Proof of Guilt

by Lisa Jackson

  “Kill him only if necessary. And be careful,” Gabriel warned the ranch hand.

  “We will. We’ll keep looking for him until we find him,” Aiken added before he ended the call.

  Ivy got back to keeping watch. Not that she hadn’t been doing that, but she adjusted her position just enough so that she could try to take in more of the yard and the pastures. Still no sign of him, but she could almost feel him closing in on them.

  Who the heck was putting this monster up to this?

  The CI had said it was Travis, and perhaps it was. Maybe he’d somehow gotten the money. But there was also another possibility. One that had been a thorn in her family’s side since Travis had first been arrested.

  “Could your uncle August be behind this?” Ivy asked Theo. “Because August has been adamant that Travis is innocent.”

  August was Travis’s half brother. A hothead. In the past ten years, he’d never turned to violence to free his brother, but August could be getting desperate since Travis had exhausted all his appeals.

  “I haven’t spoken to August since I left Blue River,” Theo answered. “I tried to call him, but he didn’t answer. If he had anything to do with this, I’ll deal with him.”

  Judging from Theo’s tone, that would not be pleasant. Not a surprise. There was no love lost between Jodi and their uncle, and it appeared to be the same for Theo. Of course, that was probably because August was not an easy man to like, and he was always saying that Travis’s “ungrateful kids” weren’t doing enough to help their father.

  Theo’s phone buzzed. “It’s the agent who recorded the conversation with the CI,” Theo relayed to them, but he didn’t mention the guy by name. However, as Gabriel had done, he put the call on speaker. “The gunman’s here,” Theo told the agent right off. “Not in the house, but it appears this is where he’s headed.”

  The agent didn’t jump to answer. It seemed as if he took a moment to process that. “You want me out there?”

  “Not yet. This goon could fire shots at you as you drive up. Plus, I don’t want to send him running.”

  Part of Ivy wanted him to run. To get as far away from Nathan as possible. But Theo was right. If the guy ran, he could possibly just regroup and come back for a second attempt.

  “Did you find any bugs in the sheriff’s office?” Theo asked.

  “Not yet, but the deputies are looking. One of them spoke to Gabriel a little while ago. He stepped outside to do that.”

  “Cameron,” Gabriel provided. “He called the moment the agent showed up at the office.”

  Of course he had. He wouldn’t have kept Gabriel in the dark about something this big. That meant Gabriel had been plenty busy in the short time since all of this mess had started with Theo’s arrival.

  “The deputy wants to know if you need backup,” the agent continued.

  “Not yet,” Gabriel answered before Theo could say anything. “But keep watch, because there might be more than one hired gun. Whoever’s behind this could have sent someone there.”

  Oh, mercy. She hadn’t even considered that. But if someone had indeed wanted to put the Becketts “in the grave,” then the person might have gone looking for Gabriel at work.

  “I just got a call,” the agent continued. “The CI is dead.”

  Other than hearing she had a son, Theo hadn’t seemed surprised by much of what had happened. But he was clearly surprised now. And riled. “How the hell did that happen?”

  “We’re not sure yet. We had a tail on him, just in case he tried to follow the hired gun or something, but the tail stayed a safe distance back. He saw someone dressed all in black gun the guy down.”

  Ivy doubted that was a coincidence, and that meant… Oh, God.

  “Was this all a setup?” she asked. Neither Gabriel nor Theo jumped to deny that, and that only caused her heart to pound even harder. “You think the hired gun wanted Theo to come here?” she added.

  Again, they didn’t deny it. “If so, it worked,” Gabriel mumbled, and he tacked on some profanity.

  Yes, it had. But what did it mean? It didn’t take Ivy long to come up with something that she didn’t want to consider.

  All the “survivors” of the murders were now under the same roof. Gabriel, Jameson, Jodi, Theo and her. Along with their sister, Lauren, all five of them had been either in the house where her parents were murdered or on the grounds. Which meant they had all been possible witnesses to the crime.

