Saving His Soul (Serenity Springs Series, #3)

by Dawn Sullivan

  Her sweet girl, Katy, would be leaving them soon. Although her daughter loved Serenity Springs, there had always seemed to be something missing in her life. Cara would do whatever she could to help her figure out what that was. It would be selfish of her not to. Yes, soon three of her six children would be gone.

  Rinsing off the pan, Cara picked it up to dry, glancing back out the window again as she wondered if Charles was about ready to head out. Her eyes narrowed when she saw someone skirting around the barn, scanning the area around him. He was dressed in a dark tee-shirt, black jeans, and black boots. She’d never seen the man before, and she gasped when she saw him remove a gun from his back, holding it down next to him as he began to slowly creep toward the open barn doors.

  Her husband and son were in that barn. She thought Caiden had his gun with him, but she knew Charles was unarmed. She watched the man stealthily making his way forward, and a deep anger filled her. She was so tired of the ones she loved being threatened.

  Running to her husband’s office, Cara opened the top drawer of Charles’s desk and retrieved the key to the gun case. Soon, she was carrying a loaded pistol as she made her way out to the barn the man had just entered. She could hear voices inside, and could make out the authority in her husband’s tone as he told the man to lower his weapon.

  At the sound of a gun being fired, Cara did not hesitate. She ran into the barn, her pistol held high. At the sight of her husband on the ground and the man standing over him, his gun aimed at her son, Cara pointed the pistol and squeezed the trigger. No one messed with her family.

  Cara watched as the gun slowly slipped from the man’s fingers, and he collapsed to the ground. “Call an ambulance,” she told Caiden, quickly closing the distance between herself and her husband. Her husband was now sitting up against the barn watching her, a look of pride in his eyes. There was no blood that she could tell, but she looked him over more than once to make sure. “Are you okay, Charlie?”

  He chuckled softly, “I’m just fine, Cara girl,” he said, pulling her into his arms. “Thanks to you, I’m just fine.”

  Chapter 37

  Ryder watched as Rayna ended the call, putting the phone back in her pocket before turning to face him. “Was that my brother?” he asked.

  “Creed,” she confirmed, her eyes snapping in anger. “Diego’s made a move.”

  “Tell me.”

  “He got to one of the agents that came to Serenity Springs with me,” she ground out.

  “Melissa?” The waitress from the diner. It had to be.

  Rayna looked at him in surprise, “How did you know?”

  “It was her?”

  Rayna nodded, walking over to the loveseat and sitting down. “They found her in her apartment above the diner. It’s bad, Ryder. They are taking her to the hospital now, but they don’t know if she is going to make it.”

  “This is not your fault, Rayna.” Ryder walked over and sat down beside her, taking her hand in his. “I know what you are thinking, but this is not your fault. Melissa was doing her job.”

  “Lyssa,” Rayna rasped, her hand squeezing tightly to his. “Her name is Lyssa. She’s young, one of the newer recruits. This was her first undercover mission, and now she is in the hospital fighting for her life because of me.”

  “No,” Ryder insisted, “it is not because of you, Rayna. It is because of her job. If she wasn’t here with you, Lyssa would be somewhere else, doing the same job.” He knew nothing he said would matter right now, but he could not stand to see the self-loathing in her eyes. Sliding an arm around her waist, he pulled her close. “What else?” he asked. He knew there had been more to the conversation than Lyssa.

  “They broke her, Ryder. By the time they were done, she told them everything she knew to try and stop the torture and pain.” Lifting sad eyes to him, she said, “Everything about me. About Nathan, the other agent here in town who has been working at New Hope Ranch. About you and your family. Everything.”

  “Fuck!”

  “Nathan was the one who found Lyssa, and called for help. He’s on his way back to New Hope Ranch, and Katy is going to meet him there.”

  “My family?”

  “Creed was calling Caiden next to warn him, and then he was going to come here, but I told him not to.”

  “Good idea,” Ryder agreed. She looked at him in surprise. “Diego is not stupid. He will never show his face if my brother is here.”

