“I was convinced of that before you put an innocent baby in danger. Get the baby away from that bomb and then we’ll talk.”
“We’ll talk now,” the man snapped.
“All right,” Lucas snapped right back. “You want the baby alive to collect the ransom. Well, you’re risking a half million dollars by keeping her that close to the explosive.”
“There’s no real threat to her,” the kidnapper said. “Not at this moment, anyhow. You gotta do something, though, to keep it that way. You can have the baby in exchange for Hailey. And before you go all cowboy cop on me, this isn’t your decision. It’s Hailey’s. I’ll give her five minutes to decide.”
Lucas was about to tell him that he didn’t need a second of that five minutes, that the answer was no. But the kidnapper hung up.
“You’re not going out there,” Lucas insisted.
She moved as if ready to get up, but he caught her arm to force her to sit back down. He needed to convince her to stay put, but he also had to keep watch on the security screens in case those gunmen started firing.
“These men want you dead,” Lucas reminded her. “And along with two of our suspects, Colleen and Minton, there are gunmen. Going to meet them won’t get the baby rescued. It will only get you killed.”
She stopped struggling to get away from him, and even in the darkness, Lucas saw the tears shimmer in her eyes. “I have to do something to help that baby. She’s my niece.”
Lucas got that. Hell, he had a niece, and he would have done anything to keep her safe. But a suicide mission wasn’t the way to go, especially since it was possible the child wasn’t even in any real danger.
“So, what do we do?” Hailey asked.
He looked at the screen again. Still no movement from the gunmen. Lucas panned around, trying to get a glimpse of the vehicle holding Minton and the baby, but he didn’t see anything.
Hell.
The kidnappers could have the baby anywhere, including out of the state.
“Let me see first if Colleen stayed on hold,” he said.
Though Lucas wasn’t sure what to tell Hailey’s sister. It didn’t seem a good idea to mention the bomb. However, it turned out he didn’t have to make that decision, because Colleen was no longer on the line. Her car was still at the end of the road, though.
But it didn’t stay there.
Colleen backed out the car, turned onto the main road and hit the accelerator. Lucas thought she had decided to leave, and he adjusted the camera angle to see if she was heading back to town.
She wasn’t.
Colleen turned her car directly at the white wooden fence that fronted the ranch, and she bashed right through it. Her car went straight into the pasture. Too close to Lucas’s house.
Hailey gasped. “What is she doing?” she said under her breath.
Lucas hated to think the worst, but he did. Colleen could be coming to kill them.
Dade and Gage got back into their cruiser and went in pursuit. Mason was no doubt sending someone, too, but there wasn’t a lot of help to send. Most of the men were already tied up guarding the houses and the other fences, especially the back, where it would be easier for someone to launch an attack.
Colleen’s car didn’t make it far, though. The rain had obviously soaked the pasture, and she made it only about a hundred yards before her tires bogged down in the mud and grass. That didn’t stop her, though. She barreled out of the vehicle and started running.
Directly toward Lucas’s house.
He hadn’t even been sure that Colleen knew which house was his, but she must have done her homework, because she was headed their way on foot.
And not alone, either.
Before Dade could get the cruiser turned around, another vehicle came up the road. A black SUV. And it looked like the same one with the attackers who’d tried to kill Hailey, Josh and him after the bombing.
“Those men are after Colleen?” Hailey asked.
Lucas didn’t know the answer. Not at first, anyway. But he soon got one. The SUV didn’t go after Colleen. Nor did it bog down. The driver came to a stop, and his passenger opened his door.
And the guy aimed something at Lucas’s house.
It was too big to be a regular firearm, and Lucas had to zoom in on it to figure out what it was. A tear gas gun. At least, he hoped it was that and not a grenade launcher. Either way, Hailey and he had to get the heck out of there now.
Lucas closed the laptop, tucking it under his arm, and he took hold of Hailey to get her moving. It was chilly and raining, but Lucas was pretty sure there wouldn’t be enough time to grab any raincoats or umbrellas.
And he was right.
There was a crashing sound of breaking glass in the living room, the side of the house that faced those thugs. Followed by another sound of the canister plinking to the floor. A couple of moments later, another canister came flying into the house.
“We have to hurry,” Lucas warned her. He handed her the laptop so he could draw his gun.
Time was up, because tear gas started to spew through the entire house. Lucas ran with her to the back door and prayed he wasn’t carrying Hailey right into an ambush.
* * *
HAILEY WAS MOVING as fast as she could, but it wasn’t fast enough. The tear gas was on them before Lucas and she could get to the back door.
She started to cough, the gas cutting off her breath along with burning her throat and eyes. It was no doubt doing the same thing to Lucas, but he still managed to get the door open. He already had his weapon drawn when he stepped out onto the porch and looked around. He must not have seen anyone because he pulled her out of the house.
“We can’t stay here,” he said.
A moment later, she realized why. Another canister came bashing into the house. Then another. It wouldn’t be long before the tear gas was so thick back here that they would be coughing too hard to run.
But where?
