Gunfire on the Ranch

by Delores Fossen

  “Yes, this way.”

  Theo followed her into the bedroom and then to the attached bathroom. It wasn’t that big, but it still took Theo a moment to spot Ivy because she was in the corner next to a claw-foot tub. She had a boy clutched in her arms.

  Definitely not a baby.

  This kid was older, school-age, and he was looking up at Ivy as if to comfort her rather than vice versa.

  Jodi froze, practically in midstep. Ivy froze, too, but the boy turned and faced Theo. And Theo felt as if he’d just been punched in the gut. Because he knew that face. Or rather he knew the features, because he saw them every time he looked in the mirror.

  Hell.

  Ivy must have seen his reaction then, because she shook her head. Not a denial, exactly, since there was no way she could deny what Theo had just realized.

  He was looking at his own son.

  Chapter Four

  Ivy could have sworn her heart stopped beating for a few seconds. Theo knew. God, he knew.

  From the moment she’d seen Theo by the side of the house, Ivy had feared this might come. In fact, at first that’s why she had thought Theo was there, that he’d found out about Nathan. It would have been safer if that’s why he’d been there. But it wasn’t going to be easy to deal with the storm that was brewing behind Theo’s narrowed eyes.

  “Who is that?” Nathan asked, his attention suddenly fixed on Theo. “He’s not one of the bad men, is he?”

  On the surface those were easy questions, but neither Ivy, Jodi nor Theo jumped to provide him with answers. Ivy wasn’t even sure she could speak yet, and she doubted Theo could, either, because his jaw was clenched so tight.

  “Uh, this is my brother, Theo.” Jodi finally spoke up. “And no, he’s not a bad guy. He’s sort of a cop like your uncle Gabriel and uncle Jameson.”

  Because Ivy still had her arms wrapped around Nathan, she felt his muscles relax a little. It would probably be a while before he completely relaxed. Even when he did, this had changed everything for him. Her little boy had heard those gunshots, had felt the terror that went along with him.

  There’d be nightmares.

  Ones similar to hers, ones she’d been having for a decade. And Ivy silently cursed the gunmen for that. Silently thanked Theo, too, for warning them, or those two thugs might have made it all the way into the house. Then her son might have to deal with more than fear, tight muscles and nightmares. They could all be dead.

  A thought that sickened her to the core.

  At the moment, though, Theo probably wouldn’t want her thanks. For anything. In fact, his shock had morphed into a glare that he was now aiming at her.

  “How old are you?” Theo asked. His glare softened significantly when he looked at Nathan.

  “Nine,” her son answered, meaning Theo could narrow down the date he’d been conceived.

  Theo clearly wasn’t surprised by her son’s answer. Not after seeing Nathan’s face. In fact, Theo might even be able to remember the exact date of Nathan’s conception. Because it was the same night of the big blowup between her parents and him. A blowup that’d happened because her mom had found Nathan and her in bed together.

  All of those feelings came back, too.

  Ivy pushed them aside, that mix of pleasure and grief, and she got to her feet. It was obvious there were some things she needed to say to Theo. Obvious, too, that he had some questions for her, and she didn’t want him asking those in front of Nathan. Eventually, her son would have to know the truth, but now wasn’t the time. He wasn’t ready for it. Heck, she wasn’t ready for it.

  “I’ll stay with Nathan,” Jodi volunteered. “He’ll be okay.”

  Even though Ivy hadn’t said anything to her, Jodi and she were on the same page about what needed to be done. But Ivy didn’t want her explanation to Theo to come at the expense of her son’s safety.

  Theo didn’t say anything, either. He just followed Ivy out of the ensuite bathroom and into the bedroom, and he pulled the bathroom door shut behind them. She didn’t go far, just a few feet away. Hopefully close enough so she could still get to Nathan if there was another attack but far enough away from Theo so that they weren’t in each other’s personal space. Even though it did seem a little late for that since they’d once been lovers.

