Protector - Laurel Dewey [84]
“Emily!” Jane stood on the landing outside Emily’s bedroom. The wind howled outside, bending tree branches and slapping rain against the front windows.
Crash!
Jane spun around. She leaned over the staircase and yelled. “Emily!”
Crack!
Jane felt beads of cold sweat inch across her neck. “Shit!” she exclaimed. She leapt down the staircase, hitting the bottom with a hard skid.
Slam!
Jane turned toward the sound. It came from the kitchen.
Tat, tat, tat, tat, tat!
Jane stiffened. She looked down the hallway that led into the kitchen and saw only darkness.
“Emily!” she yelled, her voice filled with terror. The wind came up again.
Bam!
Jane unsnapped her shoulder holster and carefully pulled out her pistol. She positioned herself against the living room wall, sliding her body toward the kitchen entrance. Upon reaching the light switch, she flicked it off, leaving only the dim lamp by the couch to illuminate the house. When she was about three feet from the open doorway that led into the kitchen, she stopped and listened. The wind and rain sounded closer.
Slam! Tat-tat-tat!
Jane quickly realized the source of the sound. The back door had swung open and was banging against the kitchen wall. But how could that happen? Jane thought. She locked it. Jane steadied herself, then curved her body around the doorjamb, stretching her Glock in front of her. The room was pitch-black. The kitchen door slammed hard against the wall as another powerful gust of wind blew through the house, sending in a flurry of leaves and debris from the backyard.
Jane waited, Glock outstretched. She tried to adjust her eyes to the darkness but it was useless. Nothing made sense. Her head pounded and her stomach churned with the ominous possibilities. The sound of cracking and crashing reached deafening levels. She could stand there with her pistol forward or she could make a bold move. Jane opted for the latter and reached over to the light switch.
Flick!
The kitchen shone with light. Suddenly, there was movement to her right and Jane lowered her gun to the target, pressing her finger against the trigger.
“No!” Emily screamed.
Jane caught herself a millisecond before pressing the trigger. Still in a state of shock and confusion, Jane kept the pistol outstretched toward Emily, who stood paralyzed with fear, dripping small puddles of rainwater from her soaked clothes onto the kitchen floor.
It took Jane a good second or two to sort out the scene. Her heart was beating so rapidly that she was sure Emily could hear it. Jane lowered her Glock, never taking her eyes off of Emily. The silence was thick against a backdrop of chaos from the wind and rain. Jane secured the pistol in her holster as a growing rage swelled inside her. “I could have killed you!” Jane seethed. Emily stood still, staring at Jane. “What in the hell are you doing?!” Jane screamed. Emily tensed up. “I asked you a fucking question!” Jane yelled as she reached out and grabbed a clump of Emily’s hair, pulled her head back and got into her face. “What is wrong with you?” Jane exploded. She pulled harder on Emily’s hair. “I told you never to go outside and what do you do!”
“I . . . I . . .” Emily stumbled on her words.
“I, I, I what? What part of ‘don’t go outside’ do you not understand?”
“I’m sorry—”
Jane let go of Emily’s hair and held her hard by the shoulders. “Sorry, my ass! I called out to you and you said nothing! I could have killed you! Do you understand? Do you understand?”
And that’s when it happened. Those three words ignited an inferno within Jane that separated her from her body. She slammed Emily against the kitchen wall. “Do you understand? ” Jane pulled Emily away from the wall and pushed her backward toward the open kitchen door. Emily regained her balance and walked backward as Jane moved toward her. “Do you understand?” Jane lunged toward Emily,