Page 47 of Blood in the Water

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Nolan helped Will tie the boat to the pier. It was almost completely submerged, and Nolan wasn’t at all sure the boat would still be there when they got back — if they got back — but that was the least of their problems.

“That your boat?” Farrell shouted, pointing to a craft tied up on the other side of the dock, knocking against the old wood of the pier. Water ran down his face and dripped off his chin.

Nolan shook his head. “Seamus.”

Farrell untied it and gave it a shove with his foot to keep it from crashing the dock to pieces. It was quickly carried away from them.

“Lead the way,” he yelled. “This is your show.”

Nolan looked past the dunes that fronted the house. He could barely see it for the rain slanting sideways, cold mist billowing in from the ocean. But it was there, and somewhere inside was Bridget, under assault and waiting for him.

He waved everyone into place behind him and started up the dock.

The hall was eerily quiet, the storm muffled by the rest of the house on either side. Bridget could hear it raging, but it sounded like it was coming from under layers of gauze.

It should have brought her comfort, but all she could think about was the fact that it meant she couldn’t hear Seamus and his men either, not if they were at the edges of the house.

She stopped outside the door of the room where her mom, Owen, and Maurice were huddled and listened for the sound of furniture being moved into place. When she heard the scuffle of the wardrobe being pushed against the door she turned to her dad and gestured for him to take the back of the house while she took the front.

He shook his head. “I go with you.”

“What’s the point of having two of us if we both go in the same direction?” she hissed.

He scowled. “You’re the point.”

“And if we both die? What will Owen and Mom do then?” She gestured to the gun in her hand. “I have this. I’ll be okay. I think that boken glass was coming from the back of the house anyway.”

He hesitated, then nodded. “Keep that thing out in front of you. When in doubt, fire. Don’t hesitate. This isn’t the time to be cautious.”

She had no idea how her father had come to own a gun or how he knew how to use it — but she was glad he did.

He started for the back of the hall, staying close to the wall as he made his way toward the mud room.

She turned to the front of the house and crept forward. She was almost to the end of the hall when she heard a shuffle in the kitchen to her right. She paused andcontemplated her options: she could either wait in the hall for whoever was in the kitchen to come and get her or she could get them first.

It was an easy decision.

She took a long, slow breath, and stepped out of the hall.

Nolan caught the shadow of someone on the roof in the split second before the figure disappeared at the back of the house. He turned to Christophe, Farrell, and Luca and waved them in that direction, then gestured for Will to follow him to the front.

When they reached the bottom of the walkway, they split off in different directions. He was surprised when Christophe stayed with him and Will.

The snow that had been at the front of the house only a couple days before had mixed with the downpour to form a perilous mixture of ice and slush. They slogged through it to flatten themselves against the house and eased their way toward the front porch.

Nolan’s gaze settled on a window pane in the kitchen, broken too cleanly to be a result of the storm. His heart stuttered in his chest. Seamus — or one of his men — was inside the house with Bridget.

He waved Will and Christophe forward and they stepped onto the porch. They didn’t have time to be as quiet as Nolan would have liked, but the storm was raging around them, rain pouring in sheets that made his face numb, the wind howling off the water. Hopefully its noise would cover theirs.

When they got to the porch he flattened himself against the siding and waved Will to the other side of the front door.

The door would be locked, which meant he’d have to kick it in. He adjusted his grip on the gun in his hands, preparing himself to hold onto it in a ready position while he kicked in the door.

Then he counted down with his free hand so that Will and Christophe could see.

3… 2… 1.

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