Free Time to Run by Marliss Melton Page B

up.
    "Scare 'em off," he said.
    Be careful. He was out the door in an instant. She watched through the living room window as he leapt athletically over the porch rail and dashed toward his car, keeping his head low. He stuck his key into the passenger door and unlocked it. Diving inside, he withdrew his gun from beneath the seat. She'd almost forgotten it was there. Thank God he'd kept the car locked.
    He checked the SIG briefly, snapping off its safety. In one fluid movement, he leapt up and fired over the top of his car toward the interlopers.
    From where she stood, Sara couldn't see if he'd hit the other car or not. But a short while later, she thought she heard the El Camino backing up.
    "What's going on, Mom?" Kendal whispered, trembling in her arms.
    "I don't know, sweetheart. Maybe the squatter wants to get back in. Chase'll scare them off."
    Chase pushed through the front door just then, strapping a holster over his shirt. Obviously, he meant to carry the gun on his person.
    Seeing her look of dismay, he added, "It's safer on me than it is in the car." He stalked past them, shouldering his way into Linc's study. He drew the blinds, then flicked on the overhead light, pausing before the gun cabinet to consider its contents.
    Sara was quick to guess his thoughts. "You think they're after the guns?" she asked, braving the musty odor of the room to join him.
    "Just a hunch," he said, giving the doors a shake, but the lock held. "Be right back," he said, abandoning them to stride through the house and out the rear door.
    "Sure is a lot of stuff in this room," Kendal commented, bending to peer at the piles of magazines. "National Socialist Movement Catalogue," he read carefully as he picked one off the top of the pile.
    Socialist? Sara turned to take it from him. "Oh, my goodness."
    The catalogue sold every type of Nazi paraphernalia imaginable, from sound recordings of Hitler's famous speeches, to T-shirts proclaiming white supremacy, to Nazi flags. She put it down with disgust. "Don't touch any more," she warned her son.
    Chase reappeared bearing a metal filing saw. Working it into the crack between the cabinets, he sawed away at the lock while Sara took closer stock of the room. "Chase," she hedged, hoping it wouldn't make him angry, "your stepfather was a white supremacist."
    "I know." He put the saw on the desk and pulled the cabinet open, plucking out a rifle. Handling it with casual precision, he checked it for ammunition.
    "Honey, why don't you play in Chase's old room for the rest of the evening," Sara suggested to Kendal.
    "Oh, Mom!" Kendal protested, sounding truly put out. "I wanted to catch some crickets."
    "There's plenty in the closet to play with," she insisted. She'd peeked in there this morning, seeing collector's cards, old comic books, and toy cars.
    "Fine," he relented, stomping down the hall to disappear into the next room.
    Sara went to stand next to Chase as he took out the next rifle. "This isn't anyplace for a child," she said quietly.
    His hands stilled. "Never was," he retorted. "Not after Linc moved in."
    "Maybe you should call the police," she suggested, postponing what she really had to say.
    "I will," he promised. "Don't need a bunch of cops gettin' a look at you right now."
    "We should probably leave then." There. She just came right out and said it, even though a large part of her quailed in protest. Leaving Chase meant putting herself in the real world, alone. It meant vulnerability, and a loneliness that she didn't anticipate.
    Chase put the gun back in the cabinet. With a sigh, he turned to face her. "I told you, it's not safe to use public transportation. Let me fix up the truck. I'll work on it tomorrow."
    "How long will it take to get it running?" she asked him, turning toward the window.
    "I don't know," he said almost irritably. "Couple days, at least. In the meantime, I'll keep this room locked."
    Sara nodded, relieved that leaving right away was impossible, anyway. Besides, Chase