Oh, God.
“The ranch is under attack,” Grayson said, confirming her fears.
“Do they really have Camden?” Lucas asked.
Grayson shook his head, then cursed. “They’re sorting that out now. An SUV armed with gunmen broke through the gate. Mason and the others responded, but it’s chaos there.”
“Told you,” the caller taunted.
“They might not have him,” Lucas tried to assure her. But he didn’t look convinced of that any more than she was.
Hailey wanted to know how in the world this had happened. She wanted to scream, run outside, find the nearest vehicle and hurry to the ranch. Lucas must have known what was going through her mind, because he took hold of her arm and had her sit at the desk next to Josh. No way could she stay put, though. She got up and started pacing.
“Let’s just wait for a report from Mason,” Lucas told her. He motioned to Josh who was at his desk, and Lucas mouthed, “Try to trace the call.”
“Yeah, and Mason will soon tell you that we have the boy,” the caller added. “And now it’s time to talk about how you get both kids back.”
“Prove to me that you’ve got him first,” Lucas insisted. “You sent a picture of the girl, but I don’t have anything to convince me that you truly have my son.”
“Soon. I’ll give you proof before our little exchange happens, and if you do what you’re told, I’ll give you the kids.”
“I swear we’ll do whatever you ask,” Colleen blurted out. “Just please don’t hurt them.”
“Nobody will get hurt if you follow my instructions to a T.”
Hailey didn’t put much trust in a snake who would kidnap babies, but she moved closer to the phone so that she wouldn’t miss a word of those instructions. It was so hard to focus, though, with the tornado of bad thoughts going on in her head.
“The price is now a half million,” the man said. “All because there are two of them now. Go ahead and start gathering the money. I’ll give you an hour—”
“That’s not enough time,” Lucas interrupted. He was almost certainly stalling the kidnapper to give Josh more time to trace the call. “The money has to come from a bank in San Antonio. It’ll take a while for them to pull together that kind of cash.”
“All right, you have until morning. And no, don’t ask for more time than that, because it’s all you’re going to get. Along with the money, Hailey’s got to give us the files she has on the DeSalvos.”
Files that she didn’t have. Because Colleen had deleted them. Colleen opened her mouth, maybe to tell the kidnapper just that, but Hailey shook her head, stopping her. If this man learned that the files were gone, it might compromise the ransom and rescue. Hailey would just come up with some fake files to give them.
But there was something about this particular kidnapper’s request that didn’t make sense.
Hailey had assumed that Colleen had deleted the files to appease the person who’d kidnapped her baby. If she’d done that, though, then this man wouldn’t be demanding them now, because he would know the files no longer existed.
“Hailey won’t be delivering anything to you,” Lucas argued. “You’ll get the money and the files, but someone else will be doing the drop.”
The kidnapper paused for several heart-stopping moments. If this man insisted she deliver the goods, she’d have to do it, of course. But it would be a suicide mission. Still, she’d go through with it if it meant Camden and her niece were safe.
“All right,” the kidnapper finally said. “Not Hailey.”
Hailey’s breath swooshed out, but she certainly didn’t feel any relief. She waited for the other shoe to drop, and it didn’t take long.
“You and Eric DeSalvo will bring the money and the files.” The kidnapper’s words hung in the air.
Grayson and Lucas exchanged a glance, but she could see Lucas’s answer in his eyes before he even spoke. “Why Eric?” he asked.
“Let’s just say Eric will be bringing some cash of his own. For those files.”
So Eric was being blackmailed. Or at least, according to this man he was.
Lucas huffed. “I’ll have to work it out with Eric—”
“Just do it,” the kidnapper snapped. “I’ll call you back with the drop-off point. Have everything ready to go.”
“I got the kidnapper’s location from the cell tower,” Josh said the moment the man ended the call. “It’s coming from Sweetwater Springs. I’ll get the sheriff to send someone out there.”
Hailey latched onto that like a lifeline. Maybe the sheriff could find them and put an end to this.
While Josh contacted the Sweetwater Springs sheriff, Hailey went to Grayson to see if he’d heard anything about what was happening at the ranch. He had the phone pressed to his ear, and while she could hear someone talking on the other end of the line, she couldn’t make out what the person was saying.
Lucas came closer to her, and he slipped his arm around her waist. Waiting. And no doubt praying, as Hailey was doing.
“I’ll wait to talk to Eric,” Lucas explained.
Yes, but it would have to be done. Well, it would unless they managed to end this kidnapping. But Eric would still have to be brought in to answer questions about whether or not he was being blackmailed about those blasted files.
“I didn’t know you two were back together,” Colleen said.
Hailey glanced at her sister, ready to explain that it wasn’t like that between Lucas and her, but she didn’t want to waste the energy. Besides, it seemed a strange observation to make when their children could be in grave danger.
Grayson pressed the end call button, his attention going straight to Lucas and Hailey. “Mason and the ranch hands are closing in on the trespassers. There are three of them. And we still don’t know if they took Camden. It shouldn’t be long, though, before Mason calls back.”
A second was too long, and Hailey’s legs suddenly felt ready to give way.
