I need my gun. I’m afraid to leave Katie, but I need to call the police, and I need to get my gun. My heart thunders in my chest as I hop on the golf cart and take it back to the house. I let myself in, my hands shaking as I unlock the gun safe in my dad’s closet. I take out his Colt .45 and check to be sure it’s loaded. Pop says an unloaded gun is worthless. I stuff it into the waistband of my pants at the small of my back. Then I grab my own gun, which I’d locked up when I first arrived. This one I hold in my hand.

I hear gravel churning as I walk back outside, and I see my truck pulling up to the house. Right behind it is Dan and Adam’s car and I know they have the kids with them. I flag them down, waving my arms frantically to get them to stop.

“What’s wrong?” Pop asks as he gets out of the truck.

“Take the kids inside.” I nod toward the other car. “Take them too. Lock the door. Don’t come out unless you hear my voice.”

Dan and Adam get out of their car. “What is it?” Dan asks.

“Who is Cole?” I ask without preamble.

Dan runs a frustrated hand through his hair. “The father of her baby. Is he here?”

“I thought her husband’s name is Jeff.”

“Her husband’s name was Jeff.”

“Not important,” Adam interjects. “We’ve got to get Katie away from him before–”

“Before what?”

“Before he kills her.”

Dan shakes his head. “He’s not going to kill her as long as she’s still pregnant.”

“That doesn’t mean he won’t hurt her. It’s his favorite game. Teasing, taunting, and pain. He’s a cold, sadistic bastard.”

I had run into quite a few of those while on the force and it wouldn’t be the first time I brought one down. “Drugs? Alcohol?” It’s best to have as much information as possible going in. An abusive ass is one thing; someone hopped up on something is twice as dangerous.

“No, nothing like that. Just mean as hell.”

“Cole is who she’s running from? He’s why she’s here?”

“He won’t give her up without a fight, or unless he’s dead.”

“I can do dead.” It can be arranged. Easily.

“Jake.” Adam grabs my sleeve. “I’m going with you.”

“You’re staying here.” I look him in the eye. “Someone should have told me,” I say as I turn toward Katie’s cabin.

“Jake,” Pop calls.

I look behind me and see Pop shooing all three of the kids into the house. He turns back to me. “Be careful,” he says.

“You too.” If there’s anyone I could leave those kids with and not have to worry about them, it’s Pop.

Dan grabs my sleeve. “You’ll take care of her?”

“Yes.” I nod toward the house. “Keep the kids inside. Stay with Pop. He’ll keep them safe. Stay here,” I warn. I point at Pop, because I know I can trust him to keep a level head. “Call the police, Pop.”

I am the police. And someone who is very dear to me is in trouble. She told me the only way she knew how. Now I have to get back to her.

Dan tries to follow me but I jerk him back. “You stay here. Watch the kids.” Gabby is sobbing at the window, and she has Alex and Trixie standing in front of her. “Get them away from the windows. Do you understand?”

Dan nods and runs up the steps. “Jake,” he calls back, his voice frantic.

“What?” I check my gun. The clip is full. I only need one. The rest are insurance.

“Take care of her.”

I will.

I’ve faced a lot of bad stuff in my time on the force. But I have never been so scared in my whole life as I am right now. The door is open when I step onto the porch. I hide behind the edge of the door and look inside. I see no one. Then I hear a scream from the bedroom and my blood runs cold.

I steady my gun and use all the training I’ve ever received. I walk quietly to the bedroom, trying not to clomp my feet, but it’s damn hard. I need to get to Katie.

I push the door open slowly with one hand while pointing my gun with the other, and I find Katie standing facing me, directly in front of Cole. He has a knife at her throat and his hand is clenched in her hair, pulling so tightly that her eyes are bulging. There’s a fresh handprint on the side of her face.

“Put it down,” Cole says, his voice as cold as his heart.

I lower the gun very slowly and lay it on the floor in front of me, holding my hands up in surrender.