  He stood there staring, and she could see he was trying to work out what to say to her. Hopefully, he wasn’t going to yell at her, since she didn’t want Nathan to overhear something like that. At least at the moment Theo wasn’t yelling. In fact, he wasn’t saying anything. Theo put his hands on his hips, shook his head and turned that glare on her again.

  “Why?” he finally asked, and he did keep his voice at a whisper. An angry one that dripped with emotion.

  Since that simple word could encompass a lot of territory, Ivy went with a simple explanation. “I couldn’t find you to tell you I was pregnant.”

  Ivy watched him process that, and she knew it wasn’t something he could dispute. Theo had vanished shortly after the attacks. Jodi had been in the hospital, still recovering from her horrific injuries, and she certainly hadn’t known how to get in touch with her brother.

  “I left because you told me to leave,” Theo reminded her.

  She couldn’t dispute that, either. Ivy had indeed ordered him out of her house and her life after the argument with her parents. In part, she’d done that for Theo’s own safety. Because she’d been afraid her father was going to beat him up or have him arrested for something. No way would Theo believe that now, though. And even if he did, it would only make him madder than he already was. He wouldn’t have wanted her fighting those kind of battles for him.

  “Does Nathan know the truth?” Theo snapped.

  Ivy shook her head, and she prayed Theo didn’t rush out and tell him.

  “How about your late husband?” Theo again. “Did he know?”

  “Yes. His name was Chad Vogel, and Nathan was eleven months old when I married him. But Jameson, Lauren and Gabriel didn’t know I was pregnant or that I had a child. Neither did Jodi. At least they didn’t know until I came back to Blue River two days ago.”

  Now Theo cursed. “One of them should have called me. And don’t say they couldn’t find me, because Jameson’s a Texas Ranger. He could have tracked me down if you’d asked him to do that.”

  “Yes,” she repeated. “And FYI, Jodi said I should tell you after she finally met Nathan day before yesterday. I just thought it was best if I waited until after the wedding to do that.”

  Judging from his still-tight expression, Theo didn’t agree. And maybe he was right. Maybe she should have searched harder for him, especially after her husband passed away.

  Theo glared at her a few more seconds before he finally glanced away and cursed some more. “Is Nathan healthy? Is he okay?”

  It seemed petty for her to hesitate even a second to give him that info. But she knew that with each new bit, Theo would only want to know more and more. Then he would want Nathan to know who’d really fathered him.

  Theo. And not Chad.

  Of course, Nathan didn’t have a lot of memories of Chad anyway, since he’d died after losing his battle with cancer when Nathan had been only five.

  “I’m sorry,” she said. It didn’t seem nearly enough, but there wasn’t much else she could say or do at this point.

  There was a sound outside the window, a car engine, and Theo hurried to look while motioning for her to stay put. Just like that, her heart revved up again. Not that it’d gone back to normal, and that might not happen for a long time.

  “It’s just the ambulance,” Theo told her. He stayed at the window with his gun drawn.

  She was glad that it’d arrived. Now maybe the medics could save the gunman so they could find out what the heck was going on. And soon. It was probably too much to ask to find the person responsible for this attack
and get him behind bars so that Gabriel and Jodi could get on with the wedding, but Ivy prayed that would happen. Her brother and Jodi deserved to have their special day.

  “Did you love him?” Theo asked.

  The sound of his voice cut through her thoughts, and it took Ivy a moment to realize that he probably wasn’t talking about Nathan. Of course she loved him. But Theo knew that and was asking about Chad.

  “Yes. I did.”

  In some ways that was a lie, but Ivy wasn’t about to get into that now. Besides, what Theo probably wanted to know was how she could go so quickly from him to another man. Especially when she’d had Theo’s child. But it was because of Nathan that she’d agreed to marry Chad. Once Theo got past the initial kick of anger, she’d maybe tell him more.

  More that he wasn’t going to want to hear.

  “Does it look as if the gunman is still alive?” Ivy said. It was definitely time for a change of subject, because whatever was going on outside that window was critical to their situation. A situation that didn’t necessarily have to include Theo.

