Silver Thaw (25 page)

“Don’t be stupid. Your only hope is to shoot firs—”

From out of nowhere, Bozo appeared, his massive, mottled brown body going airborne. Mark had no time to react. In a fraction of a second, the dog collided so hard with the man that he went flying. Amanda lurched forward, terrified that Mark might shoot the mastiff, and true to form, he tried, even sprawled on his back and anchored by the animal’s weight. He swung the gun up, trying to level it at Bozo’s head.

“No!” Amanda screamed. She aimed the .357, but she couldn’t get a clear shot. Bozo was in the way.
“No!”
she cried again.

The mastiff lunged and sank his fangs into Mark’s wrist. Knocked off target, the gun barrel was now pointed at a wall, then at the ceiling. Mark emitted a ragged scream. The weapon went off, the report so loud that the repercussion pounded against Amanda’s eardrums. At the sound, Bozo’s fury increased, visibly vibrating through his huge body. He shook Mark’s arm. The pistol flew from his grasp and landed about three feet away.

Bozo released Mark’s wrist and clamped his jaws over his throat. The snarls that rumbled from the animal’s massive chest bore no resemblance to his conversational growls, but they conveyed his meaning with absolute clarity. If Mark tried to move, Bozo would kill him.

“Lie still!” Amanda cried as she ran toward the security panel. “If you even twitch, he’ll rip your throat out.”

The instant Amanda pressed the panic button, the siren went off, the shrill sound bouncing off the walls. To her horror, she saw Chloe hurtling down the staircase. Before the child reached the kitchen, Amanda yelled, “Go to Mr. Jeb’s bedroom, Chloe. Remember the hiding place I showed you?
Go!
”

Chloe wheeled, tripped, and sprawled on the floor. But she scrambled back to her feet in short order and bolted for the bedroom. Amanda stepped around the table to keep her weapon trained on her husband.

Mark moaned. The sound incited the dog to bite down harder.

“Hold him,” she shouted to Bozo. “Don’t kill him. Just hold him.”

Bozo didn’t need direction. Every time Mark wiggled or tried to speak, the mastiff increased the pressure on his throat. Amanda heard a thud at the back door.
Jeb
. He must have heard the gunshot or the siren. She ran to let him in. The instant she disengaged the lock, he burst into the room.

“It’s Mark,” Amanda cried, hoping Jeb could hear her over the wailing horn. “I don’t know how he did it, but he got the front door open, and I couldn’t reset the system!”

Jeb gave Amanda a quick once-over to check for injuries. Then he strode around the table, retrieved Mark’s weapon from the floor, and took stock of the situation.

Amanda wasn’t sure what she expected Jeb to do, but laughing wasn’t on her list. His hair gleaming like molten gold in the overhead lights, he gave his dog a thumbs-up. “Good job, Bozo! I always knew I could count on you.”
Jeb circled the snarling mastiff and the visibly terrified Mark. “Wow, I don’t envy you! One wrong move, and he’ll rip out your jugular.” Jeb pocketed the gun and planted his hands on his hips. More clearly than words, his stance conveyed that the mastiff needed no backup.

Just then, the house phone rang. Jeb signaled Amanda to answer it. She hurried over to the base unit, put the Magnum on the counter, and grabbed the receiver. A woman said, “This is Deb at central station. Is everyone okay there?”

Amanda blinked. “A man broke into the house and threatened us with a gun, but he’s been subdued and we have the situation under control now.”

The woman asked for the password, and Amanda gave it to her.

“The police are on their way,” she said. The siren suddenly stopped shrieking. “There, that’s better on your ears. Would you like me to stay on the phone with you until help arrives?”

Amanda couldn’t see any point. “No, I don’t think that’s necessary. The intruder is on the floor and being held—at gunpoint.” She preferred not to paint Bozo as being vicious. “The authorities should be here soon.”

“Do I hear a dog growling?”

“Yes. He’s very protective, and right now he’s upset.”

When Amanda ended the call, Jeb still stood over Mark but was no longer laughing. “I’d call him off, but then I’d have to take over. Given that I’d rather kill you than look at you, I think you’re safer with the dog. Besides, it’s never too late to learn a hard lesson. Now you know firsthand how it feels to be bullied by somebody bigger than you.”

