Finger on the Trigger

by Delores Fossen

  He wanted to say no, to assure her that everything would be okay, but he couldn’t do that. The truck sped up even more, closing the already short distance between them, and it quickly became apparent that the driver wasn’t going to stop.

  “Watch out!” he told Thea.

  But his warning was already too late. The truck slammed into the back of the cruiser, and the jolt sent them into the other lane. From the corner of his eye, Griff got just a glimpse of the oncoming SUV before it slammed into them.

  Chapter Twelve

  Rachel had no idea what had happened, but she certainly felt it. One second she was on the seat, and the next she was slung forward. The seat belt stopped her from slamming into the back of the driver’s seat, but the tight snap of the strap also knocked the breath out of her.

  And that’s when she saw the SUV.

  Or rather, what was left of it. The front end was now crumpled onto the cruiser.

  Almost immediately steam started to spew from the busted radiators, making it nearly impossible to see in front of them. Behind them, though, was the truck that had caused the collision, ramming into them. Rachel prayed that had been an accident, but judging from the way Griff drew his gun, she doubted it.

  No. This couldn’t be happening again. This couldn’t be the start of another attack. The two others had been terrifying, but this one was even worse.

  Because the danger could now extend to her baby.

  If she was indeed pregnant, her child could be hurt. Or worse. And that might happen when she still didn’t know who was trying to kill them.

  “Are you okay?” Griff asked her.

  Other than fighting to catch her breath, Rachel thought she was all right, and thankfully, Griff didn’t seem to be hurt, either. But she couldn’t say the same for Thea. Griff’s sister was moaning, maybe in pain, or maybe, like Rachel, she was having trouble breathing.

  Rachel unhooked her seat belt so she could lean forward and check on Thea, but Griff pushed her right back down. And not just in a sitting position. He made sure her torso was flat on the seat.

  “There could be a gunman in the truck,” he warned her.

  Rachel was in shock, but also filled with adrenaline. Mercy. If there was a gunman, they were trapped. Worse, the person or persons in the SUV could be in on it. Or maybe they were innocent bystanders about to be caught in the middle of a gunfight.

  “Call Court and get him out here,” Griff told Rachel.

  Even though her hands were shaking hard, she managed to get out her phone and press her brother’s number. “It went straight to voice mail,” she relayed to Griff.

  He cursed, but she held out hope that Court hadn’t been attacked, too. She knew from experience that there were plenty of dead zones for cell service in the hospital, and that might be why he hadn’t answered. She sent him a text, praying that he would get the message and respond. Fast.

  From the front seat, Thea groaned again, and Rachel saw the woman lift her head. She looked back at them, the realization of what had happened registering in her eyes. Like Griff, she drew her gun. Thea also called San Antonio PD for backup.

  Good.

  Rachel prayed that it wouldn’t take them long to arrive. This could have been just an accident, but with everything else that had gone on, she had trouble holding on to that hope.

  “Can you see who’s in the truck or SUV?” she asked.

  “No,” Griff answered. “Just outlines behind the tinted windows, but it looks like there’s just one person in the SUV. Can’t tell about the truck, but I think there are two of them.” He paused. “I doubt it’s a good sign that no one’s gotten out.”

  No. That meant they were either hurt or else waiting to open fire on them while they were basically trapped there.

  Rachel lifted her head just a fraction so she could see out the side mirror. There were already other sounds of chaos. People hitting their brakes, probably to avoid crashing into the smashed vehicles. Someone yelled out that he was calling an ambulance. The person who did so likely thought the officers inside the cruiser had been badly hurt, since Thea and Griff were staying put inside.

  Praying, Rachel continued to watch, and saw the driver of the truck lower the window. So whoever it was, he was at least alive.

  And then she saw the gun.

  Griff pushed her flat on the seat again, and she braced herself for the shot to come. And it did.

  But not at them.

  One bullet, then another, slammed into the windshield of the SUV.

