The pain was instant, like an explosion going off inside her head, and it took Laine a moment to realize the pain wasn’t from a bullet but rather from being bashed into the wall. Hague jerked her back, using her to break his fall, and the side of her head slammed into the wooden frame.
Before she could react or even catch her breath, she felt herself falling right along with Hague, and all three of them landed on the ground just outside the window.
She was trapped between them.
Worse, Hague still had his gun. It was jamming into her neck, and if he pulled the trigger, she’d be dead.
Laine tried to do something about that.
No way did she want to just lie there while Hague killed both her and Tucker.
She had somehow managed to keep a grip on the nail so she thrust it at Hague again. His shout of pain was almost deafening since his mouth was right against her ear. Obviously, she’d done some damage, but it only seemed to enrage him even more. It certainly didn’t slow the man down, and he was fighting like a wildcat, using her body as a shield to keep Tucker from attacking him.
Tucker wasn’t exactly his usual calm self, either. He was cursing Hague and fighting, too, trying to push Laine out of the way so he could get to the man. The only thing she could do was try to stay out of their way in case Tucker got the chance to pound Hague to dust.
Hague shifted his gun away from her neck. Aiming it right at Tucker. Her heart jumped to her throat, and Laine hit him with the nail again.
And again.
She would have hit him a dozen times if he hadn’t hit her. Cursing, Hague latched onto her hair with his left hand and yanked it back so hard that she was the one yelping in pain.
It only made Tucker fight harder.
She saw Tucker’s fist come right at her. Except it wasn’t coming at her, but rather at Hague’s jaw. Tucker connected, and Hague’s head flopped back for an instant. It was just enough for him to let go of her hair so she could stab him with the nail again. This time she went after his neck, hoping to hit an artery.
But she didn’t.
Hague moved at the last second, and the nail glanced off his shoulder.
He didn’t even seem to react to the new wound, though Laine was certain she’d drawn more blood. Probably because the adrenaline was fueling him. It was fueling her, too, but Hague was still stronger than she was, and he dragged her back in front of him. He then bashed his gun against her hand so hard that the nail went flying.
Laine was ready to drop down so she could hopefully give Tucker enough room to fire. But Hague put her back in a choke hold, even tighter than the one before. If this kept up, she’d soon lose consciousness. Or worse. He’d crush her windpipe and kill her. She had to do something.
But what?
She was fighting as hard as she could, and Hague was holding Tucker at bay by keeping the gun to her head.
Without warning, a shot cracked through the air.
Laine screamed and tried to get to Tucker. She was positive that Hague had shot him, but the bullet hadn’t come from Hague’s gun.
It’d come from the front of the house.
Maybe from Colt, or from one of the ranch hands. Laine prayed it hadn’t been fired by one of Hague’s henchmen. At least it hadn’t been Buford, because according to Tucker, that particular killer was already dead. Still, Hague might have others out there helping him.
“If you want her dead, go ahead and fire another shot,” Hague shouted. He had complete control of her again. She was positioned in front of him, the gun digging into the back of her head.
“Hold your fire,” Tucker said to whoever was out there. Whoever it was, maybe he could get into a position to shoot Hague since the angle was all wrong for Tucker.
Hague waited a moment, his heartbeat thudding against her back and his breath gusting in her ear. He had the smell of fear, blood and sweat all over him. She’d lost count of how many times she’d struck him with that nail or how many times Tucker had punched him, but from the corner of her eye, she could see the blood trickling down his face.
“Now drop your gun and get on the ground,” Hague ordered Tucker.
Tucker shook his head. “I can’t let you take her, and that’s exactly what you’ll do if I’m not armed and ready to stop you.”
“You don’t have a choice. You already know I’ll do anything to put an end to this. Anything, including pulling the trigger that’ll kill her.”
Again, Tucker shook his head. “It doesn’t have to be this way. We can work something out.”
Laine didn’t know how Tucker managed it, but he kept his voice calm. She’d heard that tone before, when she had been on the scene and he’d had to negotiate with a parent who’d taken his own child hostage. Tucker had managed to save the child, and she prayed he could do the same thing now.
Unless her staying alive would somehow endanger the twins. Was that it?
That put her heart right in her throat.
“This is about the babies,” she said. “You’re going to exchange them for me. Except we both know you aren’t going to let me live.”
That earned her another hard jab from his gun. “I told you to put down your weapon,” Hague repeated to Tucker.
And he moved the gun to her already injured arm.
“I’ll put a bullet in her,” Hague threatened. “It won’t kill her, but I wonder just how long you’ll be able to stand there with her screaming in pain.”
Laine tried to brace herself for the shot. She doubted she could stay quiet if Hague carried through with that threat, but she hated that he would use her pain to manipulate Tucker.
The muscles in Tucker’s jaw stirred. “If you hurt her again, you die.”
“If you don’t put down your gun, I’ll hurt her,” Hague countered.
They stood there glaring at each other, and she saw the moment that Tucker surrendered to the demand. Without taking his eyes off Hague, he stooped down and eased the gun onto the ground just inches from his own boots.