  Possible, but they actually hadn’t been.

  Ivy had been in her upstairs bedroom with her headphones on. And crying. Because of the blowup that Theo had just had with her folks. The music had been so loud that she hadn’t heard her mother and father being murdered in the room just below her. Some people had told her that it was a blessing she hadn’t heard because if she had, she would have gone downstairs and possibly been killed, too. But Ivy wished she had heard. Because she might have been able to save them.

  Jodi hadn’t heard the murders going on, either. She’d been outside, coming back from Gabriel’s house, which was a short distance away. She’d been attacked that night. Not by the killer, though. But rather by her ex-boyfriend who’d been in a rage over their breakup. Since he was now dead, he was no longer a possible witness.

  Jameson and Gabriel had been at their own houses, but they were close enough to the main ranch house that they could have seen something. They hadn’t. But maybe the killer hadn’t known or believed that.

  “What could your father or August possibly hope to gain by eliminating witnesses?” Ivy came out and asked.

  “They wouldn’t,” Theo answered.

  She looked at Gabriel to see if he would argue that. He didn’t. “If they wanted to clear Travis’s name,” Gabriel explained, “they could be desperate enough to arrange a murder. But Theo and Jodi wouldn’t be the targets.”

  Because Travis still seemingly loved his children. Of course, that didn’t exclude Travis’s brother. August wasn’t fond of Jodi or Theo. “This could all be something August put together.”

  “If August had come up with this plan to make my father look innocent,” Theo went on, “he would have hired someone to stab his victim.”

  The way her parents had been killed.

  Ivy was about to say that could be the hired thug’s plan. But then she heard a sound that stopped her cold.

  “Get down!” someone shouted. Aiken.

  But there was no time to do that. Because a bullet came crashing through the window where Ivy was standing.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Hell. Theo hadn’t even seen the shot coming.

  But he sure as heck heard it. Felt it, too, when the glass flew through the room and a piece of it sliced across his cheek. It stung, but he ignored it and scrambled toward Ivy so he could pull her to the floor. She had already started in that direction, but Theo helped her along by hooking his arm around her and dragging her about five feet away from the window.

  Good thing, because another bullet tore through what was left of the glass.

  “Stay down,” Theo warned her, and he put her behind a huge leather chair so he could hurry back to the window. He didn’t get directly in front of it but instead kept to the side.

  This was exactly what Theo had been trying to stop. Ivy and her family had been through enough, but apparently that moron outside didn’t feel the same. He was adding to their misery, and in doing so, he was putting an innocent child in danger. Theo didn’t know how old Nathan was, but it was possible he was a baby.

  “Do you see him?” Gabriel asked. He came to the window next to Theo and peered out through the edge of the blinds.

  Theo looked over the grounds as best he could, but there were too many places their attacker could use for cover. A barn, several vehicles, shrubs and trees. However, it became a little easier to narrow down a hiding place when the ne
xt shot blasted through the air. Like the other two, this one slammed into the wall near the door, and it allowed Theo to pinpoint the man’s location.

  “He’s on the right side of the barn,” Theo relayed to Gabriel. “I can’t see him, but I can see a rifle barrel.”

  Gabriel didn’t waste any time. He tossed Ivy his phone. “Text Aiken and tell him to stay back from the barn.” And like Theo, Gabriel took aim in that direction.

  Theo didn’t look back at Ivy, but he could hear the clicks on the phone as she wrote. However, they were soon drowned out by another shot. This time, it went through the window near Gabriel.

  That must have been the final straw for Ivy’s brother because he cursed, took aim at the barn and fired. Theo did the same, all the while watching to see if their attacker would show his face. He didn’t. And he didn’t seem put off by being shot at, because he continued to fire, as well. However, something was off because Theo could no longer see the rifle.

  “I think he’s trying to make a getaway,” Theo mumbled. “I’ll go after him.” He didn’t allow Gabriel or Ivy a say in that. Keeping low, Theo hurried toward the door. “Disarm the security system so I can go out front but reset it as soon as I’m outside.”

