Page 67 of The White Picket Fence

“It is.”

“He came to the door and your detective didn’t shoot him?” Tino couldn’t control his tone, but Nick didn’t appear upset.

“We didn’t have a good line of sight and my detective’s assignment was purely reconnaissance. Plus, we might have hit Charlotte if he’d dragged her with him and hidden her behind the door.”

Tino jaw was so tight that it hurt. “How long till Vito’s ready to act?”

Nick looked troubled. “At least an hour. Maybe two. He’s waiting on a SWAT team.”

“An hour or two,” Tino breathed, his gut a churning mess. “He could hurt her in an hour or two, Nick.”

“He could,” Nick said steadily.

“And you’re not going in?”

Nick shook his head, regret in his eyes. “Vito is in command of this op. My detectives and I are in a support role. Vito says to wait for the SWAT team, so we wait.”

Tino glanced over the house they were parked in front of, able to see the peak of the blue Victorian’s roof.I’m not going to wait. I’m going in. Even if I have to walk back here after Nick boots us from the neighborhood.“Did you evacuate the neighbors?”

“We did. They were unhappy, to say the least.”

Tino didn’t care how unhappy they were. But at least the neighbors would be safe when he did what he had to do. “Now what?”

“Now I’m going back to my detectives and we will hold the fort until the SWAT team arrives and the snipers get into position. You two are gonna drive away.” He opened the van’s side door and hopped out. “Always a pleasure, Tino. Good to meet you, Mr. Gargano.”

The door closed and Cliff exhaled. “What now?”

“I’m getting out. You’re going to drive away, just like he said to.”

“Um, no. You can get out. I figured you would. I’m staying right here.”

Tino didn’t have time to argue. “Okay.” He pulled Cliff across the console in a one-armed hug. “Thank you.”

“Be careful,” Cliff whispered. “I’ll be waiting here to get us out of Dodge as fast as I can. Don’t get killed. You and Charlie deserve a lifetime together.”

We do.Tino was going to make sure of it.

* * *

Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Thursday, March 31, 12:45 p.m.

Charlotte was startledat the sound of the doorbell. “Are you expecting someone?” she asked.

Kevin shook his head. “Keep chopping. I want to put that knife away.”

She kept chopping, but the bell rang again and then a third time. She made a face. “It doesn’t sound like they’re going away.”

Kevin took both knives from her hands before leaning down and brushing a kiss against her lips. “I’ll be right back.”

“Okay,” she said, hoping she’d masked her disappointment at losing the knives. And her revulsion at his kiss.

She waited until he’d left the room before shuddering. Then she got busy, grabbing a bowl to mix the peppery spices with the freshly chopped jalapeño. She’d chopped the entire bag of jalapeños, at least a dozen of them, telling Kevin that she planned to freeze most of it so that he wouldn’t have to babysit her knife use in the future.

She hadn’t expected him to accept that explanation, but he had.

She dumped the entire contents of each spice bottle into the bowl. The cayenne pepper was fairly intense all on its own. The powdered ghost pepper was the best find. That was super intense. Mixed with all the other spices, she should have a decent weapon in her hands. Especially since most of the spices had come in huge bottles.

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