Rustling Up Trouble

by Delores Fossen

  Good. Because she’d already been blindsided enough and didn’t want to go another round with a man she couldn’t trust. “If you can, go ahead and run another check on Blue’s missing friend, Woody Janson.”

  Seth stayed quiet a moment. “You think he has something to do with this?”

  “I don’t know what to think,” Rayanne admitted.

  She heard Seth’s heavy sigh. “Does Blue know about the baby?”

  “He knows.”

  “And what the heck is he going to do about it?” Seth snapped.

  “Absolutely nothing, because I’m not going to let him do anything.”

  Again, it seemed as if Blue had filled in the blanks about the conversation, because he glared at her in a stubborn way that only he and a mule could have managed.

  “Hold a sec,” Seth suddenly said, and the line went silent. Probably because he’d had to take another call.

  Maybe one that would give them good news.

  Any news, she amended.

  She watched as Blue fumbled to get back in the bed. Another view of his backside. But it didn’t hold her attention, because she saw the sweat pop out on his forehead, and he was clenching his teeth.

  Clearly in pain.

  Rayanne reached for the door to see if Doc Howland was still hanging around so he could give Blue another dose of meds. But reaching for the door was as far as she got.

  “We have a problem,” Seth blurted out when he came back on the line. “You have your gun?”

  That didn’t help steady her nerves, and they were already on edge just hearing the tone of Seth’s voice.

  “Yes. Why?” Rayanne asked her brother.

  “Because I just got a call. A guy matching the description of the missing gunman was spotted on the traffic camera just a block from the hospital. He’s not alone, and he’s headed your way.”

  Chapter Four

  Before Rayanne even said a word, Blue knew something else had gone wrong.

  He didn’t waste his energy on another groan or more profanity. He’d already been doing way too much of that, and he was already figuring this wasn’t something a groan or cursing could fix.

  “The guy who tried to kill you is less than a block away from the parking lot,” she explained, helping him from the bed. “Backup’s on the way, but it might not get here in time.”

  Yeah, he’d been right about that something gone wrong.

  What he needed was a gun so he could try to protect Rayanne. And the baby. Of course, she wouldn’t exactly appreciate any efforts from him to protect her, but she was going to get those efforts whether she wanted them or not.

  Well, maybe.

  His third attempt to stand wasn’t any easier than his first two had been. Blue had to fight to push away the pain, but he finally got to his feet. In the same motion, he yanked the IV needle from his arm.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” Rayanne snarled.

  “We’re getting out of here. I figured that was pretty obvious.”

  Judging from the way her eyes widened, then narrowed, that wasn’t so obvious after all, and it clearly wasn’t the solution she’d had in mind. “We can hide in the bathroom.”

  “Bullets can go through the door, and I’d rather not be trapped in a small room with someone gunning for me.”

  Even if he couldn’t remember who exactly wanted him dead or why. But he seriously doubted these thugs were coming here to fill in his memory gaps or have a conversation with him. Whatever he’d done to rile them, it was serious enough for them to send out a death squad. A squad that, according to the hit order, he was supposedly a part of.

  He wasn’t.

  He hoped.

  Even without the memories to prove it, Blue knew in his gut there was no way he would kill Rayanne. Agreeing to do it and making someone else believe it, however, was a different story. He could have done that for some reason that he hoped like the devil would become clear to him soon.

  “My brother will be here in a few minutes,” she reminded him. “And there’s a deputy outside.”

  That was a start, but it wasn’t nearly enough to fight off hired guns. “Stay away from the door,” Blue warned Rayanne when she headed in that direction.

  Blue rifled through the bag that Caleb had brought him, and he located some jeans, a shirt and boots. No badge or gun. But he did drag on the clothes so he could ditch the drafty gown. Every move he made was a painful effort.

  “You got a backup weapon?” he asked, stepping in front of her.

  A gesture that caused her to scowl and mumble something that didn’t sound pleasant. “No. I only carry backup when I’m on the job.”