  Theo had only been in Gabriel’s house a time or two even though the man had lived there for going on thirteen years. Gabriel hadn’t exactly been a fan of Theo’s when he’d been dating Ivy, but Theo had dropped by a couple of times to pick her up there. That’s why Theo knew the general layout, and he ran up the hall and through the family room to get to the front door.

  Gabriel must have turned off the system because the alarm didn’t go off when Theo eased open the door. However, he did hear a sound he didn’t especially want to hear.

  Footsteps behind him.

  It was Gabriel. “You’ll need help,” Gabriel growled.

  “You should stay with Ivy,” Theo growled right back.

  “She’s the one who insisted I go with you.” Gabriel didn’t seem especially pleased about that.

  This was part of that “old water, old bridge” thing between Theo and the Becketts. Still, Gabriel was a lawman, and he knew it was a stupid time to discuss this or anything else, especially all that old baggage. Gabriel rearmed the security system, this time using the keypad on the wall, and he shut the door. He then tipped his head to the left side of the house.

  “I’ll go that way,” Gabriel said, “and make my way to the back. As soon as I get to the porch, I’ll fire at the barn, but I’ll keep my shots low to try to avoid a kill shot. You do the same from this side of the house. Ivy’s texting the hands to let them know we’re out here so they won’t hit us by mistake.”

  Good. Gabriel had been thorough. Now, if everything played out as planned, they could catch this snake and get him to talk. If August or his father was involved, then there’d be hell to pay. Not just from Theo but from the Becketts.

  Theo made his way to the side of the porch and peered around the edge. He was careful, but the gunman must have been looking for him because he sent a shot right at Theo. It smashed into the wood siding, tearing a hole in it.

  That caused Theo to curse again, and he hoped like the devil that none of those shots made it through the wall where Ivy was or upstairs to the others. If the shots went in the direction of her son, Theo was almost certain that Ivy would go running up there, and in doing so she might get herself killed.

  Theo waited, giving Gabriel a couple of seconds to get into place, and even though those seconds seemed to crawl by, he knew Gabriel was hurrying. And the next sound Theo heard was a shot coming from the direction where Gabriel had said he would be. Their attacker would obviously soon know that Gabriel was back there.

  Theo leaned out, aiming low, and he fired two rounds. Almost immediately, he ducked back behind cover. Good thing, too, because the gunman fired off two rounds of his own at Theo. But Theo could also hear the man cursing. Maybe because he’d been hit. Perhaps because he realized that coming here alone had been a stupid mistake.

  That last thought had no sooner crossed his mind when Theo felt that bad feeling crawl up his spine. It was a feeling that had saved his butt a few times, so he didn’t ignore it. He pivoted, looking around him.

  And spotted the second man near Theo’s own truck.

  He was dressed all in black, armed with multiple weapons on an equipment belt. He had one weapon in his hand, as well. That’s the one he aimed at Theo.

  Theo fired first.

  He double tapped the trigger, the shots slamming directly into the man’s chest, and the guy dropped to the ground. Maybe dead or dying, but it was equally possible that he was wearing a Kevlar vest and had simply had the breath knocked out of him. If so, he could still be dangerous.

  “There’s a second gunman,” Theo called out to Gabriel. “And there might be others.”

  Of course, Gabriel didn’t need him to add that last part, but it was also, hopefully, a reminder for everyone inside to stay down. Especially Ivy. She was on the bottom floor and could easily be hit by bullets meant for Gabriel and him.

  The guy by the barn fired another couple of shots, one of them in Theo’s direction. At least one went toward Gabriel’s office, though. Maybe the guy had thermal equipment or something because he seemed to know that there was still someone in that particular room. When the goon sent another shot at the office, Theo knew he couldn’t wait.

  He leaned out and fired.

  Not low this time.

