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Lachlan’s blood ran cold. “What?”
“We think he’s here. Let me call you back,” Mitch said, hanging up without another word.
Lachlan stared at his phone. Jim was in Redwater?
Fear wrapped around his neck like a python. Not fear for himself, but for Bethenny.
He looked out his window to the two patrol cars. They would never take him to Bethenny’s house.
His eyes dropped to his monitoring bracelet.
He knew if he was wrong about this, he was going to be in all sorts of trouble.
Lachlan ran for the backdoor. Bethenny’s house was a few minutes’ drive away, but he couldn’t get his car out of his garage without alerting the patrol officers, which left him with few options.
He grabbed a pocketknife from his kitchen drawer, tucked it into the back pocket of his jeans along with his phone, and slipped out the back door. He scaled over the neighbor’s fence and the faster he moved, the better he felt. It was like he could outrun his anxiety, but he knew that was what had gotten him into this situation in the first place.
Focus.
He sprinted forward, his eyes darting all around. He had no idea what alerts his monitoring bracelet was setting off, but he knew there would be a consequence for what he was doing. He increased his pace.
If he ran through the streets he might be seen by an officer and sent home, so Lachlan went through the neighborhood, scaling fences. He was sure more than one nosy neighbor was going to see him, but right now he didn’t care. He had one sole purpose.
His heart stammered in his chest, and it wasn’t from exertion.
He looked to his left and saw a police car. Lachlan knew the streets, and that it could be the car Mitch had dispatched—but if he kept going through the backyards, the most direct route, he knew he could beat the car there. Once inside, if bedlam ensued, they wouldn’t be worried about sending him home.
Lachlan pushed his legs faster as he whipped through another backyard, almost getting trapped in the sheets hanging out to dry.
“Hey! Hey, you! Come back here!” an old man called out from behind him, but he didn’t stop—he ran faster until he could no longer hear the man’s voice.
One more block.
His lungs burned as he scaled the fence, landing heavily on his legs. His body was tired from the intense track-and-field excursion and wanted a break, but every second mattered now. He had nothing to back up this hunch but his gut feeling.
God, please protect her, he prayed silently as he surged forward.
Lachlan saw a black mustang out front and, although he didn’t recognize the car, it was a car Jim would drive. What surprised him was Louise White’s car out front also. Lachlan slowed his pace, letting his breath normalize and his heart rate lower. He needed to think calmly now. Jim would react when he saw Lachlan, and there was no telling what he might do.
He looked down the street but couldn’t see a patrol car yet. He had seconds, maybe a minute at best, and he had no weapon. He crept up to the front door but continued past it. He pressed his back against the wall, straining to hear, but the only sound was his heart beating in his ears.
He inched forward as he neared the window and leaned in just enough to see through it.
Lachlan’s breath caught in his throat when he saw Bethenny in the hallway, leaning over someone, but he couldn’t see who it was. Jim was on the floor, not far from the door. His blood froze in his veins—the man was awake and undoing his restraints. Lachlan could bang on the window, but not without getting Jim’s attention too, and there was no telling what he’d do then. Right now Jim was still restrained and Lachlan had the element of surprise. If he moved fast, he could get inside and help Bethenny.
He sprinted around to the front of the house and tried the front door, but it was locked. He could pick it, but picking locks was an art. You could pick the same lock multiple times and each time the lock would open slightly differently. He didn’t have time for trial and error.
He could see Bethenny through the glass panels beside the front door. He banged his fist on the glass and Bethenny spun around.
She looked to him, eyes wide.
“Jim,” he yelled, pointing toward the bedroom he knew Jim was in.
Bethenny frowned. She got up and ran toward the door, unlocking it. She opened it wide and Lachlan’s breath caught in his throat as Jim appeared behind her.
Lachlan didn’t know if it was instinct or if she heard something, but Bethenny swung around and fired two shots in Jim’s shoulder.
He howled and dropped to the ground as sirens sounded all around them and officers swarmed Bethenny’s home.
