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I left the front door open. I raced inside so quickly. Didn’t search downstairs. Just ran up to her.
Had a second attacker been in the house? Or had someone followed Beau inside her home?
“Is that…” Avalon’s voice trembled. “Is that smoke I smell?”
He could hear crackling. Instantly, Beau let go of the asshole attacker and surged to his feet. He reached for Avalon.
The punk shoved a shoulder into Beau’s side and barreled for the door. “Not catching me!” A high-pitched yell. Then he was rushing from the bedroom. Charging into the hallway.
Beau gave chase and saw the kid stop at the top of the stairs.
Because smoke was rising from the bottom of those steps.
But the attacker paused for only a moment before he raced down to the first level. Beau didn’t give chase. He looked back and saw Avalon, seemingly frozen. “We have to go, sweetheart, now.”
She jerked. Hard. Then ran—not for him but for the laptop that perched on an oversized chair near one of her windows. After grabbing it, Avalon clutched the laptop to her chest then looked around frantically. She darted toward the closet.
Hell, no.
“We save you,” he growled as his hands locked around her waist and hauled her back against him. “But we’re not wasting time saving useless shit.”
“It’s important shit! Not useless!”
If the house hadn’t been on fire and the bad guy hadn’t been getting away, he might have smiled. But it was the wrong damn time for a smile and the right time for an immediate exit. “I’m not going through a window again. Really not in the mood to have my body broken.” Recovery had taken long enough the first time. He hauled her toward the bed. She kept clutching the laptop like it was made of gold. He grabbed a cover from her bed and tossed it around her.
“What—”
He lifted her and slung Avalon and the cover over his shoulder. He felt the laptop bang into his back, but he wasn’t going to pry the damn thing out of her hands. If she wanted it so badly, then she could keep it. All he cared about getting out of that house? Her. Avalon. He rushed down the stairs with her slung over his shoulder. The flames were crackling and dancing, but they weren’t eating up the stairs yet. Smoke was getting heavy, seeming to scald his throat and nostrils. When he reached the ground floor landing, he saw that the fire was mainly in her den. The flames ate at the carpeting and the bookshelves and the piano, and the flames twisted and heaved as they spread.
Yeah, screw that crap. Not staying to see the full show this time.
The front door still gaped open. Had to, since he’d kicked the thing in and shattered the lock. An alarm still beeped from somewhere in the house, and he ignored the beeping as he hurtled toward the exit. The dark night waited, and smoke blew from the house even as he erupted with his precious cargo still over his shoulder. Straight ahead, he could see the young punk running at the edge of her property. “Stop!” Beau shouted.
Of course, he didn’t stop.
Beau lunged forward. Still holding Avalon, he lunged after his prey.
And the punk ran straight into the street.
A roar filled the night right before a terrible, wrenching scream echoed. Beau was staring straight at the fleeing attacker, so he saw the hit. A black car took shape in the darkness. One that shot right toward the punk. One that hit him with a powerful crunch. Or maybe that sickening crunch was all of the kid’s bones breaking. Because the attacker flew into the air. His body twisted and turned in a flash that somehow seemed to last forever. Then he hit the cement. When he landed, he didn’t move.
“What’s happening?” Avalon squirmed in Beau’s grip. “Let me down! What. Is. Happening?”
His hold tightened on her.
The black vehicle raced away. No taillights ever flashed. The driver never braked. The engine roared louder as it fired off down the street.
And the man in the road still wasn’t moving.
Somewhere in the distance, a siren began to scream. The cops that Avalon had called, finally coming to the rescue?
Slowly, carefully, he lowered her to the ground. The cover he’d grabbed in the hopes of protecting her from any flames fell around her feet. She looked at him, then back toward the road. “Beau…?”
“Stay here.” He ran for the figure in the road.
He heard her footsteps thudding behind him.
Dammit! Beau whirled. “The driver could come back. Don’t go into the street!”