The glare Mark gave Amanda terrified her. She knew she was safe now, but no amount of logic could erase
from her mind all the memories she had of this man. He was afraid of the dog and too scared to move, but his rage and hatred were almost palpable. Amanda hoped the police hurried. You could never underestimate Mark. He’d just proved that again.

She felt as if her legs had turned into limp noodles. Unable to remain standing, she plopped onto a chair. To her, every second seemed to last a small eternity.
Mark
. He lay only a few feet away. As the realization sank in, she started to shake.
Delayed reaction
. She thanked God for keeping her hands steady to hold the gun.

Just as she heard the distant wail of police sirens, a short, stocky man holding a shotgun burst into the kitchen.

“Is everybody all right in here?”

At a distance, Amanda had seen the farmer across the road.
Tony Bradley
. And he had come loaded for bear.

Jeb arched an eyebrow at Amanda. “Where’s Chloe?”

“Hiding,” she replied with a wobble in her voice. “In your bedroom.”

Jeb turned back to his friend. “Thanks to Bozo we’re all fine, Tony, but I appreciate your coming over. You’re the best.”

Tony lowered the shotgun barrel, studied the prostrate Mark, and scowled. “If ever a throat needed rippin’ out, it’s his. You oughta tell that dog to go for it. All the lady’s troubles would be over.”

“It’s tempting, but unlawful. Barney would probably throw me in the hoosegow.” Jeb motioned at Tony’s shotgun. “Can you stand guard over him? I’ve got a little girl I need to check on.”

Tony brought the gun barrel back up. “It’ll be my pleasure. Long as he doesn’t move so much as a whisker, him and me will get along fine.”

“Just don’t shoot my dog.” Jeb laid Mark’s weapon on the table in front of Amanda. “Make sure you hand that over to the sheriff. It’ll stand as evidence that Mark entered this house with deadly intent.”

At the words, Amanda shuddered.
Deadly intent
. She’d come so close to dying tonight. So
very
close. If it hadn’t been for Bozo’s surprise attack, Mark would have shot her. Even worse, she knew this wasn’t over. Mark was subdued right now and he’d surely go to jail, but the authorities couldn’t keep him behind bars forever.

*   *   *

Jeb found Chloe in the closet hidey-hole. When he opened the cover, she bleeped in terror, which made him want to kick himself.
I should’ve told her it was me
. “Hey, hey, hey,” he said when she ducked into the corner. “It’s Mr. Jeb, princess. I just came to make sure you’re all right.”

Chloe launched herself into his arms. “My daddy—my mean daddy—he’s—in—the house!”

An ache spread through Jeb’s chest as he gathered the trembling child close. “I know, but Bozo is making sure he can’t harm anyone, and your mommy pressed the panic button to call the police.” He tightened his embrace. “You’re safe. Your mommy is safe. There’s no reason to be afraid.”

She shrank against his thick jacket. “You don’t know. He does awful, horrible things.”

“Not anymore, he won’t. Your uncle Barney will lock him up in jail and throw away the key.” Jeb heard heavy footsteps rushing into his kitchen and guessed that the deputies had arrived. He needed to get back out there, but he couldn’t bring himself to abandon Chloe. So instead he sat on the floor, braced his back against the cedar wall, and cradled the child across his chest. Sometimes a
guy had to set priorities, and the importance of holding Chloe right now outweighed everything else. “I sure am proud of you, princess.”

“How come?”

“Because you came in here to hide. You minded your mommy and didn’t panic. You’re a very smart girl.”

She sniffed and nodded, which made Jeb smile. This little gal wouldn’t grow up to be a woman with no self-confidence, not if he had anything to say about it.

“I think Uncle Barney is here,” she whispered. “His voice sounds almost like yours.”

Jeb cocked an ear and heard his brother speaking. The tension eased from his body. With Barney here, Mark Banning would be cuffed and stuffed before he could blink. Jeb’s thoughts turned to Amanda. She undoubtedly needed some comfort, too, but there was only one of him to go around.

*   *   *

Amanda felt as if her posterior had been glued to the chair. Cops swarmed through the house, their voices droning in her ears like the buzz of hornets. She forced herself to reconnect with reality.
Shock
. She’d felt this way before—numb, separated from everything by a fog. But now wasn’t the time to succumb to it.

Barney dragged Bozo off Mark, and two deputies dived in to take the dog’s place. Mark was rolled onto his stomach. A knee, backed by a man’s weight, dug into his spine.

“Hey!” Mark yelled. “Easy on my arms!”

