Cowboy Above the Law

by Delores Fossen

  He nodded, tried to hug her, but Rachel waved him off. “I just need to get out of here. Away from Dad and away from Griff,” she added. Her voice was shaking now. “He knew, and he didn’t tell me.”

  “Maybe he didn’t know how,” Egan said.

  “Then he should have found a way,” she snapped. “He definitely should have found a way before—” She stopped, waved that off, too. “I need to go. Please. I just need to leave.”

  “I’ll drive you,” Egan volunteered. “Mom, too. Just wait here for a second until I can get her.”

  Egan started toward their mother, and Court went with him. Rayna stayed behind with Rachel. Which was good. As upset as the woman obviously was, she might try to leave on her own. If she did, at least Rayna could alert them. It wasn’t safe for his sister to be out there alone.

  Court went to his mother and pulled her into his arms. Unlike Rachel, she didn’t push him away. She dropped her head on his shoulder.

  “Warren loves me,” Helen muttered. There was some anger in her voice now. “Why would he do this?”

  Court didn’t know, and he wasn’t sure he’d get any answers from his father, either. “I’m sorry” was all he could think to say.

  Griff was clearly sorry, too. The man was shaking his head and mumbling some profanity. Neither would help. But then, there wasn’t much that could help this situation right now.

  Helen pulled back and looked Court in the eyes. “You think that woman could have shot him?”

  “Maybe,” he admitted. “But we’re looking at Mitch for this, too. He hates Dad as well as the rest of us.”

  Still, if his father had hired that PI, then he must have believed that Alma could be some kind of threat.

  “Mom, I want to take Rachel and you home,” Egan insisted.

  Helen didn’t argue with that. She didn’t look as if she had the strength to argue with anyone. In fact, she seemed broken.

  “I’ll stay here and help guard Warren,” Griff offered. “Just tell Rachel that I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” he repeated to Helen.

  But Court wasn’t sure his mother heard Griff’s apology. Even if she had, it wouldn’t be nearly enough to help her get through this. Still, it hadn’t been Griff’s place to tell them.

  That blame was squarely on his father’s shoulders.

  Egan slipped his arm around Helen to get her moving, and Court followed them. “Why don’t you take Rayna to the sheriff’s office?” Egan told him. “I’ll meet you there after I’ve driven Mom and Rachel to the ranch.”

  Court was still feeling stunned, but he forced himself to get moving. The sooner Rayna and he got to the sheriff’s office, the sooner Egan and he could get Alma in for questioning. Not that Court was especially looking forward to meeting the woman, but this might be the start of getting those answers they desperately needed.

  “Did you ever meet Raleigh or Alma?” Court asked Rayna as they walked toward the exit.

  “No, but I remember the talk about Hannah Neal, the woman whose murder Warren and Raleigh were investigating. She was a surrogate who’d recently given birth, and she was killed around the same time Bobby Joe went missing.”

  Yeah. Hannah had been murdered in McCall Canyon, but her body had been dumped in Durango Ridge, Raleigh’s jurisdiction. That was why both Raleigh and his father had been investigating it. All of that had happened just a few months before his father retired.

  “You don’t think Alma could have been connected to Hannah’s murder, do you?” Rayna pressed.

  He was about to say no, but then Court remembered that Warren had been very close to Hannah. She’d been the daughter of his best friend, a single-father cop who’d been killed in the line of duty. As Warren had done with Thea and Griff, he’d taken Hannah under his wing. So, maybe Alma had gotten jealous of that. After all, if she was the one who’d hired someone to shoot Warren, then it was possible she’d killed Hannah, too.

  Yeah, he definitely needed to talk to this woman.

  Egan led Rachel and their mother out the exit first, and he took them straight to his cruiser, which was parked just ahead of Court’s truck.

  “Will your mother be okay?” Rayna asked.

