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Monica raised her brows, but he assumed she knew they had some trouble approaching, or he would have stayed and made sure Denny and Eloise were dressed, then gotten out of there. Wouldn't you know, they would end up outnumbered again.

"Hot cocoa? Add whisky to mine." Eloise sat on the bed and stuck her foot up at Monica, as if she wanted her to finish dressing her.

Andy moved into the hall and headed for the stairs before Wendell entered the cabin. He ran down the stairs. When Andy reached the landing, Wendell twisted the front doorknob and found no resistance. The front door hadn't been locked. Denny had probably figured no one would have bothered them, so there was no reason to lock the door.

Andy moved to the side of the door, waiting for Wendell to enter the house, but he hesitated, probably listening for signs of trouble.

Then Eloise said, "Hey, honey, make it with extra whiskey. And add whipped cream."

Eloise thought she was cute, but she made Andy’s job easier. Wendell, most likely thinking Eloise was calling out to Denny and that he was making spiked cocoa, walked forcefully into the house, glancing in the direction of the empty kitchen.

From where he stood, hidden behind a bookcase filled with books and games, Andy quickly said, "Put your hands up where I can see them!"

Monica knewAndy wasn't getting hot cocoa for everyone. Something else was the matter. As soon as he left the room, she looked out the window. Wendell was headed for the front door, sending a chill up her spine.

"While my partner gets our cocoa, I'll help you put on your socks and boots."

"Why was he shouting at someone to put his hands up? And what about my coat?" Eloise asked.

"He’s having a bit of fun putting on a show. As to your coat, we'll take care of that as soon as we go downstairs."

Monica set her gun on a table, then was about to help Eloise with her socks when Denny, still on his knees with his wrists handcuffed behind his back, lunged forward to tackle Monica. She sidestepped him, and he fell on his face.

Irritated to the max, she grabbed her gun from the table. She couldn't do anything until Andy was here to help her.

Monica wanted to continue talking to Eloise like nothing was wrong, or she might alert Wendell, and they would have a shootout. Monica so wanted to turn into her bear and knock Denny out.

Then, to her surprise, Eloise called out to Andy, "Hey, honey, make it with extra whiskey. I'll also take aloadof whipped cream on top, not just a dab."

That was a great cover for Andy.

She was glad Andy had Denny's gun because he needed to be armed! Then there was a scuffle, gunfire, three shots fired, damn it! Figuring these two couldn't escape their cuffs, Monica headed for the hallway and reached the stairs. Andy was taking cover on the backside of the couch.

Wendell was behind a recliner opposite him, but she had the perfect view of everything in the living room from the balcony above.

"We're here!" Denny called out from the bedroom. "Shoot the bastards!"

"Drop your weapon!" Monica called out, pointing her gun at Wendell.

Wendell jerked his head in her direction and fired a shot, but as soon as he did, Andy, who had used the distraction to go after Wendell, plowed into him, taking him down. Monica ran down the stairs to grab Wendell's gun.

Andy had him pinned down, but Wendell was fighting so hard she knew he might get loose at any moment. She grabbed Wendell's gun hand in a way that forced his thumb back, and he lost his grip on his gun.

Then she pulled his gun away from him and tucked it into her belt. She tossed a pair of handcuffs to Andy, and he flipped Wendell onto his belly and yanked his arm behind his back.

"Hey, you're going to break my damn arm."

"Then don't fight me." Andy got one cuff on, but Wendell tried to roll over and take charge of the situation.

"You know that bear they kept talking about?" Monica said.

Andy played along with her. "The polar bear?"

"Yeah. I think I hear it near the door, snuffling around. He’s probably smelling the food in here."

"Can you get to the front door and close it?" It was still standing wide open.

"Not while I've got my gun on him, and you can't because Wendell won't let you handcuff him. Ohmigod, I just saw him peer in."