Page 89 of Fatal Thrill

But Parker shook her head. “We need to stay put if at all possible. Taking Jaya out of here is as risky as confronting the men outside. Ruby and I will find out what they want. Charlotte, you and Jaya be ready to run if necessary,okay?”

Charlotte grabbed Jaya’s arm and steered her toward the kitchen, where the back door was. “Roger that. Becareful.”

They heard someone pound on thefront.

“Never known a situation I couldn’t talk my way out of,” Ruby said, “except for that damn terrorist Jax saved mefrom.”

The pounding continued. “Hey, you in there!” a man’s muffled shout reached them. “Get on out here. We want to talk toyou.”

Jaya made a mental note to ask Ruby about that story someday. Surely a handful of survivalists were nothing compared to aterrorist.

Right?

As Parker and Ruby headed to the front once more, Jaya heard Parker giving Jon and the others a heads-up. “Nickleback, Coldplay, be advised, we have incoming. Six armed hostiles. Will do our best to handle them and keep you updated.Over.”

Jon’s voice came back, low and quiet so Jaya strained to hear. “Roger that. Sending help your way.Over.”

“Roger.”

Charlotte killed the lights and handed Jaya her coat. “Are you armed?” shewhispered.

“Not outside of this.” Jaya held up thecross.

In her earbud, she heard Parker answer the door. “Well, hello boys. Can we helpyou?”

Charlotte ransacked a drawer and handed Jaya a long, wide knife. Something you might use to cut heavy slices ofmeat.

Okay then. Jaya tried to tuck it in a coat pocket as Parker and Ruby continued to talk to the men out front. The knife didn’t fit in any of herpockets.

Slipping the cross into her coat instead, she held the knife pointed down next to herleg.

Commotion erupted out front, men yelling, Ruby and Parker trying to yell over them. Charlotte pulled Jaya toward the back door and held a finger to her lips, listeningcarefully.

In the span of a heartbeat, Jaya heard a loudboom, then the sound of breaking glass. Flinching, she started to take a step back when Charlotte fell forward, doing a bellyflop on the floor and whacking herhead.

“Charlotte!”

Jaya lunged for her. A shadow fell over the floor beside her. She whipped her head around and her blood went cold at the sight of a man filling the doorframe. In his hands was abat.

The crashing glass had been from the back door’s window. Through the broken window, he’d nailed Charlotte in the back of thehead.

“You must be Jaya,” he drawled as he reached through the opening and unlocked thedoor.

And damn it all to hell. She recognized thatvoice.

Shielding Charlotte as best she could, Jaya struggled to make her throat swallow the bile coming up from her tender stomach. “This wasn’t the deal,” she managed to getout.

Justin—Dalton—smiled. “The deal justchanged.”

He raised the bat andswung.