Settling an Old Score - Delores Fossen Page 0,58

feel his worry and regret. He would blame himself for not being able to stop this, blame himself for not realizing just how close to the edge that Remy had been.

Eli’s gaze slashed back to the window when there was another sound. Not a gunshot, thank goodness. This was a screech of tires, and for a moment she thought it was Kellan moving in with one of the cruisers.

But no.

Ashlyn’s heart jumped to her throat as she saw Eli’s and Gunnar’s reactions. The two bolted away from the door, both of them running in her direction.

And the car crashed through the front of the house.

* * *

ELI WAS CURSING and praying at the same time. There’d been only seconds to react. Seconds between the time Remy had gunned the engine and used his car as a battering ram to tear into the house.

The front of the car did plenty of damage, breaking down the front door and shattering windows. And setting off the security alarm, which immediately started to blare. If the crash hadn’t woken up the baby, that would certainly do it, and despite everything else going on, Eli added a prayer that the little girl wouldn’t be scared.

Ashlyn and Gunnar took aim at the car, and while Eli appreciated their quick backup, he wanted Ashlyn away from this. Well, as far away as she could get, which would mean going in with Cora and Gloria. For now, though, Eli used his phone to turn off the security alarms so he could hear.

He heard all right. The sounds of the car engine crackling from the impact. Wood and glass falling. But beneath all of that, he also heard the moans. Someone was hurt. Hopefully, Remy. Eli didn’t have any sympathy whatsoever for the man since he’d endangered not only his hostage but everyone in the house.

The moaning picked up a notch, and then the front passenger’s door of the car creaked open. Dominick stuck out his head, and since the lights were still on in what was left of the house, Eli had no trouble seeing the blood on the man’s head. It looked as if he’d hit it during the collisions.

“Remy set a fire inside the car,” Dominick said, and his voice was a mix of pain, fear and anger.

Eli had already noticed the smoke, but he’d thought that had come from the crash. Apparently, though, Remy was determined to do even more damage than he already had.

“Let Kellan know about the fire,” Eli told Gunnar. Kellan would almost certainly be approaching the vehicle, and he’d need to be aware what he was up against.

“Is Remy alive?” Eli asked Dominick. He didn’t go to the man to help him out of the car and wouldn’t until he was positive that Dominick hadn’t had some part in this.

Dominick opened his mouth to answer, and then he cursed and groaned. A moment later, Eli saw why Dominick had had that reaction. He got out of the car, and Remy was right behind him.

Remy had a gun pointed at Dominick’s head.

Hell. They still had a hostage situation on their hands, and the smoke from the car was getting worse, which meant if there was indeed a fire, it could soon spread into the house. Worse, Kellan wouldn’t be able to do anything about that fire as long as Remy had Dominick. Of course, his brother might be able to get a clean shot to take out Remy, and if so, that would put an end to this.

Remy staggered out of the car, and Eli could see that he, too, had a head injury. There was a line of blood snaking down his temple all the way to his jaw, but Remy didn’t even seem to notice it. His face was tight with rage and determination. Not a good mix when it came to an out-of-control armed man who seemed hell-bent on doing as much damage as possible.

“Get in the room with Cora,” Eli told Ashlyn. Thankfully, she did move but only into the doorway of the bedroom. He would have preferred her to be in the bathroom, but at least she wasn’t in the direct line of fire.

Gunnar and Eli took cover, too, both of them scrambling behind the sofa. It wouldn’t give them much protection if Remy started shooting, but Eli hadn’t given up on reasoning with the man. Maybe that wasn’t even possible, but he had to try especially since Kellan was going to be tied up trying to