Josh finished his call and joined them just outside Grayson’s office. “I know the timing for this is bad, but I found out something about that surveillance footage from the bank.”
Hailey certainly hadn’t forgotten about that. It was the security feed that was supposed to show the dirty agent Preston had sent to destroy whatever was in his safe deposit box.
“It was Eric,” Josh said.
It took Hailey a moment to get what he was saying. “Eric?” she asked. “Why would he be on that footage?”
Josh shrugged. “He’ll have to answer that. Have to answer, too, what was in the box, since there’s no security footage for that.”
Hailey tuned out the rest of what Josh was saying when Grayson’s phone rang. The sound shot through the room, shot through her, too, and Grayson answered it as fast as he could. What he didn’t do was put the call on speaker. Probably because he wanted to buffer any bad news that he got. But that wasn’t a bad news kind of look on his face. He blew out a quick breath.
“Camden’s safe,” Grayson relayed.
Suddenly she was in Lucas’s arms. This time, though, not because of a kiss but because they were both overcome with relief. Relief that Colleen wasn’t sharing. She went back into the squad room and sank down into one of the chairs. Hailey hoped she was having that reaction simply because she was still terrified for her daughter and not because her sister had planned this failed kidnapping.
“Is everyone okay?” Lucas asked Grayson.
“Yes. The attackers didn’t get into your house. Tillie’s shaken up, of course, but she said Camden’s too little to know what was going on. She hid with him in the bathroom.”
Good. That was probably the safest place for her to have been, but it ripped at Hailey’s heart to know that her precious son, the nanny and everyone at the ranch had been put in that kind
of danger.
“One of the attackers is dead,” Grayson went on. “The other two escaped, but Mason called in help to look for them.”
She figured the men were long gone by now, but if they could get an ID on the dead one, it might lead them back to who’d hired him.
“I need to see Camden,” Hailey insisted.
Lucas didn’t even argue with that. He looked at Grayson. “Can you spare a deputy to go with us?”
“Josh can do it.” Grayson didn’t get to add more because Lucas’s phone rang.
Unknown Caller was on the screen again. Lucas waited until Grayson turned on the recorder before he answered it.
“So, we didn’t get your boy,” the kidnapper said. It was the same man who’d called earlier. “Not this time, anyway. But there’s always tomorrow.”
The muscles tightened in Lucas’s jaw, and Hailey could tell he wanted to go through the phone lines and rip this guy to pieces. Hailey did, too. But more than anything, she just wanted to hold her baby and make sure he truly was safe.
“You’ll still pay the ransom if you want your sister’s kid back,” the kidnapper insisted. “Get that money together. Those files, too, and I’ll be in touch.” And he ended the call.
“I’ll have the call analyzed,” Grayson volunteered. “To see if he’s still in Sweetwater Springs. The three of you go ahead and leave.”
“But what about my daughter?” Colleen asked, getting to her feet. “You can’t just leave while that monster has her.”
“Staying here won’t help her,” Lucas answered. He hooked his arm around Hailey, and along with Josh, they started toward the door. “When the kidnapper calls with drop-off instructions, I’ll come back.”
Hailey hoped not. Maybe they could work out a different deal. One that didn’t include Lucas, her or anyone in his family. Perhaps Eric could do this solo.
There was a cruiser parked out front, and the three of them hurried to get in it. Josh took the wheel. She thought Lucas would ride in the front, but he got in the backseat with her. He brushed a quick kiss on her forehead. A kiss no doubt of relief, and he kept watch around them. So did Josh.
There was a storm moving in, and the sky was already getting dark, but Hailey hoped the rain would hold off until they made it to the ranch. She didn’t want anything to slow them down.
Josh certainly wasn’t moving slowly. He was speeding through town, and like Lucas, he was also keeping watch.
“You think Colleen could have been the one to arrange this attack?” Lucas asked. It was a question that hadn’t been far from her mind.
“It’s possible. But even if she wasn’t the mastermind, she could have known about it. Getting Camden could have been part of the kidnappers’ demands to her.”
Of course, Colleen hadn’t said a thing about a demand like that, but it still could have happened. If Colleen was truly desperate to get her daughter back, then she might be willing to do anything. That could include having Camden taken.
Because if the kidnappers had him, they had the ultimate bargaining tool to get Lucas and her to cooperate.
Josh had just made it out of town when Lucas’s phone rang again. Hailey hoped it wasn’t the kidnapper calling to give them an immediate drop for the ransom. But it was Grayson. Hailey felt a new slam of fear and prayed that nothing else had gone wrong at the ranch.
“Pull over and check the cruiser,” Grayson said the moment Lucas answered the call.
“What’s wrong?” Josh and Lucas asked in unison.
“It might be nothing, but a waitress from the diner across the street said about thirty minutes ago she saw somebody walking by the cruiser. A man she didn’t recognize. She said at one point the guy appeared to drop something, and he stooped down out of sight for a couple of seconds.”
“Hell.” Lucas added some more profanity as Josh pulled to the shoulder of the road. “Why didn’t she tell you this sooner?”
