back. “Benny?” she asked again, tapping on the screen. Nothing happened. She took a deep breath. “Benny, if that’s you, let me know. I can’t disengage the security unless I know for sure.”
A blue mitt wiped snow off the camera by the gate, and then a face came into view. “Grace? It’s Bobbi.” Her friend was pale with her light hair whipped around by the storm.
Grace stepped back. “Bobbi? What in the world are you doing here?”
Bobbi coughed, her cheeks red from the cold. “Adare sent me and said to stay here. That it was the only safe place, but to make sure you saw me so you could do something with some sort of sensor?” She coughed again, her lips turning blue. “Would you turn off the sensor?”
Grace frowned, looking at Bobbi through the camera. None of this was making sense. “Wait a sec. You met with Adare in Denver and he sent you here? How did you get here?’
“Some guy piloted me here, dropped me off, and then turned right around to go back. I don’t know what’s happening. Have you heard anything about my baby?” Tears gathered in her eyes. “Anything about Rose?” She wiped more snow off the camera. “Please, let me in. I’m scared, Grace.”
“I—this doesn’t make sense,” Grace muttered. How could Bobbi be at the gate so soon?
“I’ll explain everything once I’m warm. It’s freezing out here,” Bobbi said, coughing again. “Let me in, okay?”
Grace studied her, looking beneath the surface. The hazy camera and snowy weather hid too much, but she had a brain, and she had instincts, and she went with them. “No.”
“No?” Bobbi shrieked. “Are you crazy? Your boyfriend sent me to the middle of nowhere, into a snowstorm for help, and you won’t even open the gate? My baby is missing.” She leaned in, her blue eyes bloodshot and her nose running. “Have you gone crazy? Lost your damn mind?”
Maybe. Was Grace just getting paranoid? Her head hurt but she pushed through the pain. She trusted Adare and she’d start there. He’d said to keep the security in place until she saw Benny. If Adare had sent Bobbi here, he would’ve also sent word that she was coming. It only made sense. “If I’ve lost my mind, I’m really sorry. We have a friend coming to the gate shortly, and then we’ll talk.” Although Benny was late. Where the heck was he?
Bobbi stared into the camera for several beats. Then her expression smoothed out. “Your friend isn’t going to make it.”
“What?” Grace asked, realization slithering down her torso.
“We might’ve blown him up.” Bobbi smiled then, the sight garish.
That far away thunder? That had been an explosion?
“Who are you?” Grace whispered.
Bobbi sighed, her breath heating and fuzzing the camera. “Long story. How about you just come out, so we don’t have to come in and get you?”
“No.” Grace panted out air.
As if on cue, a multitude of explosions ripped up the driveway. The sputter of electricity arced through the air, lighting the falling snow.
Bobbi laughed, the sound strange. “We’re coming in, Grace. I know you’re there, and I’ll tear that place apart, or maybe blow it apart, to get to you. There’s nowhere for you to hide for long. But go ahead and make this as difficult as you want. I’m okay with it.” She lifted a weapon and fired right into the camera. The screen fuzzed and went black, all sound disappearing at the same time.
Shit. Grace dropped her mug and ran toward the living room, where Faith was emerging from the other bedroom, dressed in jeans and an overlarge sweater, her hair wet around her shoulders.
“What’s happening?” Faith asked, her eyes wide. “Is Benny blowing things up again?”
“No.” Grace grabbed her sister’s arm and dragged her toward the hidden door right past the fireplace. “Bobbi’s here blowing things up.”
Faith stumbled and then righted herself. “Bobbi is here? What?”
“Yeah. She’s the bad guy.” Grace jumped up and clicked the button to open the keypad. What were the numbers? She closed her eyes, remembered Adare repeating them in his strong voice, and then reopened her eyes and typed quickly.
Three more explosions rocked the world outside.
The door opened, and Grace nudged Faith inside.
Faith partially turned. “What are you doing?”
Grace panted out air, her nervous system misfiring with fear. “They know I’m here, and they’ll burn this place to the ground to find me. They don’t know you’re here. You have to hide.”
Faith’s shoulders went back. “Oh, hell no. You come in here.”