by Nicole Helm
“Presumably.”
She didn’t say anything to that, but he could sense the increasing speed of the vehicle. Not being able to see clearly made that a heck of a lot more nerve-racking than it would have been otherwise.
“You can’t go careening onto the property. We have to see what we’re up against first.”
“Our daughter is in that house. Screw what we’re up against.”
Since he’d felt that echo through him at first, he didn’t immediately argue with her. Maybe he should have told her back with Felicity exactly what that sound had meant—because he’d had a chance to walk off his excess anger and fear and find some clearheaded focus.
Whatever was going on at the ranch, they had to be careful. They had to get a sense of it before they ran in guns blazing. Most especially because Brianna was in danger—and any wrong move could risk everything.
Andy Jay. The man was dead—Cody was sure of it. That was how the story went, and he doubted his brothers would beat themselves up over his death without knowing for sure it was him who was dead.
Or had they all been too young to be that cynical?
He had no phone to warn Brady or Gage. No way of finding out what was really going on at the ranch. He wanted to believe Brianna had touched it out of curiosity, or as an accident... But she was too bright, too cognizant of the trouble she’d grown up in to be careless.
Eventually he could feel the truck begin to slow. His vision was still mostly a blur, such a blur he had to close his eyes half the time to ward off dizziness.
“Don’t go to the front gate. You remember the side one? Back off Frank’s Lick Road. Let’s ease in there.”
“Too late for that,” Nina muttered darkly.
“What do you see?”
He felt her pushing his head down. “Duck.”
Chapter Twenty-One
The gunshot shattered the windshield and Nina had to swallow a scream.
She should have slowed down earlier, but she’d been desperate to get to Brianna and then surprised to drive past a very large SUV with two very large men fiddling with something along the fence of Grandma Pauline’s property.
When she had seen them, it hadn’t been much of a surprise to see a gun lift and point in their direction.
Nina peeked up, saw she was careening for a utility pole and jerked the wheel. “Any weak spots on the fence I can bust through?”
“No. We’ll have to do it on foot.”
“What?” she demanded.
“Stop the truck.”
“We can’t—”
“Stop the truck,” Cody insisted. She thought it had to be insanity. She’d rather bust through the fence with Felicity’s truck and worry about the damage later.
But she trusted Cody, so she stopped. “You still got a gun?”
She nodded, patting her side where she’d strapped it back at the cabin what seemed like forever ago. “Yeah.”
“You run for the house. I’ll go for them.”
“You can’t see—”
“I can. Good enough anyway. Go!” He started pushing at her and she didn’t have time to think. Brianna was in the house. That could be her only thought.
So she got out of the truck and started running. With every step she reminded herself Cody could handle himself. Would handle himself.
The important thing was Brianna.
Damn it, he better come out of this alive or she’d kill him herself.
She ran and ran, ignoring the horrible pain in her side and her struggling breath.
Brianna. Brianna. Get to Brianna.
No one shot at her and she didn’t see anyone, though she didn’t have time to look around and scan the surroundings. But nothing stood out to her as being off. No other SUVs. No big men in black. Jamison’s and Gage’s trucks were outside the house in the distance, and Tucker’s SUV was parked near the barn.
Maybe those two men had been it. Maybe somebody inside had somehow seen or...
Keep running. Keep breathing.
She continued across the yard, half expecting another gunshot or someone to jump out at her, but no one did.
She made it to the door and burst in, horrified to find it unlocked. Even more horrified to find four men, Duke and Grandma sitting around the kitchen table. “What on earth are you all doing? Where’s Brianna?”
“She’s out in the barn with Gigi and Dev,” Grandma Pauline returned, rising to her feet. “What’s going—”
“Cody’s out front. Someone’s shooting. Big black SUV, two guys, a few yards before the front gate on the road.” She was already running out the door. Maybe Cody was the one in real danger, but she had to be sure that her daughter was safe.
She knew the Wyatt brothers would go help Cody, and she would too as soon as she knew for sure Brianna was fine.
So, she ran for the barn. She skidded to a stop outside the barn when she heard voices. Not ones she recognized. Well, she recognized Dev’s voice, but not the other person’s.
Heart rioting in her chest, she inched closer and closer, trying to see what was going on. Trying to see where Brianna was.
The barn door was open, but all she could make out was Dev talking to someone. He seemed calm as he came into view. Just standing there, attention on someone out of view, but the closer she got, the more she recognized the banked fury in his voice. He wouldn’t talk to the girls like that. Ever.
Trying not to gulp for air, she changed her angle to see where Dev was looking. Sure enough, there was a large man, with a very large gun, pointed right at Dev’s chest.
Where was Brianna? And Gigi?
She took a slow, quiet deep breath. Okay. So, it seemed like there were three men. Six Wyatts, Grandma Pauline and Duke, plus her and Liza—they could take three men. Even ones with big guns.
So she needed to focus on her daughter. Where would Brianna be? Surely Dev would do anything to keep the girls from getting hurt.
