in the living room. They had eyes on every door and window they could see. “Don’t worry, the doors are steel,” Skye told the old ladies who looked more excited than scared.
Skye was about to see if anyone had called 911 when an explosion rocked the house. Skye and the group huddled down, some of them toppling over from the shock of the explosion.
Skye couldn’t believe it. Was this a movie set? She’d heard special effects before and this was what it reminded her of, but who would bomb a freaking guesthouse?
Through the smoke, men holding rifles with lights on the end stormed into the house through the shattered sliding doors.
“En garde, ladies!” Miss Winnie yelled above the noise.
“Bless your heart,” Miss Mitzy said, shoving a knitting needle into Skye’s hand. “You need to learn to defend yourself. Here’s a ten-inch number eight needle, it’ll do just fine. Now, stab anyone you don’t know. Neck is always good as bone doesn’t get in the way.”
Skye felt as if she were having an out of body experience and that this had to be a stunt or a very bad dream. She even looked around for the camera because this couldn’t be real life, but the men running toward them were very real.
Skye tried to take a deep breath but the smoke made her cough as someone reached for her. Edie screamed a war cry that shook Skye from disbelief into reality. Edie slashed out at a man. The dagger she had pulled from her purse cut into his arm and Mitzy jabbed a knitting needle into his thigh as he reached for Skye.
Okay, this was real. Very, very real and she was clearly the target.
Peter took the lead and they were quickly broken up into three groups. One was led by Peter, one by Granger, and one by Kord. Trent stuck close to Granger as they moved through the topiaries toward the guesthouse. They were quickly approaching the front door when men appeared from around the side of the house. They were carrying rifles and were in full tactical gear.
“Sheriff’s Department. Drop your weapons!” Granger shouted.
The two men looked at each other but didn’t drop their weapons. Instead, they advanced on them. Granger shot one in the thigh and he went down screaming. Granger was on him in a second. He’d flipped him onto his stomach and had grabbed the man’s own zip ties from his tactical vest.
The other man looked surprised and Trent made his move. He charged and took the man down with a tackle that would make any professional football player proud. Trent drove the man into the ground and the air whooshed from his lungs as Trent landed hard on top of him. Trent didn’t stop, though. Two punches to the man’s chin and he was out.
“Take his weapons and tie him up,” Granger ordered as he picked up the rifle and slung it over his shoulder. Trent was doing just that when he heard the screams from inside.
Skye clenched her hand on the narrow, smooth metal knitting needle as four more men charged inside. They shared a look and then charged the group of women. One went to push Mitzy out of the way to get to Skye. The women had formed a tight circle around her to protect her, but she felt as if she, Karri, and Edie should be the ones protecting these sweet old grandmothers.
Skye held the knitting needle like a knife and raised it up high. She leaned around Mitzy and closed her eyes briefly as she slammed it down on the base of man’s neck who was trying to shove Mitzy to the ground. She felt the resistance as the needle went through the shirt, but then she felt it sink into the muscle. Skye groaned in an effort to stave off vomiting as she pulled the needle back out.
But it was too much. The men were attacking at once and Edie’s dagger had been knocked out of her hand. Karri was swinging a decorative boat paddle that had been hanging on the wall. The grandmas were lashing out with various old-looking knives or their knitting needles. Men were reaching for her and Edie was kicking and punching. She wasn’t going down without a fight.
“No!” Skye screamed when the fist connected to Edie’s face. Tears sprang to Edie’s eyes, but she didn’t go down.
Mitzy was grabbed by the arm and yanked to the ground. Miss Ruby and Miss Winnie were facing