“I can’t watch while he hurts you,” Tucker said, his voice barely a whisper.
He sounded plenty sorry about that. And he probably was. This was personal for him now, and she could blame their lovemaking for that. He’d lost his objectivity, and it was now playing into how he was handling this.
It was playing into how she was handling it, too.
If Hague killed her, at least it’d be fast, but she would die a thousand times over if he turned that gun on Tucker. Thankfully, Hague seemed to want her.
“If it’s really just the money you want,” Laine offered the monster with the gun to her head, “I can get it for you.”
“Oh, you will,” Hague assured her. “Tucker will, too. I need all that you two have and a lot more. Now, stand up,” Hague ordered Tucker. “And keep your hands where I can see them.”
Tucker stayed stooped down, his hand near his gun where he could hopefully snatch it up if necessary. “If you owned the baby farm, why are you being pressured for money?”
“Stand up!” Hague shouted.
Cursing, Tucker had no choice but to do just that.
Hague started inching her backward. Away from Tucker and the house. Also away from Colt or whoever had fired that shot. Laine hoped there was some way someone could sneak up behind Hague, but unfortunately, there was only open space around them since Cooper’s house was being built on the edge of the pasture.
“Let me guess,” Tucker went on, glaring at Hague. “You borrowed money from the wrong people to fund this sick operation of yours.”
“Why do you care?” Hague snapped, still moving.
“I’d just like to know the reason you’re planning to demand a ransom.” Tucker lifted his shoulder. “That, and I’m puzzled about something that Buford said right before he died.�
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Hague froze. It was the first time she’d felt him that still since the attack had started. “What the hell did he say?” Hague snapped.
Tucker lifted his shoulder again, as if this were the most mundane subject. It obviously wasn’t, and Laine had no idea if Tucker was bluffing or if Buford had indeed managed to say something incriminating.
“Buford said he had some info stashed away in a safe-deposit box. Said it would prove it was you working the baby farm.” Tucker paused. “I’m pretty sure Buford figured out you poisoned him. I’m also sure he didn’t trust you any more than you trusted him.”
Because Hague was so close to her, she felt the change in his breathing, and even though she hadn’t thought it possible, his muscles tensed even more.
Obviously, this was a glitch he hadn’t expected.
“You’re lying,” Hague said.
“Don’t have to. Buford was almost dead when I got to him, but trust me, almost dead men can do plenty of talking. Especially since he wanted his killer to pay for poisoning him.”
Hague stayed quiet a moment, his breath gusting even harder. “What safe-deposit box? Where is it?”
Tucker shook his head. “Didn’t say. But I’m thinking it won’t be hard to find once my brother gets the search warrants. Oh, wait. Were you planning on involving my brothers and the Marshals’ service in this?”
Clearly, that was the last thing Hague wanted, and his profanity proved that. He’d likely wanted to make a clean getaway, and then he could use her to get money from her own family and from Tucker.
And then he would murder them.
Hard to kill dozens of people who could come in contact with what might be in a safe-deposit box.
“If Buford left any kind of evidence, and that’s a huge if,” Hague said, “then my advice is for you to leave it hidden away. There’s someone other than me who’d kill to keep all of this under wraps.”
Laine tried to figure out if that was a lie, but there was no indication that it was anything but the truth. Worse, it made sense for someone else to have been involved in the baby farm operation.
With his bombshell dropped, Hague got her moving again.
“Who’ll try to kill us?” Tucker pressed.
Hague laughed, but there was absolutely no humor in it. “Just giving you his name would be bad for all of us. He plays dirty, and if I don’t turn over Dawn’s babies to him, a lot of people will die. Myself included. He’s the one who put the hit on her—not me—when he didn’t get the twins he’d been guaranteed. But even if he hadn’t wanted her dead, I couldn’t allow her to stay alive. She could have spilled details about the baby farm.”
That put some more fire in Tucker’s eyes. His mouth tightened. “This piece of dirt you’re talking about paid for the babies?”
“Hey, I run a business, not a charity.”
“You ran a business,” Tucker said, his teeth coming together. “That’s about to end. And there’s no way in hell I’m letting you give those babies to the person who ordered a hit on their mother.”
“You don’t have a say in the matter, McKinnon. Ditto for giving me whatever amount of cash I demand. No say whatsoever. Without the money, you don’t get Laine back, and even a fool can see you’d do anything to stop her from being hurt.”
“You’re wrong,” Laine insisted. “There’s too much bad blood between Tucker and me. He’s just doing his job here, but he’d sacrifice me in a second if it meant taking you down.”
Tucker didn’t argue. In fact, he didn’t say a word. He just kept that fierce glare nailed to Hague.
In the distance, she heard a slight whistle and remembered that Colt had made that same sound when he’d gone into the woods looking for Buford after he’d tried to kidnap her. Tucker must have heard it, too, but he didn’t react.
Hague did, though.
He looked in the direction of the sound. Just a simple movement of his head. The moment seemed to freeze, but Laine could almost feel the attack before it happened.
