Six-Gun Showdown

by Delores Fossen

  “It’s me,” she assured him. “And you’ll see me when I see you.”

  Jax mentally groaned. Yeah, courage all right. But this was one time when he wished she’d just shown her face and ducked back in the SUV. Maybe she was hoping Jericho, Chase or Dexter would have a shot.

  They didn’t.

  And even if they did, Jax was betting this coward would just slink behind one of those trees and escape. Because there’s no way the Moonlight Strangler would have come out here without an escape plan.

  “Awww, you want to see me?” the killer purred. “How sweet. All right. Just one little look-see, though I’m not sure how much you can see without those binoculars.”

  “I’ll see enough,” she snapped.

  Even though Jax kept his attention and gun aimed at those trees, he felt Paige move, coming up on tiptoes so that the killer could see her.

  “There she is,” the killer said. No more temper. It was the tone one might use with an old lover. “And my mark looks so good on you. One day we’ll meet again, and I’ll get to finish it.”

  Her muscles tensed even more. “Now it’s your turn. I’ve done everything you asked. Tell me who’s behind the attacks so we can get Cord to the hospital.”

  Jax wasn’t sure he saw the man move. Or maybe he just sensed it. But it seemed to take only the blink of an eye for the killer to whip out a rifle.

  Hell.

  He was going to shoot her.

  Jax moved as fast as he could to push Paige back into the SUV. But the killer and he weren’t the only ones moving. From the corner of his eye, he saw Cord.

  Cord reached for his boot. He no longer seemed drugged. He pulled out his backup weapon, turned and fired. And he just kept firing.

  Each of the bullets slamming into the killer.

  The Moonlight Strangler clutched his chest and collapsed onto the ground.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Paige couldn’t stop shaking. Or pacing in the ER waiting room. Her heartbeat was going a mile a minute. Her thoughts, too. Especially the bad thoughts.

  Cord might be dead, or dying.

  So she paced and waited for news. Oh, and she prayed, as well. She’d been doing a lot of that in the past half hour since they’d arrived at the Appaloosa Pass Hospital.

  The medic had already suggested to Jax that she might be going into shock and that she should be checked out by a doctor. But Paige didn’t want a checkup. She didn’t want to stop moving in case she fell completely apart. As long as she was on her feet and moving, she could expend some of that raw adrenaline and energy boiling inside her.

  Jax finished his latest call and went to her, slipping his arm around her and trying to get her into one of the many empty chairs. But she didn’t budge, and as he’d done on his other attempts, Jax pulled her to him for a hug.

  That helped.

  But knowing that Cord was all right would help even more.

  The ambulance had been there within minutes after the shooting, and they’d whisked Cord away to the hospital. Jax and she had left to follow it, but she hadn’t even managed to get a glimpse of Cord before he’d been taken into surgery for the multiple stab wounds to his chest.

  Jax pulled her even closer, and she felt the tension in his muscles then. Of course, they were both tense, but this was different. She pulled back, met his gaze and saw the worry, or something, in his eyes.

  “What’s wrong?” Oh, God. “Is it Matthew—”

  “He’s fine. Everyone at the ranch is fine, and Addie is on her way here to see Cord.”

  Addie would want to be here, of course. Cord was her biological twin brother.

  “It’s the Moonlight Strangler,” Jax continued a moment later. He paused, for a long time. “He’s alive.”

  Of all the things she thought he might say, that wasn’t one of them. “How? We saw him fall.”

  Jax nodded. “I just got off the phone with Jericho, and he said when he checked, the killer had a pulse, so he called another ambulance. They’re bringing him here to the hospital right now.”

  Her heart skipped several beats, and she had no choice but to fall back into Jax’s arms. He was there to catch her.

  “You won’t see him. The paramedics have been instructed to bring him in through a side entrance.”

  Paige was shaking her head before he even finished, and not because she was worried about seeing him. “He’s dangerous. He could kill someone here.”

  Jax was shaking his head, too. “He’s not even conscious. And he might not survive the ambulance ride. Jericho said he lost a lot of blood.”

