Page 70 of The White Picket Fence

She could hear shouts and opening doors, but they sounded kind of far away. Across the street?

“Not your fault,” Kayla said. “It’shis. That asshole in there. Is he dead?”

“Don’t know,” Tino said. “Don’t care. All I care about is that you two are safe.”

“Where did you come from?” Charlotte asked.

“Basement,” Tino said. “The cops were going to have to try to negotiate with the bastard. I couldn’t wait for them to try.”

“He was going to keep me forever,” she said dully, because now that this was over, the adrenaline was crashing. “He wouldn’t have let me go. I need to sit down.”

Then she did, her legs collapsing beneath her. Tino and Kayla kept her from hitting the ground too hard, slowly lowering her to her knees. They sat beside her, helping her situate herself so that she sat on her butt. The ground was cold and wet, but she was free and she would never complain again.

“Oh my God.Tino Ciccotelli.” An angry male voice was snarling at them.

“Vito,” Tino said evenly. “So Nick called you?”

“He did. Told me what you were planning. What the fucking hell do you think you were doing?” Vito raged.

Tino’s sigh was weary. “What I had to. I’m sorry, but I couldn’t wait for you to do it by the book.”

Charlotte squinted up at Vito. He was still just a fuzzy figure. “He saved my life. Don’t yell at him.”

Vito grunted. “I’ll yell at him later when you’re not around to listen. I’ve called an ambulance. Are the three of you okay? What happened to you?”

“Homemade pepper spray,” Charlotte said. Her chest convulsed in another bout of coughing. “Kevin’s in there. I stabbed him.”

“And I hit him with a skillet,” Tino added. “He might be dead, but I doubt it. Here’s his gun.”

Blinking hard, Charlotte saw him pass the weapon to Vito.

Vito was frowning. “You have another gun, Tino.”

“I do. It’s mine. Got a concealed carry permit. I’m legal.”

“Did you use it?”

“No.” Tino sounded embarrassed. “In all the confusion, I kind of forgot and the skillet was just there.”

“At least you didn’t shoot him,” Vito muttered. “You made pepper spray, Charlotte?”

Charlotte only nodded, figuring that they’d find the evidence of what she’d done. She didn’t want to talk about it anymore.

“It’s intense in there,” Tino said. “You should wear a gas mask or a respirator when you go in to get Hale.”

Vito began directing his people to protect themselves before entering the house, then knelt in front of them, scowling at Tino. “Nick said you went through a basement window.”

“Nick is a tattling bastard,” Tino said. “The windows were nailed shut. I had to break the glass, but the window was just big enough for me to fit through.”

“Are you cut?”

“Not much. Worth it, anyway. I got up to the kitchen and freed Kayla. Charlotte had already let loose with her pepper mixture.”

“Kevin would have killed me,” Charlotte murmured. Of that she had no doubt. There was no way she could have kept up the act indefinitely.

“We’ll take care of him,” Vito assured her. “Kayla, this is Detective Joanne Perkins. Go with her, and she’ll let you call your mom. She’s been worried sick.”

Kayla’s presence disappeared, and Charlotte closed her eyes.

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