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rough and tumble south side. Her a little less rough,
a little less tumble than he was. He’d loved her from the moment he
saw her. That’s what he’d always told her and she believed him. She
knew it was true because she knew him, knew his heart, as well as
she knew her own heart. He wouldn’t leave her. No more than she had
left him to run to the neighbors with Liam. He had to be out
there.
    The only way he would let this monster
get this close to her would be if he was hurt. How could that be?
The thought confused her, even though she knew he was just a man,
he could be hurt. She knew the logic of it even as her mind refused
to believe it. Mac just wasn’t the type of guy who got hurt. He
finished fights, he didn’t lose them. It had always been that way.
When it came to defending his family, nothing would be able to stop
Mac. But, if that was true then why was the door shuddering at the
edges again? Why was this crazy man trying to force his way into
this room?
    “Faaaiiithhhh…” He whispered, just on
the other side of the door.
    She jerked her head away from the
door. Away from that voice.
    “Faith Bryneeeee” He gave a pigs
squeal to the last syllable of her surname.
    “Stop it!” she screamed. She couldn’t
help it. She couldn’t stand hearing his voice say her
name.
    He answered her with laughter. Then a
polite knock on the door.
    “Mrs. Byrne there’s a Mr. Asher here
to meet a Mr. Liam Byrne. Is he in?”
    Her face went pale. This animal knew
her son’s name. He knew this was his bedroom. Why did he know that?
Did he know that Liam had escaped? Was he playing with them with
this crazy butler impression? She stayed silent. All her weight
pressed against the door. Praying it stayed closed until Liam got
the police here.
    The door banged again. He was pounding
on it now, using both his fists. Where was Mac?
    “Open up bitch. You and I need to have
a little conversation. Parent to parent. You met my angel earlier
this evening. Your son almost killed her, the way I hear it told
around the campfire. Open up.” He kicked the door to emphasize his
words.
    Faith was in shock. This was because
of the accident? This was Emily’s father? No wonder the girl had
seemed scared and evil. The apple didn’t fall far from the
tree.
    No sooner had she thought the girl’s
name when Faith saw her face appear outside the broken bedroom
window. She was as sad and solemn standing outside in the dark with
only the light from the bedroom casting an eerie glow to her
face.
    “I told you,” she said. “I told you
and him to be careful.”
    Faith just stared at her. Her mind
wouldn’t accept it. It felt like a nightmare. Something she could
wake up from. Nobody was terrorized over a fender bender. It just
couldn’t be happening. But, even as she repeated it to herself her
body was jolted with a sharp push from the door. He was kicking it
down.
    She couldn’t just sit there. This
wasn’t a nightmare, it was real and she needed to do something.
Earlier that evening Mac had teasingly warned her not to be a hero.
She’d been quick enough to assure him that she wasn’t a hero, but
now only a couple of hours later she prayed she could
be.
    She’d saved one son tonight, now it
was up to her to save her other child. The baby growing inside her.
They didn’t even know if it was a boy or a girl. She and Mac had
wanted to be surprised so they’d asked not to be told. Now she
wished she knew if she was fighting to save her daughter or her
younger son.
    Frantically she looked around the room
for something to do battle with. Something sharp or heavy, she
thought. She’d never cursed her son’s distaste for sports until
this moment. Why hadn’t they forced Liam to take up baseball or at
least bought him a bat to encourage him? Now she was left with
nothing to defend herself. In frustration she threw a heavy book at
Emily, still standing silently at the window, just staring in at
her as if she was watching a macabre play or