Gone (Deadly Secrets #2)(93)
Fear closed like a noose around Raegan’s throat. She lurched forward and raced down the hall, searching for a place to hide. A set of double doors at the end of the hall sat open. She rushed inside, turned, and slammed the doors closed behind her. Pulse thundering, she flipped the lock with shaking hands and stumbled back.
“Where did you go?” the man hollered. “You can’t hide from me! I’m not going back empty-handed.”
Sweat beaded on Raegan’s brow as she backed farther into the room. The lock wouldn’t hold him for long. She was trapped unless she found another way out. Turning, she quickly scanned the master bedroom. A wall of curved windows looked out over the trees. A massive bed sat against the far wall. She spotted doors to her left, and turned that way only to discover a closet. Panic built in her chest, making her body shake. He’d look there first. Whipping around, she lurched for the massive bathroom. A huge glass-enclosed shower took up one whole corner. A raised whirlpool tub sat in front of an arched window. Frantic for something—anything—to camouflage her, she dashed across the marble tiles, ready to climb inside a cabinet if she had to, when she spotted an open door off the bathroom that led to another room.
Exercise equipment surrounded her. There was nowhere to hide in here. But on the far side of that . . .
. . . a back staircase that led down. Relief pushed her a step forward.
Wood splintered and cracked in the bedroom, pulling a yelp from Raegan’s throat.
“I know you’re in here, bitch.”
Fear stabbed through Raegan with the force of a thousand daggers, and she jolted forward, racing around a stationary bicycle and treadmill toward the staircase on the far side.
A whir sounded just as she reached the top step. The decorative molding just to the left of her head exploded in a burst of fragmented wood.
Raegan screamed and lost her footing. Her body cracked against the wall and dropped to the stairs. Pain shot into her shoulder and across her back as she tumbled end over end. Her face smacked into the steps, the staircase spun around her. She grappled for the railing to stop herself, but her fingers only grazed the spindles as the force of her body pulled her down two flights of curved steps to the bottom level of the house.
The back of her head cracked against a marble floor. Something warm and wet trickled down her temple. Groaning at the pain stabbing into every inch of her body, she shifted her hands beneath her and tried to push herself up, but her arms ached and didn’t seem to be working. The sharp scent of pool chemicals filled her nostrils. Struggling to see where she was, she lifted her head and looked around, but the room was spinning, and the black dots in her vision made it hard to focus.
Footsteps pounded somewhere above, bringing her focus around. Fear surged inside her again, but her energy lagged, and she struggled to stand. Grunting, she finally managed to reach her feet, but her head felt light, and she swayed. She grappled for the wall and stumbled back. A voice echoed in the stairwell. Followed by a curse and a shout.
No, she realized, squinting up the stairs, shaking her head to get rid of the spots. Not one voice but two.
Another crack sounded, but this one was different. It wasn’t the sharp thwack of a bullet digging into wood. It was more dull, like a fist hitting flesh and bone. Like—
A series of thuds echoed down the stairwell, and Raegan had a split second to jerk backward before two tangled bodies hit the marble floor and rolled, fists flying.
Shaking, Raegan scrambled back from the stairs, out of the way. The man who’d shot at her landed on his back with a grunt and threw a right hook up. Raegan yelped as his big fist slammed into another man’s face above, and she flattened herself against the wall, praying they hadn’t spotted her. Blond hair whipped through the air as the second man’s head snapped to the side, but just before Raegan turned to run, her eyes caught the shape of the man’s jaw and nose and the curve of his neck. And in a heartbeat of horror she realized that the second man wasn’t another thug chasing after her. It was Alec.
“Alec!” she screamed, her eyes growing wide.
Alec grunted, bared his teeth, and shoved his forearm hard against the man’s throat. The man gasped and struggled against the hold, face red, muscles straining. Alec only glared down at him with wild eyes. “Son of a bitch. You’re fucking done.”
The man grunted and threw his weight to the side, dislodging Alec’s arm and shoving him over to his back.
Raegan screamed, paralyzed against the wall with fear as she watched them roll across the floor again. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted the thug’s gun on the ground at the base of the stairs, a silencer screwed on to the end.
A rush of adrenaline pushed her forward, and she scrambled for the gun. Her hand closed around the hilt just as a splash sounded. Looking up, she fumbled with the gun and caught sight of Alec wrestling with the other man in the rectangular lap pool. The man got the upper hand and threw his weight onto Alec, forcing him under the water. Alec sputtered and splashed. Fear sucked all the air out of Raegan’s lungs as she watched the hulking man holding Alec under.
He was going to kill Alec if she didn’t do something fast. Hands shaking, she lifted the gun and pointed, praying she was aiming in the right direction, that Alec wouldn’t pop up out of the water too soon, that there were still bullets in the chamber to fire.
Sucking in one last breath, she pulled the trigger.
The gun recoiled in her hands, thrusting her back. She gripped the gun tightly so she wouldn’t drop it. A whir sounded, followed by a thwack. Her spine hit the wall, and she scrambled to keep from falling over. The man jerked back in the water and went under. A split second later, Alec broke the surface and stumbled to the wall of the pool, gasping for air. Waves sloshed onto the travertine tile and ricocheted back.