Trained To Defend. Christy Barritt

      So what had alerted her senses that something was wrong right now?

      Sarah’s eyes went to the closet. Was someone in there?

      She grabbed the scissors from her dresser. She’d used them to trim her bangs this morning. Holding them like a knife, she stepped closer to the door.

      Her lungs froze as she reached for the knob.

      This was probably nothing.

       Dear Lord, please don’t let this be a mistake.

      After lifting the silent prayer, she jerked the door open.

      Something leaped toward her. Sarah swallowed a scream and threw herself back.

      An oversize ball of fur nearly knocked her off her feet.

      Buzz.

      Buzz?

      As the dog pounced on her, Sarah rubbed his head, sensing something was wrong—desperately wrong. “Why are you in my closet, boy? And you’ve been so quiet.”

      Buzz whined.

      The only reason he’d be in her closet was if Loretta put him there and commanded him to stay, Sarah realized. But if Loretta, who was in a wheelchair, had gone through all of that trouble, she had to have a really good reason. There was an elevator in the house, but Loretta hated using it.

      Buzz whined again, trying to tell her something.

      “What is it, boy?” Sarah murmured, leaning toward the canine.

      Her words seemed to give the dog permission. He charged toward her bedroom door, nuzzled it open and ran into the hallway. Still gripping the scissors, Sarah took off after him.

      The dog ran down the stairs and toward the opposite wing of the house—the wing where Loretta’s bedroom was located.

      “Buzz!” Sarah whispered, urgency lacing her voice.

      She didn’t want the dog to wake up Loretta. Then again, maybe Buzz knew something she didn’t.

      She swallowed hard at the thought.

      Sarah didn’t have much time to think. No, she could barely keep up with Buzz.

      She caught sight of the dog as he pushed his way into Loretta’s bedroom and disappeared.

      The knot in her stomach squeezed tighter.

      This wasn’t like Buzz. The dog was usually regal and reserved.

      A groan emerged from the darkness, then a loud, hard crash.

      Something was wrong. Really wrong.

      Sarah flung herself into Loretta’s room, fully expecting to find Loretta having a medical emergency of some sort. She froze in the doorway and gasped.

      A masked man stood over Loretta as she lay on the floor, her wheelchair shoved to the side.

      Fear rippled through Sarah.

      What was going on here?

      The intruder glanced over at Sarah—but only for a second—before Buzz charged at him and knocked him off Loretta and into the wall. The man’s head hit the wall.

      The man groaned before his eyes closed and his body went limp. Had he lost consciousness?

      Either way, Buzz still growled on top of him.

      With her heart beating out of control, Sarah’s gaze slid across the room and stopped at Loretta.

      She moaned on the floor, her chest rising and falling too quickly. Rapid gasps sounded at her parted lips.

      Sarah hurried toward her, kneeling at her side. Blood gushed from a puncture wound in the woman’s neck.

      Tears rushed to Sarah’s eyes. That man had hurt her. She and Buzz had gotten here too late.

      “Loretta, hold on,” Sarah whispered, grasping her boss’s shoulders. “I’ll call 911. Help will be here soon.”

      “Sarah…” Loretta’s voice was so faint that Sarah could hardly understand it.

      The woman tried to sit up, but Sarah gently pushed her back down. She was in no condition to move right now.

      “It’s okay,” Sarah said. “Just stay still.”

      Loretta’s sixty-year-old face wrinkled with pain that whispered across every feature, a face that had only recently developed fine lines. The woman was always so strong. Seeing her like this…

      It made Sarah’s heart twist into knots.

      “You’ve…got…to…go,” Loretta rasped.

      “No, I need to stay here with you.” A shiver went up Sarah’s spine as she said the words. There was more at stake here than just Loretta’s wound.

      The man who’d done this to her was still in the room. Still passed out. For now.

      But he could wake up at any time and try to finish what he’d started.

      Loretta might be hurt, but her grip was strong as she grasped Sarah’s arm. “Take…Buzz…and…run. Far away. Danger.”

      Her eyes closed. She was fading, Sarah realized. Near death. Delirious maybe.

      Had Sarah understood her words correctly? Run? Why would she run? She needed to stay here with Loretta.

      “Ms. Blanchard—”

      The woman squeezed her arm again, her gaze coming alive with a spark of intensity. “Go. Now. He’ll…kill you.”

      “What?” The breath left Sarah’s lungs. Hearing the words out loud made a fresh round of panic swell in her.

      “Don’t…trust…the…police.”

      “But—” What did she mean? If she couldn’t trust the police, then who could she trust?

      Loretta’s gaze suddenly locked on to Sarah’s. “Buzz…”

      “What about Buzz?”

      “Take…him…”

      Before she could finish her sentence, Loretta shut her eyes, and her grip loosened—went limp.

      She was gone, Sarah realized.

      “Oh, Loretta.” Grief stabbed at Sarah. But she didn’t have time to dwell on it. Urgency pushed her on.

      That man was beginning to stir. His limbs jerked, and soon he’d be awake. She felt certain of it.

      Sarah stood, dropping the scissors from her hands.

      She needed to go. If Loretta had given her those instructions, there was a good reason. The woman was smart, and she must know something that Sarah didn’t.

      “Buzz, come on.”

      Looking back at the man in black one more time, Sarah tore through the house.

      She and Buzz had to get out of here. Now.

      And there was only one place she could think to go. However, it was the last place she wanted to be.

      Colton Hawk froze as a strange sound pulled him from his sleep.

      It was a car. Coming up the gravel lane that led to his home. At four thirty in the morning.

      He jumped out of his warm bed and threw on some clothes. After grabbing the gun from his nightstand, he peered out the window. Adrenaline pounded through him.

      Unexpected visitors in the middle of the night usually meant trouble.

      As a former detective, Colton had a whole list of people who might want to track him down and exact revenge. Apparently, not even moving out here