  Theo sent some rounds in the area of the shooter’s chest. And finally the shots stopped. Just like that, it was quiet again. Theo didn’t hear any moaning or sounds of pain. Definitely didn’t hear anyone trying to run away.

  It was a risk. Anything he did at this point could be, but Theo left the porch and ran toward his truck, where the second gunman was still on the ground. He kept his gun ready, kept watch around him, too, but as he approached the man, he didn’t see any movement.

  But he did see blood.

  It was on the ground around the guy, which meant he hadn’t been wearing Kevlar after all. Theo touched his fingers to the man’s neck.

  Dead.

  He didn’t curse, though that’s what he wanted to do. Maybe the other one was still alive.

  Using shrubs for cover, Theo started making his way to the barn. “I’m back here,” he called out to Gabriel.

  But calling out to him wasn’t necessary because Theo soon spotted the sheriff at the back of the house. Gabriel was closer to the barn now, heading toward the first gunman. And he wasn’t alone. There was another man with Gabriel. One of the hands no doubt.

  “Are the hired killers dead?” Ivy asked, and that’s when Theo realized she was at one of the blasted-out windows.

  “Get down!” Theo ordered her.

  He hurried past Ivy but not before he got a glimpse of her face. She was too pale and had a death grip on the gun she’d taken from her brother’s desk, but she appeared to be unharmed. Physically, anyway. This had to be triggering flashbacks of her parents’ murders. Also triggering new fears of the danger to her son and family.

  Gabriel and the hand got to the gunman ahead of Theo, and Theo braced himself for Gabriel to say the guy was dead. He didn’t.

  “Ivy, call an ambulance,” Gabriel shouted. “Tell the medics to hurry.”

  Theo soon figured out why the hurry part was necessary. Just like the guy in the front yard, this one had gunshots to the chest, and he was bleeding out fast. Theo kicked away the guy’s weapon just as Gabriel got right in the man’s face.

  “Who hired you?” Gabriel demanded, sounding very much like the lawman that he was.

  The guy shook his head, and he opened his mouth as if to answer. But he didn’t. His eyelids drifted down, and his head flopped back, prompting Gabriel to check for a pulse.

  “He’s still alive,” Gabriel said, glancing at T
heo. “Go back in and check on Ivy and the others. Ivy still has my phone so tell her to disarm the security system. Also let Jameson know what’s going on.”

  Theo didn’t like leaving Gabriel out there with just the hand, but he soon saw two other men making their way toward them. Not gunmen. These were dressed like ranch hands.

  “I heard Gabriel,” Ivy volunteered. Which meant she was still too close to the blasted window. “I turned off the alarm.”

  Good, because the sooner Theo got in the house, the sooner he could chew her out for taking a risk like standing too close to the window. But he didn’t get a chance to even start the chewing out. By the time he was through the door and into the foyer, Ivy was already headed up the stairs. Theo shut the door and followed her.

  She stopped at the top of the stairs, looked at him, and he saw that her bottom lip was trembling. Actually, she was trembling all over.

  “There really could be others?” she asked. Her voice was as shaky as the rest of her.

  “Maybe.” And he hated that he even had to say that to her because it certainly didn’t help with her frayed nerves. “We just don’t know who or what we’re dealing with right now.”

  She nodded. But didn’t budge. “I need a second to calm down. I don’t want Nathan to see me like this.”

  Theo understood that. As a single mom, she probably wanted to be strong for her kid. But she took more than a second, and the trembling seemed to be getting worse. He figured it was a mistake, but since Theo didn’t know what the heck else to do, he put his arm around her.

  Ivy automatically stiffened. Maybe because the last time she’d been in his arms, they’d still been lovers. But there was no trace of that attraction now, and Theo heard her try to choke back a sob.

  She pulled away from him, hiking up her chin. Or rather, trying. She wasn’t doing a very good job of it until one of the doors opened and Jameson stuck out his head.

  “Are you okay?” Jameson asked, his attention going straight to his sister.