  Sweet heaven, what was going on? Was it possible that Griff and she hadn’t been the target, after all?

  “Put down your weapon now,” Griff shouted to the truck driver.

  Whoever it was didn’t listen. He fired two more shots, both of them into the SUV.

  “I can’t shoot back,” Griff mumbled, making that sound like profanity. “There are too many people around.”

  There were no more shots, but Rachel heard something else. The squeal of tires on the asphalt.

  “Hell, he’s getting away,” Griff snarled.

  Thea shook her head. “I can’t go after him. The cruiser engine is busted.”

  Rachel lifted herself up again to have another look. Yes, the truck was indeed leaving the scene. The driver had turned around in the middle of the road and was heading back in the direction of the hospital. That gave her a new jolt of fear. What if the shooter went after her mother? Just in case that was the plan, she sent off a warning text to Court.

  There was the howl of police sirens, and Rachel knew it wouldn’t be long before the San Antonio cops arrived. An ambulance, too, because Thea would need to be checked out, and so would whoever was in the SUV.

  “The driver of the SUV’s getting out,” Thea said.

  Griff was still keeping watch around them, but that caused him to turn toward the front. Rachel looked, too, and she saw the SUV door open on the driver’s side. However, she didn’t see the person. Whoever it was stayed hunched behind the door. At first, anyway. But then he staggered out into the open.

  Oh, mercy.

  It was Buddy.

  “Does he have a gun?” Rachel blurted out.

  Neither Griff nor Thea answered. And it probably didn’t matter, anyway. Because that’s when Rachel saw the blood all over the front of Buddy’s shirt. He clutched his hand to his chest, his gaze connecting with theirs.

  Before he collapsed.

  * * *

  “ARE YOU OKAY?” Griff asked Rachel. He figured she was tired of that question. Griff certainly was. But so far, he hadn’t been able to do the necessary things to keep her from nearly being killed.

  “I’m okay,” Rachel lied.

  She glanced at him and then at the road, when the San Antonio cop took the turn toward the ranch. Thankfully, they hadn’t had to wait for someone in McCall Canyon to show up and drive them back. No way had Griff wanted to wait around near the hospital with the gunmen possibly still in the area.

  “I’m worried about Thea, though,” Rachel added.

  Yeah, so was he. Unlike Rachel and him, Thea had been taken to the hospital for a possible cracked rib that she’d gotten in the collision. Soon, he’d need to call and check on her, though Egan had assured Griff that he would make sure Thea got back to the ranch safely once the doctor had given her the all clear.

  Buddy might not get an all clear, though. He was alive. For now. But Griff wasn’t holding out hope that the man would make it. Still, if Buddy could just regain consciousness long enough to tell them who was behind this, then Griff could arrest the person and stop another attack.

  That might get that stark, troubled look off Rachel’s face.

  Of course, they would have to wait awhile to see if Buddy could give them that information. The man was currently in surgery to remove the bullets from his chest, and even i
f he made it through that, it might be hours before Egan or someone else could get in there to talk to him.

  One thing was for certain—Griff wouldn’t be doing the interrogation. For that to happen, he’d have to take Rachel away from the ranch again, and he wasn’t going to do that.

  The San Antonio officer, Detective Wade Martinez, pulled to a stop in front of the ranch house. The door opened, and both Warren and Ruby looked out at them as they hurried in. Martinez waited until they were inside before he drove away.

  “We heard what happened,” Warren immediately said, checking Rachel as much as she would let him. She gave Ruby a hug and started for the stairs, no doubt so she could go to bed, but stopped when she saw the bag on the table in the foyer.

  “It’s from Dr. Baldwin,” Ruby said. “Lucy Martin’s boy, Dave, who’s a medic, brought it by for you. He said he was supposed to draw blood, too, but he said he could come back. All you have to do is call him.”

