Page 54 of Snowed Inn For Christmas

I bent down, grabbed the gun, and fired several shots, not caring which one took his life as his body slumped to the floor and blood puddled around him.

Thirty-Seven

Gage

Iwas running fullsteam when we heard another gunshot.It hadn’t been that long since the first one, maybe a few minutes if that.But then again, I had lost track of time while focusing on whether Julie was okay, and the cabin seemed a lot further away than I expected.There were several more gunshots fired, sending a chill through me.

“Help!Help!”a little voice cried, pulling my attention to the trees off to the side of the path.

Duke barked, getting to her first as Patrick and I followed him.

“Daisy!”I yelled out, making sure she knew we were there.“Stay where you are, sweetheart.We’re coming for you.”

“Gage!Mommy needs help!”

“I know, we’re on our way.Where are you, sweetie?”

“Here,” she cried, her voice getting closer as we went through some brush and saw her sitting on the dirt with her arms wrapped around Duke.

“Baby girl, are you okay?”Patrick asked, swooping down and picking her up.She wrapped her arms around his neck and cried.He held onto her tightly, as if afraid of what might happen if he let her go.

“Yes.But my mommy...”

“I’m going to go get your mommy now.Stay with Uncle Pat, okay?”

She nodded and held him tightly as he stepped carefully out of the brush and back onto the trail.

“Duke, home,” I said, nodding to the inn.While we hadn’t practiced much at the inn, I trusted he was smart enough to know what I needed of him right now, given the command was the same as what we used at home.

Once I saw him leading Patrick and Daisy back to the inn, I took off running at full speed until the cabin came into view.I flew around to the front door and pushed it open, stopping when I saw a few people inside.

“Julie!”I yelled, waiting for my eyes to adjust to what was happening in front of me.The room smelled damp and mildewy, likely due to the rundown condition of the cabin that had been abandoned for years.“Julie!”

“This is an active crime scene.You need to leave,” a female said, moving to stand in front of me, blocking my view as two males stood off to the side as they shielded a body.

My heart raced in my chest as my blood pressure skyrocketed.Seconds felt like minutes as they ticked by without me knowing whether the woman I was madly in love with was alright.That body on the floor could be hers.There was no way of knowing who fired those gunshots, and worse—who had been killed.