He Can Fall: She Can Series Read Online Free Page B

turned his gaze on the child. He wanted to hurt her. He wanted to hurt them all. Amanda could see anticipation building in his eyes.
    “Win, stop,” Carl shouted.
    Win shot Carl an angry, rebellious glance. “What if I don’t want to stop?”
    “Remember the plan, Win.” Carl softened his voice, placating the unstable younger man. “Tell you what. You do what your uncle and I say, and we’ll let you have one of the women later. You can do whatever you want with her. How’s that?”
    “OK, I guess.” Reluctance shone from Win’s eyes, but he released the redhead. She dropped to her knees beside her husband and cradled his head in her hands.
    “Your uncle needs help finding the last guest,” Carl suggested.
    “OK, but I’m only doing this for Uncle Dennis. You can’t tell me what to do.” Win stomped out of the room.
    Carl jerked the barrel of his shotgun toward Glenn. “You, Grandpa, shut that kid up. My ears are bleeding. Don’t try anything funny, or I’ll shoot someone else.”
    Glenn picked up Mia. Her screams muted to soft sobs and whimpers. Carl grabbed a mug off an upper shelf and poured coffee from a pot on the counter. He drank with a deep, satisfied sigh.
    “He’s bleeding a lot. What do I do?” The redhead brushed a hair off her face with a bloody hand, leaving red smears down her fair cheek. Her husband had lost consciousness.
    Amanda looked at Carl. “May I?”
    He shrugged. “Sure, knock yourself out.”
    “Glenn, do you have clean towels?” Amanda asked.
    “Yes.” With Mia on his hip, Glenn opened a drawer and pulled out a pile of folded terry cloth. He handed it to Amanda.
    She dropped to her knees beside the wounded man and pressed a folded towel to the quarter-size hole in his shoulder. She put the redhead’s hand over the towel. “Put plenty of pressure on this. When it soaks through, don’t move it, just put another towel on top.” Amanda touched the man’s bare chest. His skin was cool and looked pasty. She rocked back on her heels. “We need a blanket. He’ll go into shock.”
    Carl laid the shotgun on the counter and wrapped both hands around the mug. “Nobody’s going roaming around the hotel. Make do with what’s here.”
    “How about some tablecloths?” Glenn set Mia down. “Stay here for just a minute.” He pulled a pile of pure-white linens from a cabinet and helped Amanda spread them over the bleeding man.
    “Will he die?” the redhead asked.
    “It’ll be all right,” Amanda lied. There was no way this situation was going to end without violence. Not with these men.
    Something crashed overhead.
    “Goddamn it.” Carl set down his coffee, picked up his shotgun, and pushed on the door to the hall. He stuck his head through the opening and shouted, “What the fuck is going on?”
    Amanda couldn’t discern the muffled response.
    “Well, hurry up.” Carl pulled his head back into the room.
    Amanda stood. Panic pounded through her veins. These men hadn’t bothered to conceal their faces. They didn’t care about being identified, which meant they had every intention of killing their hostages. They’d already murdered the liquor store manager and shot the chef. They were going to kill them all and run.
    Sean was their only hope.
    Amanda’s gaze passed over the windows that looked over the backyard. Through the glass panes, she could see the lake to the left and the forest to the right. A hundred feet of snowy lawn separated the inn from the trail Sean had set out on earlier. Where was he? Would he know something was wrong or would he walk in, surprise one of the gunmen, and end up getting shot?
    Footsteps pounded overhead.
    Carl’s attention shifted to the hall again. The rear door opened and a rush of cold air flooded the room. Mia bolted out into the snow. Without looking back, she veered right, away from the lake and toward the woods.
    Shocked at the child’s abrupt escape, Amanda briefly contemplated following her, but the sound of boots