Grady stared at his half-brother. “Why would you want to kill me? I tried to keep Dad from hurting you. We can handle this together. I’ll back up your story.”
Barry laughed and waved the gun in the air. “I’m not stupid, Grady. Now go!” He stepped away from the steps. “Go slow, all of you.” He caught at Alanna’s arm as she started past. “Not you, Alanna.”
For a moment, she thought he was going to let her go, but he pushed the gun in her ribs. “If any of you run, I’ll shoot her. Jesse, I know you don’t want her hurt, so it’s your job to keep everyone else in line. You go first.”
The hard pressure of the metal barrel against her ribs made her wince. She glanced at Liam and wished she could help him. His face was pasty, and his breathing labored. She feared he’d never make it.
He gave her a thumbs-up and went slowly to the stairs. Holding onto the railing, he started down the steps. Patricia scowled at Barry but followed close behind Liam. Grady shuffled after them. The three were spaced a step apart. Alanna glanced at Liam. He still had the knife in his belt, but she wasn’t sure he had enough strength to use it.
Barry marched Alanna to the stairs and followed his captives. She tried to think of how she could be disarming him. All she could do was sidle down the steps and watch for an opportunity to avert whatever he had planned.
The group reached the hallway. Liam stumbled once as he led them along the curving path to the staircase to the first floor. Alanna started to go to him, but Barry jerked her back against him. She put her hand on her belly. Somehow there would be a way out of this. Her baby was depending on her for life.
Liam reached the foyer, then leaned against the wall. Alanna expected him to go sliding to the floor any second. His face was paper white, and his eyes were glassy.
“Help him,” Barry barked to his mother. He nodded at Liam who closed his eyes.
Patricia started to shake her head, then evidently reconsidered when Barry’s eyes narrowed. Huffing, she grabbed Liam’s arm before he could sink to the floor.
“What are you going to do to us?” Alanna asked. If she could keep him talking, maybe they could figure out how to be getting the gun away.
“Out there!” He nodded to the front door. “While the eye is going over.”
Alanna hadn’t noticed the quiet, but she heard it now: the sudden absence of wind, rain, and thunder.
Grady stumbled to the door and opened it. He held it open for his stepmother to help Liam out to the porch. Barry prodded Alanna forward with him. “I’ve got the door,” he told Grady. “Go on out. But no funny stuff.”
The scent of ozone and moisture rushed over her face when she stepped into the yard. Overhead the clouds swirled around the edges of a blue sky. The effect made her dizzy. The barometer would be low. Maybe that accounted for the way she struggled to breathe. Or maybe it was not knowing what Barry planned.
Barry motioned them toward the lake. “That way.”
Having flooded their banks, the lake waters were only thirty feet from the mansion. The ground squished under Alanna’s bare feet, and the cold and clammy mud chilled her. Moments later they stood at the edge of the water. Did he think they’d willingly walk into the water and drown? He must be daft.
The gun barrel in her ribs was beginning to bruise her skin. She pulled away slightly, and Barry shoved her away. She fell to her knees in the mud. Liam jerked away from Patricia and knelt by her side. He was shaking as if from a fever, but his skin chilled her when she touched him. She didn’t like the breathless panting she heard from his chest.
He needed a doctor. And quickly.
“Get up,” Barry said.
She was more than ready to obey, because she heard a splash in the water, followed by the now-familiar gator roar. Pete was nearby. Holding tight to Liam, she rose. Liam leaned heavily against her.
“Into the water with you.” Barry sounded almost happy.
Patricia folded her arms across her chest. “Absolutely not.”
“I could shoot you instead,” Barry said. “The gator will dispose of any evidence. If you go in of your own will, at least you have a chance to swim to safety.”
A false assurance. Alanna was quite certain Pete wasn’t the only gator in this lake. She’d heard too many bellows. The lake churned with flotsam from the storm. She wasn’t a strong swimmer. Liam was too weak to put up too much of a fight. Grady might make it, but she suspected Patricia couldn’t swim at all. She was much too prissy to want to get her hair wet long enough to learn.
“How are you going to explain the fact that we all went into the water?” Alanna asked.