Mara rushed over to the playpen and leaned down to pick up Hope while Kay pulled open the closet doors.

She came up behind Kay and then let out a soft gasp. “Holy mother, are those what I think they are?”

“I’ll tell you later,” Kay yelled over the sound of the siren as she hurriedly typed the code into the keypad next to the door. A small section of the wall moved aside and she ducked inside. Mara followed and Kay slapped the button next to the door and the panel slid closed. Immediately, the sound of the siren was muffled.

“Where are we?” Mara asked.

Kay stood up and pressed her hands over her rapidly beating heart. “Eli’s panic room. He told me if the alarm ever went off again, this is where I should go.”

Mara looked around with wide eyes. “A panic room. Really?”

“Yeah. I just hope it was a false alarm.”

Kay looked at the panel in the wall that concealed the hidden door. She could only hope that if someone had broken in that they wouldn’t know how to break into the panic room as well.

She turned around and surveyed the room. Eli hadn’t shown her the inside when he’d given her the code and she hadn’t given it much thought. Now she was here and she had no idea what she was supposed to do now. It was a small room, about the same size as a bedroom. In the far corner there was a desk with two computer monitors and a phone. The sight of the phone made her realize she hadn’t brought her cell.

“Do you have your cell phone?” she asked Mara. She thought of hers, sitting on the night table next to her bed. If only she’d thought to grab it.

“I do. Should I call Matt? Or should we wait until they contact me? I’d hate to break his concentration at a critical moment.”

“Let’s wait and see what happens. Maybe this is a false alarm.”

Eli had told her to go straight to the panic room if the alarm ever went off again and to wait for him to come and get her. But how long was she supposed to wait? What if Eli was outside the door and needed help? How would she know?

“Wait, I just got a message from Matt.” Mara peered at the screen of her phone and then started typing. “I’m letting him know that we’re safe in the panic room.” Her phone beeped again. “They’ve got help on the way. He said for us to stay where we are until they come and get us.”

“Thank God!” Relief flooded through Kay’s veins, so fast and potent it made her dizzy.

She tiptoed closer to the door and placed her ear to the wall. Maybe if she could hear something it would tell her what was going on. Mara came closer, cradling Hope in her arms and rocking her slightly.

There were several loud pops similar to the sound of firecrackers. Except Kaylee was pretty sure no one was celebrating.

“Did you hear that?”

Mara looked back at her. The fear in her eyes echoed the rising hysteria Kaylee felt. They both backed away from the wall.

“Gunshots. It sounded like gunshots to me,” Mara whispered.

Kay took Hope from Mara and held her close. Hope peered around them curiously but didn’t cry. Kay buried her face in the baby’s soft curls. Even though help was on the way, she had no idea where Eli and Matt were or whether they’d been in the house when those gunshots had been fired. All she could do was hope and pray they were safe.

“Please let them be all right. Please. Please.”

CHAPTER TWENTY

AT THE SOUND of gunshots they all stopped and turned in unison. “Oh my God. What was that? Did he shoot Kay?” Sasha whimpered.

“Pull up the video feed,” Eli growled as he pushed to the front of the van. He wasn’t even sure he believed her story, but it was just crazy enough to be true. Either way he looked at it, Sasha had led trouble right to their doorstep. Even if she hadn’t meant to, if Kay got hurt then none of that mattered.

“He’s in the house. He broke the glass on the back door,” Matt said. He pointed to one of the screens. It was a grainy picture, but he could clearly see the entire back sliding glass door had been smashed in.

“I have to get in there.” He pulled out his weapon, satisfied that he at least hadn’t walked out of the house unarmed, then checked the clip. “I need more firepower.”

Tank took the Beretta he held and handed him the Glock 23 he always carried. “What’s our plan?”

“The plan is for me to go in there and put a round in whoever the hell just broke into my place.”

“You can’t go in there alone,” Matt said.

Eli climbed to the edge of the van and shoved the doors open. “Kay is in there and so is your sister. Do you want to sit here and talk about plans when they could have a gun to their heads right now?”

Tank grabbed him by the back of the collar and yanked him back into the van. His grip felt like iron. Eli was a solid 220 pounds of muscle, so it wasn’t often he was manhandled like a rag doll.

“Maybe you’re going to fire me after this, but I’m not letting you go in there alone,” Tank growled. “I get it. Your girl is in there. But you’re not doing her any favors by charging in with no plan in place. Kaylee is smart. I’m sure she heard the alarm go off.”

Tank let go and Eli rolled his shoulders. Adrenaline flowed through his system, and he checked his natural instinct to go for the other man’s throat. He was talking sense; intellectually he knew that. But Kay could be in trouble right now and he was standing outside talking. He needed to get in there. He needed to save her.