The Marshal's Justice (Appaloosa Pass Ranch 4)

by Delores Fossen

  That’s where they were aiming now.

  There was a swooshing sound, and Chase saw the flare shoot through the air. Jericho had a good aim because it crashed directly into the gunmen’s car.

  “Let’s go,” Chase told April.

  He took hold of her hand and hauled her to her feet. However, she didn’t stay there.

  There was another sound. The sickening thud of a bullet hitting something. Or rather someone.

  The shot slammed right into April.

  Chapter Eighteen

  April froze.

  The scream wedged there in her throat, cutting off the air. Strangling her. She couldn’t move, couldn’t run, but she could feel the pain radiate from her chest and knife through her entire body. She slumped to the ground, unable to break her fall.

  God, she’d been shot.

  “April’s been hit!” Chase yelled to someone. Maybe to his brother or Dexter.

  The pain made it hard to focus, but she heard another round of gunfire. Closer than the other shots. These were coming from Chase. And from someone else. Those shots stopped after just a few seconds, but the other ones, the ones aimed at the truck, continued.

  Chase dropped to his knees next to her. He ripped open her shirt. Right where the pain was the worst.

  “You’re okay,” he said. Though his expression said otherwise. “The bullet hit the Kevlar vest.”

  Only then did April remember she was even wearing the vest. It’d saved her, but it certainly hadn’t stopped the pain. It felt as if a heavyweight had punched her in the chest and then burned her.

  “Just try to breathe,” Chase instructed, his gaze firing all around them.

  Easier said than done. The pain from a real gunshot wound had to be much, much worse, but April couldn’t imagine it.

  “Who shot me?” she managed to ask.

  “A guy who sneaked into the back pasture. I got a look at his face but didn’t recognize him.” He flicked away the hot slug that was imbedded into the vest. “Don’t worry about him, though. He’s dead.”

  No doubt because Chase had shot him.

  Good. Considering there was another body just inches from her, it should have turned her stomach to know someone else was dead, but one less hired thug increased their chances of getting out of this.

  Chase’s phone rang again, and he answered it without taking his attention off their surroundings. Even though he was hovering right over her, she couldn’t hear what the caller said, but she could tell it wasn’t good news because Chase’s forehead bunched up.

  “Let me see if I can move her,” Chase finally said.

  “What happened?” April asked the moment he finished the call.

  “The gunmen shot out the truck tires. And Jericho spotted another vehicle on the road. Maybe an innocent bystander, but it could be more gunmen.”

  Or the person behind all of this.

  All of their suspects had reasons for wanting her dead, and that might mean the person wanted to personally kill her. Of course, the shot to the vest had come darn close to doing that. If it’d been just a few inches higher, the bullet would have hit her in the neck.

  “Jericho lost sight of the second car so it could be anywhere by now,” Chase added.

  That didn’t help her regain any of her breath. “So, what do we do?” But April was almost afraid to hear the answer.

  “When I give Jericho a signal that you can move, he’ll shoot off more of those flares while we run to the front of the truck. We can use it for cover, and then Dexter will maneuver the truck as best he can so that you and I can head behind the rubble of the church.”

  April lifted her head to get an idea of how much time it would take to do that. Just a few seconds. But they’d no doubt be long, dangerous seconds. At least the rubble pile was high enough to give them some protection, and they could maybe even use the debris for cover if the gunmen changed positions again.

  “What about the other car on the road?” she asked. “What if the driver comes to the back of the church, too?”

  “It’s a chance we have to take.” He paused. “The gunmen in that black car are moving closer to the cemetery.”

  And closer to Chase and her.

  “The Rangers are about twenty minutes out,” Chase added. “We won’t have to hold up much longer. Can you run?” he pressed.

  April nodded, prayed it was true, and she fought the pain to get into a crouching position.

  “Stay by my side,” Chase instructed. “Run as fast as you can.”

  She gave him another nod, and Chase tossed out a rock. Probably his cue for Jericho to set off the flare because almost immediately she heard the same swooshing sound. Not one but two.

  And Chase and she ran.

  Even though April was nowhere near 100 percent, Chase made up for that by hooking his arm around her waist. They barreled past the trio of headstones that were between them and the truck.

  The shots came at them, of course, but they pelted into the ground, kicking up dirt. That’s when April got a glimpse of the reddish-colored smoke from the flare. It had created a filmy curtain between them and the shooters.

  When they reached the front of the truck, Chase pulled her to the ground. They wouldn’t be able to stay there long because once the smoke cleared, the gunmen would be able to shoot under the truck.

  “You ready?” Dexter called out.

  “Do it,” Chase answered.

  Dexter threw the truck into Reverse, and even though all four tires were indeed completely flat, he somehow managed to back up a couple of inches. Then forward again. Angling the truck to give them the most cover before he scrambled out of the cab and joined them on the ground.

  Another flare went off.

  Chase didn’t waste a second. He got her moving to the debris with Dexter racing along behind them.

  Thankfully, there’d been no fire from the explosion, and with the roof fully collapsed, there was nothing to fall on them. However, the debris didn’t look that steady, but maybe it would hold up until they could get out of there.

