RENEGADE GUARDIAN

by Delores Fossen

“Agreed.”

  Maya didn’t know who was more surprised by that—she or Slade. She’d prepared herself to make the money drop and bring back the baby. So what had changed this time? Maybe Andrea’s death had played some part in this?

  “Marshal, you’ll play delivery boy for this one,” the kidnapper added. “And you’ll do it unarmed.”

  Her breath stalled in her throat. Mercy. She didn’t want Slade to go out there without a gun. At least if she was the one to do this, he could cover her. Then she remembered that Dallas had given him a backup weapon. Maybe the kidnapper wouldn’t see it and make Slade surrender it, too.

  “Randall and Chase, throw the bags out from where you’re cowering,” the kidnapper went on.

  Neither man argued. The bags thudded against the ground in the small clearing between the clumps of trees. Slade took out his phone and fired off a text to Declan. You have eyes on us?

  It only took a few seconds for Declan to respond: Not you, only the money bags.

  I’m headed out there now, Slade responded. Try to watch Maya. He fired off that last text and handed her his phone.

  It helped her nerves a little that Declan and Wyatt would be able to see him when he stepped out, but Maya was terrified about the stepping-out part. Also, she wasn’t too happy about Slade putting her safety ahead of his.

  “Be careful,” she whispered, and kissed him. Not some gentle peck. She really kissed him and prayed he’d come back safely to her.

  “You, too.” He lingered a moment, then glanced down at the gun she had gripped in her hand. “Use it if you need to.” He dropped a kiss on her lips.

  And that was it. The heart-stopping reminder and the equally heart-stopping kiss.

  Slade slung the money bag over his shoulder, and with his gun ready, he stepped out from the trees. The baby’s cries tapered off, making it a little easier for her to hear. But she had no idea what to listen for. Clearly, the kidnapper had some kind of backup, and it was possible those men were in the same trees where she and the others were hiding.

  “First of all, drop that gun from your holster,” the kidnapper shouted. “Then pick up the other bags, and keep walking toward the fence. Drop the gun,” he repeated when Slade kept hold of it.

  Finally, though, Slade eased the weapon to the ground just inches from him, and he pinned his attention in the direction of the kidnapper’s voice, even when he stooped to retrieve the other two bags.

  “Now put down the second gun,” the kidnapper warned.

  Slade shook his head. “I didn’t bring one.”

  Mercy, would he believe Slade?

  Maya was breathing through her mouth now, and her heart was beating way too fast. She had no hope of correcting either, and she certainly wouldn’t relax until this was over and both Slade and the baby were safe.

  “Start walking,” the man demanded.

  Slade did, and Maya felt each step with a thud of her heart. She felt the relief, too. Well, just a little. At least Slade had that second gun to protect himself. This had to end.

  “When you get to the fence,” the kidnapper added, “drop the money bags onto the other side.”

  Slade stopped and shook his head. “Give me the baby first. Then you get the money.”

  The man didn’t answer, and Maya held her breath again. Waiting and praying. When the pain shot through her hand, she realized she had a death grip on the gun, and she loosened her fingers a little.

  “How do I know you won’t take the kid and the money and run?” the man countered.

  “How do I know you won’t do the same?” Slade fired back.

  The silence came again. Even the baby had stopped crying. And the moments crawled by.

  “All right,” the kidnapper finally said. “Come to the fence, and I’ll hand you the kid at the same moment you hand me the money.”

  Slade started to walk again, and soon—too soon—Maya could no longer see him unless she leaned out from the tree. Something she was sure Slade wouldn’t want her to do. Plus, doing that might obstruct the view that Declan and Wyatt had of him.

  She waited again. Until she heard a strange sound. Movement maybe to what would be Slade’s right. And it was just the beginning. Suddenly, there were a lot of sounds. Footsteps. Leaves rustling. Even whispers.

  Each new sound made her heart race even faster.

  She didn’t want to call out to Slade, but she had to see what was going on. Maya peeked out from the tree and saw something she didn’t want to see.

  Her heart went to her knees.

  Because, cursing, Slade dived back behind one of the trees near the fence.

  “What the hell’s going on?” Slade called out.

  “Not sure.” The kidnapper’s voice seemed strained. Definitely not his usual cocky demeanor.

  And before Maya could figure out what was happening, the bullets started to fly.

  * * *

  SLADE DREW THE gun from the back waist of his jeans.

  All hell was breaking loose. The bullets were flying everywhere, Nadine was screaming at the top of her lungs, and the kidnapper was spewing profanity. Slade tuned that out because he had to do something to stop those shots.

  “Stay down, Maya, all the way down on the ground!” he yelled, and he hoped like the devil that she’d listen. The others, too. Slade definitely didn’t want Randall or the Colliers in on this.

  Whatever this was.

  One second all seemed to be going as well as it could be going. He’d spotted the ski-mask wearing kidnapper on the other side of the fence, and just as the idiot had said, he had the baby in his arms. Slade had been just seconds away from the exchange when everything turned bad.