  “That’s why I told him to wait.” Rayna looked down, inhaling deeply before saying, “Ryder, I want you to leave. I want you to go home and make sure your family is safe. They are so important, and they need you.”

  “You are important,” Ryder said, tilting her head up so their eyes met. “You are important, Rayna Williams. Caiden will take care of my family. I am staying with you.”

  Rayna closed her eyes, nodding in agreement. “That’s what I figured you would say, but I had to try.” Placing a hand on his cheek, she said, “I need you to make yourself scarce. If he sees you here with me, then he may not show himself.”

  As much as he did not want to leave her side, Ryder knew she was right. Sliding his fingers into her hair, he held her still as he pressed his lips to hers. “I’ll go, but I won’t be far.”

  She placed two fingers over his mouth, and smiled gently. “Don’t tell me where you will be. I don’t want to be looking for you, and possibly give your position away.”

  When her fingers slipped away, Ryder leaned down and gave her one last kiss. “I won’t be far,” he promised again, before standing and leaving the house without a backward glance. He knew if he looked just one more time, he wouldn’t be able to walk away.

  Getting into his truck, Ryder left the farm, driving a couple of miles, before turning right on a dirt road and backtracking to Rayna’s place. Grabbing a shotgun from behind the seat, Ryder left his truck less than a mile from her house in a secluded area, and ran quickly on foot back to the farm, praying he wasn’t too late. He was hoping that Diego would follow his normal pattern of waiting to show his hand. He knew the minute he arrived at the farm that it wasn’t going to happen this time, as he watched a young man walk up to Rayna and pull out a gun.

  His eyes on them, he almost missed the man who slipped into the barn. As much as he wanted to go straight to Rayna, he knew that he needed to trust her to handle the situation on her own. Not only was she trained for it, but it was what she would want. If the man who went into that building was Diego, he was a much bigger threat than the kid.

  After one last look at the woman who meant more to him than life itself, Ryder turned and ran to the barn, following the man inside.

  Rayna sat in the gazebo, gazing out over the fields to the north of her, waiting. She had just heard from Nathan that Harper was fine. The woman successfully captured two of Diego’s men on her own, and they were trying to cut a deal with Nathan now. One of them ratted out the fact that their boss was in Serenity Springs. It was all they’d given up so far, but she was sure there was more to come.

  Her phone vibrated and she looked down to see a brief text from Creed. One more of Diego’s men were captured at the Caldwell ranch. That one refused to talk.

  Rayna knew Diego couldn’t be far away. She was positive that if he sent men to New Hope Ranch and the Caldwells, then he was close by watching her. The smart move would be to attack all three places at once, and Diego was very intelligent. He would make his move soon.

  What she did not expect was to hear the sound of a young man’s voice instead of Diego’s. “My father sent me to kill you.”

  Rayna turned to look at the teen standing beside her, a gun raised, his arm outstretched and trembling. The boy resembled Diego, with dark hair and eyes. Even his facial features were almost identical, except for the scar that ran from his temple to just below his cheekbone. “Nickolas,” she said softly, her heart breaking at the pain and fear in his eyes. “You don’t have to do this.” She watched as he walked around the gazebo, then entered it with he
r.

  “Yes, I do,” he whispered, his lips barely moving, “He’s watching. He’s always watching.”

  The son of a bitch had ordered his own son to kill her. He couldn’t even do it himself. “How old are you, Nickolas?” She knew, of course. She knew everything about Diego’s family, what was left of it. His father was dead, as was his mother. Nickolas was from one of his mistresses. He had two daughters too, but they meant nothing to him, he only wanted his son. He wanted to mold the boy into a replica of himself, but it was not working. From what she knew, Nickolas was a dreamer, a writer, and an artist. He may be trained in the arts of exacting excruciating pain and murder, but he’d never actually killed before. She’d watched him for years, discovering the boy had a heart, unlike his father. A part of her had always hoped that he would be able to break away from the cruel man someday.

  “Sixteen,” he answered, his gun slowly beginning to lower.