If they ran outside, they could be gunned down.
She could see Lucas’s gaze darting around while he was trying to figure that out. They had a couple of choices. They could try to make it to the side of the house where he’d parked his truck. The problem with that was it was also the side where those canister-shooting thugs were positioned.
It was where she’d last seen Colleen, too.
So that probably wasn’t a good direction to go. That left the barn, a detached garage and a storage building. Beyond that was open pasture, where one of those riflemen would be able to pick them off.
“We’ll run to the garage,” Lucas told her. “I have another truck there we can use to escape. Stay as low as you can and move fast.”
Hailey wasn’t sure she could go fast. Not with her legs so wobbly, and now that she couldn’t breathe so well, it would be even harder. Still, they didn’t have much of a choice.
Lucas took her hand and led her off the porch and down the steps. When they reached the yard, there was no more awning, so the rain and wind came right at them. Even though Hailey had on the hoodie, it wasn’t nearly thick enough, and it didn’t take long before she started to shiver. Still, she ran until Lucas pulled them behind a large oak.
Not a second too soon, either.
A shot blasted through the air and slammed right into the tree.
It wasn’t just the rain that was raw and bitter. Suddenly the fear was, too. Not because the shot had come so close to hitting Lucas and her, but because she didn’t want bullets being fired anywhere near Camden and the others.
More shots came, but these didn’t slam into the tree. That only made the fear worse because Hailey couldn’t immediately figure out where those men were shooting. Then she realized they were aiming at the cruiser that Dade and Gage were trying to get closer.
Mercy.
&n
bsp; The shooters were no doubt doing that to stop Lucas’s cousins from helping them. At least the cruiser was bullet-resistant, but she figured sooner or later, either Dade or Gage would step out so they could return fire.
Hailey considered taking out the laptop to see if she could check the security cameras, but she needed to be ready to move. Plus, she didn’t want to risk getting it wet. Right now, it was still under her arm where it was semiprotected. Once they were in the garage, then she could check and make sure none of these hired killers were heading for the main house. Maybe she’d also be able to find her sister. If Colleen was innocent, then she was in grave danger out in the open with those bullets flying.
Lucas’s phone buzzed, and he took it from his pocket and handed it to her. Probably so he could keep his hands free. When Hailey saw Mason’s name on the screen, she answered it right away.
“Is everyone all right?” she immediately asked.
“Fine for now. I want to keep it that way. Dade told me about the bomb, the baby and Minton. As soon as Dade can, he’ll move in to help. In the meantime, our other cousins, Nate and Landon, are trying to work their way to the pasture. If they get a clean shot, they’ll stop the gunmen.”
That was good. Hailey hoped that would happen. It wouldn’t get back her niece, but it would end the immediate danger. At least, it would if these men didn’t set off that explosive. But she figured they were going to use Colleen’s baby as the ultimate bargaining tool to get to her.
“What about my sister?” Hailey asked. “Where is she?”
“I lost sight of her, but the last I saw her, she was moving in the direction of Lucas’s barn.”
Then that was all the more reason for Lucas and her not to go in there. “What about the car with Minton and the baby?”
“Still nothing on that. Grayson’s coming in from town, and he’ll look along the way.”
Maybe they’d get lucky and could spot it. Of course, in the dark and rain, it would be hard to do.
“I can see Lucas and you,” Mason went on a moment later. “Make your way to the main house when you can. You’re too damn close to these dirtbags.”
Yes, they were. And while Hailey desperately wanted to see Camden, she was also terrified of having these men shoot at them if they went in that direction. Plus, Lucas and she had to get to the garage first.
“I’ll have the ranch hands fire at the dirtbags,” Mason added. “That should keep them occupied a couple of seconds so that you and Lucas can get moving.”
“But what about the shots going to the main house?” she asked.
“The ranch hands are positioning themselves so that won’t happen,” he assured her.
She thanked him and added, “Just keep Camden and everyone else safe.” Maybe Mason and the others would be able to do that.
She relayed the information Mason had given her to Lucas, but before she even finished, Hailey heard the shots. These weren’t coming from the hired killers but rather from the ranch hands. As Mason had said, it created a distraction because the gunmen were now shooting at the hands.
“Let’s move,” Lucas told her.
They started running. There weren’t any trees or anything else right by they could use for cover, so Hailey held her breath while they were out in the open. It seemed to take an eternity to go the fifteen or so yards. The rain certainly didn’t help, either, and her shoes sank down into the boggy ground.
The moment they reached the garage, Lucas took her to the side door and threw it open. He stepped in first, his gaze slashing from one side to the other. What he didn’t do was turn on the lights. Probably because it would alert the gunmen to their position. Maybe the men had been so involved with the gunfight distraction that they hadn’t seen Lucas and her make their way there.
“Stay right next to me,” he warned her.
She did, and while he continued to look around them, he inched his way to a truck parked at the front of the garage. The back was a workshop and storage area and was filled with shelves, tables and equipment. It would give someone places to hide. Not exactly a reminder to soothe her already raw nerves.
