Page 31 (1/2)

Nick loosened his grip, setting her back down He yanked the gun fro at her with murderous intent He waved a hand at the children "Fireplace," he snarled

They hustled to obey Nick told theun

Maisie took a halting step back and stumbled over a toy on the floor "You’re not a killer Not like theht?" Nick asked with a slow sreer and quieter as they approached He couldn’t risk a gunfight with an unknown number of assailants and five children in the room He’d have to retreat

"Maisie?" a man whispered from behind the half-open door The accent was Scottish

Nick waited a breath, until he could feel the wall behind him, until one of the kids reached up and took his hand Then he raised his gun and fired at the e to dive to the ground when the anguished screah the house Everyone froze, struck momentarily dumb by the unexpected sound of battle Ty’s eyes ed out of their chairs and sprinted out of the dining room for the stairway They met Kelly on his way down, out of breath and panicked

One look at hi "What is it, is it Nick?"

Kelly shook his head jerkily, his eyes straying to the people in the foyer "Not Nick"

"The kids?" Deuce blurted

A tray of coffee crashed in the foyer Concerned cries echoed off the asps and ious

"What do you mean, what happened?" Deuce demanded His lione," Kelly whispered "Nick and I split up When I caone, and when I heard the shots I went up to the third floor, but the room’s empty There’s no one there but two dead bodies"

"Where’s Nick?" Ty asked again

Kelly opened his ed to shake his head and spread his hands wide "He’s not up there, he’s not down here He’s gone too Maybe he went after whoever took the kids"

Zane cursed under his breath, the sound sending shivers down Ty’s spine "Do you think Nick got lost in a flashback?" Zane asked

Deuce grabbed Ty by his shirtfront "You said we could trust hiripped his arms and shook him violently "Stop! We’ll find them Come with me and keep your mouth shut"

Ty and the others followed Kelly to the third floor playroo The nanny who’d been assigned to watch theunshot wounds Her face was bloody A pane was shattered, and the hipped into the roo and hair Bullet holes littered the rock walls behind her, and ed into the door of the nursery, like she had fired back at an assailant shooting from the doorway

The room itself was a shambles, with toys tossed about and furniture turned over

"Is thisnormal for a kid’s room?" Zane asked carefully as they stood and surveyed the scene

"Aside from the dead nanny and the bullet holessoht of soray la it up for Livi to see

Livi covered her an to stream down her face

"We’ll find the walls and start looking"

"Could Nick have done this?" Deuce shouted "Souard, and he was a Green Beret!"

Ty met Kelly’s eyes, at a loss They both knew Nick would never, ever hurt a child, no matter how lost in his memories he beca the door? Or the nanny? If they stood between hiht he needed to rescue? Yeah Definitely

Zane cleared his throat and stepped closer to Kelly, speaking so low Ty could hardly hear "Would the, umthe medication he’s on, would it cause behavior like this?"

Kelly shook his head vehemently

"What medication?" Ty asked

Kelly rubbed at his eyes and shook his head again "He takes propranolol for a tremor in his hand"

"Tremor," Ty echoed "What the fuck, since when?"

"Propranolol?" Deuce said as he came closer "That’s sometimes prescribed for PTSD"

"That’s not Nick’s issue," Kelly said

"The hell it’s not," Zane grumbled "Every member of your team has PTSD"

"What are you, a shrink now?" Ty snapped Zane shrugged

"It can be hidden well, especially by people like you," Deuce insisted with a wave of his hand at Ty "Could he have snapped and done this? Or run off?"

"What do you mean, people likebrother

Zane stepped between the would’ve had to have triggered him," Kelly said

"And Nick sure as hell wouldn’t hurt those kids," Ty added with a pointed look at Deuce