by Sommer Smith
Lauren gave Grayson a surprised look. They didn’t have much longer to act.
Savannah opened her mouth, confirming Lauren’s suspicions. “First thing we should do is take care of Marshal Thorpe and little Nurse Mommy here.” She kept her gun on Romine but nodded her head toward Lauren. “I see the little mouse is too scared to even try to escape when her hands are untied.”
Savannah’s disdain inflamed Lauren’s temper, but she resolved to stay composed. “I wouldn’t do anything to endanger Lily.” She kept her voice quiet, calm and collected. She wouldn’t give Savannah the satisfaction of seeing her upset.
“Oh, isn’t that sweet.” Savannah’s voice, however, was grating and full of sarcasm. “Kirk, take the baby away from her and tie her back up.”
The smallest of Savannah’s minions, though still a good two-hundred-fifty pounds of brawn, reached for the baby, but Lauren backed away. He grunted and kept advancing on her. The thought of this brute taking Lily made her more than a little furious.
He lunged at her and she kicked hard, striking him in the shin. He howled in pain, enraging Savannah.
“Bull!” She bellowed the word. “Kirk could use some help with the mouse.”
Had she called the other man Bull? Lauren had no time to ponder the question further, for all thoughts fled when he pulled a Ruger and aimed it at her face.
“Hand over the kid,” Bull said, his tone menacing, though his expression was childlike.
Lauren tilted her head to one side and slowly began to ease her grip on Lily. Something about this man was different.
“Bull? Is that your name?” Lauren asked the question quietly, close, where the others couldn’t really hear.
“Nah. Name’s Lucian. But Miss Reid don’t like it. Says it ain’t a mean name.”
Lauren glanced at Lily. “I like Lucian much better than Bull,” she whispered as she reluctantly let Kirk have the baby.
Lucian didn’t lower the gun, but something changed in his expression. Lauren put her hands in the air.
“Untie my father.” Savannah’s expression was smug. She lifted her head and gave her blond mane a toss.
“Should I tie this’n up first?” Lucian gestured at Lauren.
“Just kill her. We have no more use for her.” Savannah didn’t even blink. She might as well have been commenting on the weather.
Cold fear swept through Lauren, the gun in Lucian’s hand already aimed at her, meaning she didn’t even have seconds to spare.
Grayson was still gagged and bound, but she could hear him struggling against his restraints just behind her. He made a tremendous amount of noise.
Lucian cocked the gun. His brow furrowed.
“Hurry up!” Savannah insisted.
As he was about to squeeze the trigger, the door to the barn burst open. Lucian pulled the nose of the gun toward the ceiling as it fired.
“Nobody move! US Marshals Service. We have you surrounded.” As Cole shouted the words, splinters of wood rained down on Lauren’s head. She looked at Lucian, openmouthed, and he actually grinned and winked at her.
Lily was wailing and Shayla swept in to take her from Kirk’s beefy grasp, aiming her Glock at his thick head until he complied. Finney tried to run. Another marshal wasted no time in taking him down.
Cole quickly cut Grayson loose, and a swarm of other marshals converged on the criminals.
Romine, however, grew desperate before anyone could snag him. He thought he saw his chance and he took it. He kicked the gun out of the nearest marshal’s hand, causing it to go off in the process. Romine fled while everyone hit the floor, snatching Lauren and putting a knife to her throat as he backed out the door of the barn.
“Come after me and she dies.” He didn’t have to say the words. Lauren already knew what he intended.
She started to go limp in his arms, but as her muscles went lax, he dug the knife viciously into her neck, so she changed her mind. She could feel the warm stickiness of her own blood trickling down her neck.
“Don’t be stupid.” Romine spoke close to her ear. “I’ve had enough of stupid women today. But she got what she deserved.”
At his words, Lauren looked around the barn for Savannah and realized she lay on the ground, unmoving. The bullet from the marshal’s gun must have struck her somehow.
Lauren gasped. “Is she dead?”
