Good. Of course, Rosalie, her baby and Roy were in the main house, but maybe they could get them into a secure location like one of the bathrooms.
“Marshal Walker just sent me a text,” Colt interrupted. “He said we need to hurry, that he’s only about ten minutes out from the ranch.”
That did it. Reed would have liked more time to work out the kinks in this plan they’d just slapped together, but every moment that he delayed meant Emily was out there.
“Call the marshal,” Reed said to Colt. “Tell him that we need at least twenty minutes to get everyone in place. I’ll call the ranch hands.”
And anyone else he could trust to make sure things didn’t go to hell in a handbasket.
“I can help,” Addison said the moment he got off the phone. “Give me a gun, because I want to be in the barn to stop the kidnappers.”
Reed brushed a kiss on her forehead and thanked her for her offer. “You’re going to Cooper’s house to wait for Emily to arrive. That’s the best way you can help,” he added when she started to argue.
She probably would have still tried to continue that argument, but Reed started those calls. “Use the landline to call Roy and let him know what’s going on,” he told her. “I want Rosalie, him, the baby and anyone else in the house far away from the windows.”
While Addison did that, Reed got started with his own calls. First, to the ranch hand Darnell so he could assemble a group to go out to the gate and barns at the back of the ranch. Other ranch hands would go to the front of the property in case this was all a diversion by the kidnappers so they could try to take Addison.
“Rosalie’s husband and Roy are both armed,” Addison relayed to him once she finished her call to the main house. “They’ll stay put until they hear from you.”
Good. While he would have liked having Rosalie’s FBI husband as backup, it was best if he stayed in the house to protect Rosalie and the others inside. Now Reed had to make sure the kidnappers didn’t get that far onto the ranch.
“Cooper and Colt are on their way,” Reed told her. “Colt will come with me. Cooper will be at his house with Emily, you and the marshal.” Plus, there was the nanny-bodyguard and the others in the protection detail. Reed wished he had an entire army to put there, but at least Emily and Addison would be surrounded by people trained to keep them safe.
And that meant it was time to put these final pieces into place.
Pieces that would involve some more risks.
“I need to get you to Cooper’s house so I can go to the barn,” he said to her. “Some of the ranch hands are headed down to the front to keep an eye on that wooded area, but it’s still possible that gunmen are hiding in there.”
She gave a nod. Not a shaky one, either. “I want to be at Cooper’s house when Emily gets there.”
Where both of them would be away from possible trouble.
He hoped.
First, though, he had to get Addison there, and that meant taking her out in the open. That was where the risk part came in. Because a guy with a high-powered rifle could manage to shoot them the moment they stepped outside.
“Move fast,” he instructed. “When you get in the truck, stay down, and I’ll drive you to Cooper’s house.” It wasn’t far, less than a five-minute walk, but it would be harder for a gunman to hurt her if she was in the truck.
However, they’d hardly made it a step when Reed’s phone rang again, and he answered it right away when he saw Colt’s name on the screen.
“We’ve got a big problem,” Colt said immediately. “Someone’s firing at the SUV carrying Emily. Marshal Walker’s heading to the ranch. You need to get to the back ranch gate now.”
* * *
ADDISON’S HEARTBEAT WENT into overdrive. So did the horrible images of what was possibly happening. The nightmarish thoughts came again, hard and fast like the bullets those monsters were firing at her baby.
“I’m going with you,” she insisted before Reed could say anything.
He didn’t stop. He kept them running toward the truck. “It’ll be safer for you at Cooper’s.”
“We don’t have a second to spare,” Addison reminded him. “Those men are shooting at Emily.”
Mercy, it broke her heart just to say that aloud, but Reed certainly couldn’t dispute it. She wanted him there when Marshal Walker came through the gate, and for that to happen, they’d need to leave now and not waste the precious minutes it’d take for him to drop her off at Cooper’s and then turn around to head to the back part of the ranch.
Reed was cursing when they jumped into the truck, but he didn’t go toward Cooper’s house. Thank God. He sped down the side dirt road that would lead them away from the main house.
“You’ll need to stay inside the truck and keep down,” he growled. He obviously wasn’t happy about bringing her along, but like her, he knew what had to be done. “There’s a gun in the glove compartment. Not that I want you to use it. I’m serious about that staying-down part. But I want you to have it just in case.”
Just in case Reed and the ranch hands couldn’t stop those men following the SUV. Even though Addison wasn’t a good shot by any means, she did have some training. Most folks did in this rural part of Texas. And she wouldn’t be afraid to use the gun if it meant protecting her baby.
The truck bobbled over the uneven road, and both Reed and she kept watch around them.
Not that there was much to see.
The ranch hands who were usually all over the grounds either had moved to the front fence or were on their way to the back to help Reed and her. She prayed that everyone got in place in time and then added a prayer that none of the bullets got anywhere near Emily.
“The marshals will protect the baby with their lives,” Reed reminded her.
The reminder helped a little, but the only thing that would truly help was for this to be over and to have Emily safe in her arms. And to see the people responsible for this behind bars.