  The kidnapper had blurted out some profanity and had suddenly dropped to the ground. A second later the bullets started flying. Now the question was why? Obviously, this wasn’t part of the kidnapper’s plan, but then, things had gone wrong with the last money exchange, too.

  Slade looked out at the clearing, at the moonlight glinting off his gun, but there was no one in his line of sight. Definitely no shooter.

  “Who’s taking shots at us?” Slade asked to no one in particular.

  But it was the kidnapper who answered. “I’m figuring your brothers.”

  “Not a chance.” They wouldn’t risk one of those bullets hitting the baby.

  “It’s not Declan or Wyatt firing the shots,” Maya called out. “I just got a text from them, and they want to know what’s going on.”

  Welcome to the club. “Nadine? Stop screaming and tell me what’s going on where you are.”

  “I’m not sure,” she shouted through the sobs and over the blasts of the bullets. “Chase isn’t here. He ran off before the shots started.”

  That wasn’t a good sign, and it could mean Chase was the one doing the shooting. But why? Why would he risk hurting a child he seemed to want?

  He could be faking that want, that’s why.

  Or he could know the baby was safe. Maybe the kidnapper had ducked behind some kind of barrier that he’d put in place before this meeting. Of course, that didn’t answer the biggest question of all.

  Why would anyone fire shots in the middle of a ransom drop?

  “Randall?” Slade called out. He wanted everyone accounted for, but Randall didn’t answer.

  Slade tried again.

  Still no answer.

  It was possible that Randall had been shot. There were certainly enough bullets for that to happen, or like Chase, he could be the one shooting.

  Or even Nadine.

  Slade didn’t trust any of them.

  He lifted his head a fraction so he could try to pinpoint the direction of the shots, but just like that, they stopped. He waited, the seconds ticking off in his head, but he didn’t hear any mo
vement. The baby was a different story. He was crying, and judging from the sound, he was still on the other side of the fence with the kidnapper. So the guy hadn’t run after all.

  But he likely would run now that the shots had stopped.

  “Your money’s out here with me,” Slade reminded the guy.

  “I know.” And that’s all the kidnapper said for several moments. “Did you see who fired those shots?”

  “No. How about your hired guns? Did they see?”

  “No.”

  Whether that was true or not, Slade didn’t know. Didn’t care at this point. He just wanted to make the transfer so he could get the baby to safety. Because once he had the child, Declan and Wyatt could move in and help him get Maya out of there.

  “Declan still doesn’t see anyone,” Maya relayed.

  But his brother would continue to look. That was the advantage of having family as backup. Both Wyatt and Declan would do whatever it took to make this drop work.

  “I’m crawling to the edge of the fence right by that scrawny hackberry,” the kidnapper said. “Meet me there with the money.”

  “Be careful,” Maya repeated. And he heard the fear and worry in her voice. There wasn’t much Slade could do to make it go away except finish this as fast as he could.

  Slade started crawling, and he tried to keep his gun hidden behind the trio of money bags. He heard the movement on the other side of the fence. Exactly where it should be if the kidnapper was going through with this deal.

  When Slade made it to the last tree before the fence, he stopped and stood so he could be in a better position to react. He leaned out, looked around.

  And spotted the guy.

  He was dressed in dark clothes and still wearing the ski mask. The night almost completely camouflaged him, but there was just enough light for Slade to see the gun the guy was holding. He was also nervous. He kept moving his head around, and he looked ready to bolt.

  However, what Slade didn’t see was the baby.

  “Where is he?” Slade demanded.

  The guy tipped his head just to his left. “He’s in his carrier. All safe and sound.”

  The baby’s cries confirmed the location but not the safe-and-sound part.

  “Now toss over the money,” he demanded.

  “Not until I have the baby.”

  “You can climb over the fence and get him as soon as I’m out of here.”

  There was something different in the guy’s voice. An urgency no doubt caused by the shots that’d been fired. He glanced around again. Cursed. And then pointed his gun directly at Slade.

  “Sorry,” he said to Slade, “but I got my orders, and you’re to die.”

  Slade had figured it’d come down to this. He already had his backup weapon in place, and he took full advantage of that. He didn’t aim for the guy’s chest. The Kevlar would save him, and heaven knows what this guy would do to the baby then.

  No. It was a risk Slade couldn’t take.

  Slade saw the man’s hand tense. Ready to fire. But Slade fired first.

  Two shots to the head.

  A strangled sound ripped from the man’s throat, and he dropped to the ground.

  “Slade?” Maya shouted.

  “I’m okay.” Well, maybe. He had to get to the baby, and he was pretty sure the kidnapper had a comrade stashed out there somewhere. After all, someone had fired those shots.

  Slade dropped the money bags and vaulted across the fence. He heard the footstep. Just one. And he pivoted in that direction. He caught just a glimpse of the second gunman. Also dressed in black and wearing a ski mask. Slade took aim. Fired and finished him off.

  He didn’t take the time to unmask either of the men, but he checked to make sure they were dead. They were. Then he hurried to the baby. He wasn’t hard to find—Slade just followed his cries. With the sorry luck Maya and he’d been having, Slade halfway expected to see a recording device playing the baby’s cries.

