Page 99 of Deadly Target (Rocky Mountain Courage 2)

Erin stood in her path in the doorway as Mom tried to push past.

“Mom, please, you’re not yourself. Please hand me the gun before you kill someone.”

“That’s the idea.” Mom barreled past Erin into the hallway. “Now get back into my room.”

Mom’s strength surprised Erin, and she wasn’t sure she could physically hold her mother down or wrestle the weapon from her. She called 911 as Mom stood in the hall and aimed the gun at the front door. Erin had no time to wait for the call to connect.

Instead, she had to take matters into her own hands and dropped the cell in her pocket, then rushed forward. “Give that to me—”

Before Erin could reach her, Mom fired the shotgun and blew a wide hole through the front door. Erin screamed and covered her mouth, but she couldn’t stop the screaming as disbelief gripped her. Mom cocked the firearm again and aimed.

“No, you don’t!” Erin lunged for the shotgun, and it blasted a hole in the ceiling.

Mom looked at her—as lucid as she’d ever been. “They’re here. They’re after us. We have to get out of here.”

“Who’s here? Who are you talking about?” Was her mother suffering a psychotic break? Paranoia? Erin wouldn’t consider the other mob-related possibilities. Not yet.

Her mother gripped her arm, eliciting pain with the action. “Let’s go.”

She dragged Erin to the back of the house as if they would escape that way.

“I’m not going anywhere. Please, just put the shotgun down.”

Bullets—return fire—sprayed through the front of the house and continued, unrelenting.

“We have to leave. Please, just trust me. Just listen to me,” Mom said.

“It’s the deputy,” Erin said. “You shot at the deputy sent here to protect us, and now he’s shooting back. We have to give up the shotgun and walk out there with our hands up.”

“No.” Mom peered out the back door, then hesitated. She pressed her back against the wall, holding the shotgun like she intended to use it yet again. This was Montana, after all, and Dwayne had taken Mom hunting and taught her how to use all manner of guns, but the sight of her holding the shotgun like she practiced with it every day scared Erin.

Erin pulled the cell from her pocket to call 911 again. This time for emergency medical services too, in case the deputy was hurt and couldn’t call for backup himself. He hadn’t announced his presence or tried to enter the home, though he’d returned fire.

A lot of gunfire.

Her stomach clenched and twisted inside. She wasn’t going to get out of this on her own or talk Mom down.

Cell to her ear, she waited for the call to connect. “What is going on, Mom?”

Sweat beaded on Mom’s temple. She was definitely having some sort of hallucination. Erin’s knees shook. Now wasn’t the time for her to collapse. Mom was depending on her.

Her mother’s eyes narrowed, and she shook her head. Erin had never seen her mother like this, and it scared her more than anything she’d experienced, including the last several days.

“That’s it.” Mom panted the words. “We’re taking the secret passageway.”

Her mother pushed from the wall, still holding the weapon like she was prepared to shoot now and ask questions later. “Stick close to the walls. Stick close to me.”

Grief twisted with fear in Erin’s chest. This could not be happening.

“The secret passageway?” Erin couldn’t stop the tears as she followed her mother’s instructions. “Mom? You’re being delusional. There’s no secret passageway.”

Erin finally spoke with the emergency dispatcher and explained about the shooting. She tried to sound coherent, then she ended the call. She didn’t need to stay on the line. She needed to focus on Mom. Erin’s mother led her into her bedroom and stopped at the closet. She hadn’t closed the door after retrieving the shotgun, so it remained open.

Mom grabbed more ammo from a shoebox and reloaded her shotgun, then handed it to Erin. “Watch the door. Watch our backs. Shoot anyone who enters the house.”

Erin took the shotgun, but now stared at it.

Mom then dropped to her knees and tossed out boxes. Erin stepped out of the way, stunned as she watched her mother in the middle of a psychotic break. And yes, she watched the door too. But no one was coming for them except the police. In that case, Erin should put the shotgun down. But she couldn’t move.