  “Don’t do that,” she said softly.

  “What?”

  “Raise that gun back up, pointed at me.” When he looked at her in confusion, Rayna whispered, “I know you aren’t going to hurt me, Nickolas. You aren’t a murderer. But, you need to make it look like you are going to for your father.”

  “If I don’t, he’s going to kill me. He says I’m worthless to him if I can’t pull a trigger.”

  “Maybe worthless to him, but I believe you to be a lot stronger than he thinks.” Never looking away from Nickolas, Rayna called out to the man she knew could not be far. “What’s wrong, Diego? You send your son to do your dirty work? Or maybe you know you can’t best me yourself?” Hoping that if she pissed him off enough, he would show himself, she went on. “Why don’t you come and face me like a man, instead of the coward I know you are?”

  “What are you doing?” Nickolas muttered.

  “Keeping you safe,” she responded, rising slowly. If someone was going to die today, she did not want it to be him.

  “Why?” The look in his eyes said it all. He’d never known anyone to care about him before, and rejected the idea that someone could now. He never had anyone to look out for him, and did not understand why someone he was sent to kill would want to.

  “Because you are better than this, Nickolas. Better than him.” Taking a step forward, Rayna said, “Trust me.” Moving quickly, she grabbed the gun, sweeping his feet out from under him so he fell with her to the ground just as a bullet whizzed by his head. “Stay down,” she ordered, dropping his weapon and retrieving her own. Diego was close, but where? Very carefully, Rayna raised her head over the enclosed lower half of the gazebo, quickly scanning the area before ducking back down. Shit, there were four of them, and they were slowly closing in on her. “How many are with you?”

  “What?”

  “How many men, Nickolas?” she spat out, removing her Glock 22 from her boot and mentally counting how many bullets she had.

  “There were ten, including myself and my father. But, three went somewhere else when we came here.”

  Two at New Hope Ranch, one at the Caldwells, four coming toward her now. That meant there were still two more men out there somewhere. “No matter what happens, no matter what you hear, you stay down, Nickolas,” she ordered roughly.

  “What are you going to do?”

  Determination glinted in her eyes when she replied, “Survive.”

  Chapter 38

  After following the man into the barn, Ryder watched him walk to the other side of the barn and set something on the ground, before kneeling down beside it. Ryder was just about to make his move, when another man entered the building. Quickly hiding in one of the darkened corners, Ryder listened as the two began to discuss how far away they would need to be from the barn when the bombs they planted were detonated. It did not take long for him to realize that neither of them were Diego. That meant he was still out there, and there could be more of his henchmen with him.

  “Let’s get the hell out of here, man. I don’t want to be standing here when this pile of crap falls in.”

  The man on the ground messing with the wires on the bomb didn’t bother to turn around. “Go ahead, you chicken shit. We still have five minutes. I need to get this one just right.”

  “You are one crazy fucker, Vinnie.” Shaking his head, he stood there grumbling about idiots with death wishes.

  Ryder had no idea what was going on outside with Rayna, but he was done sitting there waiting to find out. Fear for his woman had Ryder stepping out into the open, his gun raised. “Hello, boys,” he drawled. “Is this a private party, or can anyone join?”

  The one that was standing looked at him in surprise, hesitating a moment too long before going for his gun. Ryder put a bullet in his hand, making him drop the gun, cradling his hand as he screamed, “I’ll kill you! I will fucking kill you!”

  Ryder’s gaze was on Vinnie now. The man didn’t move away from the bomb beside him. He picked up two wires, and turned to look at Ryder with a crazy ass grin on his face. Slowly, he started closing the distance between the wires, a psychotic glint in his eyes. Ryder turned and ran, just clearing the barn doors when the first bomb went off.

  At the sound of a loud explosion, Rayna stood, guns aimed at where she’d seen the men before. She was able to get four shots off before dropping to the ground again to avoid the bullets coming her way. She was sure she’d hit two of the men, but the other two were still coming. Taking a deep breath, she peeked over the side of the gazebo, her eyes meeting the surprised gaze of a man just a few feet away. He grinned, raising his gun, but he was too late. Her bullet hit right between the eyes, before she ducked down again.

