Code Name: Baby

She fought to stay calm, to wait for her moment.

A second arm locked at her waist.

She caught the smell of aftershave and old sweat as she tried to jam her elbow into his solar plexus, but he was fast, constantly twisting out of range.

“Get her gun.” Emmett’s voice was strained. “Damn it, Harry, do I have to do everything?”

Her captor slammed her forward and pinned her against the courtyard wall, driving her cheek into the rough stucco.

She blinked back tears, refusing to show weakness or pain to these lowlifes. “My brother will kill you for this.”

“But your brother’s not here, is he? Maybe he won’t be coming back.”

Kit kicked viciously, felt her boot strike bone.

“Ben, where’s her gun? You see her drop it?”

“I don’t see no gun here, Emmett.”

Low growling drifted over the wall. “It’s those dogs of hers again.” Ben sounded frightened. “You said they wouldn’t be here, Emmett.”

A mass of dark fur and angry feet shot over the courtyard wall. Missiling down, Baby struck Emmett’s shoulders. Moments later two other furry shapes crossed the wall. One rammed the back of Ben’s legs, knocking him to the ground, and the third landed in front of Kit, teeth bared and menacing.

Then she was free, her revolver trained on the intruders who were circled by her snarling seventy-pound puppies. The dogs had waited for their moment to strike, working together.

“Get moving, you three. And spread the word that the next man who comes up here will be dodging my bullets.” She sighted down the length of her revolver, glaring at Emmett, who was clearly the instigator of this harebrained operation. “But first take off your shoes. Do it now. All of you.”

Three sets of eyes measured Kit, then cut back to the snarling dogs.

“Do what she says, Emmett. Never knew a woman could handle a gun worth shit. She’ll kill all of us in a second.” Ben pulled off his boots and tossed them to the ground. “Can I go now?”

Kit waved her hand and the man immediately took off over the dirt. “What are you waiting for?” she snapped at the other two.

“Dogs don’t scare me.” Emmett crossed his beefy arms. “Especially puppies.”

Baby bared her teeth while Butch and Sundance, Kit’s other dogs, moved into a tight line next to Baby, the three ranged together as one unit.

Kit stared coldly at Emmett. “They could break your arm in a few seconds. Probably chew up your face pretty bad, too.”

“Don’t think you frighten me none, O’Halloran. Don’t think it’s over yet, either.”

“Come on, Harry,” Ben called from down the hill. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”

“Fine by me. I’ve had enough.” The other man pulled off his boots, tossed them beneath the mesquite tree and headed down the slope after Ben.

Two down. One more to go.

“You too,” Kit snapped at Emmett. “Don’t forget your shoes.”

Color surged into the man’s heavy cheeks. After some angry fumbling, he freed his battered sneakers and threw them hard through the air.

Kit was surprised to see Baby jump up and catch them in her teeth.

“One day you won’t be so lucky. Those dogs of yours might not be around.”

Kit kept her expression cold. “Get going, and remember what I said. Next time I’ll shoot first and consider the legalities later.”

Dust drifted over the hillside. