Free Everything to Lose by Katie Reus

partially illuminating the quiet room. The digital clock on the nightstand read four in the morning. The house was quiet but they weren’t alone. In his gut, he could feel it. An odd silence had settled over the cabin, enveloping it. Grabbing his gun from the top drawer of the nightstand, he slipped out of bed and pulled on his boxers with one hand.
    Caitlyn sat up at that moment and through the dim light he saw her eyes widen when she saw the gun. He put a finger to his lips and she nodded. She followed his lead and got out of bed and pulled on a sweater and jeans in record time. He grabbed another handgun from his duffel bag and gave it to her. Using hand signals he motioned for her to stay put but she just shook her head and glared at him.
    “Stay here,” he whispered, hating to talk. Hating to make any sound at all.
    “No,” she whispered back.
    There was no time to argue. He couldn’t take her with him. If he did, his focus would be on her safety, not the objective.
    So, he did the only thing he could. In a few swift moves, he had her flat on her stomach on the large bed, hands secured behind her back. He didn’t tie her, but his grip was ironclad around her small wrists. “Don’t struggle or he’ll hear us,” he murmured low in her ear. He was assuming that whoever was in the house was a he. It was more or less a given.
    “You son of a bitch,” she whispered through clenched teeth. Her entire body was tense and he could feel the waves of anger rolling off her they were so potent. If it had been different circumstances she would have struggled or at least put up a fight but as it was, he knew she wouldn’t attempt to fight back. That was one of the reasons he didn’t tie her wrists. That and he wanted her to be able to defend herself if someone breached their room. Before he could change his mind, he picked her up, went to the walk-in closet and dumped her unceremoniously onto a pile of blankets. He placed the gun next to her just in case she needed it. Now that she was in the closet, he knew she wouldn’t struggle. She might hate him for leaving her, but she wasn’t stupid enough to make a ruckus. And he could live with her anger because right now, all that mattered was getting whoever was in the house, away from it and away from Caitlyn. The man who was after him had a long rap sheet and sexual assault was among his list of crimes. Sean had to keep Caitlyn safe. He’d fucked up a lot of things in their marriage but he’d be damned if he couldn’t protect her now.
    He had to do this one thing right.
    After he slid the door into place, he twisted the flimsy gold latch into the lock position. The lock addition wasn’t modern but Sean knew the place had been built in the fifties. Hell, it was either lock her up or put her in a sleeper hold and he really didn’t think she’d appreciate that. And if he was honest, he couldn’t actually do that to her and live with himself.
    As an afterthought he placed two of their overnight bags in front of the door so it looked impossible for anyone to be inside. “I’ll knock three times when I come back. If the door opens without any knocks, just start shooting,” he murmured through the thin opening. There was a slight rustling behind the door, then all went silent. Good. She couldn’t let her personal feelings about what he’d done get in the way.
    Sean had two options at this point.
    He could go out the window and try to survive a fall from the second story without breaking any bones, or he could walk out the bedroom door. If he went out the window, he opened himself up to be shot by a waiting sniper. He seriously doubted there was a sniper waiting in the trees but for all he knew, someone was just waiting for him to make that mistake.
    He chose the latter choice. Keeping his gun in hand, he took the compact mirror he’d grabbed from the bathroom and slipped it under the door.
    When he was as sure as he could ever be, he opened the door and breathed an