Then he kept on looking.

One gun and a fully loaded magazine were missing.

CHAPTER 4

Hunter wondered if this was what a heart attack felt like.

The bag had been sitting in the corner of the kitchen all evening. Unless someone had broken in and stolen the gun in the last hour—while there was a police dog lying on the mat in front of the sink—then he’d either left the gun in the clearing or Clare had taken it.

He had no idea why Clare, someone who was obviously afraid of firearms, would take the weapon.

But he knew he hadn’t left a fully loaded handgun lying in the grass, either.

If his father found out, he was so dead.

He grabbed the cell phone out of his pocket—just as he realized he’d never gotten her number.

Like she’d answer. What would he say? “Did you maybe accidentally take a gun from my bag?”

Hunter ran a hand through his short hair and tried not to panic.

How. Could he. Have let. This happen.

His father’s stupid comment kept running through his head.

You’re about to teach yourself a lesson a lot more effectively than I ever could.

Or his uncle’s: Use them before they use you.

It didn’t make any sense. Clare didn’t seem like the type.

God, what did he know about types?

He needed to figure out a solution. Otherwise he might as well just load the remaining handgun and shoot himself.

No. He could handle this. First, he needed to get out of the gun locker before his dad realized he was down here and decided to come see what was going on.

Hunter locked the room. He almost put the remaining gun away, but if Clare had totally played him and was some kind of marksman, he didn’t want to go facing her unarmed.

Marksman. Who was he kidding? He’d felt her hand tremble on his wrist when he’d fired that first shot.

Why would she take a gun?

Hunter went back to his bedroom and logged on to Facebook. Clare wasn’t his friend, but maybe he could find her cell phone number.

No cell number. No address. Her status message was set to public, and it was last updated two days ago. The cafeteria macaroni and cheese doesn’t actually include cheese. I read the ingredients!!!

Seriously. Like there was any chance it would say I stole a handgun from Hunter Garrity this afternoon! He can totally find me at 123 Main Street!

Uncle Jay was a cop. He could find out where she lived.

Yeah, and his dad said he’d be pissed if he caught Hunter spying again.

Why the hell hadn’t he offered to walk her home this afternoon?

Wait a minute. What had she said yesterday?

I live on the other side of the dairy farm.

Hunter grabbed a flashlight.

The sun was fully down now, but humidity still clung to the air. Hunter had the other handgun, a .45 ACP officer’s model, in one hand, a flashlight in the other. Casper had followed him out of the house, which worked well—so well that Hunter had gone back in to yell to his uncle that he was taking the dog for a quick run.

And he could have been running, as fast as his heart was racing. It felt like it took forever to cross the pastures to the far side of the dairy farm, but he could see a small house between the trees, the porch light like a beacon.

He had no idea what he was going to do when he got there. He couldn’t exactly knock on the door with a gun in hand. And if Clare had stolen his weapon, it wasn’t like she’d hand it over.

Hunter stopped in her backyard and waited, deliberating. He wasn’t even sure this was the right house. The back patio offered no answers. Only the upstairs lights were on, although it seemed early.

Casper waited by his side, bracing against Hunter’s legs.

“Damn it,” Hunter whispered. He bit at his lip.

Could he break in?

Yeah, if he did that, his dad and his uncle would kill him. How long had he been gone? They might be starting to wonder already.

What he needed was for Clare to come running out here with the gun.

He took a deep breath and blew it out.

And then he heard the yelling.

Hunter held his breath. He couldn’t make out words, but it was definitely a man, very loud and almost incoherent.

And then a girl’s voice, high pitched and almost shrieking.

Casper growled.

Hunter put a hand on the scruff of his neck. The air was whispering all kinds of hints about this altercation, and none of them were good.

Then a gunshot cracked the night.

Hunter dropped and dashed to the side of the house, staying low. The shot had come from inside.

The screaming had escalated.

Another gunshot. This round went through a window, because glass shattered and rained down on the patio about ten feet over from where Hunter crouched.

He could barely hear over his breathing.

More screaming. A woman, but Hunter couldn’t tell if it was Clare. No one was dead yet, because they sure were making a racket. Casper barked.

Another shot. A bullet hit the storage shed across the yard. Hunter flinched.

If that was the 9mm, there would be at least five bullets left, unless shots had been fired before he got here. He and Clare had fired two in the field, and now someone had fired three.

Hunter should have grabbed a bulletproof vest out of the locker.

He fished his phone out of his pocket. He started to dial, but the screaming upstairs cut off abruptly.

Casper growled softly.

Hunter held his breath again. If he made a call, they might hear him.

He didn’t exactly want to be noticed by someone shooting wildly.