  He nodded. “The guy’s moving, clutching his chest.”

  Probably because he was bleeding and in pain. She wasn’t certain of the details of his injury, but Ivy had heard Gabriel’s quick phone chat that he’d had with Jameson.

  And now she moved on to the part about Theo not having to be in Nathan’s or her life. “For the record, I don’t expect anything from you,” Ivy continued a moment later. “We were practically kids when I got pregnant, and the feelings you once had for me are obviously long gone.”

  Theo gave her a look that could have frozen the hottest levels of Hades. “I’m not leaving,” he spat out. He stared at her as if he might repeat it, but then he shook his head. “I just need to stop whoever sent those thugs, and then I can deal with everything else.”

  That sounded like some kind of threat. And Ivy wasn’t immune to it. She’d never had to share her son with anyone. Not even Chad, who had been a “father” in name only, had been able to spend much time in the parent roll because of his health problems. She didn’t feel ready to share Nathan with Theo, either.

  “Yeah, we were kids,” Theo went on, “but we sure as hell aren’t kids now.” He paused again, those jaw muscles stirring like crazy. “You should have found a way to tell me.”

  Ivy huffed. “You can say that now,” she argued. “But we were in a different mind-set back then. Remember?”

  “Of course I remember. Your mom caught us in bed. Your dad blew a fuse when she told him, and he ordered me to stay away from you. That should have been the time you backed me up, but you didn’t. You agreed with him and told me to get out of the house.”

  Ivy had indeed told Theo to leave, but she darn sure hadn’t agreed with her father. Sherman Beckett could be a hard man sometimes, and he hadn’t approved of Theo and his minor run-ins with the law. Ironically, her dad had thought Theo would get her pregnant and then run out on her. Strange how all of that had worked out. Strange, too, that Theo had become a lawman, the last thing her father or she would have expected him to become.

  “Then you and your brothers actually considered me a suspect in your parents’ murders,” Theo added. Judging from his tone, that was still an extremely sore spot for him.

  It was for her, too.

  Because she hadn’t stuck up for Theo. That had obviously been the straw that had broken the camel’s back. As soon as Theo’s name had been cleared, he’d left Blue River.

  Ivy was about to put an end to this conversation, or a temporary end at least, but she heard the footsteps in the hall. Both Theo and she pivoted in that direction, and she felt herself gear up for another fight. If a gunman had actually made it into the house, he wasn’t getting to Nathan.

  “It’s me,” Jameson called out.

  The relief came, but it didn’t completely wash away the adrenaline punch she’d gotten when she thought they could be near another attack. A moment later, the door opened, and her brother came in.

  Jameson’s attention went to her first, and he no doubt saw her tense body. Perhaps saw a whole lot more than that, though, when his gaze shifted to Theo. Then to the bathroom door where he knew Jodi—and Nathan—were waiting. It didn’t take Jameson long to piece everything together, and he cursed under his breath.

  “Just in case there’s a bug in the house, I’ll whisper,” Jameson said. “How much trouble is this situation with Nathan going to cause the two of you?” he asked. He didn’t specifically direct the question to either of them, and neither of them answered.

  However, Theo did ask a question of his own, and it was indeed meant for Jameson because he was staring at her brother. “Did the gunman say anything about who sent him and why?” He, too, kept his voice at a whisper.

  Ivy figured that he hadn’t, but Jameson nodded. He took a deep breath, and that’s when she knew this was not going to be good news.

  “The gunman died right after the medics put him in the ambulance,” Jameson said.

  Now Ivy wanted to curse. She didn’t. Over the years, motherhood had taught her to rein in the profanity, but still this was a situation that warranted some cursing.

  “He didn’t know who hired him,” Jameson went on. “Or at least that’s what he said. According to him, it was all done through a third party. A San Antonio thug everyone just called Mack. I’ve never heard of him, and I know most of the CIs and other informants in the area. And yeah, I’ve already made a call about him.”

