Free Full Force Fatherhood by Tyler Anne Snell Page B

she said, voice a few octaves too high. Mark didn’t understand until he followed her gaze to the floor near the couch. Despite the situation, he let out a loud laugh.
    â€œThat’s what hit him,” he realized. “You threw the clip at him.”
    Kelli shrugged.
    â€œI panicked,” she admitted. “I thought he was going to stab you. I can’t believe it actually hit him. I can barely see.”
    â€œWe’re quite the couple, then.” Mark walked over to the discarded gun, partially under the couch thanks to the scuffle, and retrieved its clip. Working at Orion had trained him to shy away from using guns—there were other ways to disable an attacker—but he wasn’t about to just leave it on the floor, either. He put the safety on and secured the gun in the back of his pants. “I threw the gun at him when I realized he wasn’t going to give up.”
    Kelli let out her own little laugh, but it didn’t last long.
    Mark sobered. “The cops are on their way?”
    â€œYeah, the dispatcher said it might take a little bit because of the storm.” Kelli took a few steps forward and extended her hand to him. Unsure of what to do, he took it. The light from the flashlight made shadows dance across her concerned face. The nerves boiling beneath his skin began to die down.
    They were safe.
    Kelli was safe.
    â€œAre you okay?” she asked, not fazed by their contact. Mark wondered how well she could read him. Surprise at her thoughtfulness toward him was all he could feel for a moment. His slow response time only seemed to heighten that concern. “ Did he cut you?”
    â€œNo, I’m fine. All he got in were a few punches.” Pain in his head started to rise in his awareness. He glanced over to the coffee table. “But I think I might have cracked your coffee table.”
    Kelli didn’t even turn to look. She squeezed his hand. “Thank you,” she whispered.
    He squeezed back. “Thank you . I have no doubt that he would have used this.” Mark dropped her hand and held the knife up.
    â€œDo you think his fingerprints are still on it?”
    Mark shook his head, recalling the gloves the intruder had worn. “He came prepared.”
    Kelli grabbed the flashlight and pointed it to the office. Mark watched as she moved the beam across the now-open boxes from a safe distance.
    â€œThat’s my laptop,” she said, pausing in her movement. “I almost never use it. It’s basically brand-new.” She moved the light back into the living room to the open box that obviously held the stereo. “It’s not a brand-new model, but it’s worth money.” The light moved again until it rested between them, showing him the clear expression of someone who has just discovered something they wish they hadn’t. “Mark, I don’t know why, but I think he was looking for Victor’s journal.”
    Mark thought back to the purse snatching. The mugger had left the purse...and nothing had been taken. Now, in the dead of night, in the middle of a storm, a man decked out in black had broken in. What’s more, he’d admitted he was no thief but was after something .
    That was too many coincidences.
    Sirens sounded in the distance. Mark met Kelli’s gaze with certainty.
    â€œI think I’m officially on the paranoid train.”
    * * *
    T HE POLICE BROUGHT in rain and mud and a lot of questions. Kelli, ready to deal with all three, was immensely thankful that Mark was more than willing to walk the cops through everything that had happened. Not leaving any details out. So when he got to the part about her throwing the clip at the intruder’s head—an act of sheer panic on her part—the two men paused and looked her way.
    Grace, now fully awake on Kelli’s hip, waved at them. Mark was the only one who did a little wave back before taking the officers through the rest of the story. He