From the corner of his eye, Egan saw the hands move closer. They both had their guns aimed, but there was no way they had a clean shot because Jordan was between the hands and the thug.
Jordan kept clawing at the man, and everything seemed to go still when she ripped the ski mask off his face. Egan had expected to be staring down at another hired gun. But he wasn’t.
It was Christian.
Jordan gasped and then froze for a split second. It was just enough time for Christian to grab her again and put the gun to her head.
“I won’t miss at point-blank range,” Christian growled, and he used his left hand to yank the voice scrambler pressed to his throat.
No, Christian wouldn’t miss, and the look in the man’s eyes told Egan everything he needed to know. Christian was going to kill them.
And Egan knew why.
“You’re a dirty cop,” Egan snapped. “And you were afraid Jordan would uncover the evidence in those files she had.”
Christian certainly didn’t deny it. “Get behind the wheel again, and you’d better pray you didn’t damage the cruiser so much that you can’t drive it. If you did, I start putting bullets in Jordan. The shots won’t be fatal, but she’ll be in so much pain that she’ll wish she was dead.”
It wasn’t a bluff. Christian would do it, and Egan wasn’t sure he could watch another woman he cared about be gunned down right in front of him. He fought to keep the flashbacks at bay, but it was hard to do.
Hell. He could lose Jordan.
“Drive!” Christian shouted.
Egan didn’t have a choice. He climbed back over the seat and hoped he got another chance to stop this piece of dirt from doing any more harm.
Thankfully, the cruiser engine was still running, but Egan didn’t know if the engine had been damaged or not. He might not make it far, and he’d almost certainly meet Court along the way. He had to make sure his brother didn’t get hurt while trying to save them. His first priority, though, was to get Jordan out of this. She was no doubt Christian’s primary target. The only reason the cop wanted Egan dead was probably because he knew Jordan had talked to him about what she’d uncovered in those files.
Too bad that Egan hadn’t let someone else know. That way, if Christian did manage to murder them and get away, then his brother and Griff could go after him. Egan wasn’t even sure the hands had gotten a good enough look at Christian’s face to ID him.
This time, Egan used the remote to open the gate, and he kept watch of Christian and Jordan while he waited for it to slide open. Christian would be ready if Egan tried to crash the vehicle again so he couldn’t do that. However, he could watch for some kind of opening for him to stop this.
“You killed all those people to cover up what you did,” Jordan said. Her voice was trembling, but she managed to glare at the man.
“I did what I had to do,” Christian mumbled.
“No, you did that to save yourself from the death penalty,” she fired back. “People died, and two men are on death row because of you.”
“Those men deserved it. They weren’t angels. They were just as deep in the operation as I was.”
The operation in this case was human trafficking. And yeah, there’d been deaths associated with both cases.
“I’m guessing the men on death row didn’t know you’d honchoed both the human trafficking and their arrests,” Egan commented.
He watched Christian’s expression in the mirror and was pleased when he saw the raw anger in the cop’s eyes. Maybe he could goad Christian into turning his gun on him instead of Jordan.
When the gate was finally open, Egan drove through it and onto the road that would take him to the highway. He spotted Court’s truck, making his way toward them, and he knew he didn’t have much time.
“I’m guessing Leeroy and Kirk didn’t have anything to do with this,” Egan continued. “But you’re working for Tori, right? She’s the one who put all of this together. She’s definitely got more brains than you do.”
No way did Egan believe that, but it got the reaction he wanted. Another flash of anger went through Christian’s eyes.
“I’m the one holding Jordan,” Christian practically yelled. “I’m the one cleaning up my own mess. That bimbo lawyer didn’t have anything to do with this. In fact, if I hadn’t gotten the wrong woman, she’d be dead by now.”
So, Lorena’s death had been a mistake. That wouldn’t bring much comfort to her grieving family, and Christian didn’t seem the least bit concerned that he’d murdered a woman who’d had no part in this.
Egan rarely put the cold-blooded-killer label on anyone, but it fit Christian to a T. Worse, he was a cop, and he’d used his badge to help him commit these crimes.
“You’re the one who left that note with Lorena’s body?” Egan asked.
“Of course!” Christian snapped. “But that doesn’t matter now. None of that matters.”
Court stopped his truck at the turn from the highway to the ranch road, and Egan knew his brother was preparing to fight back. That meant Egan had to do something now. He just prayed that the something he was about to do was right.
When he was only about ten yards from Court, Egan jerked the steering wheel to the right and sent the cruiser straight into the ditch. It was like hitting a brick wall, and this time Egan wasn’t wearing his seat belt. He slammed into the steering wheel, the pain shooting through him, but he ignored it and barreled over the seat again.
Christian was ready for him.
But Egan was ready, too.
Christian had turned the gun on him, but Egan crashed right into him before the man could pull the trigger. Egan grabbed hold of Christian’s right wrist, pinning his shooting hand and the gun against the window. But Christian didn’t exactly surrender. The cop used his left fist to punch Egan.
Jordan fought, too. She latched on to Christian’s arm to try to stop him from hitting Egan again, but the rage and adrenaline fueled Christian so that he could easily throw her off. Jordan landed hard against the cruiser door, and Egan figured that would only add more injuries to the ones Christian had already given her.
