Page 9 of Tango
I’m not often speechless, but—another scream. “Please stop!” a woman yells, her voice muted by the walls separating us.
“You have to get in there. Please. They’re going to kill them.” Tears in her eyes, Alice tries to climb out through the broken glass.
“You’re not going to fit through there. Not without seriously hurting yourself. Can I go in through the back door? Do you know where they are in the house? How many there are?”
“I think I heard two voices aside from my parents. But my mom blocked the basement door, so I can’t get out. There’s a hide-a-key under a turtle in the flower bed near the back door.”
“On it.” I leave her, Tango on my heels, and rush up to the porch. The turtle is right where she said it would be, so I retrieve the key and slide it into the lock. Slowly, I inch the door open. I need to know where they are in the house before I go in, gun blazing. Otherwise, the Sterlings could get caught in the crossfire.
The back door leads into the kitchen. There’s another door directly to the right, but it’s been blocked by a drink cart wedged beneath the handle. The basement. Because I sense she’ll climb out of that tiny window and tear herself up if I don’t, I cross over to the door first and slowly slide the cart away, then flip the lock on the top of the door to let her out.
Alice stares at me, her eyes wide, when I pull it open.
I press my finger to my lips, and she nods in understanding.
Her face is scraped, her lip bloody, and there are bruises around her slender throat, but I ignore those for the moment to focus on what’s more pressing.
“We don’t know where she is,” a man says. He’s breathless, and I can hear the pain in his voice. That would be Fred Sterling.
The kitchen leads to a hallway near a set of stairs. “What’s over there?” I whisper, keeping my voice barely audible.
“Living room,” she mouths back.
I nod then gesture for her to stay behind me. Tango moves into place between my legs as we head toward the danger. Ears perked, he’s ready for my command.
A hand cracks against flesh, and a woman whimpers.
“Don’t touch her!” Fred bellows.
The adrenaline in my veins kicks up a notch.
“Then tell us where to find?—”
Glass shatters, and I turn to look behind me. Alice is wide-eyed, her face pale, and beneath her boots is what used to be a picture frame that must’ve been on the wall. Well, element of surprise is over.
“Go see what that is,” a man orders.
I press back against the wall, getting as close as I can, and move Tango out from between my legs so he can stand directly at my side. As soon as I hear the boot steps grow closer, I order, “Fass, Tango!” My dog launches himself at the man right as the man raises his weapon.
Fear ices through my veins, but Tango is faster. His powerful jaws lock on the man’s arm, and the weapon clatters to the ground. I rush forward, using my bodyweight and the advantage of surprise, to hit the man and slam him to the ground.
He falls, and Tango adjusts his hold. I raise my weapon again. “I’d stay like that, or he’s going to tear your arm off.”
The man glares up at me. “I’m not scared of no do— Ow!” he yells as Tango bites down harder when he tries to move.
“Hurt my dog, and that bite wound will be the least of your problems.” I glance back at Alice. “Watch him. If he moves, yell.”
She nods, so I move fully into the living room. Fred is seated in a floral chair while his wife, Jemma, is on the couch. A second man in a black suit stands next to her, one hand on her throat, the other holding a gun to her head.
“Put it down, or I’ll kill her.”
“There doesn’t need to be any more bloodshed tonight,” I tell him. “The police are going to be here any second, and if you kill her, there’s no walking away from this. As it stands now, you’re looking at breaking and entering and assault, but no murder charge—yet.”
“You don’t hold the cards here,” the man says. “I don’t know who you think you are, but I assure you, you have no idea who you’re dealing with.”
And because I’m not one to take chances on this ending badly, I take a breath and adjust my aim. “You okay, Mrs. Sterling?”
She nods.
