Bex’s head tilted from the pressure of the barrel pressing harder against his skin.
Claire’s expression was frightening, even in the darkness. “Do you know what I’ll do to you if you leave a mark on him? Ease up on that barrel, Harry.”
“I’ll go!” I said, desperate to end the standoff.
Crenshaw’s attention jerked toward me, then. “Nina?”
“I’ll go with you. Just leave them alone,” I blurted out, a tear burning down my cheek.
Claire sighed in exasperation, keeping her eyes on Crenshaw. “I’m not going to trade one brother for another, Nina. Stay where you are.”
Crenshaw cocked his weapon and Claire took one hand off her gun and held it palm-out, toward Crenshaw. “Okay. Okay, Harry. I’m laying down my weapon. Easy does it,” she said, moving slowly to lay her gun flat on the floor.
Lillian held her breath and her nails lightly dug into my shoulders.
“Your heart is racing, Crenshaw.” Claire said, standing up slowly with both hands in front of her.
“So?”
“So they warned you about us, didn’t they?”
“Yeah…so?” he sniffed.
“So, when they warned you about Jared and I, and they sent twelve of you to take on two of us, and you all came in here, guns blazing, knowing most of you wouldn’t make it out…,” she raised one eyebrow before getting to her point, “…did they warn you about Bex?”
Crenshaw’s head darted around to each side of him, unclear what Claire meant, but he looked terrified.
A small hand slowly rose into the air. “Nice to meet you, Crenshaw. I’m Bex.”
In the same second Bex’s body blurred in movement, and Crenshaw’s dark form bent unnaturally as he cried out. I heard bones snap as the intruder’s gun fell to the floor. In the next moment, Bex stood over his assailant. In one swift jerk, Bex pulled Crenshaw’s neck and a loud crack pierced the room.
Lillian exhaled as Bex stood over Crenshaw’s broken body. Claire walked over to her slightly taller, younger brother and hugged him.
“I underestimated you,” Claire said, smiling at the overgrown boy in her arms.
“And you said I wouldn’t be able to act scared enough,” he taunted.
“I admit it. I was totally wrong. There for a second I thought you were going to cry like a little girl. He didn’t see you coming for a second,” she said, pressing her fist against his jaw.
Bex playfully punched her in the arm and she ruffled his hair.
“Are you okay, Nina?” Bex asked, turning to me with a concerned expression.
I could only lift the corners of my mouth for a second, grateful when Claire motioned for him to follow her downstairs. I recoiled as I watched Bex step over Harry Crenshaw’s body like he was a piece of furniture.
Jared came through the door moments later, and after surveying the scene, walked straight to me.
“You okay, sweetheart?” he asked, pulling me tightly into his arms.
I nodded. “Where were you?”
“I had to take care of a few things downstairs. Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked again, holding my cheeks in his hands and scanning my face.
I nodded again, and then my knees buckled. Jared lifted me into his arms and carried me downstairs through the darkness.
“Should I get the lights?” Lillian asked.
“Not yet,” Jared answered.
I heard Claire trot down the stairs and rummage through a cabinet in the bathroom. With a small flashlight in her mouth, she turned to look at her back in the mirror as she flattened a pink Hello Kitty band-aid against a deep cut on her shoulder.
Jared took me outside into the night air. “Take a few slow, deep breaths. You’ll feel better soon.”
I felt a blanket surround me as Lillian kissed my forehead. “I’m so sorry, Baby. We’ll try again another night.”
I couldn’t reply. She acted as if she’d burned the pot roast, not that a group of men had broken into her home and assaulted her family to kidnap one of her guests.
“I need to take Nina home. Claire and Bex can clean up. Call me if there is a problem,” Jared said.
Lillian nodded and kissed her son.
“I am so sorry,” I choked, the guilt crushing me.
Jared’s mother cupped my cheek in her palm and stared at me with deep sympathy. “This is not your fault, Nina. It’s no one’s fault. It is what it is.” She shrugged with a small smile and I tried to return her expression, but I was afraid if I let the numbness escape me for even a moment, I would break down in front of everyone.
Once in the SUV, I asked Jared to take me to Andrews.
“Why?” he asked, genuinely surprised.
“I just want to go home,” I said, looking out the window.
Jared traced my fingers with his. “I’d feel better if you stayed with me tonight.”
“I think I…I just want to sleep in my bed,” I said, stumbling over my words. I had made the decision before I got in the car.
“If that’s what you want.” He sighed in resignation, and then turned down a road that led to Brown.