“I need to check and make sure no one tampered with the truck,” Lucas added. “Keep watch around us.”
That didn’t help her nerves, either. Hailey just wanted to get out of there, but after what’d happened with the cruiser, they had to take precautions.
Lucas stooped down, and using the light from his phone, he began to make his way around the truck. She followed him while keeping watch, but Hailey didn’t see anyone, thank goodness.
But she heard something.
Lucas must have, too, because he quickly stood and moved in front of her. They waited, listening. Hard to hear, though, what with the shots continuing outside, but Hailey was almost certain she’d heard something move. Or maybe it was just the wind and rain.
No, it wasn’t.
There was another sound, and this time Hailey was able to pinpoint it.
Someone was in the truck.
Chapter Seventeen
Hell. What now?
Lucas pivoted and took aim in the direction of the truck cab. He didn’t see anyone, but he was positive someone was in there.
He had known it was a risk to come into the garage, but it would have also been a risk for them to stay in the yard with heaven knew how many hired thugs now on the ranch. However, they might have gone from the frying pan right into the fire.
“Come out or I’ll shoot,” Lucas warned the person. But it was a warning he hoped like the devil that he didn’t have to carry out. Because he didn’t want to shoot in cramped quarters with Hailey.
Definitely didn’t want to start a gunfight.
And he also didn’t want to alert the armed thugs that Hailey and he were in the garage. That would only cause them to open fire. Or maybe launch another tear gas grenade.
“It’s me,” someone said.
Colleen.
Lucas groaned and definitely didn’t lower his gun. “Put your hands where I can see them,” he ordered.
“I’m not the one trying to kill you.” Colleen added a sob. “When will you believe me?”
“I might start to believe you when you get out of the truck, hands up.”
Other than another sob, Colleen didn’t respond, and the seconds crawled by before she finally lifted her head. Lucas could see then that she’d been down on the seat. She lifted her hands, too.
“Satisfied?” Colleen snapped.
“Not yet. Step out, keep your hands in the air and don’t make any sudden moves. Get behind me,” he added to Hailey. “And try to keep watch around us in case she’s not alone.”
Because Hailey’s arm was right against his, he felt her tense even more. He hated that he was having to put her through this, but they couldn’t get in the truck until Lucas figured out what the heck Colleen was up to.
Colleen stepped from the truck, and Lucas could see she didn’t have anything in her hands. She also didn’t appear to be carrying a weapon. Like Hailey, Colleen wasn’t wearing a coat. The rain had soaked her jeans and top, and they were clinging to her. Still, Lucas motioned for her to turn around, and when she did, he made sure she didn’t have a weapon tucked in the back waist of her jeans.
She didn’t.
“I told you I wasn’t trying to kill you,” Colleen said.
Just because she wasn’t armed didn’t mean she wasn’t behind this attack. “Why are you in here? How are you in here?” Lucas amended.
“I just started running when my car got stuck. This was the first place I reached. I knew I needed to try to get to my baby, but I couldn’t find the truck keys.”
They were on a hook on the wall, but since Colleen hadn’t turned on the lights, either, she would have had trouble spotting them.
&nbs
p; “Do you know where the baby is?” Lucas asked.
“No.” Colleen winced when there was another round of loud gunfire. “But I have to find her. I have to save her.” She made a loud sob. “Is there anything you can do to make them stop shooting? Can you try to negotiate with them or something?”
Her fear seemed genuine enough, but after the hell Hailey and he had been through, Lucas planned on hanging on to his skepticism a while longer.
“I don’t have any control over those gunmen,” he told her. “But there are armed ranch hands out there, and they might get them to stop soon.”
Colleen looked at Hailey. “Please help me get my daughter back. Please. Just think if it were your son and how hard this would be for you.”
“I have thought about it,” Hailey answered. “Those kidnappers want me in exchange for the baby.”
“Then do it.” Colleen didn’t hesitate even a second, either. Maybe because she knew there was no danger for her. But there’d be plenty for Hailey. “I’d go if they would let me.”
“Really?” Lucas pressed.
“Of course.”
Then he was about to put that to the test. Without taking his gun off the woman, he passed his phone back to Hailey. “Hit Redial and see if the kidnapper will answer.”
Colleen’s eyes widened. “What are you going to do?”
Lucas didn’t actually expect the kidnapper to answer and was surprised when he heard the man’s voice. “Are you ready to send out Hailey?” the man asked.
“No, but Colleen is here, and she’s willing to meet with you.”
And Lucas carefully watched Colleen’s reaction. She didn’t look annoyed or afraid. “Yes,” she said. “I’ll come right now. Just tell me where I need to go so I can get my baby.”
“Guess Lucas told you about our little explosive device, huh?” the kidnapper taunted.
Colleen’s gaze slashed to Lucas. “What is he talking about?”
“So he didn’t tell you,” the kidnapper continued before Lucas could speak. “Minton and your baby girl are real close to a bomb right now.”
Colleen gasped. “Oh, God. Is it true? Is there actually a bomb?”
Lucas Page 15
