Gabby froze as Liam shoved her phone into her hand. This was no coincidence. No burglar. She heard the familiar creak of the flooring in the kitchen and tried to fight off the wave of panic. Someone had broken into the house. And she knew exactly who it was.
“Call 911.” Liam’s voice was barely above a whisper. “But first get out of the house through the front door. Go to a neighbor’s.”
“Liam—”
“Go. Now.” The lights flickered again. “I’ll be right behind you.”
She stumbled to her feet, feeling numb. They’d just found Will’s evidence proving that the colonel had been behind this, and immediately someone had broken into her house. That had to mean someone was watching her. Listening. But how?
She unlocked the front door, trying to ignore the flood of questions. Had Peterson somehow bugged her house? Heard what they’d found and now planned to stop them in order to save himself?
“Step away from the door.”
Gabby froze, then turned around slowly at the booming voice. Peterson stood at the edge of the living room, no longer a decorated soldier but a man who’d sold out his country. A man who was willing to do anything—including murder—to save his own skin. How had that happened to him? What had made him cross the line? She focused on the gun he held pointed at her. The answer to those questions didn’t matter at the moment. All she knew was that she’d seen him murder a man in cold blood, and she knew he wouldn’t hesitate to do it again.
“What do you want?” Liam asked.
“For you to shut up.” He held out his hand toward her. “Give me the phone, slowly. Then sit down on the couch. Both of you.”
She handed it to him before moving to sit down next to Liam. “You bugged my house.”
“Obviously a good decision looking back.” He set her phone down on the coffee table, then grabbed the laptop. “Just what I was hoping. The email hasn’t been sent. He wouldn’t give up, your husband. Always poking into things that weren’t his business. Asking too many questions. Like the two of you.”
Gabby’s heart pounded. “Did you kill him?”
“Does it matter?”
“It does.”
“Not directly. It was more like David and Bathsheba. You remember that story, don’t you? In order for David to cover his sins, the king sent Uriah out in front where the fighting was the fiercest. The rest was inevitable.”
“You meant for our entire unit to die that day,” Liam said.
“One of the consequences of war.”
“You won’t get away with any of this,” Liam said. “Because if I remember correctly, David paid for his sins in the end. And so will you. We know the truth now.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, though I am going to have to ensure you don’t tell anyone.”
Gabby felt a shiver run up her spine. “You’re going to kill us.”
“Unfortunately for you, I don’t have another option. I’m just trying to figure out the least messy way.”
She glanced around the living room, desperate for a way out. At least she’d decided at the last minute not to bring Mia with her. But leaving her baby to grow up an orphan... No. That wasn’t an option, either. There had to be a way to stop this man once and for all.
“You’re fooling yourself if you really think you can get away with this,” Liam said. “My brother knows where we are, and how long do you think it will take them before they put two and two together and realize what’s going on?”
“Long enough for me to clean all this up.” He pushed Delete, then slammed the computer shut. “I’ve been careful to make sure nothing can come back to me. If it wasn’t for that email, you never would have been able to tie me to any of this. And if there happens to be an unfortunate accident tonight—”
“An accident?” she asked.
“The weather’s pretty bad out there. Do you know how easy it is for a car to spin out of control and run off the road? An accident like that could snuff out the lives of whoever was in the car in an instant.”
The power flickered again, then went off and darkness flooded the house. Gabby heard a scuffle then a shot rang out, shattering the lamp beside her.
“Gabby, get out of here!”
She dove behind the couch, then heard a sharp crack followed by a groan as the men fought in the darkness on the other side of the room. Liam might be in good shape, but Peterson had at least thirty pounds on him. And in the dark... No. No matter what Liam said, she couldn’t leave him. She needed to find the phone. Needed to find a way to give Liam the advantage.
She felt for the coffee table, ran her fingers across the top of it, then grabbed the phone. A second later, she swiped the screen for the flashlight and turned it on. Peterson was swinging his fist at Liam.
“Liam, watch out!”
Liam ducked at the sound of Gabby’s command, barely missing being struck by Peterson’s right hook. The unexpected cover of darkness had given him a moment’s advantage, allowing him to lunge at the man, but now, with the light from the phone, he could engage in a more targeted attack. He dove at Peterson like a linebacker for a second time, hoping to make up for the older man’s bulk by being quicker.
Peterson stumbled backward at the assault, unable to keep his footing as Liam tackled him to the ground, knocking the gun out of his hand in the process. The older man tried to grab for the weapon, but Liam was quicker and managed to pin down the man’s arm.
Peterson swung at him with his free hand, clipping Liam’s cheekbone, then tried to come at him again.
“Don’t move.” Gabby stood over them with Peterson’s gun pointed at the man. “Because like you, I will shoot if I have to.”
The lights flickered back on as Peterson tried to get up, but Liam shoved his boot onto the man’s shoulder. “I wouldn’t move if I were you. From what I hear, she’s a pretty good shot.”
“He came prepared with zip ties.” Gabby nodded at the floor.
As Gabby held the gun, Liam grabbed the zip ties that had fallen out of the man’s pocket. He quickly tied the man’s hands behind him, then moved to secure his feet, irritated at Gabby for not running, but grateful for her help. Except for the shiner he was probably going to have, thankfully neither of them had been badly hurt in the ordeal.
Her hands shook as she handed him the gun she’d been holding.
“Call 911 and get us some help. I’m going to call my brother.”
She nodded.
“Griffin...” Liam said as soon as his brother picked up, his attention still on Peterson. “We found Will’s evidence. Colonel Peterson lied about everything.”
“Where are you?”
“At Gabby’s townhouse. We came to look through Will’s locker when Peterson showed up—”
“What? Are you okay?”
“I’ve got a shiner and probably a couple bruised ribs, but you should see the other guy.” Liam let out a low laugh, feeling the need to break the tension hanging in the air. “But seriously, we’re both okay.”
“Are the local police there?”
“On their way. Gabby just called 911, and as for Peterson, well...” Liam glanced at the former soldier as sirens whined in the distance. “He’s certainly not going anywhere.”
Twenty minutes later, Liam was answering the police’s questions, something that was beginning to feel oddly routine. Which was fine by him—as long as this was the last time.
Gabby was sitting on the edge of the couch, shoulders slumped and hands folded in her lap, when he finished giving his statement to the officer. All he could think about was getting her out of here and away from all of this. Because what she’d gone through the past forty-eight hours would have crushed even the strongest person.
She looked up at him, her eyes dark. “They wouldn’t let me clean up the house. Said it was a crime scene now and CSI still had to finish processing everything.”
“I know, but we don’t have to stay.” He stepped up next to her. “The detective in charge just gave us the go ahead to leave. They will make sure everything is secure when they are finished.”
“I need to get back to Mia. I’m glad she wasn’t with us, but this mess...”
“You can deal with this in a couple days. And you won’t have to do it alone.”
Things could be replaced. Their lives couldn’t.
“Thank you.” She grabbed her phone and stood up. “I’m ready.”
“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked.
“Just feeling very shaken.”
He studied her face as they walked out the front door. “By the way...you are a good shot, aren’t you?”
She shook her head. “I’m a terrible shot, actually.”
“Really?” He let out a low chuckle. “I’m glad I didn’t know that earlier. But thank you. You saved my life. Picking up both the phone and gun was fast thinking, and on top of that, I managed to miss that first right hook.”
“You’ll have a bruise from the second.” She took his hand. “But I’d say it was the other way around, actually. You saved my life.”
“We’ll call it even then. What I do know for sure is that I think we can finally put all this behind us.”
What he wasn’t sure about was how he was going to put his feelings for her behind him.