the metal door. He hadn’t locked it properly this time, and she

stepped back on the step and yanked it open, holding on for dear

life. She’d dropped the baton somewhere, but she didn’t have room

to wield it inside the cab anyway.

“Are you crazy? Get the hell out! Don’t make me hurt you!”

the man said, and shoved at her. She clung on, so he let off the

throttle to get a better grip on her with both hands . . . and she let him. He had hard, strong hands, and she knew it was going to

leave bruises, but that was okay right now. Bruises were fine.

Because she was able to lean over across him and grab the key

from the ignition before he threw her out of the cab and off the

machine.

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The bulldozer coughed and died, locked in its muddy tracks,

and Claire shook off the fall and got to her feet, grinning. He

didn’t get what had happened for a moment. He kept jamming his

thumb on the button to start the engine, but then he must have

spotted what was missing, because he leveled a black, furious look

at Claire and jumped down from the cab to come after her.

She ran for the messy brawl that was spilling all over the

lawn— Michael and Eve were tag- teaming one of the construction

guys, who looked furious and frustrated, not to mention a little

worried. His fellow neon- vested buddy was throwing punches at

Shane, which Shane was easily dancing around while snapping

hard, accurate blows to the man’s midsection, and— as Claire

dashed past them— a stunning right hook that spun the guy half-

way around to spiral limply to the ground.

“Hey, Claire!” Shane called to her, and then spotted the furi-

ous bulldozer operator, hard in pursuit. He stepped in the way.

That was a mistake, because the bulldozer guy had evidently

paused to pick up Claire’s fallen baton, which he whipped out to

its full length and smacked into Shane’s leg. Shane yelled and went down to his other knee, and his grab for the man’s foot failed to

slow the guy down.

Claire ran up the steps to the house. The door opened ahead of

her, because Miranda had been waiting, and the instant Claire was

clear, the door tried to slam shut.

The tip of the riot baton got in the way, and the front door

sprang back open, banging hard into the hallway wall.

The construction guy stepped into the Glass House, flexed his

wrist, and lifted the baton as he bared his teeth at Claire and Mi-

randa.

That was when all hell broke loose.

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Miranda must have had some warning, because she grabbed

Claire and pulled her down to the hardwood floor an instant be-

fore the battered little table they used as a backpack/purse/key