A Witch and Her Man

My new book A Witch and Her Man Excerpt:------- Gail slid gracefully from the couch and disappeared down the hall. When she returned, she had a blanket and pillow in her hands. She handed them to him. Gail yawned and stretched. "Goodnight, Jeff. See you in the morning." Padding softly across the floor, Gail went into her bedroom and closed the door behind her. Jeff fluffed the pillow and pulled the blanket over him. He lay in the dark thinking of what she had told him. He was just dozing off when a rattle of the front door lock brought him to alert. In a flash, he was wide-awake and rolled to the floor, drawing his gun from its holster on the coffee table. The door opened and two men stood silhouetted in the doorway. "Stop right there," he ordered, not knowing who the newcomers were and not wanting to accidentally hurt one of Gail's friends. He could not think of a friend who would come over in the middle of the night unannounced and let themselves in, but the remote possibility did exist. His indecision was answered seconds later when the man in front drew his weapon and fired. Jeff heard two bullets hit the couch with a thunk where he had been asleep moments before. An instant before he fired back, the man dropped to a crouch and the round missed. The man's partner was not as lucky. The round meant for the lead man struck his chest. "Oomph," the man grunted in surprise as the round punched him back and sent him tumbling off the steps. Just then, Gail's bedroom door opened. In a voice thick with sleep, she asked, "What was that noise..." Jeff scrambled to his feet and dashed across the intervening space. He tackled Gail to the floor and covered her body with his own just as two more bullets splintered the bedroom door above. "Shhh, keep quiet and stay down," Jeff ordered in a low, terse voice There was a commotion at the front door and the assailant vanished. "Stay here and keep low," Jeff growled again at the terrified and now fully awake Gail. He crawled across the floor, grabbed an extra magazine and peeked outside just in time to see two men scrambling into a car. One of the men was holding his chest and staggering. For just a moment, the streetlight illuminated them and Jeff saw both were wearing police uniforms. At first glance, the car appeared to be a police cruiser but to his educated eye it was not. It was the wrong make and model. Both men scrambled into the auto and it sped away, tires squealing. Jeff surged to his feet and began to shoot at the receding car. The loud reports of his gun shattered the early morning stillness. Jeff's lips tightened in satisfaction when he saw the back window of the fleeing car explode into tiny pieces. Bullets continued to pepper the car as he emptied his entire twelve round clip into it. The car rounded the corner and was lost to view. Without even thinking, Jeff ejected the spent magazine, slid in a fresh one and chambered a round.