  Good question. But Court wasn’t sure. She’d already been teetering on shaky ground with Warren’s shooting, and now this. Court made a mental note to call her doctor and have him go to the ranch to check on her.

  He motioned for Rayna to follow him. However, before he could even get the doors unlocked, Court saw the blur of motion from the corner of his eye. And he immediately pulled Rayna down with him.

  Just as someone fired a shot at them.

  * * *

  RAYNA HIT THE ground hard, much as they’d done the day before in her house, and the pain from the fall sliced through her. It robbed her of her breath.

  For one heart-stopping moment, she thought she’d been shot.

  But no, it wasn’t that. The pain had come from the bruise on her side. It hurt, but it was far better than the alternative of having a bullet in her. Or in Court.

  She checked to make sure he hadn’t been hit. He didn’t seem to be, but he dragged her beneath the truck and drew his gun. Ready to return fire.

  Rayna took out her gun, too, from its slide holster. Not that she was in position to shoot back. She was on her stomach, and Court had positioned his body in front of hers.

  Protecting her.

  Something she wished he hadn’t done. Rayna didn’t want him to die because of her.

  She waited, listening and praying. Rayna also tried to figure out what to do. If either Court or she reached up to open the truck door so they could get inside, the gunman could shoot them.

  If there actually was a gunman.

  There had only been the sound of that one shot, making her wonder if what they’d heard was a vehicle misfiring. That was what she wanted it to be anyway, and she hadn’t actually seen a shooter.

  “Call Egan and let him know what’s happening,” Court shouted out to someone. “But I don’t want him bringing my mother and sister back into this.”

  Rayna caught a glimpse of a medic in the doorway before the guy took out his phone and hurried back into the hospital.

  “You’re sure it’s a gunman?” she asked.

  But it wasn’t necessary for Court to answer. She got confirmation of it when there was another shot. This one slammed into the back tire of the truck just inches from where they were. That caused her heart to skip a couple of beats because the bullet could have easily hit one of them. And now they had a flat tire, which would make it harder for them to drive out of there if they did manage to get inside the truck.

  “Move,” Court told her. He didn’t wait for her to do that though. He pushed her farther beneath the truck. He also cursed. “I should have put you in the cruiser with Egan.”

  She wanted to remind him that hindsight was twenty-twenty and that he hadn’t known this was going to happen. But there was no way Court would believe her. No, he would feel responsible for this.

  Whatever this was.

  Was it part of the earlier attacks against Warren and her? Or maybe it was all connected to the two dead women?

  They really did need to question Alma and find out if she was the one who’d hired this gunman. If she was, then it was possible that Rayna wasn’t the primary target. Court could be. Because Alma could want to hurt Court to get back at Warren. That didn’t mean either of them were safe though, and Court was the one taking most of the risks. He leaned out from beneath the truck, no doubt trying to see the gunman.

  “Keep watch on your side,” Court instructed.

  Rayna was trembling, and still in pain, but she managed to get turned around so that her back was to Court’s. And she immediately saw something. There were several people cowering by the sides of their vehicles.

  “Stay down,” s
he called out to them.

  Another shot slammed into the truck. But the angle was different on this one than the other two. The gunman was moving. Court obviously realized that, too, because he cursed and shifted his position so that she could have a better view of the back of the truck.

  “You see the gunman?” Rayna asked.

  “No.” But she immediately felt Court’s muscles tense. “Yes,” he amended. “He’s directly ahead on the other side of a white car.”

  Rayna could see the car but not the shooter. Not at first anyway, but then he came out from cover, fired a shot, and she got a glimpse of him then.

  He was wearing a ski mask, and even though she hadn’t gotten a look at her attacker, Rayna sensed this was the same person. The build and height were right, anyway. But why did he want her dead now? He couldn’t set her up for Warren’s attack. Maybe he just thought she was a loose end, someone who could possibly ID him.

  She couldn’t.

  But maybe he didn’t know that.

  The man leaned out again and fired another shot at them. This one slammed into the pavement and then ricocheted into the truck. Court rolled out from cover, too, and he sent two rounds the gunman’s way.

  A sound on her right caught her attention, and Rayna pivoted in that direction. Not a gunman but a car. One that she recognized because it was Whitney’s. Her friend braked to a loud stop directly behind Court’s truck. That meant Whitney was now in the gunman’s line of fire.

  “Hell, what is she doing?” Court grumbled. “She must have heard the shots.”

  Yes, there was no way to miss that. But maybe Whitney thought she could save them or something. If so, it wasn’t a good plan because Whitney could be killed. Plus, it blocked their view of the gunman, making it impossible for them to return fire.

  “Get in,” Whitney called out to them.

  Court and she couldn’t do that, of course. It would be too risky for them to run to Whitney’s car. If they were going to take that kind of chance, it would be better for them to just get in the truck, since it would take less time for them to be out in the open.

  “Hear that?” Court asked her.

  For a moment Rayna thought he was talking about Whitney. He wasn’t. Because she heard another sound. It was a car engine. Since they were in a parking lot, it could just be someone leaving, but then there was the squeal of tires on the asphalt. Someone was driving out of there fast.

  “He’s getting away,” Court said, and she could hear the frustration—and hesitation—in his voice.

  Court no doubt wanted to go after the shooter, but it would be a huge risk. Because if it wasn’t the gunman, then he could be shot. Still, he must have thought it was a chance worth taking because he rolled out from beneath the truck, his attention zooming to Rayna’s right.

  She lifted her head enough for her to see the car. It hadn’t been the one the guy was using for cover though. This was a dark green sedan, and it was cutting across the parking lot only a few yards from them. Close enough for Rayna to catch just a glimpse of the ski-masked driver before he sped away.

  “Stay put,” Court warned her.

  And with his gun aimed, he got to his feet and took off running.

  Chapter Six

  Court ran as fast as he could, and he kept his eyes on the green car. At best he figured he would get one shot before the shooter disappeared.

  But he didn’t even get that.

  The car drove over the curb of the parking lot and shot out onto the road. Before Court could even stop and take aim, the gunman was already out of sight. That was not what he wanted. He needed to catch this guy so he could find out what the heck was going on.

  While he ran back to Rayna, he took out his phone and texted Egan. His brother no doubt had deputies on the way, but Court wanted someone to go in pursuit of the person who’d just tried to kill them.

  “Are you okay?” Rayna asked him the moment he made it back to her. She was crawling out from beneath the truck, but Court motioned for her to stay put. For a few more seconds, anyway. Just in case the shooter returned for a second round. Plus, he wanted a moment to ask Whitney one critical question.

  “Why the hell did you drive into gunfire like that?” he snapped.

  Whitney shook her head, her eyes widening. “I heard the gunshots and thought you needed some help.”

  He had. But not from a civilian. “You saw the gunman?”

  Another shake of her head. “No. I only heard the shots.”

  Strange that most people’s reaction would have been to move away from the gunshots. “You should have stayed back. Because you could have been killed.” Well, she could have been if the shooter had continued to fire those shots. He hadn’t. In fact, he’d stopped as soon as Whitney had driven up.

  Her mouth trembled a little, and she looked as if she was about to cry. He hadn’t wanted to bring her to tears—there’d already been enough of that today from his mom and sister—but he didn’t want her doing anything like that again.

  “You can’t drive your truck on that flat tire,” Whitney said. “And I don’t think you want Rayna staying out here any longer than necessary. Come on, I’ll give you a ride to the ranch.”

  Normally, Court wouldn’t have given it a second thought to agree to have Whitney take them to the station, but he was having a lot of second thoughts today. Maybe because he’d nearly gotten Rayna killed along with having his world turned upside down.

  Court didn’t have to decline because a cruiser pulled into the parking lot and came directly toward them. Thea was behind the wheel, and she lowered the passenger-side window as she came to a stop.

