When he came back, he was sweating profusely.

“I’m gonna check outside and see, make sure the foundation of the house is still in one piece. We might have to abandon the place,” Andrew said, though he didn’t make a move toward the door.

“Let’s go,” Ryker said. “I’ll open the door and you go out first, show them you’re armed…if anyone’s bothered to stick around. I think the damage is done and he scattered.”

“He?” Nikki huffed. “You think a single person could do this to a house? That’s utter nonsense.”

The men ignored her. Andrew lifted the rifle. Ryker twisted the doorknob and pulled the door open.

Buttons broke free, scampering out the door, barking the way he did when he chased squirrels in the yard back home.

“Buttons!” Kate squealed.

She ran after him, or her version of running, brushing past Andrew and Ryker, heedless of Nikki’s cries to get back inside.

The beagle bounded down the couple of steps and disappeared into the pitch.

“Buttons, get back here!”

“Kate, get inside,” Andrew blurted. She took a quick glance over her shoulder and saw him reaching for her. She just avoided his grasping fingers.

The dog barked and yipped, but she couldn’t see him. He sounded close, but that was little comfort.

“Buttons!”

An arm wrapped around her waist, making her jump. Andrew put his lips close to her ear. “I’ll get him. I need you to get back in the cottage, now.”

She couldn’t believe how incredibly dark it was out here. With no lights and a thumbnail of moon, it was like being locked in a closet. There wasn’t even a lick of wind, so it felt just as stuffy.

“I have to find him,” she insisted.

He tightened his grip on her. “I’ll carry you inside if I have to.”

“We both will,” a voice said behind her. Ryker was holding his cellphone, the meager light made all the smaller in comparison to the deep, dark woods around them.

“Let me have that,” she said, plucking it from his hand.

“I’m serious, Kate, you have to get inside. We don’t…we don’t know who’s out here.”

She wanted to say, I don’t give a good goddamn, but that would have been a lie. The spreading pain in her chest urged her to listen to her husband and brother. They had enough to contend with without having to worry about rushing her to the hospital. The speck of rational thought she allowed to creep in knew she had to head inside, sit or lie down, and take a pill to calm down. Because if she didn’t….

Nikki called out from the open front door, “Where are the keys to the car? We might as well get the hell out of here while we can!”

“Not without Buttons,” Kate snapped. “But-But, come to Momma.”