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The shotgun flew from her dad’s grasp and down the hall.
Toward the children’s rooms.
Rita’s blood ran cold.
Her husband and father rolled around on the floor, grunting and knocking into things.
She couldn’t get around them to grab the gun. Her hands remained on her stomach, protectively guarding the baby.
The two men rolled into a side table. It wobbled, then its contents toppled. A vase crashed to the floor. A lamp landed on Grayson’s head.
Her father leaped up, dashed down the hall. Stopped in front of Bella’s door.
Snarling, he flung it open.
ChapterTen
Ariana lifted a blind and glanced across the street, the police lights flashing brightly on the dark street. They were in front of Rita’s house. Ari’s stomach dropped. Had Bella’s dad or Neil come and hurt her?
She dropped the blind and was about to race outside when Damon put an arm around her. “Can you tell what’s going on?”
“Police across the street.”
He tensed. “At Rita and Grayson’s?”
“Yeah. I need to see if they’re okay.”
“Is it just police cruisers, or are there ambulances too?”
It took her a moment to think about the scene. “Just cops.”
He squeezed her shoulders. “That’s good news. If anyone was hurt, there would be aid vehicles.”
“Unless they haven’t gotten here yet.”
Slam!
Ariana froze. She and Damon were the only ones home. There was no reason for a door to slam.
“Did you leave a window open?” he asked.
She relaxed. Whenever they left multiple windows cracked for fresh air, a draft inevitably made doors close on their own. That’s all it was. Her nerves were just on edge from seeing the police across the street.
Thump, thump, thump!
Heavy footsteps sounded from the lower level.
Ariana looked around for anything that could be used as a weapon. She had nothing on her. No time to run to the kitchen for a knife.
Thump, thump, thump!
“Who’s there?” Damon demanded, straightening his back and holding up a fist. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a palm-sized pocketknife. At least one of them was prepared.
She needed to fix that for next time.
If there was a next time.
Thump, thump, thump!
