He came toward her to do what she had no idea, and without thinking she lifted the hand that held the knife, burying the blade in his neck.
The surprise on his face equaled that which was on her own.
She had managed to connect with his carotid artery.
The couple of minutes it took him to bleed out felt like an eternity.
He slumped to the floor as blood flooded down his body.
His eyes remained locked on hers, even as death finally took hold of him.
Naomi felt like she was frozen in time.
Gene was dead, but she wasn't all that far from death’s door herself.
Finally, it dawned on her that she had to at least attempt to stem the flow of blood from the gunshot wound to her chest.
Pressing her hand to the wound, she stooped and took the photo of her baby brothers from her stepfather’s hand.
Woozily she thought that she needed to lie down.
Somehow, she managed to make it to the couch and slumped down onto it.
As she fought death’s hold on her, Naomi took comfort in the knowledge that Gene was dead. He could never hurt another person, her family and friends were safe.
Sam was safe.
She clutched the photo of her brothers to her chest and finally let herself fade away.
* * * * *
5:21 P.M.
“There are reports of gunshots at the hotel,” Allina announced.
Sam felt his blood pressure spike. That wasnotwhat he wanted to hear. Naomi couldn’t die when he wasthisclose to getting her back. “How long ago?” he demanded.
“Minutes,” Allina replied. “We’re already working on evacuating the hotel.”
Right now, Sam couldn’t care less about the hotel’s other patrons. He cared about Naomi. “What room number are they in?”
“1104,” Rylla answered.
Sam took off for the elevators without caring what Allina, Rylla, Matthew, or Nick were doing. He thought he heard someone call his name, but he paid no attention to it. His sole focus right now was Naomi.
The lift doors were mostly closed when an arm suddenly stuck between them, sending the doors bouncing back open. Sam threw a glare at the others as they joined him. He wanted to tear down anything that slowed him.
“You can't do this alone, Sam,” Rylla warned him.
“We don’t know what we’re going to find up there,” Allina added.
“The gunshot wasn't necessarily fatal,” Matthew said. “So, we have to remember that Gene probably still has a hostage. If we’re not careful he could kill her. Or maybe Naomi somehow got control of the gun and shot him.”
No. Sam knew that wasn't true. If Naomi was safe, she would have found a way to get in contact with him. He couldfeelthat something was wrong with her.Verywrong with her.
The minute or so it took the elevator to reach the eleventh floor felt like forever.
As soon as the doors slid open, he was on the move.