“Kick it over here,” he says with a jerk of his head. Katie winces and I see his grip on her hair tighten.

“You know I won’t do that,” I say. If I give him the gun, he’ll kill her. He might kill her anyway. I kick it under the bed instead. “Why don’t you let her go so we can talk?”

“Why don’t you go fuck yourself?” he snarls.

“Oh, if only it was that easy,” I say with a levity I don’t feel. “Whole lot easier than finding a woman, fucking myself. God, why didn’t I think of that?” I knock the heel of my hand against my forehead.

“You think you’re funny?” he says, and he pushes the knife a little harder against Katie’s throat. A drop of blood wells up and runs down her pale skin. She closes her eyes. “Step back,” Cole says.

I do as he says, walking backward all the way across the room. He comes forward, pushing Katie in front of him. “Out on the porch.”

I open the door and step outside, all the while holding my hands out at my sides.

“We’re going to go get in that car and leave, and you’re going to step aside.”

“If that’s what you want.” I step gingerly down the stairs, walking backward.

I know, though, that if I let him take Katie to a second location, I’ll never see her again. I will kill him before I let that happen.

Suddenly, I feel a rush of air beside my legs and a big brown beast runs up the steps, all fangs and hair standing on end. “Sally, no!” Katie screams.

I reach to grab for the dog, but he’s quick and fast. He’s gone from lazy and slow to dangerous and quick. Sally snarls and leaps, grabbing onto the arm that’s holding the knife against Katie’s throat. Sally jerks down and thrashes his head back and forth, and Cole screams.

The knife clatters to the porch. Cole lets Katie go so he can shake the dog off his arm, but Sally isn’t letting go. Cole screams and curses, and I grab Katie, shoving her back into the cottage. I pull the hidden gun from my waistband, ready to shoot the man, but he and the dog are one big blur.

Sally pulls Cole into the yard, and Cole scrambles free. I fire off a shot as soon as the dog is out of the way, and then another, but I refuse to shoot into pitch-black darkness, and I’m afraid I’m going to hit something aside from the asshole. “Sally!” I call. Sally comes toward me and sits down at my feet, staring up at me, his big, goofy body smeared with Cole’s blood. He looks up at me like “Anything else I can do for you?” He licks his bloody lips, his great big tongue lolling out of his mouth as he pants.

The police and ambulance arrive at exactly the same time. I identify myself and present my weapon. I need to get to Katie, but know I have to explain quickly about Cole, the dog, and the shots that I fired, but I don’t even know if I hit him. Now it’s up to the cops to find that bastard. After all that, I finally get to go inside to check on Katie.

Katie’s clutching her middle. “Hey, Jake,” she says softly.

“Hey, Katie,” I say back. My eyes fill with tears, because I’ve never been so happy to see anyone in my life.

“I think I’m having a baby,” she whispers. Her eyes meet mine. Then I notice she’s standing in a puddle of clear liquid.

I rush toward her and lift her into my arms. “It’s okay. We got this.”

“We do?” A tear tracks down her cheek.

“Oh hell yeah,” I say. I walk onto the porch, carrying her all the while. “We totally got this,” I tell her. But this time, it’s more for me than for her.

She points behind her. “Get the dog, Jake,” she cries. “He’s a good dog.”

“The best dog ever.” I kiss her forehead as the paramedics take her from me. Her parents rush forward and her kids flank them.

“I’m keeping that dog, Jake,” Katie says.

“You can have the dog. But I get visitation.”

“Deal,” Katie says, and I finally get a grin out of her.

They load Katie into the ambulance.

“We need to go,” the paramedics say. “In or out?”

“In,” Katie cries. She wants me.

I climb in with her and she takes my hand in a grip so tight it hurts.

“We’ll follow you in the car!” her dad yells. “The kids are fine! And we got the dog!”

Katie finally takes a deep breath. “Did you kill him?” she asks.

“I don’t think so.”

She lies back against the gurney and heaves out a breath. “I was hoping you did,” she says on a tired sigh.

“Me too.”