“The guest room is small, but there’s a TV in it,” Denise said as they reached her car. “You want to—”

Her voice cut off in a scream as Paul was jerked back, a man appearing out of nowhere behind him. Paul tried to scream, too, but an arm tight across his throat prevented him. The stranger’s eyes seemed to burn as they looked from Denise to her cousin.

“Another one,” he hissed, placing his fist across Paul’s chest.

Denise screamed as loud as she could, raising her pepper spray and sending a burst of liquid in the man’s face. He didn’t even blink, but Paul’s eyes swelled shut as some of it hit him.

“Somebody, help!” Denise shouted again, spraying until the container was empty. The man didn’t even budge while Paul’s face began to turn blue.

She grabbed the silver nitrate next, unloading its contents in four frantic bursts. The man did blink at that, but in apparent surprise. Then he laughed.

“Silver? How interesting.”

Denise was out of weapons and the man hadn’t loosened his hold by a fraction. Panicked, she balled her fists and flung herself at him—only to fall to the ground a moment later on top of her cousin.

“What’s going on out there?” someone from the bar called out.

Denise glanced up. The stranger was gone. A large German shepherd sat a few feet off, its mouth open in a doggy grin. It turned around and ran when a handful of people from the bar came over to them.

“Someone call 911!” Denise exclaimed, noting with horror that Paul wasn’t breathing. She placed her mouth over his, blowing hard—and began to choke as she tasted pepper spray.