The thought of that gave Egan his own surge of rage and adrenaline. Egan couldn’t pry the man’s grip off his gun, and he managed to get his own hand in a position to bash the weapon against Christian’s head. Christian cursed him and kept fighting, but Egan continued to hit him with the gun. Egan had so much anger in him that he hoped he bashed his brains out.
The cruiser door flew open, and Egan got a glimpse of Court. His brother had his weapon raised, but like the hands he didn’t have a clean shot. Egan tried to do something about that.
While Egan continued to hit Christian, he also tried to push Jordan out of the cruiser. She wouldn’t budge, though, and she managed to land some hard blows to the side of Christian’s face.
Until Christian pulled the trigger.
The fear slammed into Egan as hard as the adrenaline had, and he pinpointed all of that into one last effort to stop this snake. Egan rammed the gun not against Christian’s head but to his throat.
Finally.
Christian made a garbled sound as he fought for his breath, and he relaxed his grip on the gun just enough for Egan to take hold of it. He immediately pointed it at Christian.
“Please move so I can kill you,” Egan warned him. And it wasn’t a bluff. More than anything he wanted this man to pay for what he’d done.
Well, almost more than anything.
He needed Jordan to be okay, but Egan was almost afraid to look at her. When he did, his stomach went into a knot. There was blood on her face, and she looked as if she’d been beaten to a pulp. But she was alive, thank God, and it didn’t appear that Christian had managed to shoot her.
“Go to Court,” Egan told her, though he wasn’t sure how he managed to speak. It felt as if his throat had clamped sh
ut.
She gave a shaky nod and started to move. But Christian moved, too.
He whipped out a knife from his pocket.
Egan saw the light glint off the shiny metal blade, and he fired at him, the bullet slamming into Christian.
But the damage had already been done.
In that exact second that Egan’s bullet was killing him, Christian plunged the knife into Jordan.
Chapter Seventeen
This was a repeat of the nightmare.
Just like the night Shanna had died, Egan could do nothing but pray and pace across the hospital waiting room. Maybe, just maybe, this would have a different outcome.
The images kept replaying in his head. Of Christian jabbing his knife into Jordan. Images of the blood and the color draining from Jordan’s face. There’d been no color in Christian’s, either, because Egan’s shot had killed him, but now the same thing might happen to Jordan.
“You want me to pace for you for a while so you can get some rest?” Court asked him.
Egan appreciated his brother’s concern and even Court’s half attempt to lighten things up, but no way could he sit down. If he stopped, he might explode. Too bad he didn’t have Christian there in front of him so he had a way to burn off some of this dangerous energy coiled inside him.
Court’s phone buzzed, something it’d been doing a lot since they’d arrived at the hospital nearly a half hour earlier. Egan suspected Court was getting updates on the case. Updates that Egan wanted to hear, but first he needed to make sure Jordan was okay, and that wasn’t happening.
When they’d arrived, the nurses had immediately whisked Jordan away and had stopped Egan when he tried to follow. He’d argued with them, but then the doctor had come out and said he might need to prep Jordan for surgery. Even that hadn’t worked until the doctor had reminded him that the knife wound was in the same area as Jordan’s only kidney.
If the kidney was damaged, Jordan might die.
That had finally stopped Egan from trying to follow Jordan, but he was wishing it hadn’t. There were things he wanted to say to Jordan, and he might not get a chance to do that.
“Tori’s all right,” Court relayed when he finished his latest call. “But the marshals are going to put her in protective custody for a while just in case Christian has another hired thug out there somewhere.”
That was a good precaution to take, though Egan figured any hired thug would be long gone now that his boss had been killed. There’d be no reason for someone to hang around and risk arrest when there were multiple murder charges involved.
“Thea’s questioning Christian’s gunman who you caught at the guesthouse, and she’s been sending me text updates,” Court went on. “The guy’s name is Steve Bartow, and he’s talking. He says he wants a plea deal.”
“He’s not getting one,” Egan growled.
Court made a sound of agreement. “He claims he didn’t kill anyone, that the murders are all on Christian.”
He might be saying that to save his own skin, but it didn’t matter. Accessory to murder carried the same penalty as murder. “I want him charged with all the deaths and the attacks. If he gives us anything that will tie up any remaining loose ends, I’ll consider asking the DA to take the death penalty off the table.”
“You think there are any loose ends?” Court asked.
“Not really. I believe Christian might have even been the sniper who attacked the ranch,” Egan added. “As a cop, he certainly had the training to do something like that.” And he would have known how to evade an arrest.
It sickened Egan to think that Christian could have been following their every move through legal police channels. That was probably how he’d managed to get to those other women.
Court got another text. “It’s from Thea,” he said after he read whatever was on the screen. “The talking hired thug said it was Christian who attacked Kirk. Apparently, Christian did that because he thought Kirk and Tori were on to him.”
If they were, neither Tori nor Kirk had brought that to Egan. Of course, there’d been a lot of accusations and bogus info thanks to Christian. Maybe he’d let something slip, and Tori and Kirk had figured out he was up to no good. Egan certainly wished he’d figured it out sooner. If he had, Jordan might not have gotten hurt.
