The next time she opened her eyes she realized her alarm clock had gone dark.

The tree outside stopped making noise, and the rush of wind died. Beside her bed, her phone lit up and vibrated. She glanced at the alert on the screen.

System offline.

She shook her head and sat up in bed. The power was out and the alarm was shooting a bad reading. Erin didn’t need more than that. Even though she figured she was overreacting, she’d rather be safe than sorry.

She swung her feet off her bed and used the flashlight from her cell phone to locate her slippers and bathrobe with the intent of walking up to the main house.

Matt’s discarded shirt from the night before lay in a crumpled heap on the floor. Picking it up, she brought it to her nose and sucked in a deep breath. “Be safe,” she whispered to herself.

Not wanting to be mistaken for an intruder, Erin walked into her living room with her phone in her hand to call Parker and let her know she was walking in.

“Put the phone down.”

The air swished from Erin’s lungs and she backed up into the wall. Her heart jumped so fast and so hard she didn’t think she would survive it.

There, in the shadows of a waxing crescent of moonlight flowing through the windows, was Desmond.

For one nightmarish moment she froze. Just like she always did.

He took a step toward her and his features came into focus.

“Get out!”

He laughed.

“Look who’s standing up for herself.”

She reached around the door where she thought she left the shotgun.

Nothing.

He took another step in her direction and she found her voice.

Her scream filled the small space of her home, and she tried to put distance between the two of them.

Desmond jumped across the room and slammed his hand over her mouth.

She didn’t stop. Opening her mouth even wider, his finger slipped in and she bit down as hard as she could.

Outside the wind howled, and Desmond cussed and pulled his hand away.

Erin tasted blood. His.

And then it came. The blow she couldn’t avoid since the wall was on her back.

So many memories surfaced as his hand reached for her throat. She stopped struggling when his words registered. “If they come down here, I will kill them.”

Breathing hard, she tried to find her exit. The door was too far away.

Desmond held her tight, but wasn’t putting enough pressure to crush her windpipe. He wanted something and whatever it was, it didn’t include killing her with his fists . . . at least not yet.

“What do you want?”

“Now . . . that’s what I like to hear.” With his hand on her throat, he pushed her into her bedroom.

She battled panic. Not this . . . not again.

Desmond picked up her phone that had fallen on the floor. “You’re going to call that lawyer of yours and leave a very convincing message.”

Her eyes stuck to his. What she saw staring back was a man she hardly recognized. There was wildness there. The kind she once saw right before he would strike her and then flee. Only now it hovered just behind the iris and was highlighted by the way he didn’t seem to blink.

Stay calm. “What do you want me to say?”

“Isn’t this better? A nice conversation. You’re going to tell her that I was right. That you’re a liar and can’t live with it anymore.”

She jerked and he lost his sick smile.

He shoved her on the bed hard and covered her body with his. “We can do this easy, or we can do this hard.” He pulled a bottle of pills from a pocket and rattled them in front of her eyes. “You’re going to leave the message and then take a little nap. Or we’re going to have a psychotic break and play murder-suicide with your new friends.”

Did he really think he was going to get away with this?

The crazed depths of his eyes said he did.

Erin found her voice . . . Maci’s voice. “Don’t hurt them. Please.”

“That’s better.”

He pressed the phone into her hand, and she dialed Renee’s number. All the while she willed the woman to pick up, even though it was past three in the morning.

The phone rang once . . .

Twice . . .

On the third ring it went to voice mail.

Desmond kept a tight grip on her neck. “Make it good.”

“Renee . . . it’s me. I can’t do this. Desmond was right. I’m sick. I’m sorry. I don’t want to hurt anyone anymore.”

Desmond pulled the phone away and ended the call.

“Perfect. Now let’s go find that wine you love to drink.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

Matt turned onto the street that would take him to the command post. Up ahead he could see emergency vehicles of all shapes and sizes.

The moment he put his car in park his cell phone rang. He didn’t recognize the number and assumed it was someone at the post checking on his ETA.

He answered the phone with action. “I’m pulling in now.”

“Matt?”

A woman. A frantic woman.

“Who is this?”

“It’s Renee. I just woke up to a voice mail from Maci. Is she with you?”

He slammed on the brakes.

“No. What is it?”

“She said she was a liar and Desmond was right and that she couldn’t live with herself. Matt, she didn’t sound good.”

Matt turned the wheel hard and hit the gas. “God damn it. Did you call the police?”

“I don’t have an address, Matt.”

He rattled off the address.

“Did you call her back?”

“And tip off Desmond? Doesn’t she live with your family?”

“Son of a bitch. Call the police. I’m on my way.” He hung up the phone, pressed Colin’s number.

It rang.

And rang.

Matt slammed his hands on the steering wheel.

The call went to voice mail.

Thank God the road was deserted at this time in the morning. With one hand on the wheel, and the other on his phone, he shifted through the numbers until he found Parker’s landline.

The call instantly said the line was out of service.

He pressed down on the gas and tried his brother’s number again.

Desmond pulled her into the kitchen.

He blinked several times when he saw a shotgun lying on a table. How had he missed that?

Grabbing it, he tested the weight with one hand while shoving Maci into a chair with the other. “Well, this is convenient.”

He dropped to his knees beside her and put the barrel to her chin and at the same time attempted to pull her hand down to reach the trigger.

Much as he pulled her arm, it just wouldn’t stretch.

But the fear in her eyes was worth the exercise. “Looks like a nap it is.”

He jumped to his feet and kept her in place by aiming the gun her way.

An open bottle sat in the door of her fridge. He grabbed it and then removed a wineglass from a cupboard. “No reason to go out like the lower class. My Maci always drank out of a proper glass. Isn’t that right?”

He glanced back to see her looking around the room. He laughed and flopped into a chair opposite her. Placing the gun in his lap, he poured her a glass of wine and set it in front of her. “This will make these work a little bit faster.”