Page 129 of His Wounded Heart

“It’s Maddie,” she tells us. “Maddie, Simon, and Aiden are here. Listen to them and do what they say.”

“Maddie, this is Simon. I think somebody could be coming there to harm you. I need you to get ready.”

I look to Aiden.

“Lock yourself into the safe room,” he said. “You’ll have everything you need.”

“Aiden, are you sure we need—”

“If Simon says somebody might be on his way to harm you, don’t do anything else, get your asses into the safe room. Are we clear?”

“What’s going on?” Evie asks from the door. “Why does Maddie need—”

I point at her, and she shuts up.

My phone buzzes; it’s Zarek. “I’ve got a deputy a minute from my house. I called Chloe; she’s going with them to the sheriff’s department.”

I’m not satisfied. Not until we’ve got a call from Chloe actually in the back seat of the patrol car.

“Aiden, is there a way for them to call out of the safe room?” I demand to know.

“There’s a landline set up in there,” he assures me.

I nod.

Trenda starts talking. “Maddie said she and Zoe were heading in, then the line went dead.” I nod, knowing the girls will be smart enough to call. The hitman isn’t wanting to kill any of the women, he just wants to get Trenda and Bella’s location.

A call comes through on Trenda’s phone. “I don’t recognize the number,” she hands her phone to Aiden.

“Yep, this is the safe room.” He answers the call. “This is Aiden. Did you lock the door?” he asks as he puts the phone on speaker.

“Oh shit, were we supposed to do that?” Maddie asks. “That never fucking occurred to us.

“Those are really bad words, Aunt Maddie. You should owe me more than two dollars,” Bella yawned.

Slayer pushes his way over to me. Bella sidles up to her mother. How had I missed her entrance into the room?

“Sweetheart, Uncle Aiden and Simon will both pay you ten dollars,” Maddie promises. “They’ve been saying a lot of bad words.”

She looks over at me from her mother’s side. “Really?”

She looks adorable, all rumpled from bed, wearing pajamas with little unicorns on them.

My phone buzzes again. It’s Zarek. “Well?” I ask.

“They have her. I’m headed to the station right now.” I hear the relief in his voice.

“Chloe’s headed to the sheriff’s station,” I tell everybody.

“Is she in trouble?” Bella asks.

“No, Sweet Pea,” Trenda answers. “She’s meeting Uncle Zarek there.”

“What’s the deal with Maddie and Zoe?” Zarek asks. Again, I haven’t put him on speaker phone.

“They’re in the safe room in Aiden and Evie’s house,” I answer him with a satisfied smile.

“Sweet. I remember him telling me about that, and thinking he’d gone way over the top.”