Just as he took one of the curves on the road, his phone rang, and Reed handed it to her so she could answer it.
“It’s Colt,” she relayed to Reed, and put the call on speaker.
“Is Emily all right?” Addison asked before Colt said anything.
“She’s fine,” Colt answered.
Whether that was true or not, she didn’t know, but for her sanity Addison believed him.
“The gunmen in one of the cars disabled a marshal’s vehicle that was trying to stop them,” Colt continued, “but Marshal Walker got away and is headed for that gate at the back of the ranch.”
If the attackers had managed to do that, then they could disable Walker’s SUV, too.
“Darnell will open the gate,” Reed said to him. “And I’ll be there in a minute or two.”
“Good. Cooper and I are both on the way.”
“You need to make sure the front of the ranch is secure,” Reed insisted. “This could all be a ploy to pull us away so these goons can come barreling onto the ranch. Right now there are probably only two hands to cover that whole wooded area where the shooters could hide out.”
Colt paused a moment. He’d probably already considered that this could be some kind of trap, but like Reed and her, he was no doubt trying to figure out how to protect the others on the ranch, including Rosalie and her baby daughter.
“I’ll go to the front of the ranch,” Colt finally said. “When he gets there, Cooper can go to the back with Darnell and you.”
“How soon before Marshal Walker reaches the gate?” Reed asked. Once he cleared another curve, she spotted the two old hay barns ahead.
“I’m estimating less than five minutes. Just make sure Darnell has the gate open.”
Reed assured Colt that he would, and ended the call.
Addison had been on the Sweetwater Ranch plenty of times bu
t never to this part of the grounds. Thankfully, there weren’t a lot of trees, so that meant fewer places for gunmen to hide. However, it also meant there wasn’t much cover for Reed and the ranch hands, either.
Reed slowed when he saw one of the ranch hands standing next to a truck that was parked near the barn. It was Quint Gifford, someone she knew well. He wasn’t just a ranch hand but also an auxiliary cop who Cooper sometimes used in emergency situations.
“Is Darnell by the gate?” Reed asked, lowering the window.
Quint nodded and tipped his head to the road. “The gate’s just around that curve there, and Darnell took Grange with him.”
Addison knew Grange, too. He was another of Reed’s ranch hands. Not an auxiliary cop like Quint, but he was still someone she trusted.
“Cell service is spotty out here,” Quint continued, “so we all three have walkie-talkies if you need to get in touch with him.”
So, only two ranch hands, but Addison reminded herself there were armed marshals in the SUV. Maybe that meant their attackers were outnumbered and would back off. She hated they couldn’t just end the threat right here, right now, but Addison didn’t want to do that until Emily was safely tucked away.
Reed pulled the truck off the road and to the side of the barn. “Wait here with Quint,” he told her. He started toward the gate but then looked back over his shoulder. First at her. Then at Quint.
“If there’s trouble,” Reed added to the ranch hands, “make sure you get her out of the way.”
Quint nodded, and while Addison didn’t like the idea of anyone, including Quint, putting themselves on the line to protect her, she wouldn’t argue, since she didn’t want to delay Reed getting to the gate. However, if trouble came, there was no way she’d hide while she could do something—anything—to protect Emily.
Reed hurried away, and it didn’t take long for him to disappear around the curve. Quint and she stayed by his truck, both watching and waiting. Both armed.
Addison tried to pick through the sounds of the cool spring breeze and the leaves rattling on the shrubs so she could try to hear Reed, the others or even the sound of the marshal’s SUV.
But there was nothing.
Well, nothing except her heavy breathing and her own heartbeat crashing in her ears. It was impossible to make herself stay calm.
Quint’s walkie-talkie made a slight crackling sound, and without taking his attention off the road, he pushed the button to answer.
“The SUV’s just up the road,” she heard Darnell say. “Once it’s through, I’ll close the gate. Reed wants you and Addison to follow the marshal’s SUV in the truck to Cooper’s house.”
That plan sounded good except for the part about Reed and other two ranch hands not going to Cooper’s house with them. They’d stay, of course, to deal with the gunmen.
That sure didn’t help her raw nerves.
Addison reminded herself that Reed was a cop, but it didn’t help, either. He was also her ex-husband. Emily’s father. And the man she’d slept with just a little while ago. Not that she’d needed that to remind her how important Reed was to her, but the intimacy had certainly given her a jolt.
She couldn’t lose him.
“I hear a car engine,” Quint said, lifting his head.
It took Addison a moment, but she heard it, as well. Even though she couldn’t see the SUV, it was clearly traveling at a fast speed. There was a squeal of brakes, then the sound of tires flinging up gravel from the road.
Was that the SUV?
Addison prayed that it was. She didn’t have to wait long for confirmation. Almost immediately, the marshal’s SUV came barreling around the curve directly toward the barns.
However, that wasn’t the only sound.
The gunshots blasted through the air.
Chapter Seventeen
Everything happened at once. Walker’s SUV came tearing past the gate, the tires kicking up a spray of dirt and rocks. The debris smacked into Reed and the ranch hands. There’d been no way to prevent it. Not at the speed the marshal was going. Reed felt the sting of a cut above his eye. Heard the two hands yelp out in pain.