  She wanted him dead, not clinging to life.

  Paige groaned and finally sat down, only because her legs were wobbly and she was dizzy. But then she considered something else.

  “Maybe he can tell us who orchestrated the attacks.” Yes, it was wishful thinking, and she wasn’t sure she wanted him to draw another breath, much less to have to speak to him again. Still, if he could just tell them.

  “He could have been lying about what he knew anyway,” Jax reminded her. “He clearly set all of this up to kill you. That’s why he had that rifle.”

  Yes, that. She’d gotten a glimpse of it. Of Cord, too, as he’d shot the man. His own father. But Cord didn’t think of him that way, only that he was a monster who needed to be stopped. He’d devoted the last year of his life to catching him, and in a roundabout way, he’d succeeded.

  Paige couldn’t help but think of the similarities between Cord and her. She’d been obsessed with the Moonlight Strangler, too. And she’d found him. Of course, he’d found her as well and had come within a breath of making her number thirty-one.

  Well, at least now there wouldn’t be more bodies to add to his count.

  “He had a wallet in his pocket,” Jax went on. “According to his driver’s license, his name is Willie Lee Samuels. Does that sound familiar?”

  It was stupid, but she didn’t even want to repeat it. Didn’t want to have his name come out of her mouth. But Paige forced herself to think, to dig through her memories and see if there was a connection. Was it familiar?

  No.

  “I don’t know that name, and I didn’t recognize his face, either. Only his voice and the overall size of his body. I could be mistaken about the body size, of course, but that was his voice, Jax. I swear, it was him.”

  Paige hadn’t realized she was starting to sound a little hysterical until Jax sat down beside her and pulled her back into his arms.

  “His face matches his DMV photo,” Jax went on. “But his DNA will be sent for testing even though they’re almost positive he’s the Moonlight Strangler.”

  So was she. No way could Paige forget that voice. It would almost certainly be added to the flashbacks of the previous attacks. Along with that blood on Cord’s face and chest.

  “Jericho checked, and he doesn’t have a police record. Not even a parking ticket,” Jax added.

  Ironic. Since he’d murdered so many women. And would have murdered her if Cord hadn’t stopped him.

  Paige heard the hurried footsteps, and she automatically tensed. So did Jax, and he put his hand over his Glock. But it was a false alarm. Addie came rushing into the ER.

  “How’s Cord?” Addie asked, her breath mixed with her words.

  “He’s in surgery.” Paige stood and pulled Addie into her arms. “We’ll know something soon.” She hoped.

  “How bad was he hurt?” Addie pressed. A sister’s love, and worry, were all over her face.

  “He was bleeding,” Paige settled for saying, “but he was strong enough to shoot the Moonlight Strangler. He saved us. He saved all of us.”

  And despite the fact that tears were the last thing she needed, they watered her eyes, anyway. Addie’s, too.

  “Addie insisted on coming,” Levi said. He trailed in right behind her, and just his mere presence gave Paige another jolt.

  “Who’s at the ranch with Matthew?” Paige snapped.

  “Weston and a whole b
unch of ranch hands armed with rifles and automatics. The two reserve deputies should be there by now, too.”

  Good. She knew that the sheriff’s office had to be stretched for manpower, but she didn’t care. Paige wanted Matthew and the rest of Jax’s family to be safe.

  Addie pulled back from the hug and met Paige’s gaze. “Did you see him?” Addie asked.

  It took Paige a moment to realize Addie was talking about the killer and not Cord. Paige nodded. “From a distance.”

  She wasn’t sure what Addie wanted to know about the monster who’d fathered her. Maybe nothing that could be said in words, anyway, because Addie just held on to her, and they stayed that way until Paige heard yet more footsteps.

  This time both Levi and Jax put their hands over their guns. And it wasn’t family who came rushing in.

  It was Leland.

  His face was beaded with sweat, and his attention zoomed around the room until it landed on her. “Thank God. You’re all right. I heard about the attack.”

