys.

He didn’t argue, just tossed them to his friend. “Is the person still in the house?”

“Gone.” Delilah wheezed in a breath. “Hurts.”

Cade cranked the engine and threw the SUV into gear. He peeled out of the parking lot followed by the rest of Bravo in their SUVs.

“Did you call the police?” Matt’s hand tightened around his cell phone.

“Only you. Coming?”

“I’m on my way, but I’m at PSI.” He was five minutes out which was five minutes too long in his book. Depending on how bad she was injured, Delilah might bleed out on him before he reached her. His gut knotted. He didn’t want to lose her.

Matt glanced at his friend. “Call the cops and send them to Delilah’s place. Somebody broke in and, from the sound of it, roughed her up.” Someone who would pay when Matt caught up with him.

He turned his attention back to the woman on the phone. “How bad are your injuries?” he asked as Cade talked to the dispatcher for the Otter Creek police department.

“Don’t know. Shoved me into a door and kicked me.”

Rage blinded him for an instant before the medic side of him surged to the forefront. “How is your vision?”

“Blurred.”

Possible concussion. “Where did he kick you?”

“Side. Ribs. Black boots hurt.”

Bruised or cracked ribs, he though as he gave a short bark of laughter. “Yeah, they do.” He’d had enough booted feet strike his body to know firsthand how much they hurt. “We’re three minutes out, Delilah. Bravo is with me. Just hold on.”

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