Sirens reached her ears over the pounding drum of her heart.

“Put the gun down!” Gavin swept into the room, his own weapon raised, aimed at the man behind her.

“She’s coming with me. Back off. Back up!”

“What do you want?” Gavin asked.

“I just want to leave.”

“You shot them.”

Sarah gasped in spite of the pressure against her throat. Them?

“No! They were dead when I got here.”

She flinched. They.

“You were stealing her jewelry,” Gavin said, “and whatever else you could get your hands on.” His gaze flicked to the still-bleeding woman on the floor.

“Yeah, yeah, I was stealing, but I didn’t kill them!” Her captor’s breathing came in harsh spurts next to her ear as he pulled her toward the door she and Gavin had entered just a bit ago. “But no one’s going to believe that. I’m finished now. I gotta get out of here. Gotta get out of here. Gotta get out of here.”

Gavin stepped forward from the hallway, eyes narrowed, jaw locked, weapon steady. While Sarah’s terror had shot her adrenaline into the stratosphere, something about Gavin’s expression gave her comfort. Hope. If she couldn’t think of a way to escape, he’d get her out of this. He was a rescuer. It was what he did.

Right? Oh please be right.

The muzzle pressed harder against her temple and the man behind her shifted. “Back up! Back up!”

She wasn’t sure if he was telling her to do that or warning Gavin, but Gavin stilled and her captor moved. She churned her feet to keep from sagging against the already too tight pressure against her throat. Should she try to tell him the woman was still alive? No, if he thought she could identify him, he might decide to finish her off.

Gavin continued to stalk them, his weapon steady.

She looked at Brianne’s friend, then back at Gavin. “Help her,” she mouthed.

His lips tightened even more, but he didn’t look away from the man behind her.

The sound of the sirens grew louder and his arm spasmed. Hard. She gagged, coughed. Pain lanced her side, but she kept her eyes on Gavin while dragging in shallow breaths. Sarah could feel the man’s heart pounding against her back. Or was that hers?

“Okay. Here’s the plan,” he said. “My car is in the driveway. We’re going to get in it, and I’ll drive away, then let you go. Yeah, that’s what I’ll do. That’s the plan. Let’s go.”

He pulled her outside onto the deck and down the three wooden steps to the grass. An officer rounded the side of the house followed by two paramedics. The man holding her froze, his harsh breathing almost sobs. “No, no, no.”