  They ducked behind the first pile of rubble. It was mainly what was left of an office. Books, chairs and a broken desk stuck out from the chunks of the roof that had demolished it.

  “Damn,” Chase said. He leaned out and fired a shot.

  “The men moved the car right by the truck,” Dexter explained to her since she couldn’t see. She was on Chase’s left side with Dexter behind her.

  April soon got proof that the gunmen were closing in because the shots came right at them. Again. She glanced at Chase to see if he was about to tell them to move, but he was focused on returning fire.

  There was a thudding sound behind her, and April whirled around to see what had happened.

  No!

  Dexter was on the ground.

  Before April could even react, someone knocked her gun from her hand and grabbed her.

  * * *

  CHASE SAW THE movement from the corner of his eye and pivoted toward April and Dexter.

  His heart went to his knees.

  Dexter was down. Not shot. It appeared that someone had clubbed him on the head and he was unconscious. The someone was wearing a ski mask like the other gunmen and now had April. She was fighting to get loose.

  And the person—a man—was trying to shoot her.

  Chase lunged at them, sending all three of them to the ground. The man slung his elbow into Chase’s jaw, hitting him so hard that the pain exploded in his head. He fought off the pain and tried to latch on to April to pull her away. It was the only option he had right now because Chase didn’t have a clean shot.

  April was no doubt still reeling from taking a slug to the chest, but that didn’t stop her from fighting. She clawed and kicked at him.
Chase tossed his gun aside so he could go after the guy’s own weapon. Because of all the flailing around, he only managed to take hold of the man’s right wrist, but maybe that would be enough to stop him from aiming at April again.

  Something he was clearly trying to do.

  “Move away if you can,” Chase told her.

  She tried to do just that, but the man hooked his arm around her neck and put her in a choke hold. Not good. Because as long as April was in the middle of this, there was a chance she could be shot. Or strangled to death. Her attacker was trying to do both.

  Chase tried to bash the man’s hand against the ground and managed a few hits. Not enough, though, to dislodge the gun from his grip. Whoever this was, he was fighting like a wild animal.

  April made a strangled sound and tried to pry his grip off her throat. The guy held on. Tightening the choke hold.

  He was killing her right in front of Chase.

  It was a risk, but Chase took one of his hands off the man’s shooting wrist so he could punch him. Hard. Not easy to do, though, with April in the way. Still, he managed one good hit.

  But then the shot blasted from the gun.

  The man had managed to pull the trigger.

  So many bad thoughts went through Chase’s head. Had April been shot? She stopped struggling, her hands going to her ears, and for several terrifying seconds, Chase thought maybe the bullet had gone into her head.

  But no blood, thank God.

  The shot had been so close to her that it’d no doubt caused a jarring pain. The sound was clanging in Chase’s ears, too, but he forced himself to keep fighting. Unfortunately, the guy did the same thing.

  Chase pinned the man’s right hand, and the gun, to the ground and tried to push April out of the way.

  Another shot.

  Hell.

  Chase didn’t know where the bullets were going, but Dexter was right there just a yard or so away, and the shots could hit him. Plus, they had an even bigger problem. He couldn’t check to see where that black car was, but Chase figured the car, and all the gunmen inside it, were making their way to them so they could help their fellow thug. Once that happened, Chase would be seriously outgunned until Jericho and the others could get back, too.

  April pulled her hands from her ears, and even though she was clearly still in pain, she started to fight back again. Both a blessing and a curse. He didn’t want her just to give in to this, but he would have preferred that she get as far away from that gun as possible.

  “Kill them both!” the man yelled.

  Chase had no trouble recognizing that voice. And it wasn’t the voice of just another hired gun.

  It was Malcolm.

  April froze for a second. They’d both known Malcolm was a suspect, of course, but Chase hadn’t expected him to be directly involved in this since all the other attacks had come from hired guns.

  More shots came, smacking into the ground all around them. Obviously, the men in that black car were now in a position to do some damage and to carry out their boss’s order.

  Kill them both.

  Chase tried to make sure that didn’t happen. He dropped onto his back, lifted Malcolm’s wrist and gun, and he fired at the thugs who were shooting around them. He had no idea where the bullet went, but Chase hoped it would get them to back off so he could take care of this idiot who was trying to murder April.

  Malcolm ripped off his mask and then yanked April back into his grip. Managed, too, to put her in another choke hold. More than ready to put an end to this, Chase punched him again. And again. He would have delivered a third punch if a bullet hadn’t sliced across the top of shoulder.

  The pain was searing and roared through him. Chase knew it wasn’t a fatal shot, but it slowed him down just enough that Malcolm shoved Chase off him.

  And Malcolm put the gun to April’s head.

  No. This couldn’t be happening. After everything they’d been through, and survived, he couldn’t let Malcolm kill her.

  Chase snatched up his gun and scrambled to the side of some of the debris. He took aim. But like before, he didn’t have a shot. Not with Malcolm holding April in front of him that way.

  “You’ve been hit,” April said, her attention not on fighting for her life but rather on his bloody shoulder.

