Emily McKay - The Lair

Then she reached out her hand and pressed her palm to Lily’s, quick as a bird, then tucked her hand behind her back. “I’m Danielle,” she whispered, her eyes huge. “Can you really help us?”

Lily’s insides turned to ice. “Us?”

“Did you come here to help us?”

Us?

Shit.

Lily mentally backpedaled through all the tiny bits of evidence that proved just how screwed she was. All these little snapshots that hadn’t made sense until that instant: the open window, the Cheerio on the high-chair tray. That was all new. It had been from today.

This wasn’t some kid scraping by waiting to be rescued. This was a kid with older siblings or even parents. This was a kid with defenses.

Crap.

All of this flashed through her brain, but she didn’t have time to flee or shout out a warning to Stu and Jacks. In the distance, from downstairs, she heard Stu’s sat phone ringing again. Her breath caught in her chest as she waited, hoping she’d hear Stu’s response. But the silence was only broken by the ringing phone. No Stu. No Jacks.

She glanced back over her shoulder toward the hall. The door was open. If she strained to listen, she could hear the faintest hint of footsteps on the floor below.

She turned back to the girl. To Danielle.

“Honey, go back in the closet. Hide, okay?”

Because someone was downstairs and it probably wasn’t Jacks. Whoever had kept Danielle alive all this time, they hadn’t done it by letting strangers wander through their house.

Danielle cocked her head to the side and scrunched her mouth into a frown. Then she shook her head.

“Go,” Lily urged. “Hide!”

A moment later a man’s voice called, “You might as well come out. I know you’re up there.”

She waved at Danielle to go back into the closet one more time. As she crossed the bedroom, she tucked her flashlight into the back of her pants and pulled an arrow from the quiver. Sweat made her fingers slick as she notched it. Her hands were shaking. She wouldn’t be able to aim for crap. Probably for the best anyway.

The bow and arrow were just for show this time. There was no way she would shoot this man in his own home, but maybe—maybe—if he saw she was armed, he’d at least hesitate long enough for her to talk her way out of this.

She kicked the bedroom door open and then spun out into the hall, facing the stairs and pulling the bow taut as she moved.

She aimed down the staircase, toward the voice. The dark, hulking shape of a man blocked out most of the light. She couldn’t distinguish any of his features or guess at his age, but he was bulky. A grown adult. He held Jacks in front of him. Jacks clawed helplessly at his grip and at the gun the man held to Jacks’s throat.

She had no idea where Stu was, only that she hadn’t heard any gunshots yet. She assumed he’d been taken out. Disabled. Knocked out, but probably not shot. Yet.

Her mind raced, trying to think of a resolution to the standoff that wouldn’t involve Jacks’s brains being splattered all over the wall. Or hers. Or possibly both.

Maybe she could stall him. Maybe the cavalry would show up.

Yeah, right.

The cavalry was Carter, up on the mountain somewhere. Miles away.

With a show of bravado she so didn’t feel, she called out, “Let him go!”

He ignored her and called back, “You okay, Danielle?”

“She’s fine,” she yelled before Danielle could answer. However this went down, it wouldn’t be good. Someone would die—her or Jacks or the man. Maybe all three. Jesus, she wished Danielle would go back to hiding in the closet.

“She’s just fine,” Lily called again, trying for the soothing tone she failed at so miserably. “If you let my friend go, I’ll send her down.”

The guy let out a guttural sound that was part growl, part sneer. “You think I’m going to just let you and your little friends walk out of my house?”

“We didn’t do anything wrong.”

“’Round here, we shoot thieves like you.”

“We’re not thieves.” But the line between thieves and scavengers was a thin one. “We didn’t know anyone lived here. You let us go and we’ll never bother you again.”

“I let you walk now and you’ll come back and murder us all in our sleep.”

“We don’t want to hurt you.” She could feel her anxiety rising as her voice rose in pitch. Her arm quivered with fatigue from holding her bow. “We have plenty of supplies without yours.”

“What sort of Pollyanna bullshit is that? Where’ve you been living, missy, that you think there are plenty of supplies anywhere?”

She automatically tensed at the aggression in his voice and instinct caused her to pull the bow even more taut. Her eyes were starting to adjust to the dark and she could see more of him now: gray, shaggy hair, worn plaid shirt, work boots. Jacks’s feet dangled above his. Oh God, were his kicks getting weaker? He was about to pass out. He was going to die. For all Lily knew, Stu was already dead.

She had two options: put down her weapon and let him kill her or shoot him herself. Jacks wasn’t a small guy, but this guy was huge. She might hit his shoulder or arm, if her aim was steady.

But she’d never shot anyone. Not anyone human anyway. She’d shot targets at Girl Scout camp. A rabbit once at her uncle Rodney’s. She’d thrown up after that. And then Ticks. She’d shot lots of Ticks. She’d thrown up then, too.

That had been horrific enough.

Could she shoot a human? A sentient, normal human? A guy who was just protecting his kid?

Before Lily could lower her bow, Danielle pushed her way past and into the hall. She threw herself in front of Lily, arms outspread.

“Don’t shoot her, Daddy! She’s here to help.”

“Get down, Danielle!” her father shouted.

“Get back,” Lily yelled at the same time.

She could tell she’d surprised him. He expected her to use his daughter against him.

On impulse, Lily lowered her bow, releasing the tension until the arrow clattered to the ground. It slid down a couple of steps before the fletching caught on the step.

“What game are you playing, missy?”

“My name is Lily,” she called back. “I’m not playing a game. I don’t want anyone to get hurt. Danielle, go down to your father.”

Lily looked back at the girl. Her eyes were wide and panicked. How much violence had she seen in her short life? No child should be so afraid. Lily handed her the bow, hoping that her father would understand what that meant. She was defenseless now.

“Go on,” she urged. “Take this to your daddy.”

“You said you were here to help.”

“I was. I still am, if your Daddy lets me.” More promises she probably couldn’t keep. She looked back up at him. “Let my friend go. Please.”

She imagined she could see the hesitation on his face. The flickering of doubt. She thought his muscles loosened and he started to let Jacks go.

Then a savage cry came from somewhere off near the kitchen. The cavalry had arrived after all.

Carter

I crept across the side porch of the house, my heart pounding from my flat-out run from the truck. And, yeah, my terror. What would I do if I was too late? If something had already happened to her?

During the crazy drive down the mountain, I tried to tell myself that I was overreacting. Okay, so Lily had left on a supply raid without telling me. Yeah, I was pissed. But just because I was paranoid, that didn’t mean she was in immediate danger. But then I’d called Stu a second time. And no one answered. Not Stu, not Jacks, not Lily. On a three-person team, someone should be able to answer the damn phone. Unless they were in serious trouble.