She reached for her weapon as she heard soft, careful footsteps behind her. Hand on weapon, ready to draw and shoot, she whirled.
Then scowled at Tucker, who held his hands up, but not without the mocking lift of an eyebrow.
Like any of them had time for mocking.
He didn’t say anything, only pointed up. She turned back to the barn, didn’t see anything, but she wasn’t meant to. It was a reminder there was a hayloft. The girls must have hidden.
Relief swamped her, not that it took all the fear away. But the man with the gun must not know where those two precious girls were.
Please God.
She looked at Tucker, seeking some kind of guidance. With two of them, surely they could take out the man in the barn. She didn’t see a gun on Tuck, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have one.
He made hand motions, circling a finger then pointing to the ground. It took a few times through for her to get he was saying he was going to walk around to the other side and she should stay right here.
She nodded, and Tucker began to walk to the back of the barn. There was another door on the other side, but from what Nina could see it didn’t look to be open. But it was closer to the ladder that would lead up to the girls.
But how did Tucker know they were up there? He was just making a guess. They could have run. They could be lost in the fields and—
One problem at a time.
She kept her gaze on the man talking to Dev. Actually at Dev was a better description since Dev’s mouth hadn’t moved once. The door on the opposite side of the barn didn’t move—so what the hell was Tuck doing over there?
Nina sighed, rolled her shoulders in an attempt to keep her body from going tight after the crash a few days ago plus all this running and hiking and climbing. She couldn’t let the tension centering between her shoulder blades keep her from being agile.
Finally De
v spoke, making a gesture toward the house—which was a gesture toward the open door and Nina herself.
Nina froze.
Dev’s gaze met hers, and though she thought he hid his surprise at seeing her rather well, the man with the gun trained on Dev began to turn.
Nina didn’t think, didn’t aim, didn’t worry. She simply reacted—and pulled the trigger of her own gun.
* * *
CODY HAD MISCALCULATED GRAVELY. He’d gotten out of the truck and run, but the running made his vision worse to the point he started to question if he was even going in the right direction.
Everything was gray again, though he could make out the difference between light and dark. Barely. He swore inwardly, standing God knew where, with absolutely no clue how to move forward.
Well, you have to. He reached out his hands, tried to find something to give him a clue as to where he’d run.
Then he heard voices and froze. Two men were talking as if they didn’t have a care in the world.
“Always had to be a show-off,” one man said, sounding vaguely amused. “I kinda hope they knock him around a little and we have to swoop in and save him.”
“I wouldn’t care if we didn’t save him,” the other man said. “I don’t like dealing with kids.” This one sounded gruff and irritated.
Cody could keep moving toward the sound, but he couldn’t see well enough to move toward shapes or shadows anymore. He wouldn’t know if they drew a gun or came charging. And worse, they would know he was having problems seeing and take advantage.
But he supposed as long as they were here, talking casually, they didn’t know Nina had run across the yard a mile or so down the road. They didn’t know if there was any trouble at the ranch. Maybe they figured their gunshot had scared off whoever.
“Ace can only do so much from behind those bars. He’s going to have to name someone. We can’t keep on like this. For all we know, that truck we shot out is going to the cops as we speak.”
“If they’re smart. We’ll be gone by then though. Besides, what if Ace names this moron we’re lackeying for?”
“A moron leader is better than no leader at all. Might get dumb orders, but no infighting.”
“Boy, there’s always infighting. Even under Ace.”
Cody tried to determine where they were, based on voices alone, but when he didn’t know where he was, it hardly mattered.
“You hear that?” one of the men asked.
Cody didn’t have the first clue what to do, but he heard something too. An engine?
“We better move.”
Then a gunshot pierced the air. Since Cody hadn’t been expecting it, he jolted.
“We got company,” one of the men said, and Cody knew he was screwed. Just. Screwed. He had to hope they didn’t shoot him, or that if they did, he’d survive it. Surely they’d know he was Ace’s son and not...
“That’s one of Ace’s, isn’t it?” the more irritable man asked. “A Wyatt boy, aren’t you?”
Cody hoped to God he was smirking in the right direction since he had a sense of where they were based on the sound of their voices. “I guess that depends.”
“What’s wrong with your head there, boy?”
They were getting closer, but they weren’t shooting. Maybe Cody would have a chance to fight them off.
Two was going to be a lot harder than the one back at the Badlands, but he could do it. Surely he could do it if he had to, and with Nina off to save Brianna, he had to.
“Where’d he come from?” the one asked, and though he said it quietly, Cody still caught the words.
“Cat got your tongue?”
Cody wondered if the man had lifted a gun to point at him. There’d been menace in those words, a threat. Surely the threat was backed up with some kind of weapon.
So he held up his hands. “Not looking for any trouble, gentlemen.”
One snorted.
“Better be careful screwing with a Wyatt until we know—”
“Would you shut up,” the other man snapped.
“But see...why screw with one Wyatt boy, when you can screw with four?” a very welcome voice asked.
