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“Yeah, I do.”
Nikki reached for her phone and caught another glimpse of the couple inside. Ashley was trying to shake another cigarette from a pack and, finding it empty, had crushed the small box and tossed it into the cold grate. But where was Tyson? He wasn’t visible in the room.
Oh, God.
She took a chance and straightened, surveying the interior. Pistol in hand, Tyson was striding to the French doors leading to this very porch, less than six feet from where she was standing.
Crap!
Nikki’s heart started beating double time. She didn’t dare grab the phone for fear she would drop it. She stared at the window, saw his nose press to the glass. Oh. Dear. God. Swallowing hard, she shrank back against the wall, silently praying he couldn’t see her.
“No one followed me,” Ashley insisted, her voice floating through the crack beneath the panes. “Not Nikki fucking Gillette, not anybody.”
A minute passed by. Stretched endlessly.
Nikki held her breath. Saw movement in the glass of the doors.
She nearly sprang from the old plank decking but knew he would see her. Would hunt her down.
Counting her heartbeats, ignoring the irritating buzz of a mosquito flying near her head, she waited.
After what seemed an eternity, he disappeared from her field of vision as he walked away from the French doors. Nikki chanced a look through the window again and saw Tyson striding closer to Ashley before he slowly turned, his eyes skimming over the cavernous room, as if he expected to see someone in the shadows. “How do you know you weren’t followed?” he asked Ashley.
“I was careful!”
“Nikki Gillette’s husband’s a goddamned cop!”
Nikki’s stomach dropped. He wasn’t giving up on this.
“She could have called him. Texted him.”
Oh. God. Time to go.
“No one followed me!” Ashley insisted.
“Let’s hope to God you’re right, but if you’re not”—he reached into his pocket and retrieved a small black pistol—“use this.”
“What the fuck? Are you crazy?” Ashley cried, recoiling. “You brought another gun.”
“I thought we might need a couple of backups.”
“A couple?”
“You can never be overarmed.”
Ashley was shaking her head. “No . . . no, I do not need a gun.”
“You don’t know that.”
“You’re nuts,” Ashley accused, but took the small weapon from his hand.
Nikki had to leave. Now! Could she sneak across the deck, let the dark forest swallow her? Race back to the car in the darkness?
No! Just get far enough away and text or call Reed. You have a phone! Just be careful!
“You know how to use it?”
“Do I know how to—are you nuts?” Ashley asked. “Let me think. Point and shoot,” she mocked. “Have I got that right?”