  “He’ll be dead if he doesn’t back off,” Malcolm snarled. “April, if you want your boyfriend to live, tell him to stop and put down his gun. I hadn’t planned on killing him, but if he gets in the way, I’ll do just that.”

  “Please stop,” she told Chase without hesitation.

  Chase had no intention of stopping, but he wasn’t sure how to get her out of this. He glanced over his shoulder. The black car was only about ten yards away, and even though Jericho and the others were shooting at it, the vehicle was inching closer, like a jungle cat ready to attack. Worse, it wouldn’t be long before the men in that car would be able to use the debris for cover, too.

  “I don’t want you to die,” April added to Chase. “So, please, just let Malcolm take me.”

  “Malcolm will kill you,” he reminded her. “He wants to punish you for Tina’s murder.”

  “Because she deserves to be punished,” Malcolm readily admitted.

  So, that was indeed his motive. Not that it did them any good to hear it spelled out. Still, he might be able to use it to bargain with Malcolm.

  “Tina was a good cop,” Chase reminded him. “She wouldn’t have approved of any of this.”

  Malcolm’s eyes narrowed. “You don’t know that. She was gunned down trying to do her job. I doubt she’d shed any tears over the death of a lowlife like Crossman.”

  “You had him killed?” Chase asked.

  Chase already knew the answer, but he got confirmation of it anyway when Malcolm nodded. But the man didn’t just nod. He motioned toward his hired thugs in the car.

  “And I figure Tina would be pleased that I’m avenging her death,” Malcolm added.

  It was hard to reason with a man obsessed with revenge, but Chase had to figure out something.

  April’s eyes widened, and even though Chase figured he wasn’t going to like what he saw, he glanced over his shoulder again.

  And, no, he didn’t like it.

  Two ski-masked gunmen were out of the car. Not alone.

  They had a hostage.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Renée.

  April certainly hadn’t forgotten about the woman, but she was surprised to see that Renée was on the business end of a gun rather than the one who was pulling the trigger.

  Maybe this was some kind of ruse.

  Though April couldn’t imagine why the woman would pretend to be a hostage. Still, it was hard to figure out the motives of someone so mentally unstable.

  “You shot Shane!” Renée shouted, her attention zooming straight to Malcolm. “Is he dead?”

  “He’s dead,” April confirmed.

  Renée screamed and started struggling, trying to get away from her captors. It didn’t work. The men held on to her, and when she didn’t stop fighting to break free, one of them punched her right in the face. Hard. Renée’s head flopped back, and blood splattered from what looked to be a broken nose.

  Apparently, the woman wasn’t a fake hostage after all. Or if she was, this was a convincing act.

  One of the men continued to keep Renée in a fierce grip, and the other hurried to Dexter. The deputy was still unconscious, but the thug put some plastic cuffs on him and kicked Dexter’s gun away.

  While they were occupied with that, April tried to elbow Malcolm in the stomach so she could try to break free. She failed, and Malcolm tightened his grip on her even more.

  Malcolm tipped his head to Dexter and then glanced at the thug who was hovering over him. “Sho
ot the deputy in the head if Chase doesn’t drop his gun right now.” His voice was ice cold.

  April saw the debate in Chase’s eyes. A very short one. Because they both knew the man would indeed murder Dexter.

  Chase tossed his gun to the ground.

  Her heart sank. Of course, April already knew they were in extreme danger, but now neither of them was armed. And they were outnumbered. Plus, Chase was hurt. The blood from the shot to his shoulder was now on the front of his shirt. It didn’t look as if he would bleed out, but he needed medical attention. Fast. For that to happen, they had to get out of this.

  “Go ahead and kill Renée if she doesn’t stop fighting,” Malcolm told his men. “I’d wanted them all together for this, but I can always change the plan.”

  What the heck was going on here?

  “Why would you want Renée dead?” April asked.

  “She’s a loose end,” Chase provided when Malcolm didn’t say anything. “I figure Malcolm hired the hacker to get into WITSEC files but couldn’t find Quentin because he wasn’t where he was supposed to be. Malcolm then convinced Renée to kidnap Bailey so he could use the baby to draw Quentin out.”

  “The plan worked,” Malcolm said. “Well, nearly. I’d wanted Quentin to take the blame for all of this, but now that you’ve seen my face, that’s not going to happen. Still, you can save your brothers and the other lawmen.”

  “How?” But Chase didn’t wait for an answer. “By agreeing to let you leave with April, Renée and me?”

  But they wouldn’t be just leaving with Malcolm. He would kill them all when he had the rest of his so-called plan in place. That meant he wanted to get Quentin, too, and would likely use her—and possibly even Renée—to lure Quentin into a trap.

  A trap that just might work.

  “Come on,” Malcolm said, and he started moving her.

  Malcolm didn’t take her toward the black car but to the other side of what remained of the church. Jericho had mentioned something about another vehicle, and it was possible Malcolm planned to use that to escape with them so he could finish out his plan.

  “I’m not going anywhere with you,” Renée shouted. “You killed Shane.” A hoarse sob tore from her mouth, and she was obviously in pain from the punch to the face because she was wincing. “Why would you do that?”