  Not good. But at least he had her weapon. Something he would have to convince her to hand over to him. Of course, that was only part of the convincing he’d have to do.

  “You took a huge risk saving me earlier,” he reminded her, dropping his gaze to her stomach, “and I won’t let you take another one.”

  “It wasn’t a risk.”

  But she stopped, knowing that there was no way she could convince him otherwise. Heck, she could no doubt still hear the sounds of the bullets flying around her. Yeah, it’d been a huge risk.

  “I had no idea three gunmen would be out there when I rode out to the pasture,” she added, “and I certainly didn’t take the risk for you. I took it because I wasn’t in a position to do anything else. If I’d tried to get out of there, one of them would have spotted me and tried to gun me down.”

  Fair enough. Too bad the fairness couldn’t continue, because Blue snatched her gun, and before the protesting gasp could even leave her mouth, he eased open the door. The lanky dark-haired deputy was indeed still there, and he was on the phone.

  “I’m Deputy Reed Caldwell,” he said, his gaze snapping toward them. He shoved the phone back in his pocket. “There are three of them, and they’re in the parking lot.”

  Man, they had gotten there even faster than he’d thought. Rayanne and he probably had only a minute or two at most because in a town the size of Sweetwater Springs, the exact location of his hospital room likely wasn’t much of a secret.

  “How much backup’s on the way?” Blue asked the deputy at the exact moment that Rayanne asked a version of the same. They were both still lawmen to the core, and whether Rayanne liked it or not, they were also on the same side.

  For this, anyway.

  “The sheriff and another deputy,” Reed answered. “Both are Rayanne’s brothers, and they’re about five minutes out.”

  Good news about her brothers coming so fast. Blood kin meant they’d no doubt fight hard to make sure Rayanne stayed safe. Not so good news about the five minutes, though. That was more than enough time for the armed goons to get inside and do plenty of damage.

  Blue glanced around and spotted exits at both ends of the corridor, which was lined with doors to patients’ rooms on each side. He considered having Reed duck inside one of the rooms with Rayanne.

  Any one of them but his own.

  However, if the gunmen managed to pick the right door or if they just started randomly shooting, Rayanne could be hit or worse. Innocent bystanders could be, too. Right now he was a bullet magnet, but he wasn’t sure he trusted this deputy who he didn’t even know to be the one to protect Rayanne.

  “Which exit is closest to the parking lot where those gunmen are?” Blue asked.

  Reed pointed to the one to his left. Blue got all three of them moving in the opposite direction, and he hoped he could get Rayanne out of the hall before trouble arrived.

  “You sure you’re well enough to be doing this?” the deputy asked.

  “No, he’s not,” Rayanne answered for him.

  She was right. He wasn’t well enough. Not well enough to fight off gunmen, anyway, but the pain zapping through him wouldn’t stop him from getting Rayanne to safety.

  Blue heard some sounds. Shrieks and shouts of people panicking. Someone had no doubt spotted the gunmen, and those sounds were far too
close for comfort. He dropped back so that he’d be between the gunmen and Rayanne. He also kicked up the pace a notch, racing toward the exit.

  “I’m sorry,” he mumbled to Rayanne. He didn’t have any experience with pregnant women, but he figured it wasn’t a good thing to make her run like this. Of course, the stress wasn’t good, either.

  “Don’t do anything that will make me regret this any more than I already do,” she snapped.

  That was Blue’s intention. To do no more harm. Then once he had her safely tucked away, he could figure out who these morons were and what they wanted.

  He could also deal with the baby then.

  Just thinking about it now clouded his head. The pain did, too. And a clouded head was a good way to get them killed. He needed to think straight and be able to react.

  They got to the exit just as Blue heard another unwelcome sound. Footsteps.

  Not the ordinary variety, either.

  These were the footsteps of someone flat-out running, and they seemed to be headed straight toward them.

  Blue took out the seemed when he spotted one of them. There was no seeming about it. They were coming for them.

