Page 29 of Jenna's Threatened Sanctuary

Footsteps pounded against the floor. Calvin scurried around to the back side of the island, closest to the open door, hoping to catch his assailant from behind. He steadied his gun in his sweat-slicked palm.

A ski-mask clad face met him at the corner, standing over him.

Calvin squeezed the trigger as the man dove to the side. The blast pierced Calvin’s eardrums. He staggered to his feet and trained his gun to the man’s heart.

The mask over the man’s face muffled his curses.

Ruff!

He turned toward the loud bark. Boo dashed through the kitchen.

The man fled for the door, the hood of his sweatshirt flapping from the motion as he ran over the threshold. Calvin squinted, trying to make out any distinguishing features, but he was gone too fast, vanishing once again into the night.

Sirens called from a distance. Calvin slumped against the cabinet doors, and the hard metal knob dug into his back. He concentrated on regulating his ragged breaths—in slowly through the nose, out through the mouth. His teeth chattered as the adrenaline left his system. He kept his hand pressed firmly against his wound.

The click of claws clattered on the floor. Boo rested his head on Calvin’s leg and whined. The wail of sirens screechedthrough the open door. The nasty wire of fear loosened, but the scars of the jagged barbs remained. The police may be here, but the lunatic terrorizing Jenna was still loose. And until he was caught, none of them were safe.

Pounding thumped against the front door. “Police. We received a call. Open the door, please.”

Calvin pushed his feet against the floor to stand but collapsed back to the ground. “Jenna!” The word came out weak, the effort behind saying her name taking too much energy. He gritted his teeth. “Jenna! Door!”

The sound of the front door creaked open. Muffled voices filtered into his hazy mind. He tuned his ears to make out the noises, but energy leaked from his body until his eyelids dropped. The only thing his pain-addled mind could focus on was the warm fur against his leg and Boo’s gentle whines.

“Calvin? Are you injured? It’s Deputy Pennel.”

Calvin opened his eyes and stared into the blurry outline of Sadie Pennel’s worried face. The splatter of freckles across her nose and chestnut hair pulled back made her look much younger than her thirty years.

“Did you find him? Are Jenna and Oliver all right?” Nothing else mattered. Not the blood seeping through his T-shirt or the brutal burning sensation climbing up his body.

“Everyone’s fine. We haven’t found the intruder, but the house is clear. Right now, I’m concerned about you.” At the sound of advancing footsteps, Sadie glanced over her shoulder as Deputy Tommy Wells entered the kitchen. “Calvin’s shot and needs medical attention. Intruder left through the back door.”

Tommy jogged to Calvin and crouched. His sandy-brown hair was cut short, which highlighted the youthfulness of his face. He kept his gaze locked on Calvin. “What happened?”

“He broke in. Shot me,” Calvin said through gritted teeth. “I got off a shot, but I don’t know if I hit him. He ran out the door.Has anyone searched the woods at the back of the house?” He’d give a statement later. Right now, someone needed to be looking for this bastard. With every second he fled further and further away.

A sharp gasp lifted Calvin’s gaze.

Jenna stood with her hands pressed against her mouth and tears shining in her eyes. “You were shot?” She hurried to his side, crowding in beside him, and throwing her arms around his neck.

The weight of her body against his spiked his pain level as high as the damn ceiling, but he didn’t care. He’d get shot three more times if it meant holding her in his arms again. He buried his nose in her hair and breathed in the familiar scent of her lavender soap and mint shampoo—a scent that took him all the way back to high school. She smelled like home, and dammit, he’d do everything in his power to not only keep her safe, but to keep those arms secured around him for a long time to come.

Relief pusheddown the terror climbing up Jenna’s esophagus—adding to the already muddled mix of emotions clogging her brain. But one thought circled round and round. Calvin had risked his life to keep her and her son safe. She’d almost lost him.

Again.

Calvin’s muscles tensed, and she pulled away. Pain etched fine lines in the tightness around his mouth and the corners of his eyes.

She skimmed her knuckles along his jaw. “How bad is it?”

A sound of discomfort escaped his firmed lips. “Where’s Oliver?”

“Somehow, he managed to fall back asleep in your bed. Safe and sound without a single worry.” She wouldn’t mention her own fear that had been almost paralyzing. When she’d heard the gunshots go off, her soul had shivered with the unknown. “But we need to focus on you.” She dropped her gaze to the blood oozing from his side. Bile pitched in her stomach. Her breaths hitched in her throat, dizziness spinning her brain.

She’d seen countless, more dangerous, injuries in her time at the emergency room. But nothing compared to seeing the man she loved laying on his kitchen floor with blood seeping from his side.

“Look at me.” Calvin’s stern voice snapped her focus back up to meet his wide eyes. “The bullet grazed my side. It looks worse than it is. I’m fine.”

She nodded, but the rush of fear and gratitude and affection made the motions jerky and uncontrollable.

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