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A flurry of more texts came, and she dropped the phone back into her purse. It would take all of her thought processes to figure out how they were going to stay alive. She didn’t trustSmirnov, not for a second. She had to cling to her faith to even be able to put one step in front of the other.
Smirnov had disarmed them, but there was a chance he wouldn’t examine her purse when she came in. He’d want her to hand over the egg so he could gloat over it. At least that’s how her imagination saw it playing out. She had no gun in the car, but could she get one? Her thoughts tumbled with the options of who might give her a gun without too much argument.
Dillard!
Amelia’s husband had a concealed-carry permit, and they were still at Breakwater Restaurant. She grabbed her phone and shot off a text.
Can I borrow Dillard’s gun?
Her sister agreed quickly, and Carly turned the truck toward the restaurant. She glanced at the clock on the dash. She had fifteen minutes to get back. Her family clustered together at the curb and waved when she saw them.
Amelia and Dillard ran forward, and she rolled her window down. “I have to go now or he’ll start shooting. I need your gun now, right now.”
Dillard nodded and pulled it from the holster. “Do you know how to shoot?”
“I’ll figure it out.”
He kept hold of the gun and leaned in the window. “Thirty seconds to show you how to switch off the safety.” He demonstrated how to do it. “Take off the safety, aim, and shoot. Try for the largest target—his chest. In fact, let’s leave off the safety. Just be careful when you grab it. It would be best if you could get it to Lucas somehow.”
She put it into her purse gingerly. “Thank you. I have to gonow.”She had a quick impulse to leave Noah with them, but Smirnov would know she’d talked to someone and he might shoot everyone.
“Pray, just pray. When I’m gone, wait fifteen minutes, then go to the police and tell them what’s happened.”
“We don’t even know what’s happened,” Emily said, her voice choked with emotion. “Who’s in there?”
“Tell them Dimitri Smirnov has everyone hostage. Extreme precautions, please.” She ran up the window and started forward with a jerky pump of the accelerator.
The delay had cost her three minutes. She sped toward the house and pulled into the driveway with eight minutes to spare. Her pulse pounded in her throat, and she felt nauseated at the thought of taking Noah into the cesspool of danger. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted one of Ryan’s workers on the porch at Gram’s house. If Smirnov saw her hand Noah over without saying much, maybe he wouldn’t overreact.
She had to try it.
She got the baby out of the truck and ran to the worker. “Here, hold the baby a minute. I’ll be back.” She thrust Noah into his arms. “Don’t come to the house. Danger!”
His jaw dropped. “Hey, come back!” he called as she ran toward Lucas’s house.
He made no move to follow her, so he must have heard the panic in her voice. Glancing back, she saw him carry Noah into Gram’s house.
She raced up the porch steps and ran inside. “I have the egg.”
Smirnov appeared in the doorway to the living room. “What you don’t have is the kid. Why’d you do that?”
“Why do you think? I can’t trust you not to hurt him. I didn’t tell the guy what was going on or to call the police. He’s just babysitting until this is over.”
“You’d better pray the police don’t show up. Let me see the egg.”
She went into the living room and exhaled with relief when she saw Lucas and her family still alive. She set her purse on the table and reached in to lift out the egg. It would be the last time she touched its smooth porcelain surface, and she nearly threw it into his hands. It had brought her nothing but heartache.
“Did you ever find the surprise?” she asked him.
He shook his head. “But this will do. There’s time to find the rest later.” His hands smoothed the white surface and greed filled his face.
Her gut clenched, and she exchanged a fearful glance with Lucas. This wouldn’t be over if Smirnov got away. They had to end this now.
***
Smirnov’s smile as he ran his hands over the egg made Lucas shudder. The man had plans for them all, and they weren’t good ones.
Carly glared at the killer. “Now let them go. You have what you came for.”