  The first was big, bulky, mean looking.

  And armed to the hilt with a gun in his hand and two others in holsters.

  He looked a lot like the other two guys who came running in behind him.

  Blue practically pushed Rayanne to the exit when the deputy opened the door. They raced with her.

  Not a second too soon.

  A shot cracked through the air.

  Blue bit back the profanity when the bullet tore through a chunk of the doorjamb. Getting shot at twice in one day sure wasn’t how he’d wanted this to play out.

  “Hurry,” Blue told Rayanne.

  He shut the door. No lock. And the exit led them to a large covered area where vehicles dropped off patients. It was way too open for comfort, and Blue hoped there weren’t any gunmen lurking outside waiting for them.

  “My truck’s this way,” Reed said.

  Blue hoped “this way” was close, because the armed idiots wouldn’t be far behind. They ran, a lot faster than Blue’s body wanted to run, and while they were midstride, the deputy took out his keypad and used it to open a silver truck.

  “Stay ahead of me,” Blue warned Rayanne. She didn’t argue, thank goodness, and she held her hand protectively over her belly.

  The moment they made it to the truck, Blue threw open the door and pushed Rayanne inside. Reed and he quickly followed, but Reed had barely managed to get the engine started when the gunmen bolted from the exit.

  The three pivoted around, looking for them, and it didn’t take them long to spot the truck. The goon in the lead took aim.

  Fired.

  Just as Reed peeled out of the parking lot.

  The deputy thankfully didn’t waste any time getting them the heck out of there. Blue spun in the seat, ready to return fire. Well, as ready as he could be considering he was dizzy as all get-out.

  But he didn’t have a shot, anyway.

  It was too big a risk that he might hit someone other than the snake who’d just tried to kill him—again.

  Reed practically flew out of the parking lot, and Blue heard and saw the cruiser then. Rayanne’s brothers, no doubt. Maybe they’d be able to catch these dirt wads so that Blue could question them. Or beat them senseless for this stunt they’d just pulled.

  “I don’t think they’re following us,” Reed said, his attention volleying between the road and the parking lot. He reholstered his gun and took out his phone. Probably to call his boss, the sheriff, to let him know what was going on.

  “Please tell me this jogged your memory,” Rayanne mumbled through clenched teeth.

  Blue had to shake his head. Man, that hurt, too.

  However, his vision wasn’t so blurry now that he couldn’t see how pale Rayanne was. And that her hands were trembling. He’d worked with her on several cases and had never seen her like this.

  But then, he’d never seen her pregnant, either.

  It still wasn’t a good time to think about it. Not with those gunmen so close. However, Blue just couldn’t shove it aside.

  “You must hate me,” Blue said, keeping watch around them in case those goons surfaced.

  Her gaze whipped toward him, her eyes narrowed more than just a bit. “You’re right about that. I do.”

  He wanted to think she was exaggerating, but he doubted she was. After all, he’d just endangered her life twice in a very short period of time. Then there was that part about sleeping with her and then running out on her without so much as a thank you, ma’am.

  “I’ll get to the bottom of this,” Blue assured her, but judging from another of Rayanne’s huffs, it was no reassurance at all. Of course, she didn’t have a lot of reasons to trust him.

  So Blue went in a different direction. One that he hoped would be common ground for them. “I need a truce, only until this mess in my head settles down, and I can figure out what’s going on.”

  She certainly didn’t agree.

  He looked at her stomach again. “And I need you to be checked out by the doctor. All that running couldn’t have been good for you and the baby.”

  “The running wasn’t a problem. The doctor said I could keep up my workouts.” Her mouth tightened as if she’d told him more than she meant to.

  Still, it didn’t matter. He’d call the doc first chance he got and have Rayanne checked out, because that hadn’t been just a workout session.

  “I’m not the one who needs to see the doctor,” she mumbled, and she threw down the visor so Blue could get a glimpse at himself in the vanity mirror.