  Leland moved toward her, but Jax stepped in front of him, blocking his path.

  “Hell.” Leland mumbled even more profanity, too. “You can’t still think I want to hurt Paige. It was the Moonlight Strangler all along. Can’t you see that?”

  Paige wanted to see it. To believe it. But the attack was still way too fresh in her mind for her to trust anyone except family.

  But she immediately rethought that.

  Jax’s family. They weren’t her in-laws any longer, but this had certainly brought them closer. Well, at least they weren’t scowling at her, and maybe they were beginning to understand that she’d stayed away to protect them.

  Maybe.

  Leland continued to stare at her. Mixing in a glare, too. Likely waiting for her to say he was innocent. She didn’t, but Paige did go closer to him.

  “You shouldn’t be here,” she said.

  The glare vanished, but she saw the hurt again. The same hurt look he’d gotten a few days earlier when she told him that she could never have feelings beyond friendship for him. The rejection still stung.

  He glanced around as if trying to compose himself, and then hitched his thumb toward the parking lot. “There are reporters outside. Darrin was out there, too, but I told him if he tried to come in that I’d arrest him.”

  Both Jax and she groaned. She definitely didn’t need a run-in with Darrin right now, and she doubted Jericho would be able to interrogate him anytime soon. Not after the hellish ordeal they’d all just been through.

  “Do you need anything?” Leland asked. “Tea?” He glanced at her top. “A change of clothes?”

  She hadn’t realized there was blood on her shirt. Cord’s blood. She’d hurried to him after he’d shot the Moonlight Strangler and had tried to help him before the ambulance arrived. Jax had done the same, and there was blood on his shirt, too, on the places that their Kevlar vests hadn’t covered. The vests had blood on them as well, but they’d left them in the SUV.

  “If Paige needs anything,” Jax said, staring at the man, “I’ll get it for her.”

  This wasn’t a jealousy, man-contest kind of thing going on between them. Jax was just worried about her safety. But Leland clearly didn’t like it. No surprise there. He hadn’t liked much of anything Jax had said to him. For Leland, it was indeed jealousy.

  Leland started to step away, but Jax stopped him. “Any idea where Belinda went after she sneaked out of the sheriff’s office?”

  “None,” Leland snapped. “Are you accusing me of trying to hurt her?”

  “Just asking.” But it certainly wasn’t a friendly sounding question.

  “If you’re worried about her, find her yourself,” Leland snarled before he walked out.

  “You want me to follow him and make sure he leaves?” Levi asked.

  Jax seemed to be still considering that when Jericho came in. Not from the ER entrance but rather from one of the halls that fed off the waiting area. He, too, had some blood on his shirt, and he was carrying an evidence bag.

  “Willie Lee Samuels is in a coma,” Jericho immediately volunteered.

  In a coma. But not dead. For Paige, that wasn’t good news. “He could be faking it,” she suggested.

  “I thought so, too, but the doc who just checked him said it was the real deal. So are the three bullets that Cord put in his chest. Don’t worry. I’ll have a guard posted outside surgery just in case, and the FBI is sending a protection detail from the San Antonio office. They should be here within the half hour.”

  Good. She prayed they didn’t let the Moonlight Strangler out of their sight.

  Jericho lifted the evidence bag, and since it was clear plastic, Paige saw the one item inside it. A driver’s license.

  “Yeah, it belongs to Willie Lee Samuels,” Jericho confirmed. “Either of you recognize him from the photo?”

  Addie took the bag as if it might explode in her hands. Paige looked as well, and while she didn’t recognize the man, she did see something familiar about him. Addie must have, as well.

  “He looks like Cord and me. We have his eyes.” Addie’s hand was shaking when she handed the bag back to Jericho. “I’d hoped...”

  But she didn’t finish that. No need. Because Paige knew what she’d hoped—that she didn’t share any DNA with this sick man. That it had all been a big mistake.

  Willie Lee Samuels’s face proved otherwise.

  “So, it’s really over,” Addie whispered. She blew out a long breath of relief.

