Free Archer by Debra Kayn Page B

couldn’t walk into the house in that condition. Jane had gone through enough.
    “I’m sending Tony out in the field tomorrow morning. He’ll find him.” Garrett moved away. “I’ll let him know the latest.”
    Forcing a calm he didn’t really feel, Kage nodded, and turned toward the house.
    A scream came from inside. Kage turned to Garrett, motioning for him to take the front, and put his hand on the doorknob. Adrenaline spiked. Motherfucker. It was locked.
    He shoved his hand in his pocket, finding the key, and shoved the door open the second the lock turned. Jane screamed again, adding to the noise of the alarm going off. He hurried through the house, pistol drawn, eyes scanning the dark. He shoved away the panic pulsing in his veins.
    He found her in the hallway after almost tripping over her. She grabbed his pant leg and tugged. He squatted and ran his hand along the length of her back.
    “Oh God, you’ve got to help me.” She dragged herself up his body.
    Fear that Carson had gotten to her pierced his chest. He wrapped his arm around her, pulling her tight against him. He raised his other hand, the pistol aimed into the dark. Show yourself, you stupid bastard. Come on.

Chapter Seven
    K age pulled Jane down the hall, through the house into the living room, turning on the lights as they went, without ever letting go of her. Jane fisted his jacket, shaking him. “Please, I know you want to keep me safe, but I need your help.”
    All the times Scott had come after her, she’d managed to keep her promise to Bluff that she’d keep her safe and not let Scott hurt her again. She couldn’t screw up now. She blinked against the light and pushed Kage away.
    He caught her arm and pulled her back. She landed against his chest.
    “Talk to me,” he said.
    “Not now.” She tried to step back, but Kage wasn’t letting her go. “I have to find Bluff.”
    “Bluff?” Kage went rigid.
    She nodded, scanning the room, under the couch, behind the wooden rocker. “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. She’s missing.”
    “You screamed because you can’t find the damn cat?” His voice took on a hard tone.
    “Her name’s Bluff.” She pushed herself from him, ready to beg if she had to convince him to find the cat first before they tried figuring anything else out. “Please. I can’t let anything happen to her. She’s already been through so much.”
    Garrett slipped his pistol into his waistband. “Sis? The cat will come out. Give her time.”
    “Janie...” Kage began.
    “ No! ” She shook her head. “You don’t understand. She hides or runs when she’s scared.”
    “I’ll take care of this,” Kage muttered to Garrett.
    She ignored the two guys and hurried down the hall. “Here, kitty, kitty, kitty.”
    If Jane could keep Bluff safe, she’d do anything Kage asked her to do. She’d cooperate and stay out of trouble while he went after Scott. As long as she had Bluff, and they were both okay, she could push the real threat of Scott coming after her tonight out of her head.
    Boxes filled the first spare room on her left. She squatted, looking between the stacks. “Bluff…I have tuna…”
    She blew her bangs out of her eyes and moved to the next room. With only a chair and a couple of small toolboxes set against the wall, she quickly realized the cat wasn’t there. She checked the bathroom, the linen closet, the hall closet where the sliding door had been left partially opened. Bluff loved to nap in tiny, dark places.
    She swallowed the panic. What if Bluff had managed to slip outside when Kage had gone out to look around?
    “Kage!” She turned, colliding with him. “We have to—”
    “Here.” He strode toward her and placed the cat in her arms. “She was outside, hunkered behind the bush by the front door. I found her after Garrett secured the premises. I’ve set the alarm.”
    Relief swept through Jane. She clung to Bluff, holding the cat beneath her chin, and sank to the floor,