DEAD IN BED By Bailey Simms: The Complete Second Book

PART 11, SECTION 10

"Well, well, well," Jason smirked. "Thought you were AWOL, Ian. Figured I'd find you hiding out here after your little jizz stain of a son got himself bitch-raped. You know we gotta take you all in." Jason shrugged without lowering his gun. "Might as well make it easy."

Ian stepped directly toward Jason, his gun pointed squarely at Jason's face. "No," he said. "You're going to get the hell out of this house. Right now."

Jason sneered. "Swear to God I'm gonna shoot you if you move a step closer. I got five guys outside. I dare you to try and make me leave."

By this point, Jason was nothing more to Ian than an obstacle between himself and his daughter's bedroom. There wasn't anything Jason could have said to make Ian alter his course in the slightest.

But Ian knew that Jason wasn't bluffing when he said that he'd shoot if he took another step.

Which was exactly why Ian shot first.

But Jason had anticipated this. Just as Ian squeezed the trigger, Jason stepped aside and fired his own gun. Because he was off balance, the bullet flew low. Instead of tearing through Ian's head, as Jason had intended, the bullet tore through Ian's thigh.

But Ian didn't feel a thing. He had no idea he'd been shot.

Because stooping at the bottom of the stairs was Haley. She clutched two bronze horses, one in each hand. She'd gone back to her room to get them. Somehow, she hadn't dropped either horse; she held onto each tightly as a crimson blood stain flooded the fabric of her shirt.

Finally her tiny body fell back against the stairs.

"I shot her," Ian told me. Tears spilled down his face. "I shot her. I didn't see her. She was standing right behind Jason. Ashley, I shot my own daughter."

Right up until this point, I'd maintained a hope that Ian had kept Danielle and the kids hidden away somewhere safe. Because I knew that Ian would have died before allowing anything to happen to his family.

But I hadn't expected this at all.

I couldn't accept it. What he was saying couldn't be true.

"I grabbed Haley up into my arms." Ian sobbed as he clutched his empty hands to his chest like he was hugging an invisible child. "She was still breathing, I could feel it. I was so relieved to feel her little lungs still pulling in air. Then I heard another gunshot."

Ian turned around, he explained, to find the source of the shot.

Tyler was standing at the edge of the kitchen. He was holding a deer rifle to his shoulder. Ian had told him to stay in the bunker, but Tyler had been worried about Haley. So he'd grabbed the deer rifle and had followed after Ian to try to help.

Now, Tyler bravely faced Jason, who, Ian now saw, had been shot in the ear. A large portion of the upper lobe was missing. Three, then four drops of blood dripped down his neck.

Jason, furious, took quick aim at Tyler.

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