“She got busy with some customers and just now got a break. Like I said, it might be nothing. I just want to be sure.”
Judging from Lucas’s and Josh’s reactions, though, it could be some kind of tracking device. Or worse.
“I didn’t see anyone around the cruiser,” Hailey said.
But then, they’d had plenty of distractions with Minton, Eric and Colleen all there. Plus there’d been the calls from the ranch about the attack and those from the kidnapper.
“Stay inside the cruiser until I check it out,” Lucas told Josh and her.
She hated that he was going out there again, but Grayson was right. They had to be certain no one had tampered with the vehicle.
Lucas already had his gun drawn, and he stepped out. Josh opened his door, too, no doubt in case this became an ambush. But there really was no place for attackers to hide on this particular stretch of the road. There were no trees, just flat pasture, and the ditches weren’t particularly deep. She also couldn’t see any vehicles either ahead of or behind them.
Hailey held her breath, waiting as Lucas went around the cruiser. He was moving quickly. Until he got to the rear of the vehicle. Because she was watching him so closely, she saw the instant alarm on his face.
“Get out now!” Lucas shouted. “There’s a bomb.”
* * *
LUCAS FELT HIS heart slam against his chest.
He didn’t take the time to kick himself for not checking out the cruiser before hurrying Hailey into it. He should have gone over every inch of it before they left the sheriff’s office. But they’d been so eager to get to the ranch and check on Camden, so he hadn’t done it.
Now it might cost them their lives.
Josh was out of the vehicle within seconds, mainly because his door was already open, but Hailey was struggling with hers. Lucas threw it open for her, dragging her out, and he started running with her in tow. But they weren’t moving nearly fast enough. They had to put some distance between them and the car, so he scooped her into his arms and raced toward the pasture.
They made it only a few yards past the ditch, though.
The blast ripped through the air, throwing them forward and onto the ground. Lucas scrambled to cover Hailey’s body with his and hoped that the flying debris didn’t kill them.
Chunks of the cruiser came crashing down. Most of the pieces were in flames, and the other jagged shards fell into the pasture all around them.
“Josh?” she said, no doubt checking to make sure he’d gotten out.
He had. Lucas’s cousin was on the ground only about two yards away, and from what he could see of him, he didn’t have any injuries. In fact, he was already calling for backup.
“Josh is okay,” Lucas assured her.
But Hailey was a different matter. When she looked up at him, he saw the two small cuts on her forehead. Probably from the fall. Maybe she hadn’t broken any bones or suffered any internal injuries.
He glanced back at the cruiser. What was left of it, anyway. It was now a fireball, and if they’d been inside when that bomb had gone off, they’d all be dead.
“We need to get into the ditch,” Lucas told them.
The sound of the blast was still causing his ears to ring, and it was hard to think. However, he didn’t need to think hard to know they shouldn’t stay out in the open like this. Someone could be coming to finish them off.
He helped Hailey to her feet, and despite the ringing noise, he still heard the grunt of pain she made. She’d need to be checked out by a doctor. First, though, they needed to get out of here.
“Grayson’s on the way,” Josh relayed.
Good. They were so close to town that it wouldn’t take him long to get there, but trouble could arrive ahead of him. Lucas figured whoever had planted that bomb was probably nearby so they could finish them off.
And he was right.
>
Within seconds after having that thought, he saw the SUV coming up the road from the direction of the town, and Lucas knew they didn’t have much time. They had to take cover now. He ran toward the ditch, dropping down into it. It was shallow, too shallow, but it was the only thing they had right now.
“Stay down as far as you can get,” he warned Hailey, and both Josh and he got into crouching positions so they could return fire if necessary.
The SUV screeched to a stop just about twenty feet from them. It was hard to see just how many were inside, though, because of the black smoke coming from the cruiser. The gas tank was already gone, so there probably wouldn’t be a secondary explosion, but Lucas wanted Hailey to stay down just in case. That’s why he cursed when he felt her put her hand in the waist of his jeans and take his backup weapon from his slide holster.
“You might need an extra hand,” she insisted.
He didn’t have time to argue with her. Didn’t want to turn his attention from that SUV for even a second, but he hoped like the devil that she didn’t do anything to get herself hurt worse than she already was.
“Can you see how many of them there are?” Lucas asked Josh.
His cousin shook his head and then scurried down the ditch, no doubt to get a better angle. While Josh was still in motion, though, the front passenger door of the SUV flew open. The barrel of a gun appeared.
And the shot came.
Like the explosion, it ripped through the air, and the bullet slammed into the asphalt just a few inches from Lucas and Hailey. He shoved Hailey back down, took aim and returned fire. His shot smacked against the door and sent the gunman ducking back inside the SUV.
But not for long.
The driver lowered his window and started shooting. Not just one shot, either. These came at them. A barrage of bullets that tore right through the mud and dirt in the ditch. Soon it would tear into them, too, if Lucas didn’t do something.
He couldn’t lift his head for long. Too risky. And if these thugs managed to kill him, then Hailey would be left as easy prey. So Lucas glanced up just long enough to get his aim. Then he lowered his head.
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