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They’d kept the room-darkening shades closed in every room of the house, but the window glass, while reinforced, wouldn’t protect them from every type of bullet. Maria dragged her bag with her to the spot against the wall by the desk. Unzipping it, she pulled out a small flashlight and clicked it on.
The security system iPad sat on a desk that was only a few feet away. Maria moved closer to it, reached up, and snagged the small device. Tapping the screen, she pulled up the live feed.
“The system has a battery backup. I’ll be able to see if someone breaches the house,” she whispered.
An alert popped up on the screen warning of a power failure and indicating the system had switched to the backup battery source. Maria tapped the screen to pull up the outdoor camera feeds. Four different viewpoints appeared on the screen, all tinted with the strange green glow of the night vision camera setting. Teag leaned over her shoulder as she scanned the feeds for movement.
Suddenly, the camera feeds blurred and went dead. Another alert pinged on the iPad informing them of the lost visual.
“Really, I wouldn’t have known otherwise,” she muttered at the screen, and then slid the useless iPad back onto the desk.
“Okay, we have no idea where he is, but he’s going to have to make some noise when he breaks into the house. That’ll give us a clue which way to go to get out, but it will also mean we have seconds to do it. Be ready,” Maria said, her voice an urgent whisper.
Teag squeezed her shoulder in acknowledgment. She heard his breathing and felt the warmth of his presence behind her. Still crouched down, she led them toward the bedroom door, where she’d be able to hear sounds coming from the rest of the house more clearly.
They waited in tense silence, then, all too quickly, heard the lock pop and the back door creak. Maria silently closed the bedroom door and engaged the deadbolt, hopefully buying them a few extra seconds. Standing, she tugged Teag toward the windows.
She yanked the shades up and flipped the lock on the pane. There was no way Teag would be able to hoist himself up with his injury, so she quickly but quietly moved the desk chair underneath it.
“Go! Then head for the garage. I’ll be right behind you,” she whispered, eyes and gun trained on the door.
Teag heaved himself out the window, hitting the ground with a soft thud, and took off toward the garage. Maria climbed out after him, following tight on his heels.
She heard the splintering of wood from inside the house, presumably Ivanovich kicking in the bedroom door, just as she and Teag pushed through the side door of the garage.
“Get in the car!” she yelled.
“Maria, the tires,” Teag said, pointing.
“Fuck!” she yelled again, this time with rising panic in her voice. Even in the dark, she could see that all four tires were flat. “Get low again and stay behind me.”
Maria didn’t really have much of a plan yet, other than to get them safely out of the garage and on the move. There were houses all around them, with backyards and bike sheds and other potential places to hide. But first they had to make it out of Ivanovich’s crosshairs.
She poked her head around the door and quickly retreated back, but she’d caught a glimpse of a figure moving behind the same window they’d just jumped out of.
“Come this way,” she said, grabbing Teag’s hand.
Maria heaved the garage door open. The bay opened toward the front of the house, whereas the bedroom window faced the back. They raced out, taking advantage of the few stolen seconds.
