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Annie cursed softly and Ford turned to see the cupboard doors open. They were jammed with books and board games. Not a woman in sight.

Where was Jolie?

Chapter19

A Pitched Battle

Jolie’s heart pounded hard enough to be felt all the way back to the Carolinas.

She and Thea crouched behind the couch in the family room where Jay had spent the most time. They’d planned to go out the window on the side of the house, away from the driveway. The overgrown gardens were close to the trees, and they’d figured that was the safest option.

Except the windows were old and painted shut. Other than breaking the glass, they couldn’t open them.

She leaned close to Thea. “Break it or find a better hiding place? Anywhere come to mind?”

Thea shook her head. “The basement doesn’t seem like a good idea. There’s only the one way out. The closets and cupboards on this floor are obvious and mostly filled with stuff, anyway.”

“Anything that might work as a weapon is probably in the kitchen. Should we go back there? Grab something and head outside to hide in the orchard?”

Hiding inside would be better, but despite the size of the farmhouse, there weren’t a lot of places. Too bad there wasn’t a hidden room like in the books she’d read.

Being vulnerable and weaponless wasn’t sitting well with either of them, so they decided they would head back to the kitchen. They just had to be brave enough to get there.

Before Jolie could ease open the door, she heard male voices. They weren’t loud enough to hear the words, but she didn’t think it was Ford and Knox.

Panic threatened to overwhelm her, and she closed her eyes to force herself to breathe.

Two gunshots sounded almost simultaneously, and her knees wobbled. She had to lean on the doorjamb to stay upright.

Was Ford okay? Her brother?

She found Thea’s eyes wide and she could feel her friend’s panic and pain as well as she felt her own. “We need weapons. We need to help.”

Thea nodded. Together, they pulled in a few breaths and then eased out of the door, listening for any more sounds. Looking for any signs.

Be okay. Please be okay.

She was ready to promise the universe anything in order to ensure Ford and her brother were safe and would remain that way.

As they passed the library, they heard noises inside, but couldn’t tell what was happening. They hurried past the room and to the kitchen in search of weapons. Knives. Rolling pins. Cast-iron pans. Anything that might help them.

The kitchen door was a swinging one, but it rested still. She eased it open slowly but didn’t hear any reaction. A peek showed her the room was empty, so they hurried in. Thea eased the door to stillness while Jolie headed to the knife block.

She was less than a yard away when a man stepped through the space where the back door hung loosely. The man’s gun aimed straight at her.

She didn’t know him, but she knew he wasn’t one of the good guys from Phail to help them. Not with the look on his face. His eyes were mean and his smirk creepy.

“Not another step.”

Even if she was brave enough to disobey, a knife wouldn’t be effective against his gun.

She hoped Thea had slipped back into the hallway, but the man’s eyes shot away from Jolie.

“Take another step toward that door and this one dies.”

She heard Thea’s gasp and knew her friend had frozen, too.

Another man entered from the porch. His grin was even creepier. His eyes roved over Jolie, making her shudder. “Well, it looks like we’ve got ourselves a bonus prize. We can have a bit of fun as a reward for a job well done.”