Page 124 of Deception

Still, he hesitated. What if she was wrong? They’d all die. If he didn’t try—they’d die for sure. His hand shook as he snipped the black wire.

66

Madison stared at the timer. It had stopped at two seconds. Her legs turned to jelly, and she sagged against Clayton. “You did it.”

“No. Terri did it.” He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to his chest. For a second she didn’t know which one was holding the other up. Behind them the others murmured their thanks to God, and she lifted up her own prayer of thanks before she stepped back. Madison knelt beside Terri. It looked as though the bleeding had stopped. She took her hand. “Thank you. We would have died if it hadn’t been for you.”

“You would’ve figured it out.”

“Not in time. Lie still until we can get you help.”

Terri nodded. “I’m so cold.”

“I’ll get a blanket,” Nadine said.

Clayton knelt beside them. “We’re not out of the woods yet. When the bomb doesn’t go off, he’ll either run or come see why. Where’re your guns?”

“Upstairs. I’ll go get them, but we need to move everyone except Terri out of the kitchen—it’s the first place he’ll look if he comes back. And lock the back door.”

She took the stairs two at a time and retrieved her service pistol and a smaller backup semiautomatic along with two loadedmagazines. Then she grabbed her phone on the dresser. No signal. But maybe that would change once they got out of the house.

Clayton met her on the stairs, and she gave him the Sig and an extra clip for the magazine. “You want to climb out my window?”

Clayton shook his head. “I figure he’s in the grove of trees near the back of the property—it has a direct view of your bedroom. We’ll have to climb out a window on the front side.”

Madison led the way to Nadine’s room that had a veranda, but it would be at least a ten-foot drop. She grabbed the sheet from the king-sized bed. They could tie it to the railings and shorten the drop.

Outside the moon was still full enough to give off low lighting as Clayton tied the sheet to one of the rails. “I figure he’s standing behind that big oak at the back of the property—it’s the best vantage point.”

What if Clayton was wrong? She waited to follow him. “When we get on the ground, I’ll go to the right, you go to the left.”

“You sure you want to split up?”

“Yes. If he gets the drop on one of us, the other can go for help.”

Clayton nodded and went over the balcony. Once he dropped to the ground, Madison followed. She crept from the front of the house and eased around to the other side until the big oak that she’d played under when she was a child came into view. It was hard to see in the shadows, and she wished for night vision goggles. No sign of movement, but from what she remembered Chad saying, Steven had been a sniper at one time—he could sit for hours without moving. Or he could back then. Her impression of him now made her believe he was too nervous to be still for very long. His car was still in the drive, though, so he hadn’t left.

What if he’d gotten inside the house? No. The back door was locked. She remembered her phone and tried it again. Still too close to the jammer.

Voices came from the back of the house, and she died a little inside. Steven had gotten the drop on Clayton.

“Olly olly oxen free.” Steven’s voice singsonged the kid’s phrase. “If you don’t show yourself, I’ll kill him.”

“Don’t listen to him, Madison!”

It sounded like they were on the other side of Nadine’s apartment. Maybe the patio. He wouldn’t expect her to come from inside the apartment, and she tried the door. Locked. She felt along the top edge of the door—sometimes Nadine left a key there. Her fingers closed on the piece of metal.Yes!

The click when the deadbolt slid open sounded like a gunshot. She waited, listening. Nothing. She proceeded inside the apartment, carefully dodging Nadine’s furniture. Gauzy curtains covered the patio door, but she made out the forms of two men. But which one was Clayton?

She eased to the door and barely moved the curtain. Relief flowed through her when Clayton faced her, but it was short lived—the way they were standing, Steven could see her from his peripheral vision if she opened the door. At least he stood close to it. She’d give anything for a flash-bang.

“Come on, Madison,” Steven shouted. “Counting to ten. You don’t show yourself, he’s dead. One, two...”

She crouched and waited until he reached nine and raised his gun. Madison flipped the overhead floodlight on as she burst through the door, screaming like a howler monkey on steroids.

Judging from the stunned look on his face, the bright light and screaming was almost as good as a flash-bang. The door slammed into his arm, but he held on to the gun as he stumbled forward. He quickly found his footing and swung his pistol toward her, firing.

The bullet whizzed past her ear as she dropped to the patio and rolled. Madison brought her gun up and fired, hitting Steven in the chest. He took a step toward her, emptying his semi-automatic in her direction.

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