Page 128 of Disarming Caine

At the base of the driveway, I tapped Antonio and pointed to a few evergreens along the edge of the property. He nodded and we stayed low, watching the house for movement as we went.

We settled behind a tree, and my phone buzzed. I almost ignored it, in case it was Janelle and her warnings again. But it was Jimmy.

“Where are you?” I whispered when I answered.

“Sorry, Sammy, but it’s New Year’s Eve. It’s a crazy night for us. It’s gonna take longer than usual for anyone to react. I had to stop a guy stunting. Thought maybe he was drunk, but just an idiot.”

A light passed by one of the windows in the house. “Shit. Jimmy, someone’s in the house.”

“Gimme five minutes,” he said and hung up.

The front door and living room windows were still boarded up, just like when David and Olivia skipped town. The back window to the living room likely was as well. If they were in there, one of the other doors would be open.

“Do you see any footprints?” I asked, peeking around the tall bush.

Antonio stretched up on his tiptoes, a hand on my shoulder for balance. “Sì, at the far end of the house.”

I took a step in the direction he’d indicated, but he held me back.

“We know they’re inside. We could wait out here and be sure they don’t get away. Give Jimmy a chance to get here.”

“They’re too slippery. They could sneak out the back, head to the road on the far side of their property or use the gate in Kathy Becker’s fence.” I led him to the dark wood fence up the property line until we spotted the door where the footprints led.

Antonio reached the door first and peered through the edge of the glass. “No lights.”

I pulled the gun out of my holster. “Let me go in first. No arguments. This really is what I’ve been trained for.”

The muscles in his jaw flexed several times, a war no doubt going on in that brain of his. “Are you fully recovered?”

Probably not. Adrenaline would counteract some of what they’d given me. Hopefully. “Yes.”

He nodded and I eased the door open. Turning on the small flashlight made me a target but leaving it off removed any chance of seeing them, so I flicked it on. We stepped gingerly through the mudroom. From there, around a corner, into the living room. I swept the flashlight from left to right.

And there she was. Olivia Scott. Standing over the spot at the back of the room where Bobby had died.

She froze in the light.

“Gotcha,” I said, lifting my gun to point at her.

A wicked smile curved across her face. “You’d like to think so, wouldn’t you?”

“Samantha,” said Antonio behind me. He turned the big flashlight on and stepped forward, veering far enough away from me I couldn’t reach him.

The flashlight lit the entire room so I could see David walking behind him.

Gun in the small of Antonio’s back.

No, no, no, no, no.

“Drop your gun,” ordered Olivia.

She was not getting the jump on me again. Not again.

But it was Antonio.

Was David capable of pulling the trigger? Only he knew for sure, and it wasn’t a risk I was willing to take.

I put my hands up and slowly sank to the floor, placing my gun down. “You aren’t a killer, David. Don’t do this.”