“I’ll bring her inside.”
Kyle shook his outstretched hands. “Give her to me!” The biting tone made Eliza shake and her bottom lip wobble.
“It’s okay, baby. Go to him. You’ll be okay.” She hated Kyle for making her do this to her child. She lifted Eliza toward him, and he took her. Hands empty, her heart breaking, and the fury inside her stirred to a white-hot inferno, she exited the car and ran after Kyle as he walked into the house, leaving the door wide-open for her.
He thought to control her by keeping her daughter by his side.
She’d just have to outsmart him and get her daughter back.
It took Chase a little extra effort to climb out of the cruiser and meet his brother at the trunk. Five other police cars had gathered at the perimeter of Kyle’s property at the end of the long driveway, out of sight of the house.
Hunt tossed him a gray T-shirt from a duffel bag, then pulled out the long black gun case.
The paramedics had cut off his other shirt, so he pulled the new one on, though Hunt had to help him tug it down after he got stuck trying to move his left arm.
“And you think you can shoot.” Hunt shook his head.
“Gun stock goes in my right shoulder. I’ll be fine.”
Hunt didn’t look convinced. “I told you we have someone who can shoot.”
“They’re not as good as me.” He’d been trained in the military and used that skill with deadly precision more times than he’d like to remember. He’d promised Shelby it wouldn’t be him. She didn’t want one more death on his conscience. But he would not spare a thought for Kyle once he put him down. And there was no way he was putting Shelby’s and Eliza’s lives in someone else’s hands.
“Chase, you don’t have to do this. My guys are good. We can get them out of there.”
“That’s my life in there. I will not trust it to anyone else. It has to be me. I promised her I’d protect them. She knows I will with my life.”
“You’re bleeding out as we stand here. Pretty soon, you won’t be able to even hold a rifle, let alone fire it.”
“I’ve got this.”
Hunt swore and rubbed his hand over the back of his neck, just like he and their dad did all the time. Family trait. He bet it would be cute as hell to see Eliza do that someday.
“Let’s figure out where they are in the house so you can set up. If you get any paler and pass out on me, I’m having the ambulance take you to the hospital.”
If this took too long, Chase would have no choice but to trust Hunt to finish it for him, because he was no good to Shelby and Eliza dead.
He followed Hunt over to where his guys had set up at the back of a cruiser, discussing a plan to surround the house.
Hunt stepped in and took the lead. “My two-year-old niece is in that house, so we’re not going in guns blazing.” The seven men nodded their agreement. “If we can get a shot at Kyle through one of the windows, we’ll take it. Until then, let’s set a perimeter and get eyes on our target and the hostages. I want to know where they are and the best vantage point to shoot that asshole.” Hunt looked around at all the gear. “Who’s got the thermal imaging camera?”
One of the guys raised his hand. “Get as close as you can behind cover and see if you can confirm how many people are inside and where.” Hunt looked at Chase. “If he’s got one of them locked up in a room, maybe we can get them out first.”
Chase feared exactly what Hunt hadn’t said in so many words. If Kyle locked Shelby up alone in a room and kept Eliza with him, it would be that much harder and more dangerous to get Eliza away from him so they could take down Kyle.
“One step at a time,” he said to Hunt, reminding himself as well that he couldn’t let his mind spin out of control with what-ifs and likely scenarios. He needed to focus on facts.
They’d start with this and plan their next steps to eliminate the threat.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Kyle stood in the doorway, the knife still in his hand, watching while Eliza went potty. Shelby helped her with her pants and took her hand. She turned and waited for Kyle to move away from the doorway so they could exit.
“Follow me. I want to introduce you to my parents.” He waved the knife in the air, indicating for her to come along. “They never got to see you when you were born. Your mother’s parents told them to stay away. They gave up. They blamed me for making it impossible to see you. They said it was painful to know you were out there, their only grandchild, and they couldn’t see you. Like I wasn’t suffering without Rebecca, locked in a cell, surrounded by savages.” Kyle led them back down the hall, through the empty foyer, and up the stairs.
“Did you know that after I was found guilty and sentenced, my parents never came to see me? They wanted to forget me.”
She understood that very well.