  “Ian and John are going after the shooter,” Thea said.

  Both men were deputies with plenty of years wearing a badge. Maybe their experience and some luck would help them nab the gunman.

  “Is she going with us?” Thea asked, tipping her head to Whitney.

  “No.” Court answered so fast that it had Rayna looking at him.

  He decided to soften his tone a little when he turned to Whitney and continued talking. “Go home or wherever else you’re headed. You shouldn’t stay around here. I’ll call you about coming in to give a statement.”

  Whitney went stiff as if displeased with that order. Maybe because she’d already told him that she hadn’t seen the gunman, but people often remembered other details when questioned.

  The moment Court got Rayna into the back seat of the cruiser, Thea took off. Rayna was still trembling, of course. She probably would for a while, and he found himself slipping his arm around her before he even realized he was going to do it. Worse, Rayna moved right against him as if she belonged there.

  Not good.

  The last thing Court needed right now was to let down the barriers between Rayna and him. It would cause him to lose focus, and besides, he didn’t have time to deal with the old baggage that existed between them.

  “Griff called and told me about Warren,” Thea said, pulling his attention back to her. Like Court, Thea was also keeping watch all around them as she drove to the sheriff’s office.

  Court figured this conversation should wait, especially since he was only minutes out of a gunfight, but it was a subject he’d planned to discuss with Thea eventually. “Did you know about my dad’s affair?”

  He cursed Thea’s hesitation, but he had to hand it to the deputy. She didn’t dodge his gaze. She made eye contact with him in the rearview mirror. “I suspected. I accidentally overheard a conversation once between Alma and Warren. It seemed—” her gaze slid between Rayna and him “—intimate or something.”

  Court wanted to curse twice. Once because Thea had obviously picked up on the unwanted attraction between Rayna and him. He wanted to curse a second time because Thea should have told him about that conversation she’d overheard. Of course, she would have never done that. The
a was fiercely loyal to Warren and wouldn’t have ratted him out. But that did lead Court to something else.

  “You used to date Alma’s son, Raleigh,” Court said. And he waited.

  Thea nodded. Paused. “Raleigh and Warren had a, uh, falling-out. I don’t know about what. Maybe it involved the case of the dead surrogate they’d investigated together. Maybe because Raleigh learned the truth. Either way, it caused things to become tense between Raleigh and me, so we stopped seeing each other.”

  Court glanced at Rayna, and despite the hell they’d just been through, he could tell she wanted more info from Thea.

  “Is it possible Raleigh could be behind these attacks?” Rayna asked.

  “No,” Thea said without hesitation. “Even if he hated Warren, he’s not the sort to bend the law, much less break it.”

  Court would have pressed for even more, but Thea pulled to a stop in front of the sheriff’s office. She didn’t get out though. She turned in the seat and looked at them. “As soon as I got Griff’s call, I started asking around about Alma. I’d made some friends and contacts in Durango Ridge, where she lives. Anyway, last month Alma took some firearms-training classes.”

  That got his attention. “She has a permit for a gun?”

  Thea nodded. “A permit to carry concealed.” She blew out a frustrated breath. “You asked me if Raleigh could be behind this. No. But I can’t say the same for his mother.”

  And that was why Court had to get Alma in for questioning. For now though, he didn’t want to sit outside with Rayna any longer. He threw open the cruiser door and got her inside.

  “I’m pretty sure Egan took your mom and Rachel straight home,” Thea said when Court glanced around the nearly empty squad room. The only other person there was a reserve deputy, Dakota Tillman, and he was on the phone. “Griff’s going to get someone to fill in for him guarding Warren, and then he’ll come here.”

  Good. Griff wasn’t a deputy, but it appeared they were going to be short of manpower for a while. Still, he didn’t want Egan back here, not until he had Helen and Rachel safely back at the ranch. It wasn’t a good idea for them to be in town with that shooter on the loose.