  Resting her back against the wall, she glanced down at where Nickolas lay huddled in a ball, his body shaking in fear. “It’s almost over,” she promised him. “We are going to get through this.”

  “I’ve been looking for you for a long time, Macey Fuller.” His voice rang out, deep and intimidating.

  “There is no Macey Fuller here,” she responded angrily. “You killed her with the rest of her family years ago.”

  Diego laughed harshly, and she looked up in shock to see him standing before her at the entrance of the gazebo. “I knew he didn’t have it in him.” Diego spat, motioning toward Nickolas, his eyes dark with fury, “He is too much like his sniveling mother. I had to put her down, and I will do the same with him after I deal with you.”

  When Nickolas made a move to stand, she shook her head, “Don’t.”

  “He’s going to hurt you,” Nickolas protested. Ignoring her, he rose, his gun pointed down to the ground at his side. “I can’t let that happen.”

  The boy wanted to help her. His father was an evil man, a killer, but his son was a savior.

  “Isn’t that fucking sweet,” Diego snarled. “My son finally grows a pair. Unfortunately it’s too late.”

  Suddenly there was another loud explosion, and Rayna made the mistake of turning her head to watch in horror as her barn caved in, falling to the ground. Ryder! Where the hell was he? Please don’t let him be in the barn, she prayed, please God. Her eyes on the destruction in front of her, she cried out in surprise when a shot rang out. Someone slammed into her, knocking her to the floor, and smacking her head into the bench.

  Nickolas’s body covered hers, as he tried to protect her from his father. Moaning in pain, Rayna struggled to push him off her, refusing to allow him to shield her. Her eyes widened in shock when blood dripped down from his shoulder onto her face. “Nickolas!”

  “One down, one to go.”

  Rayna froze, realizing Diego was about to enter the gazebo with them. She’d lost her 9mm when they fell, and couldn’t reach her other gun, even though she could see it just a few feet away.

  “Take it,” Nickolas rasped, pushing his gun into her hand.

  Her fingers curled around the revolver, and she gripped it tightly. “Hold on,” she whispered, “I’m going to get you help, Nickolas, just hold on.”

  “I’ve been waiting so long for
this,” Diego said, stepping into the Gazebo. “Now that it’s come to an end, I find myself almost wishing I didn’t have to kill you.”

  “It’s not over yet, asshole,” Rayna sneered, aiming at his kneecap and pulling the trigger. The shot went high, but she was satisfied when he yelled out, grabbing the railing to hold himself up. Rolling Nickolas off her, Rayna rose to her knees. Pointing the gun at Diego, she spat, “I’ve waited years for this, you bastard.” There was another loud boom, and she could hear the rest of the barn falling in, but Rayna only had eyes for the man in front of her. “You took everything from me, and now I’m going to take everything from you.”

  “What? My son? He is nothing to me.”

  “No, family is not what is important to a man like you, Diego. Power is. Wealth, material things, your empire. That’s what you consider important, and that is what I’m taking.”

  “You can try,” Diego replied with a short laugh, “but once I get rid of you, I have a plane waiting to take me anywhere I want to go, and I’m taking my empire, as you call it, with me.”

  “What makes you think you are leaving Serenity Springs a free man?” Rayna asked, her voice never wavering. “I didn’t bring you here, just to lose you again.”

  “You didn’t bring me anywhere!”

  “That’s where you are wrong. It was my idea to come here. I thought it would be easier to draw you out in the open, and I was right.”

  “Did you think I didn’t know that?” Diego scoffed. “I have ties in the FBI. I have them everywhere. The only thing I didn’t know, until yesterday, was who was helping you. But, we found your Lyssa Taylor, at a diner in town. And although it took hours, and a lot of persuasion, sweet Lyssa led us to your other agent, Nathan Brentworth, on a ranch not far from here.”