Worse, the oversize black truck carrying the attackers sped in right behind the SUV. Right on its tail. There was no time for Reed to make a move to shut the gate.
The black truck came right toward them.
Reed jumped to the side, and in the same motion, he fired. Not at the gunmen, whose windows were all down. But at the tires. It took three shots, but he finally disabled the front passenger’s tire.
Darnell took aim at the tires, too. Thank God it worked, because the truck wobbled to a stop.
“Take cover,” Reed told Darnell and Grange.
Both ranch hands scrambled to the sides of some shrubs. Definitely not much protection, but at least the truck was no longer heading toward the SUV. Maybe Dallas could get Emily safely away from this, and while he was wishing, Reed added that there wouldn’t be a second attack at the front of the ranch, since Colt likely hadn’t had time to get there yet.
Reed braced himself for the men in the truck to come out with guns blazing. That didn’t happen.
There was nothing but silence.
He couldn’t even see inside. The back window was heavily tinted, but he thought he’d seen three men in the vehicle. Not bad odds. Reed figured he could take at least two of them out, leaving the third for Darnell and Grange.
Then Reed heard another sound.
One that put his heart right in his throat.
Movement. Not from the guys in the black truck, either. Someone was running from the road and onto the ranch grounds.
Hell.
If it was Cooper out there, he would have given Reed some kind of warning. No. This was almost certainly the attackers who’d been in that second vehicle. The ones who’d managed to disable the marshals’ backup car that’d been following Walker to the safe house.
Reed couldn’t see anyone, but there was no mistaking where those hurried footsteps were going.
Toward the barns where he’d left Addison.
“Tell Quint that danger’s coming his way and to stop those men when they get out of the truck,” Reed whispered to Darnell.
Yeah, it was a risk to leave the two ranch hands, but it was an even bigger risk to leave Addison, because she was almost certainly these goons’ main target.
Reed started running, too. Not on the road by the truck. The men inside would just gun him down. Instead he ducked behind some shrubs and used them for cover. Not ideal. But maybe it would get him close enough to protect Addison.
Or not.
He’d barely made it a few steps when someone shot at him.
The blast was loud. Probably from a rifle. The bullet tore through the bushes just above his head. Reed scrunched down even lower, but he kept moving. Had to. No way could he let these killers get to Addison, especially since they’d had no trouble killing Cissy and leaving her sister for dead.
Another shot ripped through the shrubs, but even over the blast, Reed heard other shots. Behind him. No doubt coming from Darnell and Grange. Maybe from the other guys in the truck, too.
But there was more.
A shot farther up the road. Right in the direction of the barns.
That got Reed moving even faster, and he had to remind himself to stay low. It wouldn’t do Addison and Quint any good if he got himself shot while trying to reach them.
Thankfully, the shrubs got thicker after he ran the next twenty yards. Reed used them and hoped like the devil he wasn’t too late. There were way too many shots being fired, and by now any one of them could have hit Addison.
It seemed to take a couple of lifetimes, but Reed finally made it to the barns. And immediately didn’t like what he saw. Addison was there, at the back corner
of the nearest barn, and Quint had his gun drawn and was hovering over her.
For a good reason.
Those idiot attackers were shooting at them.
Addison lifted her head, her gaze snapping right to Reed, but he motioned for her to stay down. She did, and Reed glanced around trying to spot the gunmen. He didn’t see them, but judging from the angle of the shots, they were lying in the deep ditch across the dirt road from the barns.
Reed fired a shot at them and hurried those last few yards to Addison.
Her breath rushed out. She was obviously relieved to see him, but Reed knew there was nothing to be relieved about yet. Yeah, he’d made it to her, but there were plenty of would-be killers in the area. Those men back by the gate with the flat tires and heaven knew how many here.
“Dallas radioed Quint. He, Emily and the others made it to Cooper’s house,” Addison told him immediately.
That was great news. Now Reed had to make sure these gunmen didn’t make it anywhere near Cooper’s while he kept Addison safe.
But how?
There wasn’t a back door to the barn and trying to reach the front would be suicide. Still, if they could get inside the barn, they’d have some cover, and he’d be in a better position to take out the shooters in the ditch.
“See if there are any loose boards,” Reed said to Quint.
He heard Quint doing just that, but Reed couldn’t help him. He didn’t dare take his attention off their attackers. And he finally got lucky. One of them levered up, no doubt to get a better shot at Addison and them, but Reed took aim and fired first.
Reed’s bullet slammed into the man’s chest, causing him to crumple to the ground. Maybe he was dead. Or at least out of commission so Reed had a better chance of dealing with the ones still alive.
To his right, he heard Quint and Addison pulling at some of the boards. He also heard the gunmen scrambling around in the ditch. They were either helping their fallen comrade or getting in a better position to return fire.
Reed got a quick answer about that, too.
There were three of them, and he saw the tops of their heads when they fanned out over the ditch. It put the one on Reed’s left in solid position to fire at him.
Reining in Justice Page 15
