“Mine?” I asked, throwing the door open. “Yep.”
I was running toward the front door as lights filled the sky, bouncing off the windows. The sound of sirens filled the air as patrol cars pulled up behind us. I heard them yelling at me to stop. I wouldn’t have been shocked if they had guns drawn, assuming I was the intruder, but I didn’t care.
I had to get to her.
“Sarah!” I yelled into the house. The sound of a kettle blared through the air, her living room in disarray. Her glass coffee table was cracked and askew; one of the armchairs lay on its side.
I followed the path of carnage as I called her name. Pictures, books, and shattered glass littered the hallway—some with droplets of blood that I prayed did not belong to her.
“Sarah!” I yelled again, my voice straining. I needed to see her. I needed to know she was okay.
I rounded into her room, passing the splintered doorway where the door had been kicked in. Her dresser was on its side, drawers askew and clothes strewn about. Her mattress was half off the bed, the sheets tangled and thrown across the floor.
“Sarah!” I yelled again, the panic rising. The room was a massacre. One of the windows was wide open, and I ran to it, peering into the night. There was a bloody handprint on the sill, but it was too smudged to tell who it belonged to.
“Sarah!” I yelled out the open window, my voice breaking in desperation. I was moments away from vaulting through the opening when I heard a soft cry.
I whipped around toward the closet doors where the sound had come from.
“Sarah?” I asked more quietly, my voice cracking as my sanity frayed.
I lunged for the doors, throwing them open, and was met with a bat swinging toward my head. With reflexes I didn’t know I possessed, I caught the wood in my grip just as Sarah lunged again, desperately trying to attack.
“Hey!” I shouted, reaching out with my free hand to grab her shoulder. “It’s me, Sarah. It’s me. It’s Fai.”
Her brown eyes met mine, and I saw the exact moment she looked closer, trying to confirm I was telling the truth—that I was truly me. The second it clicked, the second she understood I was there, her strength vanished. She collapsed against me, sobs wracking her body.
The bat fell to the floor with a clatter as she threw herself into my arms. The force nearly shoved me back, but I heldmy ground. I stood firm as she wrapped her arms around me, burying her face in my chest.
“You came,” she choked out, her body shaking from the adrenaline.
“I told you I would,” I murmured, scanning the room over her shoulder. “Is he in here?”
She shook her head. “I don’t think so. I think he ran out the window. I-I’m not sure.”
The thunder of heavy boots echoed through the house as police officers burst into the bedroom.
“Police! Put your hands up!” one yelled, a flashlight and a service weapon trained on me.
I raised my hands, trying to turn and face them, but Sarah wouldn’t let go, clinging to me for dear life.
“I’m her husband,” I explained, slowly lowering my hands to pull her closer again. “I’m her husband. The guy went out the window.” I motioned toward the opening with my head.
They didn’t question me further. Maybe it was the way Sarah was sobbing in my arms that proved I wasn't the threat. I held her tightly to my chest, and she gripped my shirt as if she were drowning.
“You’re okay,” I whispered, dropping a kiss to the top of her head. “You’re safe now. I’ve got you.”
I would die before I let him touch her again.
“We tracked him into the neighbor’s yard, but his footprints ended there,” a police officer explained.
It had been over an hour since I'd arrived, and Sarah still hadn’t let me go. She now had her hand wrapped in mine, gripping it tightly enough that my hand had lost feeling, but there was no way in hell I was letting go of her. Not now. Not ever.
Will was on the phone, seeing if he could arrange security for Sarah. Jackie and Goldie were here too, but the police wouldn’t let them in, so they stood on the other side of the police tape. I could see them through the front windows, standing hand in hand, staring at the house, and waiting for us—for any update.
But there was none.
The police couldn’t find him. Hell, we still had no idea who he was.
