Innocent Target. Elisabeth Rees

calm and I’ll be there soon.”

      A bullet came through the front door, slamming hard into the wall just yards away. She screamed.

      “He’s shooting!” she cried.

      “I’m on my way right now,” he promised. “Do you have a gun?”

      She ran up the stairs. “Yes, it’s in my bedroom.”

      Another bullet zinged through the air behind her, finding a vase on the table and shattering it into pieces.

      Ryan clearly heard the commotion. “Get your gun, stay upstairs and barricade yourself in your room. Can you do that?”

      “Yes.”

      “Don’t be afraid to shoot, okay?”

      “Okay.”

      “Hold tight.”

      She gasped, remembering that Shadow was still in the living room. Without hesitation, she ran back down the stairs, screaming as another bullet pinged through the door, just missing her shoulder.

      “Shadow,” she called. “Where are you?”

      He immediately ran to the sound of her voice and she scooped him up into her arms. Then she turned and raced back to her room, as a pounding foot came down on the wooden door from outside, pummeling it.

      Reaching her bedroom, she fled inside and slammed the door. After placing Shadow on the floor, Kitty used all her force to drag her dresser across the entrance, wondering if it would be enough. She figured the front door must have given way when she heard a loud bang resound through the house, and then footsteps run through the downstairs area.

      “Please hurry, Ryan,” she muttered, dragging her bed across the rug to give her barricade extra strength.

      The footsteps stopped. Her noise had revealed her location. Now her attacker would surely be coming for her. She slid open the top drawer of her low dresser and pulled out her black handgun, checking the bullets in the chamber. The man was there, outside her room, rattling the handle, trying to force it open.

      “I have a gun,” she shouted as a warning. “And I’m not afraid to shoot.”

      Silence.

      Was he still there? Her heart was in her mouth as the seconds ticked by.

      Then he began to kick the door, sending her dresser skipping forward a little each time. She raised her gun, aimed it at the door, closed her eyes and squeezed the trigger. Her bullet went right through the door, leaving a perfectly circular hole.

      The kicking ceased. Had she hit him? Was he injured or worse? She repositioned the dresser securely against the door and waited. Shadow seemed to understand the danger and had hidden himself away beneath the bed.

      The sound of a siren wafted in the distance. Kitty dropped to her knees with a groan of thanks. Immediately, she heard her attacker’s footsteps pounding down the staircase, scurrying away. As the siren grew louder, she gained enough confidence to heave the bed, then the dresser away, from the door and squeeze through the gap. From the top of the stairs, she saw the front door off its hinges lying on the hallway floor, pounded into pieces.

      As she stared at the open doorway, it filled with Ryan’s figure, gun in hand, concern etched on his face.

      “He’s gone,” she said.

      “Are you okay?”

      She nodded, biting the inside of her lip and blinking fast. She wasn’t okay and it didn’t take Ryan long to work that out. He holstered his gun, raced up the stairs and enveloped her in a hug, telling her she was safe, that everything was fine.

      That kindness prompted the tears to really flow.

      * * *

      Ryan helped Buzz lift the new door from the delivery truck. The door Ryan had selected was strong and robust, much more secure than the old one and likely to withstand a barrage of bullets and kicks without giving way. Shane was inside the house, collecting the bullet casings for analysis, and Ryan desperately hoped that ballistics might give them a lead because his search of the area had yielded little more than some muddy footprints leading to the forest.

      Buzz eyed the old door, in pieces on the deck. “What happened here?”

      “Somebody tried to get in to the house,” he said. “To hurt Kitty.”

      “Is she all right?”

      “Yeah, she’s fine for now.”

      Buzz pushed his baseball cap farther back on his head. “When I took your order over the phone, I had to tell my granddad I was delivering to someplace else.”

      “Why?”

      “He says we’re not to sell to Kitty anymore. He says we don’t want her business.”

      “Well, you tell your granddad that this delivery is for me, because I live here now. I just became Kitty’s new tenant.”

      Buzz seemed taken aback. “Granddad’s not gonna like that.”

      “I kind of guessed he wouldn’t.”

      Ryan motioned for Buzz to help him carry the door up the porch steps and onto the deck, where he leaned it against the outside wall.

      “I can take it from here,” he said, signing Buzz’s delivery sheet. “Thanks for your help.”

      “No problem, sir.”

      Kitty came out onto the porch, carrying her cat under her arm. “Hey, Buzz,” she said. “Does your granddad know you’re here?”

      “No, ma’am,” he replied. “But when Chief Deputy Lawrence called in an emergency order, I just went and found the door you needed from our warehouse and brought it straight on down to you. I’m not really supposed to work this late.”

      Buzz puffed up his chest as if proud of himself for defying his grandfather’s rules.

      “I appreciate that,” Kitty said with a warm smile. “Not many people around here would put themselves out for me.”

      “Maybe,” Buzz said with a shrug. “But if we can’t help a lady in need, then what’s the town coming to?”

      Ryan put a hand on Buzz’s shoulder. That comment revealed maturity and a sense of decency in this young man.

      “You’re a good kid,” he said, sliding a tip into his top pocket. “It’s a shame that your granddad doesn’t follow your lead.”

      Buzz nodded a shy farewell and made his way back to the truck.

      “What’s the story with the Price family?” Ryan asked Kitty. “What happened to Buzz’s parents?”

      “Buzz’s dad is Tommy Price,” Kitty replied. “Frank and Sheila’s only son. He took off when Buzz was in the first grade, leaving him with his parents.” She looked skyward, appearing to be doing some mental calculation. “I haven’t seen Tommy in about thirteen years now. Frank says he moved to Texas.”

      “What about Buzz’s mother? What happened to her?”

      “Elena was a girl from out of town, a drifter who sometimes stayed at a commune in the mountains and did casual work around Bethesda. After Buzz was born, she left pretty quick, giving Tommy parental responsibility. She never came back. It was a sad situation. I remember my mom offering to help out, but the Price family is proud. They didn’t want anybody prying into their business.”

      “Well, I gotta say that someone’s instilled good principles into that kid,” Ryan said. “He’s nothing like his grandfather.”

      “I think Frank’s wife, Sheila, is the one to thank for Buzz’s character. She’s like a mom to him, but they’re both bullied by Frank. He’s a strong personality.”

      “He sure is,”