The officers ignored him and shoved both his wrists up his back to rest just under his shoulder blades as they handcuffed him.

“That
bitch
invited me here for visitation with my
child!” Mark cried. “I have a letter to prove it! She set me up! I’ll have your jobs for treating me like this!”

Barney stood near Amanda, bagging Mark’s weapon as evidence. “Do you always come for visitation armed with a deadly weapon?” he asked Mark.

“I have permits to carry concealed!” Mark shouted. “A man has a right to defend himself in this country. Check my wallet, asshole! I’m legal in both Oregon and California!” He cried out in pain when the two deputies grabbed him by the elbows and dragged him to his feet. “Jesus Freaking Christ! You dislocated my shoulders!”

A husky older man entered the kitchen. He carried himself with an air of authority. Amanda decided he must be the sheriff. “If they’d dislocated your shoulders, you’d be in so much pain, you wouldn’t be able to talk, let alone yell.”

Mark sent Amanda a glare that cut through her like a razor. “You’ll pay for this. In your letter, you asked me to come! You’ll pay! I won’t rest until you do!”

Amanda had written no letter. The very idea that she might have was ludicrous. But she couldn’t form the words to contest the accusation.

As the deputies shoved Mark into a walk, he shouted, “I didn’t pull the gun until the damned dog jumped me! I was invited here, I’m telling you! I was only trying to protect myself!”

“Put him in a car,” the sheriff ordered the two deputies. “And don’t take your eyes off him.”

*   *   *

Jeb didn’t know how much time passed. He only knew that Barney finally entered the closet and crouched in front of him. “You need better locks, bro. Yours are sturdy, but the mechanisms can be picked. You also need to watch those
monitors you had installed. If you had been paying attention, you’d have noticed when the screen went blank.”

Jeb narrowed his gaze on his brother’s burnished face. “You mean he picked the front door lock? Why didn’t that set off the alarm?”

“What triggers the alarm is the magnetic connections being broken. When the doors or windows are closed, the connection is intact. You can pick the lock or disengage it with a key. The system senses nothing until a perimeter is actually breached. Then the little magnets aren’t touching anymore.”

Jeb’s brain felt as if it had been put through a blender.

“Banning’s lying through his teeth right now, saying that Amanda let him in,” Barney continued. “But my take is, he picked the lock after he hacked into your system, probably sometime after dark, and then he watched through the windows, hoping for an opportunity to open the door without setting off the alarm.”

Jeb recollected the string of events that had transpired before and after he had left the house through the back door. He’d turned off the alarm and reminded Amanda to reset it. Then he’d kissed her under the ear, asked her to help him dream up better passcodes, and stepped outside. Before setting the alarm, Amanda had locked the door behind him. If Banning had been watching through a window, he would have known the security system was momentarily off. If he’d already picked the front door lock, those seconds had given him time to race back to the porch and open the door before Amanda tried to reset the alarm. She must have been terrified when the panel screen told her there was a fault.

“Man, he’s a sneaky piece of work,” Jeb said. “He must have plotted and planned this for hours.”

“And he had to have been watching the house, possibly for a day or more.” Barney rubbed beside his nose, a nervous habit when he was about to say something that made him uncomfortable. “Jeb, you gotta remember that those monitors are useless unless you keep an eye on them. When the screens go blank, something’s up.”

Jeb couldn’t argue the point. Sometime tonight he’d dropped the ball and allowed Banning an opportunity to get in. “I can’t believe this happened.”

Barney sighed and reached out to pat Chloe’s head. “All’s well that ends well. I’ll do my best to keep him behind bars.”

Jeb’s skin tingled. “What do you mean, your best? He broke into my house while armed with a deadly weapon. And what about the restraining order?”

He rubbed his nose again. “It’s complicated. He’s got a permit to carry concealed in two states. He’s Amanda’s husband. He claims she sent him a letter, inviting him to come for visitation, and that she let him inside. He also claims he didn’t pull the weapon from his pocket until the dog attacked him. We’ve got no physical proof that he broke in or threatened Amanda with a gun. There’s no damage to the door. It could come down to Amanda’s word against his.”

“Are you telling me you don’t believe her?” Jeb’s voice rose dangerously.

Barney shook his head. “It’s not about who I believe, Jeb. It’s about the law, and in order to press charges against this dude for breaking and entering with malicious intent, the burden of proof is on us.”