  Rachel eyed the bag as if she was hesitant about touching it. No doubt because it contained the pregnancy test. After everything that had just happened, she probably wasn’t feeling steady enough to do the test, no matter what the results.

  “I’ll call Dave after I’ve rested a bit.” She took the bag and went up the stairs toward her room.

  Griff considered following her, but decided to give her some time. He doubted that she’d be doing much resting, though.

  “You need me to fix you a drink?” Ruby asked Griff.

  It was tempting, but he didn’t need alcohol clouding his head. The fatigue and spent adrenaline were already doing enough of that. He thanked her, though, and Ruby excused herself to go to the kitchen.

  “Does Rachel blame me for this?” Warren asked.

  Because of his fuzzy head it took Griff a moment to realize what Warren meant. “You mean because Buddy was your CI?” He didn’t wait for Warren to confirm that. “No. She doesn’t blame you. You had no way of knowing that Buddy would do something like this.”

  Warren shook his head. “I’m the one who invited him into my life.”

  “Nearly everyone who’s been in law enforcement has dealt with a CI,” Griff argued. “Plus Buddy could have been just a patsy. He could have been lured to this crime scene the way someone lured you to Silver Creek.”

  Warren stared at him, nodded and then patted his arm. “Thanks.”

  “For what? Believing you?”

  “For believing in me. But then, you always have.”

  That seemed like some kind of apology for something. Maybe because Warren had always thought Griff wasn’t good enough for Rachel. But there was no apology needed. If their situations had been reversed, Griff might have felt the same way.

  “Go ahead,” Warren prompted. “Make sure Rachel’s okay.” He gave him a pat on the back and walked away.

  Griff went up the stairs, but he didn’t intend to see Rachel. Instead, he was going to the guest room that was next to hers. Or at least that was the plan. But it got derailed when he found her door open, and saw her standing in the doorway of her bathroom, holding one of the pregnancy test sticks in her hand.

  She looked up and their gazes connected. “The package said to wait three minutes. It’ll be a plus sign if it’s positive and a minus sign if it’s negative.”

  All right. Griff wasn’t sure if those three minutes were up or not, because Rachel didn’t add anything else. She went to the foot of her bed and sat down. No way did he want her to be alone for this, so Griff went in, shutting the door behind him. He walked over and eased down next to her, but she was holding her thumb over the little screen on the test.

  “It’s terrifying,” she added. “And exciting.” She had that same apologetic look in her eyes as Warren had earlier.

  “It’s the same for me,” Griff admitted, though right now the terror was winning out.

  Since Rachel looked as if she could use it, he brushed a kiss on her cheek. What he hadn’t expected her to do was lean against him. She dropped her head onto his shoulder.

  “I thought maybe you’d want to punch me or something right about now,” Griff said.

  Rachel lifted her head, met his gaze. “You mean because of the attack or the possible pregnancy?”

  “Either. Both.”

  Now she brushed a kiss on his cheek. “We’ve both been through the wringer. I think it’s best if we declare a truce.”

  Considering that just hours ago he’d kissed her, it felt as if they were well past the truce stage.

  Well past three minutes, too, for the test.

  Griff was about to move her thumb so they could see the results, but his phone rang before he could do that. When he saw Egan’s name on the screen, he knew it was a call he had to take.

  “Is Thea okay?” Griff asked the moment he answered. He put the call on speaker so that Rachel could hear.

  “She’s fine. No cracked or broken ribs. Just a deep bruise. Egan said Ian will take her to the ranch so she can spend the night there, but I’ll need him back here once he’s dropped her off.”

  Yes, probably because Egan was neck-deep in this investigation. Griff would help with it in any way he could, but his top priority was keeping Rachel safe.

  “Buddy didn’t make it through surgery,” Egan added a moment later. “And he didn’t say anything to the medical staff.”

  Griff tried not to feel the punch of dread that came along with that, since he’d been expecting it. Still, it stung. Apparently it did for Rachel, too, because she groaned softly.

