Chapter 10
Cade clutched the fireplacepoker in his hand and stepped into the music room. The sound had come from this part of the house, he was sure of it. Moonlight streamed in from the high circular window, hitting the shiny black wood on the grand piano. He scanned the room. The curtains moved, and he froze. Was someone hiding?
As he crept across the room, he kept his gaze trained on the bottom of the fabric. When he was close enough, he took the poker and moved the curtain. Cool air rushed at him from an open window. He stared at it. How had he not noticed? He’d thought he’d checked all the windows.
He took a step forward to close it and pain sliced through his foot. Glass. He froze. Upon further examination, he realized a section of glass near the window lock was broken. Someone was in the house. He picked the piece of glass out of the bottom of his foot, wincing at the stabbing.
Scanning the room again, he turned and raised the fireplace poker, gripping it harder. “Come out,” he called. “I know you’re in here.” Silence answered him.
After he checked the music room thoroughly and found no one, he checked the library and the kitchen. He winced as each step sent a stab of pain up his heel. He opened the door to the pool room and stepped onto the concrete. A rough hand grabbed him from behind and Cade dropped the poker. It clattered on the cement, echoing through the massive room.
The man wrapped his arm around Cade’s neck, cutting off his air. “Don’t move.” His voice was gruff, and he smelled of cigarettes.
Cade struggled against the man until he pressed a gun to Cade’s temple. “I mean it. Stop moving.”
Cade froze, and the man loosened his grip. Cade sucked in a breath of air. “What do you want?”
“There’s a girl here with you. Where is she?”
Travis. It had to be. How had he found them? There was no way he was going to take him to Meg. Cade nodded, but as soon as the man let go of his neck, he turned and threw a punch. His fist smashed into Travis’s jaw. His head snapped back, and Cade grabbed for the gun.
Travis’s grip was tight, and he yanked the gun away. Cade picked up the poker and swung it. It connected with Travis’s arm. He cried out and Cade made another grab for the gun.
“Stop fighting or you’ll regret it,” the man said as Cade desperately tried to get the weapon away from him.
“I’m going to call the police.” Cade couldn’t call the police, but Travis wouldn’t know that.
The man tried to get the gun pointed at Cade’s head, but Cade was too strong. The gun went off and one of the high windows shattered. Cade twisted Travis’s arm, so the pistol was pointed at Travis’s chest.
Travis scowled and moved forward, forcing Cade back toward the empty pool. Cade struggled to gain his footing, but Travis wore boots and Cade’s bare feet slid helplessly on the concrete, his injured foot leaving streaks of blood.
“Where is the girl?” Travis said.
Cade shoved the iron poker under the man’s chin, trying to cut off his air while still holding the gun off himself. “What do you want with her?”
The man snarled. “I don’t leave witnesses.”
Cade’s foot was to the edge of the pool. He could feel the rough corner. Travis shoved Cade just as Cade twisted, sending them both over the edge. Travis hit the dry cement, Cade landing on top of him, the gun still pointed at Travis’s chest.
A shot sounded.
Cade scrambled off the man as a pool of blood formed under Travis’s lifeless body. A scream pierced the air. Cade turned to see Meg standing on the edge of the pool.
He ran to the ladder and climbed up, then he pulled Meg into his arms. “It’s okay now. He can’t hurt you anymore.”
Meg stiffened in his arms, and when he released her, she took a step back from him. Her gaze bounced from him to Travis lying on the bottom of the empty pool. “You killed him.”
Cade felt a slow panic rise in his chest. “He was after you. He had a gun. I was protecting you.”
“What do you mean, he was after me? I don’t even know who that man is.”
His throat constricted, and he had to force air through. The man at the bottom of the pool stared up at the high ceiling, his long hair fanned out around his head. He had a scar under his left eye. “That’s not Travis?”
“No!” Meg stepped back again, her face a deathly white. “You killed a stranger.”
Meg’s words filtered through the fog in his brain. If this wasn’t Travis, who was he? Had Travis sent him?