Page 66 of The Husband's Secret
He moved forward.
She made another of those surprised sounds. “Really, I can’t believe I didn’t hear you come out of your house and climb over the fence. You must be half cat.”
“Just practice,” he said. He glanced over his shoulder at the blonde. “It’s the same with weapons.”
She made a face. “What the hell does that mean?”
“If,” he explained, then he abruptly ducked and swung around, slamming his right shoulder into her midsection. The weapon flew from her hand before she could squeeze the trigger. The impact of his body took her to the ground. One hand came down over her mouth, his legs on either side of her body, pinning her to the ground. He yanked the washcloth from his back pocket and stuffed it into her mouth.
She bit him and he winced.
“If,” he repeated as he flipped her onto her stomach, “you know how to use your body you don’t always need a weapon.”
He unfastened his belt, slid it from the loops of his jeans and used it to secure her hands behind her back. He helped her to a standing position. His fingers coiled in her hair, he pushed her toward the street. Once he was at his car, he popped the trunk and pushed her inside. She kicked at him, but he managed to close the lid. Then she started kicking it. But getting out of there wouldn’t be so easy.
He hurried back around the house. He picked up the weapon Ginger had fumbled and checked the magazine. In his earpiece the conversation between Mallory and Brenda was ongoing. Sounded as if Brenda had led her to the bathroom to retrieve the hidden list from beneath that fern. He needed one or the other to keep talking so he could get a feel for their location.
Moving silently, he entered the house.
Brenda picked upthe fern and retrieved the plastic bag that contained the list Scott had made. She handed it to Mallory. “This is it.”
“Open it up. I want to see.”
She set the fern aside then, taking care not to damage the paper. Brenda tugged the folded half page from the bag and very carefully unfolded it. Since this had already been done once, it opened fairly easily. She passed the paper to Mallory.
The gun pointed at her made Brenda flinch each time she looked at it. She reached down and smoothed Janey’s hair. She hoped her baby wouldn’t get upset. So far she just wanted to hang on to her mommy’s legs. No crying. No asking questions.
Just let us get through this.
A grin slid across Mallory’s face. “I guess we have a deal.” She used the gun to motion for Brenda to go out of the room. “Back to the kitchen,” she ordered.
With Janey still attached to her leg, Brenda walked out of the bathroom and along the hall toward the living room. All those framed photos of her baby made her heart ache.Just let us survive this.
Mallory, her gun aimed at Brenda’s head, stayed right behind them.
As soon as Brenda and Janey rounded the corner into the kitchen they were shoved aside, and an explosion fractured the silence.
Brenda scrambled up against the island, Janey wrapped in her arms.
Ben had Mallory face down on the floor. There was a hole in the ceiling where her weapon had fired, and Mallory was shouting that she was going to kill him, but her gun was nowhere to be seen.
Brenda held tightly to Janey. Was it over?
5:30 a.m.
Janey was asleep. Finally.
Brenda really should tuck her into her bed, but she couldn’t bear the idea of being even inches from her. Rather, she held her baby in her lap. She sat on the sofa, a throw wrapped around her child.
Exhaustion had started tugging harder at Brenda, but she could not go to sleep until this was done.
The front door opened, and Ben walked in. “They’re taking them now.”
He took Janey into his arms so Brenda could go onto the porch to watch the police haul Mallory and Ginger away.
As the first Huntsville PD cruiser pulled away from the curb, Mallory twisted around to stare at her from the back seat. Brenda stared back at her, hoped she never saw the light of day again. Then the second cruiser rolled away. But Ginger didn’t turn around and look. She stared forward. She was hoping for a deal by spilling her guts on her friend.
Detective Shelton came to the bottom of the steps. “I believe we’re done here, Ms. Devers.”