Cody couldn’t see his brothers, but that was Gage’s voice. Of course if they were here, where was—
“The house?” Cody demanded.
No one responded, and there was a bit of a tussle before Cody could hear Jamison reading the men their Miranda rights.
“You can’t arrest us,” one of the men argued, clearly still struggling to fight off Jamison. “We didn’t do anything.”
“I’m sure we’ll find something,” Gage said casually.
“One of them shot Felicity’s truck.” Cody didn’t know which brother took him by the arm, but it didn’t matter. “Brianna? Nina?”
“Everything was fine at the house when we left. We heard the gunshot and Brady backtracked just to make sure, but Tuck’s back with Nina and Liza. I’m sure it’s fine.”
“I’m not,” Cody returned. “Take me back to the house.”
“Still can’t see?”
“Comes and goes. Get me back.”
Someone’s phone chimed. “It’s Liza,” Jamison said, voice flat. “We all need to get back to the house.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
The man was writhing on the ground, swearing and cursing at her.
Nina still held the gun trained on him, and Tucker had slipped in the opposite door and retrieved the gun the wounded man had dropped.
“Guess I shouldn’t have insisted Sarah take my dogs to the Knight property.” Dev looked down at the man with a sneer. “And just who do you think you are?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” the man gritted out, holding on to his leg.
The shock started to wear off and Nina practically lurched for the ladder up to the hayloft. She could hear Tucker and Dev talking, but it was a kind of buzzing. She couldn’t pay attention to the words. She had to get to her daughter.
She made it to the top of the ladder, scrambled onto the board of the hayloft and then looked around in heart-pounding panic. Where were they?
Then she heard the faintest sound, like a rustle. A whisper. She turned toward it, then moved toward it, right before a hay-covered tarp shook, moved, and two little heads stuck out from behind it.
Nina nearly sank to her knees, but instead she moved for them, grabbed them and held them to her. “Aren’t you good, smart girls? You hid so good. You were so quiet. Oh, I’m so proud of you.” She hugged them both, kissed their heads, tried and failed not to shed a few tears.
“There was a big noise, but I told Gigi we had to stay quiet,” Brianna said solemnly.
“And we did!” Gigi said excitedly.
Both girls grinned, and it soothed something inside Nina. Terrible things could happen, these little girls could know they had to hide from bad men, but then they could stand up and be proud of themselves because they kept themselves safe.
They saved themselves, and maybe it wasn’t fair they had to live in a world that made that happen—but wasn’t it a miracle they could find some pride in it just the same?
“Uncle Dev saw the bad man and told us to hide. I knew just where to hide. Just like you always told me.” Brianna snuggled into Nina’s arms. “Where’s Daddy? I pushed my button just like he told me.”
Nina closed her eyes. Cody had known all along Brianna was the one who’d sounded the emergency alert. She couldn’t work up anger over it. They were safe, and he was out there...
“We’ll go find out.” She stood, taking both their hands and helping them out from under the tarp and hay. “Come on now. Let’s get you down.”
“But where’s Daddy?” Brianna demanded.
“We’ll get him. Jamison and the boys are out getting him right now.” Please God.
Nina helped the g
irls climb down the ladder, found Brady and Liza had joined Tucker and Dev standing over the increasingly weakening man bleeding on the barn floor.
“Come on, girls,” Liza said, expertly positioning herself between their little gazes and the man’s bleeding leg. “Cookies in the kitchen for being such good hiders.”
Nina looked back at Tucker, Dev and Brady. “Where’s—”
“I’ve called the ambulance to come pick up this one,” Brady said, nodding toward the man. “I’ll accompany him to the hospital. Jamison has the two guys you, er, ran into and is taking them to the jail. Gage has Cody and is bringing him back to the house.”
“What about Felicity? We left her—”
“She already called. Everything is good there. She’s got it handled. You go on with Brianna. We’ve got it here.”
Nina nodded, grateful that someone had it. That it was over.
God. Please let it be over.
She trudged after Brianna, pain and exhaustion and the wearing-off adrenaline making every step feel like wading through lead.
Gage had Cody. Cody was safe. All the men who were part of this were being taken care of. For now, anyway.
She looked at her daughter bopping along with Gigi as though nothing horrible had happened. For now was okay. For now was better than okay.
* * *
CODY WAS SURPRISED at how long it seemed to take to drive back to the house, irritated that he had to be led into the ranch house, and then thrown into a world of pain when he felt two sets of arms squeeze around him.
He hissed out a breath, but bit back the groan of pain. “There’s my girls.”
And it felt good, even with the pain, to have them both back in his arms. Here in his grandmother’s kitchen.
Everything would be okay. He felt that now.
“So, what on earth happened?” Liza demanded.
Everyone got situated around the kitchen table, and someone led him to a chair. Brianna climbed up into his lap and though he couldn’t see her, he held her there, smelled her hair. She was fine. She was alive.
If he never regained his sight permanently, that was worth it right there.