“Who knows? Might have just grazed her. Hope she is, though.” He proceeded to call Savannah a long list of grossly unpleasant names as he dragged Lauren out of the barn.
Grayson was watching, his expression tormented. She feared she might never see him again.
I’m so sorry. I love you. She mouthed the words just before the barn door slammed between them.
TWELVE
Grayson had no trouble reading Lauren’s lips—or her mind. He was a little disappointed in her, frankly. She thought he was just going to let her go? That she would never see him again? Ridiculous. Didn’t she know him by now?
He ran for the barn door as soon as Romine had disappeared out of sight with Lauren. He leaned around the door frame cautiously to see what was happening before ducking low to follow on out the door. He made it to the R8 undetected. The marshals outside had guns aimed in Romine’s direction, but with Lauren being held hostage, there wasn’t much anyone could do to stop him. He’d held Lauren in front of him until he was inside the car, dragging her in over top of him. The snipers couldn’t get a clear shot for more than a split second.
Fortunately, Romine hadn’t noticed Grayson squatting behind the Audi R8. He had been too busy dragging Lauren into the driver’s seat. Holding his gun on her, he forced her to put the car in Drive and hightail it out of the yard. Grayson’s sympathy for her made his stomach tighten. She was probably physically ill at this moment. He felt pretty ill on her behalf. All he could think of was her words to him as Romine dragged her away. She loved him? Did she mean it?
Savannah had left the keys in her Audi, just as he’d suspected. He waved Cole into the passenger seat and started the engine. Keeping an eye on Romine’s direction, he took up the chase, his mind full of questions. Was Romine just using Lauren to facilitate his getaway, or did he have another plan? Did that plan involve Lily? Would the baby’s future continually be vulnerable if Romine got away?
The McLaren flew around a curve in the road at breakneck speed and Grayson tried to maintain the pace as he followed. He was a little impressed at Lauren’s driving skills, even though he knew Romine was giving her orders from the passenger seat.
They were headed farther out of the city, so Grayson tried to think like a criminal. Where would Romine go? Where would he need to be to feel like he had a chance at escape?
“He has to be headed to meet up with some of his gang members. There’s safety in numbers. We can’t let him get that far,” Grayson declared, gripping the wheel, his expression determined.
“What can we do to stop him?” Cole looked around dubiously. There was a lake on one side of the road and, across a steady line of traffic, trees on the other. The McLaren surged ahead, forcing Grayson to have to focus to keep up. The GT sped around cars as the lanes widened once more.
Cole had his Glock in his hand. “Should I try to shoot out the tires?”
“Too much risk in all this traffic. And it could cause Lauren to wreck. We don’t want to put her in that kind of danger.” Grayson zipped around an SUV crossover that had moved into his lane. “We need to get some backup. If he gets to a gang of his people, we’re finished.”
“Maybe that doesn’t have to happen.” Cole pulled out his phone.
“What are you going to do?” Grayson, determined to catch up with the McLaren, wasn’t even sure what he was going to do when he did. He knew Romine wouldn’t shoot Lauren while she was driving, but if Grayson forced him to a stop, what then? Could he shoot Romine and risk hitting Lauren?<
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“What if we could negotiate with Romine? I mean...that’s why he wanted the baby, right? To have some way to negotiate?” Cole was texting someone. “I’ll see if I can get his cell number.”
Grayson closed in on the McLaren. “I’m not sure. He might be too desperate at this point—” A car cut him off, interrupting his thoughts. “Cole, try to keep eyes on them. I’ve lost them in this traffic.”
“I still see them right now. Moving straight ahead.” Cole leaned this way and that, trying to get a better view.
“I’m doing my best to get around it, but it’s almost like the driver of that car acted on purpose. He cut me off and then slowed enough that I can’t get around him.” Grayson frowned and gripped the Audi’s gearshift in frustration.
“It’s annoying enough when you have nowhere to be. It makes me wish we had lights and sirens in a situation like this.” Cole strained forward, trying for a better sight line. “I think they’ve turned.”
