The shots blasted into the truck, and Reed had no choice but to drop down, as well. It wouldn’t help Addison if he got himself killed.
“Reed?” Colt called out.
Judging from the sound of his voice, Colt was still at the back of the barn and no doubt armed, but if he came in shooting, he could be gunned down.
“Plenty of backup is on the way,” Colt added.
Even over the gunfire, Reed heard Dominic cursing.
Good.
That meant the man hadn’t planned for this. Well, hopefully not anyway. Dominic had probably figured he would have Addison in the truck and out of there by now.
“Watch out, Reed!” Quint yelled. “He’s coming your way.”
Reed’s gaze swung to his right just in time to see the gunman at the back end of the truck. The guy was taking aim.
So did Reed.
And Reed pulled the trigger first.
The gunman wasn’t wearing Kevlar, and the bullet smacked him right in the chest. He dropped like a stone to the ground.
One down, two to go.
But there was one Reed wanted more than the other. Dominic. Because of that bastard, he’d nearly lost Addison and Emily, and Dominic would pay and pay hard for that.
Reed felt the movement at his feet and realized that Addison was throwing bits of the wooden debris out at Dominic and the other gunman. No doubt to distract them and get their attention off him. It wasn’t the safest thing for her to do, but at this point nothing was safe.
The gunman at the rear of his truck appeared to be dead so Reed headed in that direction, scooping up the guy’s weapon. He didn’t have a lot of ammo and might need it if this fight went on much longer.
The moment he was at the other end of the truck, Reed spotted Quint. The ranch hand had taken cover behind the massive back tractor wheel. Dominic’s gunman was shooting at him, but the bullets weren’t going through the thick tire.
Dominic, however, was behind the bulldozer, and he was firing toward the bottom of the truck.
At Addison.
Hell. Reed had welcomed the distraction that she was creating, but she was going to get shot if she kept it up. Worse, Dominic was positioned behind the bulldozer, so Reed didn’t have a shot to stop him.
“Dominic!” Reed shouted to get the man’s attention off Addison.
It worked.
Dominic snapped toward Reed, and in the same motion, he fired.
Reed barely got out of the way in time, and the bullet tore off a chunk of the truck. Pieces of jagged metal flew through the air, some of them slicing into Reed’s clothes and skin.
That didn’t stop him.
Even though Dominic was still behind cover for the most part, Reed started shooting. Just as Dominic’s bullet had done to the truck, Reed’s did the same with the bulldozer. Bits of metal broke off, flinging into Dominic. One sliced across his cheek, causing the man to stagger back enough.
Just enough.
Dominic realized he was away from cover, and he lifted his gun toward Reed. But Reed was ready, and he fired right into the man’s chest. Dominic froze, his startled gaze looking down at his wounded chest before he sank to his knees.
But that wasn’t all he did.
Despite the shock and pain from being shot, Dominic turned his gun toward Reed and fired. Reed dropped.
Fired again.
Two more shots that went squarely into Dominic.
This time, Dominic didn’t fire. He couldn’t. There were no startled looks. No more anything.
Dominic fell, his gun clattering out of his hand when it hit the ground.
Almost immediately Colt came rushing through the hole in the back of the barn wall, and he pointed his gun at the other man. “Drop your weapon!” Colt ordered.
He didn’t. Not at first anyway. But then he looked around at Reed and Quint and realized he didn’t stand a chance. Cursing, he tossed his gun and lifted his hands in surrender.
“Are you okay?” Reed asked, ducking so he could see Addison.
She was terrified, but she didn’t seem to be injured. Somewhat of a miracle with all those bullets flying around. Addison crawled out toward him, and the moment she reached the side of the truck, Reed pulled her to her feet and to him.
The relief was instant and so strong that it slammed hard into him. Addison was alive. And in his arms. So he kissed her. Yeah, the timing sucked, but Reed thought maybe she needed it as much as he did.
“Dominic’s dead,” Colt said.
Even though he’d been kissing Addison, Reed had kept an eye on both the gunman and Dominic. He’d figured the man was dead, and while he wasn’t all torn up about that, Reed would have liked some answers.
“Maybe we can get info about the baby farms when we go through his office,” Reed said.
“You won’t find anything there,” his hired gun said. He waited until he had Colt’s and Reed’s attention before he continued. “I want a plea deal, one with no jail time, and in exchange I’ll tell you the location of every file that has anything to do with the baby operation.”
“Right.” Reed stared at him. “Any reason we should believe you?”
“Yeah,” the guy snapped. “Because I’m about to give you something you really want.”
“And what would that be?” Reed asked.
“Dominic had a backup plan. One that involved taking your daughter. Before we ever came into the barn, he sent a team to carry out that plan.”
Addison gasped and latched on to the man’s shirt. “What do you mean?” she demanded.
Dominic’s hired gun tipped his head toward the ranch houses. “If you hurry, you can stop the baby from being kidnapped.”
