Raider shoved her behind a tree and covered her with his body, blocking her view of the courtyard. The footsteps continued in even time, casual and purposeful. They slowly faded away.

Her lungs felt like they were about to explode. How did he seem so calm? He checked one way and then the other, taking her hand and moving to the path again. They inched carefully down the stone steps toward a dock. The water lapped in, splashing against the dock.

A glint of gold caught her eye, and she angled her head to see part of that picture frame in his other hand. She’d forgotten about weapons.

She stumbled, and he quickly righted her. They reached the bottom of the steps and hurried to the dock.

“Hey!” a male voice yelled right before a man ran out of the trees. “Breach. Calling ‘All Breach!’” he bellowed, pulling a long black rifle over his shoulder.

“Shit.” Raider turned toward the man coming at them. An alarm blared from the house, and lights came on in every room, followed by floodlights all over the property. “Get in the boat, Brigid!” Raider yelled, ducking his head and charging the guy with the gun.

* * *

Raider hit the guy mid-center, throwing them both onto the sandy beach. Pain detonated in his head, followed by explosions of light behind his eyes. He ignored the ongoing concussion and struck fast and hard for the guy’s neck, cutting deep with the edge of the frame. The guy flopped unconscious, spraying sand. In one smooth motion, Raider grabbed the rifle and backflipped to turn and run for the boat.

Men shouted from around the house. Good. They wouldn’t know where he was yet. The trees partially blocked the beach area from the floodlights, but not enough.

He ran down the beach and leaped onto the dock, where Brigid was finishing untying the only boat. A sleek black speedboat that looked like it could really move. Excellent. He grabbed her and tossed her in.

A body tackled him from nowhere, throwing him onto the dock. His forehead bounced, and his ears rang. He rolled and manacled the attacker with his feet, yanking the guy’s head down and immobilizing him.

He barely had time to duck before Brigid swung a canoe paddle at the guy’s head, hitting it with a hollow thump. The attacker went limp on top of Raider. The bastard weighed at least two-fifty. Groaning, Raider shoved the man off him and picked the gun back up.