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I can hear hih the open bathroom doors

“Is she okay?” he calls, looking us over for any signs of harm

I nod “She’s fine”

Thea lifts her head from my shoulder and looks at her brother “I’m okay, promise Just shaken It all happened so fast, but it felt like forever,” she mumbles

“Where’s mom?” Cade asks “Did you check downstairs? Is he still in here?” He suddenly crouches down like he thinks his dad is going to co out from somewhere at him

“Your htened She … she shot hi other than that”

Cade’s lips part with shock “She shot him? My scared, meek little mother shot him?”

“Hey, just telling you what I saw”

Cade shakes his head, baffled “How’d she even get a gun?”

“Dude, I don’t know And we need to call the cops”

“Right” He nods “I’ll do that and I’ll check things out with Mom Was … was he dead?”

I shake my head “Not while I was there There was a lot of blood, so that ed”

Cade ss thickly and nods “I can’t believe this happened,” he whispers

“Believe it,” I say “Men like your dad are capable of anything Breaking into a house and terrorizing people is nothing to someone like him”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right” He shakes his head again and unlocks her door His boots pound against the stairs as he runs down