  But it was the real deal.

  The baby was in a carrier seat similar to Evan’s, and the kidnapper had positioned it in the center of some limestone boulders. The baby was nestled down in there deep so that he’d be protected from the bullets. That was something at least. The kidnapper had taken some measures to keep the baby safe.

  Keeping his gun ready, Slade lifted the seat and glanced down at the baby. He didn’t want to think about this possibly being his child. Didn’t want to think of anything but getting him to safety.

  Slade hurried back to the fence and climbed over. Still using the trees as cover, he opened his mouth to call out to his brothers so they could move in to help.

  But Slade heard a sound that he definitely didn’t want to hear. Not a gunshot this time. Something worse.

  Maya’s scream tore through the silence.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Maya heard the movement behind her a split second too late. She whirled around, her gun ready, but something knocked it from her hand.

  Not something, she amended.

  Someone.

  She couldn’t see who it was, but she definitely felt the blow to the back of her head. The pain exploded through her brain, and even though she tried to catch on to anything to break her fall, she didn’t manage it. She dropped straight to the ground.

  The fall didn’t help. It knocked what little breath she had out of her, and before she could recover and try to figure out what was happening to her, someone latched on to her hair and dragged her back to her feet.

  “Maya?” Slade yelled.

  He’d no doubt heard her scream, and Maya tried to do it again so he’d know where she was, but she rethought that. Someone had fired those shots, and since Slade was alive, she didn’t want him walking into an ambush.

  She tried to fight. Hard to do with no breath and the pain stabbing through her head.

  Mercy, how badly was she hurt?

  Had the person managed to give her a concussion? Or worse? Maya tried not to think of the “worse” part, and she started flailing her arms around, trying to make contact with anything that would get her attacker to release her.

  She failed.

  The grip on her hair got tighter, and Maya found herself being slammed against someone’s chest.

  A man.

  That barely had time to register when she felt something else add to the pain. Not a gun. But a knife.

  Oh, God.

  He had a knife.

  A thousand flashbacks came. The worst of the worst. They tore through her right along with the pain from the blow to the back of the head. And she relived every slice from the blade that had nearly left her dead all those years ago.

  “Maya!” Slade again.

  She felt herself go limp, and all the fight left her. Maya couldn’t make herself move. Couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t scream.

  Not even when she felt the tip of the knife flick against her throat.

  She was going to die. Right here. Right now. He would finish what her ex had started. Maya drew in the last breath she figured she’d ever take.

  And then she thought of Evan.

  Slade, too.

  They were both there, right along with the brutal images of the attack.

  Everything inside her went still. An eerie calmness that seemed to reach right down into her soul. But in that calmness, she knew one thing. She had to fight to stay alive not just for herself but for Slade and her baby.

  She forced herself to breathe. Relaxed her throat. And focused. Maya gathered every bit of her strength and rammed her elbow into her attacker’s stomach. It was risky. He could just cut her throat, but her will to live was the only weapon she had. He staggered back just a fraction, but before she could start running, he latched on to her again.

  “D
on’t make me kill you here,” he snarled.

  Maya knew that voice, but before she could say his name, Slade came running into the small clearing where she was. He had a baby carrier in his left hand. His gun ready in his right. But obviously he wasn’t in a position to fight back, not with the baby in the middle of this.

  “Let her go, Randall,” Slade ordered.

  Even in the darkness, she could see the intense expression on his face. Could hear it in his voice. He would do anything humanly possible to save her, but it might not be enough.

  With the knife still at her throat, Randall shook his head and mumbled something. At first Maya thought he was talking to her, but it took her a moment to realize he was speaking into a small communicator that he had in his ear.

  “Move in closer,” Randall said to the person on the other end of that device. “Let me know when you’re in place, and we can get this show on the road—literally.”

  He was talking to his henchman, no doubt. But what did he want with her? He’d certainly had a chance to kill her and he hadn’t taken it.

  “My brothers are out there,” Slade warned him. “They won’t let you get away. I won’t let you get away,” he added through clenched teeth.

  “Getting away isn’t what I have in mind.” Unlike Slade’s, Randall’s voice was actually calm. Too calm, maybe. “Now that you’ve killed Gambill and his friend, I have no choice but to use Maya.”

  So Gambill had been the one behind the mask. That didn’t surprise her, but she was shocked to hear that he was dead. And his backup, too. Slade had almost certainly been the one to eliminate them, and despite that it meant two men had died, Maya had no sympathy for them.

  Or for Randall.

  They’d endangered the lives of those two babies they’d kidnapped, and Andrea was dead. For that matter, Chase and Nadine might be dead, as well.

  “Did you kill the Colliers?” Maya asked.

  “Not yet. My assistant is holding them at gunpoint so they won’t be tempted to help you. I don’t want any interference, and I want to make this short and sweet.”

  “What the hell does that mean?” Slade snapped.

  The baby stirred in the carrier, but Slade only turned it so that the child wasn’t facing Randall. The carrier wouldn’t protect the child if shots were fired, so Maya prayed that his brothers would be there soon.