“Uh-oh. Do you know where?” Grayson hadn’t seen the McLaren turn off, and there was more than one intersection ahead.
“I’m not positive, but I’m trying to watch. I think it’s about three turns ahead on the right.” Cole eyed every turn they approached, straining to catch a glimpse of the dark blue McLaren.
“There!” Cole pointed at the next turnoff and Grayson braked hard to make the exit.
Too many curves and hills stretched ahead of them. Grayson’s abdomen tightened. It would be tough enough to gain on them. Keeping eyes on them wouldn’t be easy, either. “Of course he took her on the most difficult route possible.”
He tried to focus, but all he could think about was Lauren. About her last words to him. About how much he wanted to tell her he loved her, too. In fact, when he had her back, he wasn’t going to waste any more time. He needed her in his life. For the rest of his life.
While he was thinking about marrying Lauren, though, Romine was trying hard to take her farther away. The road led through a residential area, causing Grayson to have to reduce his speed far more than he would have liked.
“Watch it!” Cole shouted as a bicycle pulled out of a nearby road just slightly ahead of them.
Grayson braked and swerved over, but in the process lost sight of the McLaren. “Where are they?”
Cole stretched and leaned but came up with nothing. “I don’t know. I don’t think they turned.”
Grayson bit back his frustration. He kept following the road but didn’t catch sight of the sports car for far too long. “What now?”
“I’m pulling up GPS. Let’s see if we can get an idea where this leads or where they might have gone.” Cole studied his phone while Grayson drove and kept his eyes peeled for the McLaren. It was like they’d disappeared.
“Anything?” Grayson was at a loss for where to look. The hills surrounding Austin seemed like enemies.
“The road goes through to another highway after several miles. But there are also a lot of obscure turnoffs. I have no idea where most of them lead. Some are just residential areas, but a few go on through to major highways. They could have taken any of them.” Cole sounded almost as frustrated as Grayson felt.
“Call the sheriff’s department and have them issue a BOLO on the McLaren.” He waited until Cole had the dispatcher on the line and gave him the tag number. He’d memorized it in the brief moments they’d been close enough, just trying to keep his mind on something other than what Romine might do to Lauren if things went wrong.
“I’m about to take a risk here—” Grayson didn’t give Cole time to disconnect the call he had just finished up “—and stop me if I’m wrong. But if you were Romine, would you take any chances you didn’t have to take?”
“No... What are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking the first chance he gets, he’s going to either let her go or kill her.” Grayson could barely force the words out.
“That doesn’t sound promising. So, if we’ve lost them, how do we keep that from happening?”
“We’re just going to have to find them before he has the opportunity.” Grayson’s jaw flexed.
He couldn’t consider anything happening to Lauren. He couldn’t stand the thought. She had told him she loved him, but he had been too shocked at the time to do the same. He had to let her know. He had to have a chance to make a life with her.
“So what exactly are you going to do?” Cole prompted, interrupting his musings.
“Find them and beat them to the cutoff. Hold on.” Grayson jerked the wheel and cut through a residential area under construction. The houses were still just skeletons of wood frames, the road not yet paved. Still, Grayson pushed the Audi as hard as he dared.
“Keep GPS pulled up, but if my instincts are on point, we should come out ahead of them just before they reach the highway.” Grayson stayed focused on the road.
“I don’t think this road is even on GPS yet.” Cole was frowning at his screen.
“That’s okay. Just make sure we continue to make progress toward the main highway. Everything else is irrelevant.” Grayson’s focus never wavered.
Cole reached for anything available to hold on to as Grayson accelerated, fishtailing a little on the loose gravel on the dusty road. The Audi recovered and Grayson was grateful for the expensive sports car’s handling.
He noticed Cole looked a little green. “Are you okay?”
Cole’s tense bearing came to mind, and Grayson thought of how Shayla always accused him of being uptight. He realized in an instant what the problem was. “You have an unsteady stomach, don’t you?”
“I get a little...um, sick sometimes.” It sounded like it pained Cole to admit it. “I know. I try to hide it from Shayla, but it’s something I can’t help.”
