She scooped up Brady, who began to fuss and cough. His little lungs weren’t able to take the smoke. She backed away against a far wall, her eyes scanning the room for something to stuff under the door to keep the smoke at bay. There was nothing.
And what did it matter? No one knew she was here. No one was coming to rescue them.
Only the fire was coming for them.
She slid to the floor and covered Brady with her body. Tears flowed from her eyes, and she cradled him to her and started rocking. She didn’t want him to be frightened.
God, I haven’t always surrendered to Your will, but if I’m going to die tonight, please tell Zeke how much I loved him and wanted to be with him. Don’t let him suffer.
* * *
Zeke’s eyes roamed the abandoned homes, dead grass and half-downed fences. This area was deserted and had been taken over by vandals looking for easy fun. Josh rounded a corner as the GPS guided them closer to the address Davenport had given them.
Zeke’s gut clenched when he spotted three men fleeing from a house and running toward a car parked at the curb. “There!” he shouted. “That’s them.”
He’d never seen Ethan Lloyd, but he’d looked him up on his phone as they headed this way. He wasn’t difficult to pick out. The other two men were large and bulky, obvious muscle, while Ethan was decked out in a suit and tie.
Josh slammed the SUV into Park and his brothers in the second vehicle did the same. Zeke leaped out and ran toward the men before they could reach their car. Ethan saw them coming and shouted something to the other two men, who drew their weapons and started firing.
Zeke drew his own gun. “Drop your weapons,” Josh called and, when they didn’t, he fired, sending one of the men to the ground with a shoulder wound while the rest of the brothers returned fire.
But Zeke had his eye on Ethan. He took off running after him, catching up to him as he neared the car. “Ethan Lloyd, stop!”
He momentarily turned at his name and then spun around, pulled a gun from his pocket and aimed it at Zeke.
Zeke fired, sending the man to the ground several feet from his friends. He hurried to Ethan as he writhed on the ground. He’d only hit his shoulder, but it had been enough to make him drop the gun. Zeke grabbed his arms and pinned them behind him as Colby hurried over and slid a plastic zip tie around his wrists. Zeke noticed the others doing the same to the two men.
Zeke turned Ethan back over. “Kellyanne and Brady. Where are they?”
Ethan glared at him. “I want my lawyer,” he demanded instead of answering the question. “I’m not saying anything without my lawyer.” He stared at Zeke defiantly, and it seemed like he wasn’t going to give him anything.
Dread filled him. If Ethan had hurt Kelly or Brady, it wouldn’t matter that Zeke was a cop. Ethan would pay.
Zeke was about to query the brothers about the other men when he noticed Ethan’s gaze darting toward one of the abandoned houses. Zeke followed his stare and spotted smoke funneling from the house and flames licking through the busted-out windows. His heart plummeted as he realized the truth. Kellyanne and Brady were inside that house.
He grabbed Ethan by the shirt. “Are they inside? Did you trap them inside?”
He didn’t respond, but Zeke’s gut told him they were.
“They’re in the house,” Zeke yelled, jumping to his feet.
They all turned and stared at the house now engulfed in flames.
Josh pulled out his cell phone and called 9-1-1, but Zeke knew they wouldn’t get here in time. If Kellyanne and Brady were inside that house, he had to get to them. He rushed the house, Josh hollering after him.
“They’re inside. I can’t wait.” He darted into the house. Smoke and heat assaulted him the moment he kicked open the door. It nearly sent him to his knees, and his flight instincts were telling him to get out now. But his need to find Kelly and Brady was greater.
He pulled his shirt over his mouth and pushed through the smoke and heat. He called her name but heard little besides the roar of the blaze overtaking the house. He checked the back bedrooms and found nothing. They were empty.
Panic gripped him. The smoke was growing thick, and he was having difficulty breathing himself. If Kellyanne and Brady were here, they might already have succumbed to smoke inhalation.
He headed back toward the kitchen and spotted two figures approaching him. Colby and Paul had followed him into the burning house.
“Did you find them?” Colby asked.
Zeke shook his head. “I checked the back rooms, but they’re not there.”
He stopped as something faint grabbed his attention. He could barely hear it over the roar of the flames, but it was there. Crying. A baby’s cry.
Brady.
“Do you hear that?” He turned and did his best to follow the sound as the brothers followed him. It led him to what looked to be a laundry or storage room.
He tried the door. It was locked. He tried kicking it open, but it was firm and solid. Colby added his own strength, and the door flew open.
Kellyanne was lying unmoving on the floor, and he realized the crying was coming from a crate beside her. She’d placed her jacket over it. He pushed it off and found Brady inside.
He picked him up and handed him off to Paul, who turned and hurried out. Zeke checked Kellyanne for a pulse and relief flowed through him as he found a faint one. He nodded to Colby to let him know she was still alive, but he needed to get her out of here quickly. He lifted her under her arms and legs and carried her from the house as Colby led the way.
Josh met them as he came through the door. The sirens from the ambulance and fire trucks were still several moments away.
