Chapter Sixteen

T he bottom dropped out of her world. Ellie couldn't stop shaking her head. "That's not possible. He wouldn't."

His eyes filled with sympathy. "It's true, Ellie. He's dead."

While she tried to wrap her head around it, more shots coming from the back of the house had Boone grabbing her and tugging her to a safer spot.

At the front of the house, the fire blazed.

"It won't take those flames long to engulf the house," Declan said, watching as the front window shattered under the intense heat. "They're waiting to pick us off out back. If we stay, the smoke will get us." He pointed to the stairs. "The attic. There's a window."

The suggestion did nothing to settle Ellie's fears, but it might be their only chance.

Keeping low, Declan lowered the ladder leading to the attic. He went up first and then, with the help of Boone, got Eli up.

"You go next." Boone waited while she climbed the rungs before starting up.

More windows blew with the heat. Boone reached the attic and shut the door.

"We don't have much time," Boone warned.

Declan hurried to the side of the window and looked down. "I don't see anyone down there. This window faces the side of the house. I'm hoping they're watching the back."

Ellie looked below. "That's quite a drop. I realize we don't have a choice, but there's a real chance someone will break a leg."

Declan actually smiled. "We'll use this." A rope ladder had been tucked beneath the window. He unlocked the window and shoved at it until it lifted.

Down below, the back door of the kitchen gave way under the weight of someone throwing their body against it.

"We're out of time. They're breaching the house." Declan tossed the ladder down and climbed over the windowsill. "I'll go first. Eli, can you make it with your shoulder?"

"I can make it."

Ellie watched as Declan descended the ladder and worried there'd be men waiting below to take him out.

Declan reached the ground. Eli headed down.

So far so good.

"Search the entire house." An accented voice yelled over the roaring fire, which was gaining strength.

"Go, Ellie. They'll see the attic door soon enough. Hurry. I'm going to try and secure the door." Boone helped her over the side and then disappeared from her line of sight.

Ellie hesitated. She didn't want to leave him.

While she hesitated, Boone's face appeared above her again. "Hurry, Ellie."

Relieved, she rushed down the rope rungs as fast as she could. When she was close to the ground, Boone followed. A crashing noise from above confirmed their attackers had found the door to the attic.

Ellie jumped the rest of the way down and waited while Boone traversed the ladder.

Before he reached the ground, several men appeared in the window above.

"Boone!" she called, grabbing his attention. "Watch out."

His head jerked back to the window. One of the men fired his weapon. Boone grabbed his side and half climbed, half fell the rest of the way down.

Ellie rushed forward to catch him, his weight almost taking her to the ground.

The men above them continued to shoot.

"We've got to go. Now." Declan helped Boone out of the line of fire while Ellie returned shots.

The two men ducked back.

She had no doubt time was running out. Ellie ran after the men, catching up. "Which way to the dock where JT will meet us?"

"Straight through there." Declan led the way while Ellie kept watch behind them. The flames from the fire shot up in the air. With all the accelerant used, the house was going up quickly.

Over the roaring, another disturbing sound could be heard. "They're coming. How far out were JT and Bryce?" What if they reached the dock and there was no one there? They'd be trapped.

"Ten minutes out when I called. They should be there," Boone assured her.

It sounded as if a virtual army were tromping through the woods. "They're gaining." The words barely cleared her lips when a round of shots had everyone ducking for cover.

"We'll never make it to the dock. We need someplace to take cover." Declan switched directions. "The Petersons."

Racing through the woods, Ellie's heartbeat drowned out all other sounds around her.

The back of the house appeared. Declan ran up the steps. He reached inside the back light near the door and pulled out a key, not wasting time getting the door open.

Everyone rushed inside.

Declan relocked the door. He secured it with a chair under the doorknob. "That won't hold them for long. Help me drag the table over."

Ellie got on one side while Declan took the other. Together, they shoved the table against the door.

Boone checked the front window. "So far, I don't see anyone, but it won't be long before they figure out where we are."

"There's a gun cabinet in the living room. Robert collects them. We'll need the extra weapons." Declan grabbed a bookend and smashed the glass from the front of the gun cabinet.

There were several handguns as well as rifles. Boone located shells. "At least we won't run out of ammo."

"How bad is it?" Ellie asked when she noticed the strain on his face. "Let me have a look."

He shook his head. "Maybe later. I'm okay for now."

A noise within the house had Ellie freezing. "Did you hear that?"

Boone nodded. "It's coming from downstairs. A basement?" he asked Declan.

"Yes." Declan headed for the kitchen. The three followed.

Declan opened the door to the basement. A muffled sound was followed by a crash.

Ellie pushed Boone behind her. She and Declan took the lead descending the steps.

"Help!"

Declan stopped and looked at Ellie. "That's Becky."

The four covered the rest of the steps and found Becky lying on the floor in a turned over chair. She'd been gagged but somehow managed to get it free.

"What happened?" Declan asked while he knelt with Ellie to untie her.

"They have Robert and Carter."

The words rushed out as Declan helped her to her feet. "Who has them?"

"I don't know." She rubbed her wrists and glanced around at the new faces. "They barged into our home yesterday right before you arrived." She saw Declan's question and responded. "We heard you come in, but by then it was too late. They had us tied up." She shuddered at the memory.

Boone retrieved his phone and brought up the photo of the men from the island. "Are these some of them?"

"That's them, but I don't see the man calling the shots, and there were more of them. They didn't secure their boat, and it sank. They forced us to call Carter to bring another man, I think the real person in charge, over. I didn't get a look at him because I was down here."

"Where are Robert and Carter now? The rest of your children?" Ellie had a terrible feeling once the men were no longer useful . . .

"It was only Robert and me here. The kids are all scattered around New England doing their own thing. They forced Robert to call Carter when they learned he had our boat at our place in Maine. Apparently, theirs sank. Carter picked up Robert, and those men had them set out to pick someone else up. I'm so worried. The men who were here left a little while ago. I don't know where they went."

"To my cabin." Declan told her what happened.

Becky's hand flew to her mouth. "I'm so sorry, Declan. What are they thinking? They'll burn the entire island down."

"It's because of me." Ellie introduced herself while Boone explained as succinctly as possible why the men were coming after her.

"I'm so sorry." Becky shook her head. "I thought I'd seen a lot as a police officer." She noticed Boone's injury. "You're hurt. And so are you." She'd seen Eli favoring his shoulder. "I have medical supplies upstairs. Let's get you patched up."

"I'm calling JT." Declan tried his phone, then held it away from his ear. "It's not going through."

"They're jamming calls." The news was not completely unexpected. Ellie went over to the living room window and cracked the curtains. No sign of them.

"Sorry about the mess." Declan explained the need for extra weapons.

Becky finished patching up Boone and Eli. "Don't apologize. None of us expected this to happen. We'll do our best to hold them off until your backup arrives."

A terrifying thought chased through Ellie's head. What if there was no backup coming? What if JT and Bryce had been taken care of? It would be up to them to stand and fight. From the number of people Becky indicated were on the island before the rest of the men arrived, they wouldn't stand a chance.