With Hague distracted, Tucker scooped up his gun and charged toward them. Laine did her part and prayed it was the right thing to do.
She fell backward, throwing all of her weight into Hague and hoping to topple him.
Maybe because he was already distracted, Hague clearly hadn’t expected it, and she felt herself falling again. Hague latched onto her, and in the same motion, he slammed the butt of the gun against her face. Laine could have sworn that she saw stars, and it knocked her to the ground.
Hague went after her again, clawing at her and trying to put her back in front of him.
Tucker came at them, not saying a word, but she could feel the rage in him. He dropped down onto his knees and punched Hague full force with his fist.
And he just kept on punching.
His fists flew along with the profanity that left his mouth, and Hague could do nothing but drop the gun and let go of her.
“Don’t kill him,” Laine managed to say. Not because she wanted this piece of slime to live but because she didn’t want Tucker to have to deal with the aftermath of killing an unarmed man. He was too good of a lawman for that.
Tucker landed one last punch and moved back just as Colt and two ranch hands rushed up. The three took aim at Hague, but it was clear the man wasn’t going anywhere. He could barely move.
“You okay?” Colt asked, volleying glances at Tucker and her.
Tucker nodded but cursed again when his attention landed on her face. Laine felt it then, the trickle of blood on her cheek from where Hague had hit her with the gun. Tucker uttered a single word of really bad profanity, and she caught onto him to stop him from launching himself at Hague again.
“I’m fine,” she lied.
She would have said anything at that point to put an end to this, but the truth was her legs were shaking so hard she thought she might collapse.
Tucker solved that problem for her. He slipped his arm around her, supporting her weight, and they started back toward the main house.
“Take this snake to jail,” Tucker told his brother.
“Gladly. Maybe he’ll even resist arrest so I can add some bruises to his face. It takes some kind of jerk to hit a woman.”
Laine was glad Colt hadn’t qualified that with “any woman.” Even one his family considered an enemy. That was indeed progress when it came to the McKinnons.
“I’ll call the doctor,” Tucker whispered to her. “How bad are you hurt?”
“Not as bad I could have been. Thanks.” She tried to brush a kiss on his cheek, but the emotions were still too raw, as if it hurt him to see her, to touch her.
“You need to find Steve Wilkey,” Hague shouted back to them.
Laine stopped and shook her head. The name was only vaguely familiar, and it took her a few seconds to realize where she’d heard it before.
“You mean the lawyer you brought to the sheriff’s office?” she asked.
“He’s a lawyer, all right, but he’s not mine.” Hague winced and cursed when Colt dragged him to his feet. “He insisted on coming with me because he was sure I’d screwed things up. You’re lucky he didn’t have all of you killed that day, because those were his hired guns who shot at you.”
Despite the steamy heat, that sent an icy chill through her. She wanted to believe that Hague was lying, that there was no other person involved in this. But it didn’t sound like a lie.
Tucker turned and faced Hague, but he kept a gentle grip on her. “You owe this man money?”
“Yeah. Plenty of it. Find him and arrest him, because he’ll send someone after me even if I’m behind bars. At best, he’ll kill me. Or else he’ll make me wish he had.”
“And why should I be concerned about that?” Tucker fired back. Laine wanted to ask him the same thing. After everything h
e’d done, she didn’t care an ounce what happened to Hague.
“You should be concerned, because Wilkey’s after the twins.”
Laine was sure her heart skipped a beat or two. Tucker and she exchanged glances, and she prayed he would have some reassurance that it wasn’t true. But he only looked as thunderstruck as she felt.
“What’d you mean?” Tucker demanded.
“He has a buyer for the twins,” Hague fired back. “A big buyer. Wilkey has men out looking for them now, and there’ll be a huge payout for whoever finds them. With Wilkey’s resources, if I were you, I’d hurry. Maybe you can get to them before he does.
“Maybe,” Hague repeated, his voice and the threat echoing in the darkness.
Chapter Nineteen
Once again, Tucker was watching a medic tend to Laine. This time, they weren’t at the sheriff’s office but rather in his family’s home.
That cut and god-awful bruise that Hague had put on her face turned his stomach. So did the still-haunted look in her eyes. But he knew that look wasn’t just from the pain of the attack or the thorough job the medic was doing of cleaning the wound.
No. It was from a different kind of pain and fear.
For the babies.
Tucker was right there on the same page with her. No way could he stand the thought of someone taking those children. Somehow they had to stop this Steve Wilkey from getting close to them.
Or close to Laine, for that matter.
Tucker had already beefed up security at the ranch. The hands were all armed and were patrolling the grounds in case Wilkey came their way. He’d also spoken to Sergeant Egan Caldwell and had learned that Wilkey and his henchmen hadn’t come to the safe house.
Thank God.
Tucker hadn’t wanted to move the twins. Instead, he had sent out several Texas Rangers to look for the lawyer and haul him in for questioning.
Hague could have been lying about Wilkey’s involvement, but Tucker wanted no stone left unturned when it came to Laine’s and the babies’ safety.
Cowboy Behind the Badge Page 17