The ER doors slid open, and because Egan was still on edge, he automatically put his hand over his gun. And he kept it there when he saw Leeroy come in. Leeroy looked around the room and made a beeline toward Egan when he spotted him.
“I don’t have time for your smart mouth and venom,” Egan snapped. He expected that to set Leeroy off and have the man launch into a tirade.
He didn’t. In fact, Leeroy nodded. “It’s all over town that the dirty cop was killing the folks who got Shanna’s organs. Is it true?”
“Yeah. He did it so he could murder Jordan to silence her.” Just saying that twisted away at him, and it felt as if someone had put his heart in a vise and was squeezing hard. “The other donors were just decoys he used to cover up his real motive.”
Leeroy shook his head and muttered something under his breath that Egan didn’t catch. “You know I was against Shanna donating her organs, but I never wanted this. I never wanted anyone else to die.”
The man sounded genuine, and Egan decided to take him at his word. “Then, you need to back off. Jordan could have a long recovery ahead of her, and she’ll need some peace and quiet.” He refused to think the worst, that this could end the same way for her as it had for Shanna.
Leeroy nodded. “I won’t give her any trouble. Nor Tori.” He paused. “I guess you could say this is a truce.”
Since they’d been at each other’s throats for two years, Egan was suspicious. “Why the change of heart?”
Leeroy stayed quiet a moment. “It was all these people dying and getting hurt. I guess it finally hit me square in the face that I’ll never get Shanna back. But I don’t wish anyone else any harm. Not even you. I hope Jordan recovers and you two have a happy life together.” He tipped his Stetson in a farewell greeting and walked away.
A happy life together?
Egan silently repeated those words to himself, wondering if it was even possible.
“You think hell just froze over?” Court asked.
No. This was more like a mini-miracle. One that Egan would take. He had enough craziness in his life and was glad to have Leeroy out of the mix.
Egan checked his watch again, and he was certain that time had stopped. So had his stash of patience, and he headed in the direction of the examining room where he’d seen the nurses take Jordan. Thankfully, Court didn’t even try to stop him. Not that he could have anyway. Because Egan had to know what was going on.
He tried to prepare himself for what he would see. Maybe Jordan would be bleeding. Dying. And there was blood, all right. That was the first thing he noticed when he opened the door. Her blood-soaked shirt was on the table. She was still wearing a bra, but it was bloody, too.
But she wasn’t dying, thank God.
In fact, she was sitting up while the nurse stitched up her side. Dr. Madison was there, and she immediately went to him as if to show him right back out. Egan held his ground.
“I have to know how Jordan is,” he said with way too much emotion in his voice. He needed to stay calm because Jordan had already had a megadose of fear and emotion today.
“I’m fine,” Jordan insisted, and she reached out her hand to him, causing the nurse to scold her for moving. “The knife didn’t hit anything vital.”
Egan snapped toward the doctor to make sure that was true, and he released the breath he’d been holding when Dr. Madison nodded.
“She was very lucky. Another inch higher, and...well, she wouldn’t be sitting up right now.”
An inch. That squeezed at his heart even more. That was how close he’d come to losing her.
When Jordan held out her hand again, he went to her. Egan wanted to pull her into his arms and kiss her. He wanted to hold her and make sure she was okay, but he didn’t want to interfere with the stitches. Especially when he got a better look at the wound. It was an angry-looking gash on her rib cage.
“It looks worse than it is,” Jordan assured him, and she gave his hand a gentle squeeze.
A nick would have looked bad enough for him right now, especially considering the bruises on her face. He lightly touched the one on her cheekbone, and he felt another jolt of rage for Christian. The idiot had done this to her, and death was too easy of a punishment for him.
“Again, it looks worse than it is,” Jordan said when he touched the bruise on her chin. “How about you? Please tell me yours are worse than they look.”
Egan had no idea what she meant until he glanced at himself in the mirror above the sink. Yeah, he was a mess. His lip was busted, and he had plenty of bruises. Again, thanks to Christian.
“He refused medical treatment,” the nurse said. Her name was Mildred Jenkins, and Egan had known her his entire life. What he hadn’t known was that she was a tattletale.
“I’m okay,” he assured Jordan, and that wasn’t a lie. Now that he knew her injuries weren’t life-threatening, that knot in his stomach had eased up considerably.
“How’s Dakota?” Jordan asked.
“Court checked on him shortly after we got here. He’s got a cracked rib and a fist-sized bruise on his chest, but he’ll be fine.”
“And Kirk?”
The news wasn’t so good on that front. “He made it through surgery. I’m sure he’ll be glad to hear that I no longer consider him a suspect.”
“Yes,” Jordan said, her voice cracking a little. There it was. More of that emotion that she probably didn’t need, but it would be with them for a while. Maybe not a lifetime, though.
“In hindsight, the pieces all fit,” Egan continued. “Christian orchestrated the murders to cover up his crimes, and he hired some thugs to help him.” In this case, thugs whom he hoped to use to implicate others—like Leeroy.
Lawman with a Cause Page 16
