Maddie pulled the comforter across the bed to cover his body. He looked so peaceful. She sighed, glad he wasn’t thrashing about, tortured by nightmares.
Since there was nothing more she could do for him, she decided to scoot. If Spence awakened and found her hovering, he’d surely be cross. She’d leave the doctor in the capable hands of Officer Carrington.
As she made her way to the front door, she considered taking a personal day off work tomorrow. She had plenty coming, actually enough days to piece together a nice trip somewhere. A vacation would be perfect right about now, especially after the craziness of the last twenty-four hours.
She opened the front door and froze.
The driver’s side door of Officer Carrington’s car was open but he was nowhere in sight.
“Red?” she called out.
A gunshot echoed across the property.
Maddie darted inside the cabin and slammed the door, her heart hammering against her chest. Was it the masked man from the mountains? Had he tracked Dr. Spencer home, waiting for the best moment to attack?
Officer Carrington must have seen the guy stalking the cabin and went after him.
She hoped. She prayed. She also prayed that Red had been the one to fire the shot, perhaps a warning shot, to get the guy to stop. Yeah, she knew how well that did not work when she’d fired a warning shot. On the off chance the masked attacker neutralized the police officer, she had to focus on protecting herself and the doctor.
Since his curtainless living room windows exposed them to the world, she clicked off all the lights. Snapping the small flashlight off her keychain, she aimed the beam and made her way into the bedroom.
She pulled her phone out of her pocket and called emergency.
“9-1-1, what’s your emergency?”
“This is Maddie McBride. I’m at Dr. Kyle Spencer’s cabin and I heard gunfire outside.”
“We have an officer posted on the premises.”
“He’s not in his car. Send help, and notify Chief Walsh ASAP.”
Someone pounded on the front door, obviously not Red because he had a key to the cabin.
“He’s trying to get in,” she said to the operator. “I have to go.”
“Maddie, please stay on the line.”
Shoving the phone into her pocket, she crouched beside Dr. Spencer. She could only focus on one thing at a time, and right now her priority was to keep herself and Spence alive.
She clicked on his nightstand lamp. Shades covered his windows, probably so he could sleep after getting off a night shift at the hospital.
“Spence, wake up.” She gave his shoulder a gentle nudge.
More pounding echoed from the front door.
“Spence?” When that didn’t work, she decided to use his full name. “Dr. Kyle Spencer, wake up.”
The doctor moaned and blinked his eyes open. “What, where am I?”
Her breath caught in her throat. Did he really not know he was in his own bedroom? Or was he disoriented because she’d awakened him from a deep sleep?
“What is that racket?” He rolled onto his back and threw an arm across his eyes as if he intended to fall back asleep.
“You can’t go back to sleep. Someone’s trying to break in.”
“What?” He sat up abruptly and gripped his head with both hands. “Ah, man.” He looked at her with bloodshot eyes. “What are you still doing here?”
“Yell at me later. Do you keep any weapons in the cabin?”
“I’m a doctor,” he said, as if that was explanation enough.
“So no weapons then.”
“Is it the same guy?”
“Unless you have other enemies we don’t know about.”
He shot her a look, then said, “We can sneak out through the window.” He wavered as he crossed the room, looking like someone who’d been overserved at the local pub.
Maddie knew that running wasn’t an option. With Spence in his current state they’d be easy prey in the wilderness. At least inside the cabin they could hold their ground.
His started to open the window.
“Don’t,” she said. “I’ve got a better idea. I saw chili powder in your kitchen earlier.”
“Chili powder?”
“Come on.” She motioned to him.
Instead, he stared at her.
The pounding stopped. Which was not necessarily a good thing. The guy could be gearing up to bust his way through the door with an ax. She’d noticed one on the front porch, probably for chopping wood.
She dashed out of the bedroom and whipped open a kitchen cabinet. Spence came up behind her, opened a drawer and took out a butcher knife. He glanced at her, the knife clutched in his hand.
“He could just as easily use that on us.” She grabbed chili powder and flung open the cabinet beneath the sink. “Here, you take the fire extinguisher.” She handed it to him. “Spray him in the face and whack him over the head with the tank. Got it?”
“Spray and whack, sure.”
There wasn’t much confidence in his voice. He was probably still groggy from sleep, or the head injury, or a combination of both.
She’d have to rely on her own strength and determination to get them out of this dangerous situation.
Tapping echoed from the bedroom. The guy was trying to get in through the bedroom window. She encouraged the doctor to crouch behind the kitchen island, out of sight. “Stay down.”
She spotted a hiking stick propped against the wall by the front door. After temporarily blinding the attacker with the chili powder, she’d use the stick as a defensive weapon. Karate class would come in handy tonight.
She would position herself behind a large leather armchair, the perfect position from which to make her attack. On her way to the hiding spot, she opened the front door to confuse the intruder, making it look like she and the doc had fled—a risky move if there was a second assailant but good strategy if the guy was alone.
She’d be ready either way.
A crash echoed from the bedroom.
Heart hammering against her chest, she ducked behind the chair, gripping the stick in one hand and the chili powder in the other. No one entered through the front door, which was certainly a good sign. It meant they were dealing with only the one intruder who had breached the bedroom window, most likely the same guy who’d attacked the doctor in the mountains and shoved her against the wall in the hospital last night.
Maddie waited, calmed her breathing and prayed to God for help. She wasn’t a violent person by nature, but needed to do what was necessary to protect herself and the doc.
The wooden floorboards creaked as the guy made his way through the cabin.
“Doctor?” he said. “Where are you?”
Silence rang in her ears.
“Get out of my cabin!” Dr. Spencer ordered.
What? She’d told him to stay hidden, out of sight. Did his brain injury cause him to forget her instructions? Maddie peered around the chair she was using as cover. The intruder was stalking Dr. Spencer from the other side of the kitchen island.
“You