I hear the whirling sound of a bullet as it passes by my face and hits the door jam. I momentarily felt another bullet hit the side of my arm as he took aim again. The pain seared like fire, but I kept moving. Finally, I made it inside my bedroom and slammed the door, locking it.
Without wasting precious time, I run to the bathroom and close that door too, locking it just as I hear him kicking at the bedroom door to break it down. I could tell by the voracity of the sound that it would give way within seconds. Then there would only be one door separating a madman from me.
I run to the gun safe inside our closet and hesitate over the combination lock momentarily forgetting the code in my panicked state. Fortunately, it was only a millisecond of forgetfulness and my fingers deftly punch the numerical sequence.
I hear the bedroom door as it gives way and I listen as he looks around our bedroom, pausing when he comes to the locked bathroom door.
“I know there’s no way out of there,” he calls, his breathing heavy.
My fingers shake as I take a firmer grip on the loaded shotgun. I double check the safety and brace my shoulder against the back wall of the closet, aiming the gun at the bathroom door that buckles beneath his kicks.
Within a few seconds it gives way, as the door jamb splinters with the force of the door being kicked open.
Our eyes meet, his face registers shock at the gun pointed at his chest for a fraction of a second before I squeeze the trigger and watched him go down.
For a few moments, I stand there, gun in my hand, shaking and barely registering that I’d hit him in the chest. I drop the gun, my shoulder in pain from the kickback of the gun against it when I fired. There will be a bruise there later.
Tentatively, I take a step toward his body, lying prone on the floor in front of me. Though I could see the spread of blood seeping out and coloring the chest area of the shirt along with the gaping hole in his chest, I’d seen enough horror movies to be paranoid that he might not really be dead.
Of course, I don’t know how anyone could survive a double barrel to the chest at such a close range. Despite my knowledge that he could not survive the blast, I didn’t want to take any chances. I stood close enough to watch him, but not so close that he could somehow revive himself and grab me.
I watched his chest for any signs of movement. Any indication that he was still breathing. That his heart could possibly still be beating. I saw nothing, but I continued to watch. I had to be sure the devil was dead.
After what I considered to be a considerable amount of time, I took a step toward the body, still watching for any signs of movement or life.
Nothing.
He was dead.
I killed him.
The nightmare was over.
Relief flooded my body and I broke for the first time since he’d reappeared back into my life. Sobs racked my body as the stress of the last few days caught up to me.
My sons were probably lying dead somewhere between here and the Connor ranch. My daughter, Kara was safe. It’s the one thought I clung to.
I gather myself together and make my way toward the safe room. It was hidden in our bedroom behind a wall of bookcases. I pull the book to open the outer door, exposing the hidden safe room.
“Kara,” I called. “It’s alright. You can open the door. He’s dead.”
Slowly, I hear the door unlatch and watch as it opens.
She takes in my blood-spattered clothes and tear-stained face before she rushes into my arms.
“Is he really dead?” she asks, squeezing me.
“Yes,” I hug her tighter. “He’s really dead.”
We begin to walk out of the room when we hear the front door open.
“Faith!” I hear my husband’s voice booming and it’s like a beacon of light has returned to our home.
“Matt!”
“Daddy!”
Kara and I both shout out, rushing toward the sound of his voice.
“I’ve never been so happy and relieved to see two people in my life,” he says, kissing us both. He notices the blood and the living room in turmoil. “What happened? Where are the boys?”
That’s when the sobs begin anew. I can barely speak.
“Oh Matt,” I cry. “I think they’re dead!”
“What? How?”
“He sent them out in the middle of the blizzard with no coats, nothing but what they were wearing,” I cry. “They only had long sleeved t-shirts, jeans and boots on. Nothing else, Matt. Nothing! They couldn’t have survived out in that blizzard without any coats on. There’s just no way!”
I could see the tears welling in his own eyes as he tries to comfort me and Kara.
“Where is he?”
“In the master bathroom. I shot him. He’s dead.”
“Good,” he sighed. “You saved me from doing it myself.”
He braces me away from him and looks at my head.
“Are you okay?”
I nod and gingerly touch the cut above my right eyebrow.
“I tried to distract him, so Kara could make it to the safe room. When he realized he’d lost her and any more leverage he had over me, he threw me against the wall and I hit my head, but I think I’m going to be okay.”
He looks over at our daughter.
“Are you okay?”
She nodded, the tears still streaming down her face. “But Daddy, Jake and Graham. He just sent them out into that storm.”
We were all in such an emotional down spiral, we barely heard the front door open again.
“Mom! Kara!”
To my unbelieving eyes, there stood my two boys. Alive and carrying shotguns with Ava who had a pistol in her hand.
I rush over to both of them and squeeze them in the biggest mama bear hug I can manage. Kara and Matt do the same and for several minutes we just stand there holding onto to one another.
“How?” I say, looking at both of them.
“By God’s grace and your dogs,” Ava says, Caleb beaming by her side.
“The dogs?”
She nods and looks at my boys.
“The girls and I were sitting down to dinner and out of the blue both of your dogs started whining and barking at the door. I thought they were going to bust the door down if I didn’t let them out. I figured they just needed to take care of their business, so I opened the door and they tore out of there like their tails were on fire. I called and called, but only one came back, but he wouldn’t come back inside. Just came barking at me and turning around toward the driveway. I could hear the other one barking and whining in the distance. He wouldn’t stop, so I got my coat and a flashlight and followed him out into the blizzard. That’s when I found them, lying in the snow almost completely covered. By God’s grace, they were alive, but barely.
“I ran to get the girls and told Anna to get some blankets and stoke the fire. Between Alexis, Anna and me, we managed to get them both into the house and warmed up. I’m not going to lie to you. It was touch and go there for a while. You know Alexis has wanted to be a doctor ever since she could talk, and all of her studying came in very handy. Fortunately, both boys made it through that first night and once they were fully awake, all they could talk about was getting back here to save you and Kara.”
Matt squeezed all of us a little tighter.
“The ex?” Caleb asks.
“Dead. Faith shot him in the chest.”
“The sheriff should be able to get out here. I’ll take my big truck and head into town to fetch him.”
“Thank you, Caleb. For everything,” Matt says. “And thank you, Ava.”
“Don’t thank us,” they both smile. “Thank the good Lord. I don’t know how any of you would have made it through this ordeal without His help.”