  He was pale, beads of sweat dotted his face, and he didn’t look like an ATF agent ready to take down some killers. He looked like a man who’d just had surgery.

  “I’m okay,” he lied.

  He probably wasn’t even 50 percent yet, but he didn’t have the luxury of recovering when there were gunmen out there who wanted to make his injuries even worse than they already were.

  “I filled Cooper in,” Reed said when he finished his call. “He’s the sheriff and Rayanne’s brother,” he added to Blue. “Cooper wants us to wait at the sheriff’s office while he and the others go after those men.”

  It was a good plan. Well, a safe one, anyway, for Rayanne. Blue hoped her brother would be able to catch them, but if the men hadn’t followed Reed, then they’d probably already hightailed it out of town so they could regroup.

  And come after him again.

  Reed pulled his truck into the parking lot of the sheriff’s office, and even though Blue didn’t see anyone suspicious lurking around the building, he got Rayanne inside as quickly as possible. However, with the exception of a woman working at the front desk, the place seemed deserted, and that put him on edge again.

  “We need to lock up,” Blue told the deputy.

  But Reed was already doing that. He obviously knew that they were vulnerable to another attack. Rayanne knew it, too, because she snatched her gun from him. At first he thought she’d done that just because she was upset that he’d taken it from her, but Blue realized he was wobbling.

  Ah, heck.

  “You need to sit down,” Rayanne snapped, and she slid her arm around his waist, leading him into one of the offices. Sheriff Cooper McKinnon’s nameplate was on the wall next to the door.

  Disgusted with himself, Blue shook his head. “I should be the one protecting and taking care of you.”

  That earned him a predictable eye roll from her. “I’m pregnant, not incompetent.”

  Rayanne practically dumped him into a chair, then shut the door. Locked it, too, before she went to the window to make a cop’s sweeping glance of the parking lot. No doubt checking to make sure those gunmen weren’t lurking around out there.

  Blue intended to do the same, but first he needed a gun. Since they were in the sheriff’s office, he figured it wouldn’t be hard to find one of those
, and he started his search in the desk drawers.

  Thankfully, the drawers were within reach, which meant he didn’t have to stand up just yet. He really needed a moment or two to catch his breath and try to settle the tornado going on in his head.

  Blue finally located a Smith & Wesson. Some extra ammo, too, which he crammed into his jeans pocket before he joined her at the window. He’d barely had time to get in place when there was a sharp knock at the door.

  “We got another problem,” Reed announced.

  Rayanne hurried to the door, threw it open, and yeah, Blue could tell from the deputy’s expression that something else had gone wrong.

  Reed shook his head. “I don’t know what you and Blue started, but all hell’s breaking loose at the ranch. We need to get out there now because someone’s trying to kidnap your sister.”

  Chapter Five

  Rayanne had braced herself for more bad news, but she’d expected Reed to say that the gunmen had been spotted near her family’s ranch. She darn sure hadn’t expected to hear that someone had gone after Rosalie.

  Someone who obviously had a death wish.

  Rayanne wouldn’t just stand by while someone hurt her twin sister.

  “Let’s go,” Blue insisted.

  Good thing, too. Her feet and mind had frozen in place, and it was the touch of Blue’s hand on her arm that got her moving.

  Rayanne’s stomach was already churning. Her shoulders were still burning from tensing them so much, but she ran toward the back exit of the sheriff’s office. Well, she started running, anyway, but like before, Blue played cowboy-bodyguard and positioned himself in front of her.

  “I would suggest you stay here...” Blue mumbled. He didn’t finish that.

  Didn’t have to.

  Because there was no way she would stay put with Rosalie in danger. Of course, the trick would be to save her sister while not putting herself right back in the path of bullets. It was still a fairly new mind-set for her, but she had to think of the baby.

  “What happened?” Rayanne asked Reed the moment they were inside the truck and on their way.

  “A feed-delivery truck arrived, and your dad noticed something funny about the men.”