acting like such a baby, that she was letting that bastard have power over her once more.
"Carrie. You get back here right now."
Chase had used a hard tone, but it cut through her emotional turmoil. She blinked, forcing herself back to the present, back to the moment. She heard soft crying and knew her friends had taken that tiny unwelcome trip with her.
Ginny and Kelsey, more than most, had been able to slip into the terror and helplessness with her.
I'm not alone.
She had these good women, and these good men, and by God, she was not going to let that bastard have even one more piece of her soul. She would not let him win.
They would not let him win.
"Okay, fuck this. That's it. Carrie?"
She jerked her gaze back to Adam. She didn't for one minute think his anger - no, his fury - was directed at her. His black eyes had gone to pure obsidian, the glass-like quality bone-chilling in its intensity. His chiseled features could have been fashioned from the hardest marble. Not one bit of the gentle, compassionate man she'd come to know as her friend was visible.
"Adam?" Ginny's soft question, a thousand questions in one word, drew his gaze and softened it, for just a heartbeat. Then he focused once more on Carrie.
"I'm going to go and get your sister. Right now. Matt? Chase?"
He spun on his heel and literally stormed from the kitchen. Matt raised one eyebrow, then without saying a word, followed his boss. Chase ran a hand down her back, and followed.
They all three had left so suddenly Carrie was left feeling completely off-balance. She looked at Brian. "What is he going to do?"
Brian didn't seem to have an answer for her, and neither did he look very happy with the sudden departure of those men.
Then Carrie's gaze landed on Ginny. She stood there, her gaze fixed on the door that still shivered with the echo of their departure. Her expression looked a little confused, and a lot worried.
"Take us there." She reached her hand out, and Ginny clasped it. She looked at Kelsey who nodded. Then she turned her gaze to Brian. "Take us there. Now, please."
"Darlin'..."
"Don't you 'darlin'' me. I'm not going to go barging into that apartment. I'm not going to interfere. But certainly you can get us close enough that we can be there, we can know what the hell is going on." Carrie's mind raced. "Look, my unit is in the center of the building, facing the back. I know from trying that, looking outside, I can just barely see as far as each corner of the building, from any of the windows." There were windows only in the bedroom and bathroom. The bedroom casement was a large, picture window with two sliders on either end of it. "Surely you can get us close enough to be able to know what's going on, without us being in the way."
Brian held her gaze for a long moment. Then he nodded, slowly. "Let me call Chase. I'm pretty sure I know where we can wait." He looked over at Ginny. "I'll call Jake, too."
Ginny nodded. "Thank you, but I'll do that." She seemed to gather her wits, and her grit. She inhaled deeply. "I'll just grab my phone out of my bag." Then she turned to look at Kelsey.
"Just go, the both you. And let me know the minute Chloe is safe and that bastard is in cuffs."
Carrie hugged Kelsey. "From your lips to God's ears."
It really didn't register with Carrie until much later that she wasn't the only one who had someone she loved in the line of fire.
But by then it was too late to do anything about it.
* * * *
Chloe hurt.
She'd snapped back to consciousness to find that her jaw throbbed, as did the back of her head. She felt nauseous, weak, and just a little disoriented.
She also felt grateful, and mad as hell. Grateful that she, and not Carrie, had opened the door to find that bastard had broken in and was lying in wait. And mad as hell because he'd been here when she came back from Waco and had gotten the drop on her.
She sensed his presence and that he was watching her, and so she played possum.
Chloe bit back a moan and hoped she hadn't made any sounds before she'd become awake and aware. She heard a noise and realized Lockwood was mumbling to himself, sounds that didn't seem to have meaning,