Page 101 of Mountain Protector

Then I open the security app, and in the seconds it takes to load, all my worst nightmares fly through my head. Brain injuries. Complications. A fall down the stairs.

Or. Could Ed have escaped from jail? Is there someone working with him that everyone missed? Another killer, this time sent after Lark in some horrible attempt at revenge?

Fuck. Why did I leave her?

I knew I shouldn’t. Iknewit.

Fuck.

The first video feed I check is the one at the front door. Everything looks just as it did when I left.

Then I check the camera positioned over the garage. Still nothing unusual.

But something is wrong.

A weight is pressing down on my chest. Every breath is a struggle.

With a trembling finger, I scroll back to watch the footage.

At first, it doesn’t seem alarming.

A woman walks up the driveway, her car nowhere in view. She’s older, gray-haired and slightly plump, dressed in a bulky coat and calf-high boots. In one hand, she holds a clipboard, the other clutches the strap of her bag.

She walks up to the front door and rings the doorbell. Maybe thirty seconds later, Lark opens the door with a smile. They chat briefly, the older woman holding out her clipboard for Lark to look at.

It looks normal. Like a woman coming around asking for donations or to get signatures for a political campaign.

Could Lark have triggered her necklace by accident?

Then.

A second later, I know she didn’t.

While Lark is studying the clipboard, the gray-haired woman reaches into her bag and pulls out a gun.

Points it at Lark.

The woman’s face contorts, transforming from friendly to enraged.

FUCK.

Lark freezes. Even on the tiny display, I can see the terror in her eyes.

Her gun only inches from Lark’s chest, the woman pushes her way inside, forcing Lark along with her.

The door shuts.

Fear explodes inside me.

Fuck. Fuck.

I can’t see anything else.

Why didn’t we install cameras inside?

Because we didn’t think it was necessary. With all the exterior cameras and alarms and motion sensors,there’s no way for anyone to break in without triggering them. We never thought a threat would walk right up to the front door and ring the doorbell. That this unknown person—I’ve never seen her in my life—would look so unassuming. So harmless.

Shit. I need to get home. Now.

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