33

It had taken Adam and Ryan ten seconds to decide to call in the cavalry. Sabrina never went anywhere without a phone or a computer.

“It’s possible they went for a walk,” Ryan said.

“It is.”

“I’ll take the heat if we’re wrong.”

They opened the gate to the drive so it would be accessible when their backup arrived and drove as far as they could, leaving Ryan’s truck on the side of the driveway, hidden in the trees.

“I’ve never been in the house,” Adam said.

“Well, lucky for you, I have. Come on.” Ryan took off through the woods.

“Where are we going?”

“Around back. There’s a back entrance the caregivers used—it has a keypad. Sabrina gave me the code when we were checking the house last week.”

“Great.”

It took them five agonizing minutes to get to the back door, and there was no way to know if they’d been seen. Or for that matter if there was anyone to see.

“Will the door set off a chime when we open it?” Adam scanned the area as Ryan punched in the code.

“I don’t remember. We should assume that it will. Ready?”

Sabrina couldn’t believe any of this was happening.

From the very beginning of her existence, this man—Mr. Kemp, if that was even his real name—had been an unseen force for evil and now he was going to end her life before she could live it. She wasn’t afraid to die. But she wasn’t sure if her mother—adoptive mother—was ready for eternity. She wanted to have the opportunity to show her what forgiveness and grace looked like. Assuming she could manage to give it.

She would figure out what to do with the ugliness and lies later. Right now, she just wanted to live long enough to feel the pain of the loss and sort through the hard truths of her life.

Lord, help me. Help us.

He raised his arm and pointed the gun at Sabrina. “Sorry, but it has to be you first.”

“No!” Yvonne lunged at him as he fired.

“Ready!”

Ryan opened the door and Adam followed him in.

The sound of a gunshot rang out and he didn’t even hear the chime.

He followed Ryan as they moved through the house. Quickly but cautiously. They had no idea who the bad guys were, how many of them there were, or what they were running into.

Sirens filled the air around them as deputies arrived. But were they too late?

Another shot rang out and Adam ran past Ryan and into the den.

Mr. Kemp’s first shot hit her mother, but her mother’s momentum carried her into him and he stumbled. Sabrina reached behind her and grabbed the only thing she’d been able to see that could be a weapon. The brass elephant from the sofa table. It weighed a good fifteen pounds. She stood and heaved it at Mr. Kemp as he fired again.

Pain sliced through her leg and she couldn’t stay on her feet. She fell to the floor.

Another shot, but this one sounded different.

“Don’t move!”

Adam? She couldn’t see him, but that was definitely Adam’s voice. What was he doing there? How had he found her?

“Don’t do it!”

Another shot rang out. This one was so close her ears rang. But there was no impact—no new pain. Had he shot her mother again? Was she alive? Why was everything blurry around the edges?

Adam’s face appeared in her fading vision.

“Sabrina!”