Grayson felt a little guilty. “Oh, man, I’m sorry. No, I mean—that’s... It’s perfectly normal to get a little motion sickness.”
“Not in our profession.” Cole muttered the words.
Grayson eased off the accelerator a bit. “Is that why you always give Shayla so much trouble over her driving? You don’t feel sick if you drive.”
Cole just nodded.
At the same time, a flash of blue appeared on a hill in the distance.
“Grayson, look!” Cole pointed and Grayson followed Cole’s finger to see the McLaren appear again in the distance. “You were right. But you’re going to have to hurry.”
A glance at Cole confirmed he was down for the adventure, despite his nausea. Grayson floored it, letting the dirt and gravel fly. The Audi responded to the punch of the pedal with an enthusiastic lurch, and Grayson’s adrenaline surged in response.
The tires bounced and danced as they flew over the gravel road, but the Audi admirably handled the moves. They advanced on the intersection in what seemed far slower than the high rate of speed Grayson read on the dash.
The McLaren also advanced on the intersection at a high rate of speed but had to slow to make a couple of curves, giving Grayson just a slight advantage. He used every last bit of courage he had, flying into the intersection and spinning to a stop just as the McLaren topped a small rise, barely in time for Lauren to brake.
She did, but something went wrong. The McLaren slowed but didn’t completely stop. The impact jarred the Audi fiercely and Grayson realized too late that Cole was going to take the worst of it.
When the jolt of the impact had subsided, Grayson spoke. “I’m sorry, buddy. Are you okay?” He tried to examine Cole from his place behind the wheel, but Cole waved him off with a grunt.
“Be...fine. Go. Get your girl.” Cole threw his head back and closed his eyes.
His reminder refocused Grayson on Lauren, and he looked up in time to see Romine force her out of the car. She stumbled and he shoved a gun at her again.
Fury surged through Grayson. “Romine, stop!” He’d yelled the command, but his nemesis
just stared him down.
“Don’t look like you’re in much of a position to give the orders here.” Romine gripped the gun with both hands for emphasis.
“What are you going to do? Run on foot? With a hostage? We have backup on the way. Might as well give it up. We can make a deal.” Grayson kept his voice even, but he wanted to rush Romine in a rage. Lauren’s terrified expression was inflicting a lot of damage on him.
“I got backup on the way myself. Not gonna work.” Romine gave him a smirk. He urged Lauren to start walking with the nose of his gun. The desperate, panicked look she wore was almost more than Grayson could handle. He needed to make a move—now.
“Romine, come on. Let her go. Haven’t you had enough of this yet? Be a man. Escape on your own two feet. Don’t drag her down with you.” Grayson knew it was a gamble, but maybe in light of what had just happened with Savannah, it might get through to him. Grayson sent up a silent prayer.
Romine stumbled but held fast. “Not gonna happen. Sometimes brains are more important than brawn.”
Grayson took that as his answer to pursue this path of reasoning. “Is that what Savannah taught you? She certainly didn’t use brawn to take over your organization.”
Romine was shaking now. “She didn’t take over the organization. You don’t know what you’re talking about. We had a plan.”
“Well, don’t take this the wrong way, but it looks like she is the one in charge. If she’s still alive, that is.” Grayson took a cautious step toward them.
Lauren, eyes wide, was listening intently. She seemed to be waiting for her chance. He prayed she wouldn’t do anything that would endanger her life.
“I don’t know why you think you know anything about it. Savannah’s been dodging her protective detail for years. And she’s too tough to be down long. I’m sure she’s fine. Besides, I have the money. I don’t need her anymore. Whatever you think you know is wrong.” Romine puffed up like a junior-high bully trying to assert his dominance.
“Oh, I’m sure that’s true. But the scene we just witnessed back there speaks volumes. I think I can fill in the blanks.” Grayson didn’t feel nearly as relaxed as he was letting on. He had to get Lauren away from the man before he did something that might hurt her.