  “What about the San Antonio PD?” Griff asked. “Do they have anything on the shooter who killed Buddy?”

  “Not so far, but there were several traffic cameras in the area. They’ll access the footage and go from there. This is their jurisdiction, but they’ll keep us in the loop since the attack’s probably tied to the ones on Rachel and you.”

  The chances were indeed high that it was tied to them, but Buddy was a CI, which meant he could have had someone who wanted him dead. There was some support for that theory, as well, since the shooter hadn’t attempted to gun down Rachel and him. Of course, the killer could have made Buddy a priority if the man had intended to rat out the person who’d hired him.

  “I’ll bring in Marlon again to see if he knows anything about Buddy,” Egan added. “Who knows, he might surprise me and tell me the truth.”

  That would indeed be a surprise, but there was another possible player in this, too. “What about Brad?”

  Egan’s heavy sigh let Griff know that getting the DA in was a little trickier than questioning Marlon. “I’ll see what I can do.”

  “If you think he’s innocent—” Griff started to say, but Egan interrupted him.

  “I don’t. I mean, I don’t know if he’s innocent or not. I don’t like the way he keeps pushing Rachel. It’s obvious he’s jealous of you and her. I just don’t know if he’d be willing to take jealousy as far as murder.”

  That was the big question, and maybe Egan would be able to get the answer. Answers about Alma and Simon, too, since they were still on the suspect list.

  “How’s Rachel?” Egan asked.

  Griff looked at her, but didn’t have a clue about that. “I’m just tired,” she answered. “Let us know if you get anything from Marlon or Brad.”

  Egan assured her that he would, and ended the call. Rachel didn’t move. She just sat there, her attention now on the pregnancy test. She pulled back her thumb, and that’s when Griff saw it.

  The plus sign.

  Rachel was pregnant.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Rachel forced herself out of the shower. She’d already been in there way too long, and it wasn’t helping her relax as it usually did. But then, there was probably nothing that would take away the tension she was feeling.

  Griff likely wasn’t faring much better. After she
’d seen that plus sign on the pregnancy test, Rachel had practically kicked him out of her bedroom, using the excuse that she needed to rest. She had. She was exhausted. But after two hours of trying to take a nap, she’d finally given up on it and tried the shower. Since this hadn’t worked, she would just have to face the problem head-on and go and talk to Griff.

  The problem was she didn’t know what to say.

  Yes, Griff had been nothing but supportive and would continue to be, but never once had she heard him talk about having children. And now that was being forced on him.

  Rachel certainly didn’t feel that way. With each passing minute her mind was moving from the problems this pregnancy would create to the fact that in about eight months she would be a mother. A thought that no longer terrified her. In fact, she was starting to imagine herself holding her baby. Raising it. Loving it.

  So maybe the shower had helped, after all.

  She dried off and got dressed, since she would need to go downstairs and make an appearance. It was 9:00 p.m., but Griff, Ruby, Thea and her father would no doubt be waiting to see if she was okay. She’d have to put on a front for them so they wouldn’t worry more than they already were.

  Rachel glanced at her phone and groaned when she saw the missed call from Egan. Since it could be important, she called him back right away, and he immediately picked up.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  Egan didn’t jump to say anything, which probably wasn’t a good sign. “I got worried when you didn’t answer.”

  “Sorry. I was in the shower. Did something happen?” And she tried to prepare herself for the worst. “Is Mom okay?”

  “Mom’s fine, but Marlon’s missing. I already let Griff know this, but I called Marlon to come in for questioning, and when he didn’t answer, I had a Silver Creek deputy go check on him. His folks said he packed a bag, took the spare cash they keep in the inn’s safe and left.”

  That didn’t sound like something an innocent man would do. “Can you put out an APB on him?”

  “Already done that. If and when he turns up, I’ll let you know. I’ve also told the hands to be on the lookout in case he goes to the ranch.”