  But it was relief that Jericho didn’t share. His forehead was bunched up, and he took out a notepad from his pocket. “Dexter took Willie Lee’s phone to the office so the lab could pick it up for processing, but I looked through the numbers he’d called. Just two. There was the call he made to Paige, and then he called this number.”

  As he’d done with the driver’s license, Jericho held it up for them to see.

  Both Addie and Paige shook their heads, but Jax didn’t. He took one look at the number and cursed.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Belinda.

  Jax had no idea why the Moonlight Strangler had called her earlier in the day, and he was no closer to finding that out. Because Belinda was nowhere to be found. Since it was already dark and a storm had moved in, there wouldn’t be much more searching done for her tonight.

  There wouldn’t be much sleep for Paige, either.

  With all the pacing she’d done at the hospital, Jax was surprised that her legs hadn’t given out on her. Surprised, too, that she hadn’t just broken down and cried. The adrenaline crash had come and gone—for him, too—leaving them both looking past the exhausted stage.

  “Cord will be all right,” he reminded her, hoping that would help get that weary look off her face.

  And it was true. Despite his blood loss, he’d come out of surgery just fine, and there’d been no major damage to any of his organs. Of course, Paige knew that. She’d been there for the surgeon’s update and even to see Cord when he’d been allowed visitors.

  That was the good news.

  The bad news was that the Moonlight Strangler was still alive and in a coma.

  Paige looked at Jax. Only for a second. Before her attention went back to the road. Or rather their surroundings. Something that both of them had been doing since they’d started the drive from the hospital back to the ranch.

  They were in a cruiser now, not the SUV they’d used to go to the hospital. But what they were missing was backup. There just hadn’t been anyone available what with the investigation and the security at both the hospital and the ranch. Plus, Jericho had the courier still in lockup and was having to deal with that. And the search for Belinda. While trying to keep an eye on both Leland and Darrin.

  Definitely a full plate.

  Neither Jax nor Paige had wanted to wait any longer to go home now that Cord was out of the woods. Still, the memories of the other attacks were very fresh, and Jax knew he wouldn’t be able to let down his guard until he had Paige sa
fe.

  “He’s a coward,” Paige said.

  It took him a moment to realize she was likely talking about the Moonlight Strangler. And yep, Jax agreed. The snake had broken into Cord’s vehicle and had ambushed Cord with a stun gun. Then, he’d drugged and stabbed him while Cord hadn’t been able to fight back. Of course, Jax hadn’t expected a vicious serial killer like that to do anything aboveboard.

  Jax took the final turn toward the ranch, checking each side of the road. The ditches, too. Hard to see, though, with the wipers slashing away the rain. Maybe the weather alone would deter another attack. He could hope so, anyway.

  And maybe the attacks were over.

  It was possible that the Moonlight Strangler had been behind them all along.

  “I don’t want Matthew to see me like this.” Paige motioned to the blood on her clothes and then his.

  It was 8:00 p.m., and while it was possible Matthew was already asleep, he might indeed be up and see them. Jax considered calling ahead, but then he spotted the familiar blue truck parked in front of his house. It belonged to his ranch hand Buddy, so Jax pulled up alongside the truck and lowered the passenger’s-side window just enough for him to see that Buddy was inside, and armed.

  “Jericho asked me to make sure no one got onto the ranch who wasn’t supposed to be here,” Buddy explained after he put down his window, as well. He pointed to another truck parked just up the road. “Hank’s up there.”

  Hank was a hand, too, one Jax trusted. Jax hated that the men had to do this, but unfortunately it might be necessary.

  “Paige and I need to get a change of clothes,” Jax said. “Then we’ll be heading to the main house for the night.”

  Buddy nodded. “There are hands guarding up there, too, and we’ll stay put until we hear otherwise.” He paused. “Some reporters drove up earlier. They had one of those vans with the TV logo on the side and a little satellite dish on top of it. I stopped them, told them to turn around, that it wasn’t a good time for a visit.”