  That didn’t sound very promising, especially since it wasn’t a name her brother knew, but Ivy got the sinking feeling that it wasn’t his not knowing Mack that’d put that troubled look on his face.

  “The gunman said something else,” Jameson continued a moment later. “This Mack hired other men. At least three more.” He turned to his sister then. “And, Ivy, they have orders to use whatever means necessary to kill you.”

  Chapter Five

  “Ivy’s the target?” Theo immediately asked Jameson. He figured it was a question that Ivy wanted answered, as well.

  Jameson lifted his shoulder. “That’s what the guy said.” Like the rest of them, he continued to keep his voice at a whisper. “That doesn’t mesh with what the CI told you, though, does it?”

  Theo had to shake his head. “But maybe the person behind this changed his mind and decided to go after one of us at a time. He or she might think Ivy would be the easiest to pick off.”

  Ivy made a soft gasping sound, and Theo wished he hadn’t voiced that aloud. Still, it was true. Since they didn’t know the person’s identity or motive, anything was possible.

  “Are you okay?” Jameson asked his sister. He gave her arm a soft pat.

  She shook her head as if pulling herself out of a trance. “Yes.” Ivy fluttered her fingers toward the bathroom. “I just need to check on Nathan.”

  “Give yourself a couple of minutes,” Jameson advised her. “You’re as pale as paper right now, and Nathan will pick up on that.”

  The kid probably would. Then again, Nathan and Jodi both had to be on edge waiting for news.

  “Are you okay?” Jameson repeated. Not directed at Ivy this time, but at Theo.

  Theo lied with a nod. He was far from okay. His mind was whirling. Hell. He’d thought this would be a quick in-and-out trip back to the Beckett ranch, but there was no way that was possible now.

  He had a son.

  And if that wasn’t enough to get him to stay, someone wanted Ivy dead. Of course, the gunman could have been lying when he’d said that Ivy was the target of would-be assassins, but the attack had been real. Bullets had actually been shot into the house, and even if she was the sole target, that didn’t mean others couldn’t have been caught in cross fire. Nathan and anyone else could have been killed.

  “Look, I know you two have plenty to work out,” Jameson went on, “but you ne
ed to leave it here for now. Gabriel wants to take everyone to the sheriff’s office. The medics will need to take a look at that, too.”

  It took Theo a moment to realize Jameson meant the cut on Theo’s cheek. “I don’t want a medic,” Theo insisted. “But someone should check on Jodi and Nathan.”

  It wasn’t the first time he’d said his son’s name aloud, but for some reason, it hit him like a punch to the gut. Theo actually had to take a moment just to regather his breath.

  “Yeah,” Jameson mumbled. Whatever the heck that meant. “You both stay here, pull yourselves together, and I’ll go in and talk to Nathan and Jodi. Be ready to leave as soon as Gabriel has the cruisers in place.”

  Jameson stepped into the bathroom, shutting the door and leaving Ivy and him alone. Since Theo didn’t want to keep glaring at her, he turned his attention back to the window so he could watch for the cruisers.

  “Why would Gabriel want us to go to the sheriff’s office?” she asked, her voice shaky. “Wouldn’t it be safer to stay here rather than risk going outside?”

  “No. There could be other gunmen in the area. Plus, he probably wants to set up some security measures here.” He glanced at her and saw that didn’t do anything to ease the tension on her face. “Gabriel knows what he’s doing.”

  Theo hoped that was true, anyway. There was no love lost between Gabriel and him, but Ivy’s brother had been sheriff for nearly a decade now. Maybe that meant he knew how to handle an attempted murder investigation along with keeping Ivy and the others safe. Theo had no intentions, though, of just backing off and letting Gabriel run with this. Not when his son’s safety was at stake.

  “When I first saw Nathan, he asked who I was,” Theo reminded her. “He thinks your late husband is his dad?”

  She paused a long time, and it was so quiet that Theo could hear Jameson talking in the bathroom. He couldn’t hear what the Ranger was saying. Which was a good thing. Because it meant Nathan wouldn’t be able to hear what Theo and Ivy were talking about.