Chapter Twenty
It felt as if someone had knocked the breath right out of Reed. This couldn’t be happening. Not now, after they’d already been through so much.
“You’re lying,” Reed said to the gunman.
But he knew he wasn’t. There was something in the man’s cold, dark eyes. A warning for Reed to hurry.
So that was what he did.
Addison hurried to Colt’s truck, too, all the while mumbling a prayer. Reed was right there with her. Praying and determined to do whatever it took. He wouldn’t lose his little girl.
“I’m calling Cooper!” Colt shouted out to Reed as they sped away.
Good. He’d take all the help he could get right now.
“Emily’s well guarded,” Reed reminded Addison. Reminded himself, too. She was with Marshal Walker, Cooper and the others, and they wouldn’t let Dominic’s hired goons just walk in and take her.
Of course, if there as a gunfight, Emily and everyone else could be right back in danger, as well.
So Reed hurried. Driving way too fast and yet it didn’t seem nearly fast enough. The seconds just crawled by.
“Colt’s probably already done it, but call Rosalie,” he told Addison. “Just in case these kidnappers go to the main house instead of Cooper’s.”
“Oh, God,” Addison mumbled.
She snatched up his phone and made the call. The fear practically dripped from her voice. Fear not just for Emily but for Rosalie and her baby, too.
“Rosalie said the doors were all locked and they’re keeping watch,” Addison relayed to him when she finished the call.
Reed hoped that would be enough.
He didn’t see any sign of trouble when he drove past the main house and guest cottage. There were still ranch hands guarding the front of the property, where they’d been for the last half hour or so.
“How would Dominic have managed to get his men onto this part of the grounds?” Addison asked, her gaze also going to the ranch hands. They weren’t just covering the wooded area; they were on the road that led t
o the ranch.
Sadly, Reed knew a way Dominic could have done it. “He could have already had his men in place before this latest attack.”
No one could just come driving up unnoticed to the ranch, but with all the activity that’d been going on, it was possible for someone to come in on foot. For that matter, Dominic could have sneaked the men in the night before so they’d be in place, waiting and ready to strike.
Reed slowed as they approached Cooper’s sprawling house. Again, nothing seemed out of place, and he spotted the marshal’s SUV parked out front in the circular drive. There certainly wasn’t a fight in progress.
But then he spotted someone.
“Get down,” he told Addison, something he’d had to do way too much lately. But again, it was necessary.
Because he saw a man dressed in dark clothes at the back of the house. The guy was peering into one of the windows but stopped when the sound of the truck engine caught his attention.
The man turned, lifted his gun and fired at Reed.
The shot tore through the windshield, shattering it, and it made it impossible to see out. Reed gave the steering wheel a sharp turn to the right, turning the truck so that he could see through the side window. It was already down, so Reed took aim.
Careful aim.
He didn’t want the shot going into the house.
Reed’s bullet smacked into his shoulder. It wasn’t enough to kill him, but it did cause him to drop his gun. Probably because at the exact moment, Cooper came storming out the back door. The sheriff was armed and clearly not happy that someone was stupid enough to attack anyone inside his own home.
With Cooper arresting the injured gunman, Reed fired glances around for more. The deal-pleading gunman in the barn had said Dominic had sent in a pair.
“There’s another one,” Reed called out to Cooper.
Cooper nodded. “Marshal Walker got him right after Colt called.” He pushed the injured gunman against the house and used a pair of plastic cuffs to keep him restrained.
“Emily?” Addison said, and before Reed could stop her, she barreled out of the truck.
Reed went after her, just in case all was not well, and he glanced over at Cooper, who was restraining the injured gunman with plastic cuffs. Hopefully, Dallas was doing the same thing to the other one. If the guy was still alive, that is.
Addison made it to the porch ahead of Reed, but he stopped her at the door, just in case Dominic had sent in more than a pair of kidnappers. However, the door flew open, and there were no kidnappers inside.
But there were guns.
Both of the other marshals had pulled their weapons, ready to protect Emily. However, the baby was nowhere in sight.
“Emily?” Addison called out.
“She’s in the bathroom just off the hall,” one of the marshals told her.
Reed and Addison ran in that direction, but the two other marshals stayed in place, no doubt to make sure the attack was truly over.
“It’s us, Emily’s parents,” Reed said when they reached the hall bathroom, just in case the bodyguard-nanny was armed and ready to shoot whoever tried to get in.
The woman eased open the door. Yeah, she was armed all right, but she wasn’t holding Emily. That caused his heart to slam against his chest. Until Reed saw Emily in her infant seat, which had been positioned in the empty bathtub. A safety precaution, since bullets couldn’t go through the porcelain tub.
The relief washed over the nanny’s face, and she stepped to the side so that Addison and Reed could rush in. Emily was sleeping. Thank God. And she was too little to remember the nightmare that’d just gone on around her.
