Page 126 of Noel Secrets

Darby cleaned the kitchen, using muscle memory—washing dishes, wiping counters, scrubbing the floor until it gleamed. Her thoughts spun in the quiet. Cleaning calmed her. Always had. The repetition, the order—it made sense in a world that rarely did.

She moved upstairs with Bandit padding behind her, the vacuum trailing in her wake. Room by room, she restored order, piece by piece.

Maybe someday she could do the same with her own life.

As she vacuumed the front bedroom, a sharp electronic chime rang out. Then the rising woo-woo of the house alarm.

She froze.

Bandit barked, stiff-legged and snarling at the doorway.

Darby’s pulse slammed into her throat.

She had armed the alarm. She was sure of it. It triggered only if someone came in.

She dropped the vacuum handle and ran to the window, yanking aside the curtain. Clay’s truck sat parked across the street.

Empty.

Her breath caught as she spotted him sprinting across the side yard, jaw clenched, hand near his waistband.

Her phone vibrated in her pocket.

She whipped it out.

Clay’s voice came through, clipped and low. “Someone just broke in through the back door. You need to hide. Now.”

Chapter Five

Darby scooped up Bandit then darted down the hallway. A figure moved below the staircase and fired at her. The bullet shattered a photo frame on the wall beside her.

Something stung at her but she didn’t stop. She ran into the main bedroom, slamming and locking the door. Mia had shown her a saferoom Kent had built into the back of her closet a few years earlier. She prayed she could still find it.

Bandit continued barking. She dropped him and pushed back the clothes, relieved when she spotted the handle and flung open the door.

The bedroom doorknob rattled. Darby picked up Bandit again.

Someone was out there. After a moment, they pounded on the door, trying to break it open.

She stepped into the safe room with Bandit. Shut and locked the door. Sat on the floor, the dog huddled against her.

The bedroom door gave way with a crash.

The assailant didn’t know about the safe room, but he would see the pushed-back clothing and the door. Darby covered her ears and fought the urge to cry out.

Clay will come for me. Clay will stop him.

At the sound of a fist banging on the safe-room door, Bandit snarled and growled. He threw himself against the door, trying to escape. She was certain he would attack the moment the door burst open, no match for the intruder’s gun.

Gunfire sounded outside the door.

The banging stopped.

Fast footsteps, down the hall. More gunfire.

She grabbed the dog and unlocked the door, curious to know what was happening. Clay stood at the top of the stairs, looking down at a man at the bottom.

Bandit jumped from her arms and darted down the stairs after the man, lunging at him.