Muscles aching from overexertion, Jenna took slow, even breaths. She doubted he would get through the steel mesh lining the walls that Kane and Rowley had discreetly covered with drywall. The knowledge the room was protected didn’t slow her racing heart, or ease the dread enveloping her. The barrage of blows stopped and footsteps clattered through the house. She listened intently, and then sighed with relief at what had disturbed the intruder. Sirens cut through the early-morning silence like the answer to a prayer. She glanced at her phone. It was almost six-thirty. Who was coming to her rescue? She didn’t care, but she hoped they’d be prepared for a lunatic with a crossbow. She pushed to her feet and shook out her stiff limbs. Her head ached and her hands trembled, but she’d made it through alive. She patted Duke, glad he’d been with her. Scanning the ro
om, she shook her head, recalling the argument she’d had with Kane about constructing the secure room. Kane, Rowley, and Wolfe had spent weeks working on it to keep it a secret, but they’d forgotten to add one thing: a trapdoor. If the intruder had set fire to the house, she’d have been trapped inside. She grimaced at the thought of being burned to death. “An escape route is the next thing on my list.”
The sirens had gotten louder, two vehicles by the sound of it. The wail stopped and she could imagine her deputies checking the perimeter, looking for a threat. Footsteps clattered down the hallway and she heard Rowley’s voice.
“Jenna.” He rapped on the door. “It’s okay, we’ve cleared the house, you can open the door.”
After laying the AR-15 on the filing cabinet, she picked up her Glock. Experience told her to act with caution. She unlocked the door and stood back, aiming her weapon. The door opened slowly, and Jake Rowley and Zac Rio peered at her.
“Are you okay?” Rio examined her face. “The house has been trashed.”
She slid her weapon into the back waistband of her jeans, pulled off her Kevlar vest, and heaved a sigh. “Yeah, I’m good. How bad is it?”
Peering into the hallway, she drew a breath at the damage. The front door was hanging off its hinges and broken glass sparkled in the early morning sun. She peered into the family room to find chairs had been tipped over, and books that had been ripped from the shelves had spilled into the hallway.
“I figure they were looking for something.” Rio grimaced. “It might be better if you leave Duke in the office—there’s glass everywhere.”
Jenna shook her head. “He’s been shut in here most of the night, he needs to run around.” She turned back inside the room.
“I’ll take him outside.” Rowley moved past her and heaved the dog into his arms. “He weighs a ton. Kane’s on the way.” He looked over his shoulder. “What the hell happened here?”
“I’ll explain when you get back.” Jenna looked at Rio. “We’ll do a walk-through. This is a crime scene. Use gloves.”
As Rowley came back into the house, she heard her phone buzz a message. She pulled it out and replied. “Thank God, my phone is working. It’s been out all night. It’s a message from Kane saying he’s on his way. I’ve seven missed calls. The storm must have knocked out a wireless tower and the power.”
“No, it didn’t.” Rowley looked concerned. “No one else lost power. Is the landline working?”
Jenna headed for the kitchen and lifted the receiver. “Nope, it’s out.” She stared at the kitchen, and it appeared to be intact apart from muddy boot prints all over the floor. “Rio, get shots of the prints and document the scene. Rowley, come with me. I need to see if the horses are okay and check the generator.” She headed outside, picking her way through the glass, and whistled to Duke.
As they headed to the barn, Jenna’s phone chimed Wolfe’s ringtone. “Hi, Shane.”
“I’m just checking to see if you’re okay.” Wolfe cleared his throat. “We have a problem. Someone smashed the side window of my van last night and took the remote control for your gate.”
A cold chill crawled up Jenna’s spine. “Yeah, they did more than that, they came here, disabled the power, the generator, and my phones, broke in, and tried to kill me using a crossbow. I locked myself in the safe room and waited him out, but he’s trashed my house.” She stared at the open door to the barn. “I’m at the barn and it’s wide open. Rowley is with me and we’re going inside to check the horses.”
“I’m on my way.” Wolfe disconnected.
Pulling her weapon, Jenna turkey-peeked around the barn door, glad to see the horses’ heads peering over their stalls. When Duke ran inside and Pumpkin jumped down from a bale of hay and rubbed around her legs, she heaved a sigh of relief. “It’s okay, these two are a great warning system. There’s no one inside.”
“I’ll clear the area, just in case.” Rowley slid through the door, keeping his back to the wall, and edged into the barn, moving from place to place. “All clear.” He holstered his weapon.
Jenna cast a quick eye over the horses. “I’ll check the generator and then turn out the horses into the corral, there’s plenty of fresh grass in there to eat. I’ll tend to them once we’ve secured the house.”
“Copy that.” Rowley walked to the generator and shook his head. “It’s been turned off is all.” He flicked the switch and it rumbled into life. “It’s working fine. Where is the power pole? You have a switch inside the power box, here, right?”
Jenna nodded. “Yeah, it’s the one out front of the house, on the left of the driveway. Do you figure he waited until I was asleep, used the remote to get inside without triggering the alarm, and then disabled the power?”
“Yeah, that seems feasible.” Rowley headed to the horses, and speaking quietly, had their halters on in a few minutes. He handed the lead rein on Anna’s pony to Jenna. “I’ll take the horses.”
As they headed for the corral, the sound of a chopper broke the still morning. “That will be Carter.” She quickened her step to get the horses into the enclosure before the chopper arrived. “The horses are getting used to the sound of the chopper now. They’ll be fine.” She shut the corral gate. “Let’s check the power.”
The power to the house had been cut by tripping the switch. Jenna shook her head slowly and turned to Rowley. “This guy knows too much about me. He had information about the power, where to find the backup generator, and that I was alone all weekend. He’s someone close. Who the hell is he?” She waved at the house. “I’m going to look over the exterior and see if he left us any clues.”
Jenna headed back to the house, moving slowly searching for footprints and looking for anything to point to the identity of the intruder. As she moved closer to the porch, her attention fixed on the number of bolts peppering her house. They seemed almost methodical in pattern, apart from one, fixed in the post on the porch. She stared at it long and hard. It appeared to be different from the others. Something was pinned to the wood. Had he attached a note? As she stepped closer, a shiver of horror stopped her in her tracks. The intruder had pinned a bloody ear to her house, complete with gold earring. She took a step back as her gaze fixed on the message below it, written in mud on the porch: You’re next, Jenna.
“Oh, that can’t be good.” Rowley removed his hat and bent to examine the muddy scrawl.
Numb with disbelief, Jenna looked at him. “That’s a direct threat from James Stone. Those were his last words to me.”