He placed Kellyanne on the ground and checked to see if she was breathing. She was, but barely. He turned to see Josh was doing the same for Brady. They both needed oxygen to combat the smoke that had gotten into their lungs.
The ambulance finally arrived, and two paramedics pushed him aside and started administering oxygen. He glanced over at Brady and saw another paramedic was tending to him. She’d protected Brady long enough for them to arrive to help. He was still crying, so Zeke thought he was going to be okay. She’d saved them both, because he probably wouldn’t have found them without Brady’s crying leading him to them.
Kellyanne still hadn’t regained consciousness, and Zeke wasn’t sure he took a breath of his own until she started coughing and moving. Only then did he know she was going to be okay. He fell to his knees, so grateful to God for allowing them to live.
Josh came up beside him. “You should get checked out too,” he told Zeke.
“I’m fine,” he insisted.
Josh knelt beside him and placed a hand on Zeke’s shoulder, locking eyes with him. “Zeke, let the paramedics check you out too. Your family is going to need you.”
Josh’s words spoke to his heart, and he stood and walked to the ambulance where they immediately started him on oxygen. He didn’t like it, but he did it because Josh was right.
His family—Kellyanne and Brady—needed him.
* * *
Noises pulled Kellyanne awake. She was in a hospital room. The smell of disinfectant stung her nose. Her throat was raw, and she pulled at the mask over her face.
“Don’t pull that off, Kellyanne.”
That was her mother’s voice. She tried to remember why she was here. What had happened that had brought her to the hospital? Then it all came rushing back to her. Losing Brady. Confronting Ethan. Being trapped in a room in a burning abandoned house.
She jerked awake and tried to sit up. Strong hands pushed her back. “You’re okay, Kelly. You’re in the hospital. Can you hear me?”
She opened her eyes and saw her parents hovering over her, their expressions full of worry. “Brady...where’s Brady?”
Her mother stroked her hair. “Brady is fi
ne, honey. He’s on the pediatric ward. He’s fine but they’re keeping him for observation. Paul and Shelby are with him.”
“Are you sure? I was so scared, Mom. I thought we were going to die.”
“I know you did, but you were brave, Kelly. You took care of that little boy. You saved his life.”
“I don’t remember what happened.” She glanced around the room and saw Josh, Miles and Colby, but no Zeke. Tears filled her eyes at the fact that he wasn’t here to make certain she was okay.
“He’s here, Kelly,” Josh said. “He’s in a room down the hall.”
Suddenly fear pummeled her. “Why? What happened?”
“He ran into the house after you. He pulled you and Brady out. The doctors are just checking him over.”
She sat up in bed and started pulling off her mask and anything that connected her to the bed. “I want to see him. Take me to him.”
Her mother frowned. “Honey, that’s not a good idea. You need to rest.”
“I want to see him now.”
Fear rippled through her, and the strong desire to see Zeke overwhelmed her. Her family wanted to protect her, but she needed to see for herself that he okay.
Tears fell down her face, but Josh took her shoulders. “Kelly, I’ll take you to him.” He found a wheelchair and helped her into it. “You’ll see. He’s fine. I promise.”
Her hands shook as Josh pushed her down the hall. God, please let him be okay. She couldn’t lose him now, not when she’d gotten another chance at life. It wouldn’t be right to lose him now.
“Thank you for taking me, Josh.”
“Well, I didn’t see any way to stop you, so I figured I might as well help.”
Josh stopped in front of a door and pushed it open. Her heart pounded in her chest as the first thing she saw was Bree and Lawson standing and Zeke sitting on the edge of the bed. He was dressed and pulling on his boots. He stopped when he saw her, and his face broke into a relieved smile.
She jumped from the wheelchair, relief flooding her, and he stood and came to hold her.
“He wouldn’t stay in the bed like the doctors wanted,” Bree told them. “He insisted on going to make sure Kelly was okay.”
“I was going crazy when I woke up and you weren’t there.” She stared up into his face.
He frowned at her. “Are you okay? Really?”
She smiled and leaned close, pressing her lips against his for a momentary kiss. “I am now,” she whispered, then kissed him again.
He pushed his hand through her hair and cupped her cheek. “All I could think of was making certain you were safe. Nothing else mattered.”
Tears flowed freely, and she didn’t even care. He’d seen her at her worst.
Josh cleared his throat and motioned to Lawson and Bree. “We’ll give you two some time alone.”
Once the room was cleared, she pressed her forehead to his and tried to contain her tears. “I thought I’d lost you.”
“I think that’s the other way around.” He smiled at her. “Besides, that could never happen, Kelly. No matter how many times you push me away, I’ll always be here for you. If you’ll let me, I’ll follow you wherever you want to go. I don’t ever want to be apart from you again.”
Her heart soared at his statement, and she hugged him again. “There’s no other place I want to be than here in Courtland with you. I love you. I want to make a life with you, but I guess I’m a package deal now. I’m Brady’s mother.”
