That made Dameon smile. “She’s a smart woman.”

Max grinned briefly.

“Follow me up.”

They made eye contact. With a single nod, Max rolled up his window and pulled forward. It took a four-point turn, but he pulled in behind Dameon and they both drove back toward the house.

Oh shit.

Oh shit.

Oh shit.

Grace’s hands shook, her heart rate took off like a racehorse, and her breathing became erratic.

Someone was in the house.

Her first thought was Max. But she’d seen him drive away.

She spun in a circle. There was absolutely nothing in the empty room to grab. Her hand grasped the curtain and she looked up.

Without a second thought, she ripped the cheap rod from the wall and quickly pushed the curtains off and onto the floor.

Her eyes traveled to the closed closet doors.

On the carpet, the footprints stopped in front of them.

The door to the room was in the opposite direction so she ran for it.

She made it down the hall before a man stepped in front of her and pushed her against the wall.

She screamed and swung the cheap metal curtain rod with every ounce of power she had.

The rod made contact and the man spoke.

“Fucking bitch.”

She looked up and kept swinging.

It was Sokolov. He tried to disguise his face with nylons pulled over his head, but she could tell it was him.

The third time she swung the rod, he grabbed it and wrestled it out of her hands.

She turned to run back the way she came when a second man, this one bigger, grabbed her by her shoulders.

“Now where do you think you’re going?”

The man holding her also wore nylons over his face, squishing it in a way that made his features unrecognizable.

He turned her to face Sokolov.

“You’re not going to get away with this,” she yelled.

Sokolov lifted his hands to the room. “Who is going to stop me?”

She tried to wiggle free to no avail. “I know it’s you, Sokolov.”

He took a step closer. Almost in kicking range.

Her mind scrambled.

“Oh yeah?” He pulled the nylons off his face. “That’s too bad. But that look on your face right now is worth it.”

“Dameon will be here any second.”

Sokolov started to laugh.

The man holding her did as well.

“Did you hear that? The cavalry is coming.”

Another step closer.

“I got to thinking. If I’m going to be accused of assault and battery, I might as well do the crime, right?” Sokolov ran his tongue over his lips, his eyes moving slowly from her face to her chest.

Oh shit.

Another step closer . . .

“Besides, you owe me fifteen grand. You didn’t think I’d let that go, did you?” He stopped too far away to kick and looked back at her face. “So this is what we’re going to do. I’m going to give you a little taste of what I’m going to do to your friends. I know where they all live and when they’re alone. So even if you’re stupid enough to call the police, I have friends like my buddy here, who will make sure to take care of them one at a time.”

She thought of Erin and Parker. Her mom and dad. His words were screwing with her head.

“I have a rock-solid alibi as to where I am right now, and it’s not here, little lady.”

She struggled against her hold again.

Nothing.

The music played in the living room with an upbeat song, mocking what was happening at that moment.

“I’ll get your money back,” she told him.

She noticed a lift in his lips.

Her arms started to scream in pain from the man holding her.

“Just don’t hurt me.”

Sokolov liked that. His shoulders relaxed and he looked to the man behind her. “Did you hear that? She’s singing a different tune now.” He took another step, then two.

Grace moved as fast as she could.

She shifted her hips to the side and, with her fist, aimed right for the man’s balls behind her.

He lost his grip while Sokolov lunged for her.

Her knee came up and Sokolov doubled over.

She made it three feet and one of them grabbed at her legs, and she fell to the ground with a scream.

Dameon pulled alongside Grace’s car, and Max pulled in behind him.

He waited until Max joined him before walking up to the house.

Max extended his hand. “Thanks, Dameon.”

He smiled. “Don’t thank me yet,” he said.

They turned to the house, and Max patted him on the back.

Under the cover of the porch, Dameon stomped his feet on the welcome mat Grace had bought him for Christmas.

He was fishing the keys out of his pocket when he heard Grace cry out.

“Grace?” he yelled.

“Dameon! Help!” She was screaming.

He grabbed the doorknob, said the hell with the keys, and kicked the flimsy lock open.

Grace was sprawled on the floor, on her back, and kicking at the man who was scrambling to get out of the way.

Dameon saw red, and he charged in with a full football-style tackle.

The man over Grace went down under him.

Grace screamed again and yelled, “Watch out.”

Dameon didn’t look up. His fist struck out at the man he’d just shoved to the ground.

His knuckles hit flesh.

The man on the ground swung back.

Dameon’s lip split and he struck out again.

This time the man under him slumped.

Dameon turned his head enough to see that there was a second man in the house. This one was bigger and he’d just slammed his fist into Max’s face.

Grace was scrambling out of the way.

Dameon pushed to his feet and charged the man beating on Max.

He felt a punch to his ribs before landing one himself.

“Help!” Grace yelled to his side.

When he looked, she had the cordless phone in one hand and a fireplace poker in the other. Her yell for help was over the phone.

Her distraction was enough to give the bigger man a clean shot at Dameon’s kidney.

He went to a knee, and Grace screamed as she charged with the swinging fireplace poker she used like a sword.

Dameon heard a yelp and saw the steel make contact. As it caught the nylon-faced man, it ripped the fabric.

Dameon pulled himself up and charged right as Max did the same.

The stranger was on the ground with Max’s booted foot pressed against the back of his head.

A moan came from the other man, who was trying to stand.

Grace stumbled toward him with the poker and swung. “You son of a bitch!” She lifted the poker to hit again.

Dameon grabbed it after the third hit. “He’s down.”

And he was. Face-first.

Grace turned her wild eyes to him.

“It’s okay.” Dameon reached for her.

She stumbled into him and went limp in his arms. “I didn’t see them.”

“It’s okay, baby. I’m here.”

And she cried.

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

By the time the police arrived, Dameon and Max had found zip ties in the garage at Grace’s suggestion and bound the two men together.

Within twenty minutes, the house was swarming with police, paramedics, and one fire engine with a crew.