Addison scooped the baby into her arms and pressed a flurry of kisses on her face. That woke Emily and the baby made a whining sound of protest, looking pretty sour as her gaze went from Addison to Reed.
He’d take a sour look over injuries any day.
Reed gave Emily some kisses as well, and probably because the nanny knew this would be a tearful reunion, she stepped out into the hall.
And the tears came all right. Several of them streaked down Addison’s cheek.
“You said Emily’s parents,” she pointed out.
It took Reed a moment to realize what she meant, but that was indeed what he’d said to the nanny so that she would know it was friend, not foe.
“Did you mean it?” she asked.
Reed was certain he gave Addison a funny look. “Of course.” But the full impact of it hit him then.
They were Emily’s parents.
Yes, Addison had gone through with the surrogacy without his knowledge or consent, but that no longer mattered. All that mattered was the beautiful little girl Addison was holding in her arms.
Well, maybe not all.
There was something else, too.
Reed leaned in and kissed first Emily on the cheek, and then he gave Addison a kiss on her mouth. One to let her know how relieved he was that she was all right. However, the attraction kicked in pretty darn fast, and he kissed her again just because that was what he wanted to do.
“Everything okay?” someone asked.
Because his nerves were still right there at the surface, Reed reeled around, bracing himself for more danger, but it was just Cooper making his way to them.
“We’re fine,” Reed answered, “but I still want Addison to see the doctor. Dominic’s man shot her with a tranquilizer dart.”
“The ambulance is on the way to check everybody out. Plus, we’ve got a couple of injuries.”
“Any of them our men?” Reed asked quickly.
“No. All Dominic’s triggermen.” Cooper studied them again. “You’re sure you’re okay?”
Reed nodded, but whether or not that was true depended on what he learned from Cooper. “Did you round up all of Dominic’s men?”
“Yes. The two here are spilling all because they’re hoping for a plea deal now that their boss is dead and can no longer protect them.”
“The one in the barn wants a plea deal, too, and he’s offered to lead us to Dominic’s files,” Reed told him.
Cooper’s face lit up. “Even better. I want all the loose ends tied up on these baby farms, and I’ll cut a deal with the one who can make that happen the fastest.”
Reed wanted the same thing, and even though it might take months to make that happen, it would be his top priority.
Right after Addison and Emily.
“I need some personal time off,” Reed said to Cooper.
Cooper glanced at Addison and Emily, then smiled. “If you hadn’t asked, I would have insisted you take it. Not a day or two, either. Make it at least two weeks. It’s obvious you’ve got some loose ends of your own to deal with.”
Yeah, and Reed could take care of one of those right now—to tell Addison that he was still in love with her and that he wanted both Emily and her in his life.
“I’m not going anywhere,” Addison said before Reed could speak. She winced, shook her head. “I mean, I’m not leaving Sweetwater Springs. Or you.”
That last part really pleased Reed.
“Good. Because I had no intention of letting either one of you leave.”
Addison gave him a smile, but it quickly vanished. “Is that because you feel obligated to take care of Emily?”
He was certain he frowned, and then Reed set her straight right off. He kissed the living daylights out of her and kept on kissing her until she sort of melted against him. The only reason he stopped the kiss was that Emily kicked him in the chest.
Reed laughed. And figured there’d be a lot more kicks, kisses and laughter in his future. Well, there would be if he got his way on this.
“Will you marry me...again?” he asked Addison.
She sucked in her breath so fast that sh
e coughed. Obviously, he’d surprised her, though he didn’t know why.
“You know I love you,” he clarified. “Always have. Always will. There’s no one else I’d ever want to marry. The thing is I only want to do it one more time, and then that’s it. The final deal. No more loose ends, because I want Emily and you in my life forever.”
And he waited. And waited.
But Addison just stood there staring at him.
Heck. He hadn’t gotten this all wrong. He could see the love in her eyes. Could feel it in her kiss. Knew it was there, deep in her heart.
“Well?” he prompted.
Addison launched herself into his arms, getting as close to him as she possibly could, considering that she was still holding Emily.
“Pinch me, because I can’t believe this is for real,” Addison said, her breath all soft and silky.
“I’d rather kiss you than pinch you.” And Reed started to do just that. Then he stopped. “But first, I’d like an answer to my marriage proposal.”
“Yes,” she blurted out.
Making him a very happy man indeed.
However, he held off on that kiss because he needed just one thing more. “Are you marrying me again out of obligation?” he asked.
A slow smile bent her mouth. “No. Because I love you. And because I want you in bed every night.”
Yeah, definitely all the loose ends were gone. So Reed eased Addison to him and gave her that kiss.
* * * * *
Look for more books in USA TODAY bestselling
author Delores Fossen’s miniseries,
SWEETWATER RANCH, later in 2015.
You’ll find them wherever
Harlequin Intrigue books are sold!
Keep reading for an excerpt from KILLSHADOW ROAD by Paula Graves.
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Reining in Justice Page 18