“I know you are, and you’re a wonderful mother. I hope one day soon you’ll be a mother to his brothers and sisters too...that is, if you’ll marry me, Kelly, and make a life with me?”
Tears fell from her eyes as she leaned in to kiss him. “Yes, Zeke, I will marry you. But I have one condition.”
“Anything.”
“That we can always stay here in Courtland and call this town our home.”
His eyes held a flicker of hope. “Are you sure that’s what you want?”
“It’s all I want, Zeke. I love you.”
“And I love you.”
She kissed him again, overwhelmed by gratefulness to God she couldn’t even explain. He’d brought to her a man she loved and offered her a future with a family of her own. She was done fighting.
His plans were so much better than her own.
EPILOGUE
Kellyanne stared through the window as Zeke and her brothers worked on the new barn. She was grateful they’d been willing and able to come over to help construct it. Her brothers and Zeke’s friends from church had been helpful getting the new farm up and running. After seeing her commitment to Zeke and her newfound faith, Zeke’s church friends had welcomed her with open arms and shown her a side to her hometown that she’d never experienced before. It was one more reason to love building her life with Zeke here in Courtland.
After Ethan and his men had been arrested for murder and kidnapping, Davenport had managed to distance himself from the scandal as much as possible. It had worked, too, and his campaign for governor was heating up.
She didn’t care what happened to him, not since he’d signed papers relinquishing his rights to Brady and allowing her and Zeke to adopt him. He was now officially theirs, and no one could take him away.
Kellyanne heard a squeal and turned to see her mother entering the kitchen with Brady in her arms.
“All changed,” she stated and tickled under his chin to make him giggle again.
She was happy to see him growing and flourishing in the six months since they’d returned to Courtland. She finally had everything she’d ever wanted—Zeke, a family and a home of her own.
“Can I help you in here?” her mom asked.
“We’re just about done.” She picked up a bowl of salad and carried it into the dining room where she, Bree and Shelby had set the table for a family dinner. Shelby called in the men from their work, and they took a break for supper and washed up.
Zeke entered, washed up and pulled her into an embrace. “Everything okay?” he asked, motioning to her mother. She’d been nervous about having all the family here at their house, but everything had gone well so far. Her parents and the rest of her family occasionally still treated her like the baby, but it no longer angered her. There were new babies in the family now. Dylan and Brady, along with Bree and Lawson’s new baby girl and Paul and Shelby’s impending arrival. And, soon, she and Zeke would add a new baby of the family too.
She rubbed her flourishing belly and smiled as she sat down with her husband and family and enjoyed their first family meal in her new home.
* * *
If you enjoyed this Cowboy Lawmen story, don’t miss the previous books in this series from Virginia Vaughan:
Texas Twin Abduction
Texas Holiday Hideout
Texas Target Standoff
Available now from Love Inspired Suspense!
Keep reading for an excerpt from Held for Ransom by Kathleen Tailer.
Dear Reader,
I confess, there’s a lot of me in Kellyanne. Like her, I’m often impatient, hotheaded, impulsive and not always grateful enough for what God has given me. I’ve also dealt with guilt and shame over something that was out of my control (plus a lot of things I did have control over) and let me tell you, those negative emotions do nothing but keep you from moving forward. As Kellyanne let go of the guilt she felt at miscarrying her baby with Zeke, she opened her heart to God’s healing powers and to the possibilities of love and a family of her own with Zeke and Brady. God is always the author of happy endings.
Thank you so much for joining me for Zeke and Kellyanne’s story! I am having a wonderful time writing about the Avery family and can’t wait to share the next book in the series with you.
I love connecting with readers. You can reach me through the publisher or connect with me through my webs
ite, www.virginiavaughanonline.com.
Blessings!
Virginia
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Held for Ransom
by Kathleen Tailer
ONE
“I just kidnapped your sister.”
The voice was metallic and distorted, yet still managed to send chills down Sophia Archer’s spine, causing her entire body to tremble. She faltered and leaned against her car door for support. An image of her little sister, Kylie, in front of the dorm at her university, a big smile on her face, flitted through Sophia’s mind. She nervously adjusted her cell phone against her ear. “What? Who is this? Is this some sort of joke?”
“My name doesn’t matter, and this is no joke.”
Sophia swallowed hard. “Is she okay?”
“For now,” the tinny voice responded. “But she won’t be for long if you don’t do exactly what I say.”
“I’ll do whatever you want,” Sophia said quickly, trying hard to keep from throwing up as fear clenched her stomach. “Just please don’t hurt her. I don’t have much money—”
“I don’t want your money!” the hateful voice interrupted. “I want your investigative skills.”
Sophia raised her eyebrow at the comment. She had been pleasantly surprised by the amount of notoriety she had gained as a reporter for the Atlanta Times during her recent exposé of an election fraud scandal. Her story had been the impetus for six arrests. What she hadn’t expected, however, was the notoriety to hurt her or her family. If the caller wanted something investigated, why not just ask through normal channels?
Texas Baby Cover-Up Page 17
