Page 172 of Protecting What's Mine

Mack: Are you here at my place?

There were footsteps on the stairs now.

She knew before the door opened that it wasn’t him. The figure in her doorway was framed in a ghostly orange flicker of light. It wasn’t Linc. And it wasn’t the sunrise lighting the interior of her home.

It was fire.

Sunshine let out a low, threatening growl, her body stiffening into a defensive posture between Mack and the figure.

Black smoke billowed lazily in, clinging to the ceiling.

Blindly, she hit what she hoped to God was the emergency call button on her phone.

“What have you done?” she gasped, pulling the sheet over her face as smoke stung her throat and lungs.

The figure stepped across the threshold, an arm extended toward Mack.

A gun pointed at her heart.

Sunshine snarled, and the hand that held the gun wavered toward the dog.

“No!” Mack said, yanking Sunshine back. The figure closed the door, grinning maniacally.

“Guess who finally wins, Kenzie?”

“Jesus. What have you done, Wendy?”

Wendy stood between Mack and the door, the stairs, the way out.

“You took everything from me. You couldn’t stand to see me happy. Now, it’s my turn to take from you.”

Logically, Mack knew there was no reason to argue with unhinged. There would be no making her sister see the reality. But in the moment, with adrenaline pumping through her system, with the need to live to see Thanksgiving morning when the people she loved most would gather, she was fearless.

“I did everything I could to save him, Wendy. Everything. He was already gone before he got to the hospital.”

“You killed him,” she shrieked.

“I swear I didn’t, Wendy. I tried so hard to save him. I tried to save him for you.” Keep her talking. Keep her engaged until either the authorities arrived or the smoke got too thick to see. She’d get Sunshine out on the roof, and they’d escape. Somehow.

“You don’t get to have what you took from me.”

“I didn’t take anything from you!”

“You killed him. You did it just to hurt me. And now I’m going to watch you burn, and I’m going to kill your firefighter when he comes through that door to save you!”

“Where did you start the fire, Wendy?” Mack demanded, slipping off the bed and hoping to God the call had connected. Hoped that someone in dispatch could hear what was happening. In case she didn’t make it. She wanted them to know the truth.

Wendy giggled. “The garage. I figured it would give us time to talk, give your man time to get here before you both die.”

“I love Linc,” Mack said. Not for Wendy’s benefit, but for him. If she didn’t make it, there would be a record of her saying it. “Put the gun down, Wendy. You don’t really want to shoot first responders. You just want to hurt me.” She took a step toward her sister.

“Stay where you are!” The gun was pointed at her again. “Don’t make me shoot you before the smoke gets you. Your boyfriend will find you,” she said, gleeful now. “He’ll find your body and know he couldn’t save you.”

“You’re really going to kill us both?”

“I’ll watch you burn,” she said, her smile a terrifying machination. She laughed.

Sunshine whimpered.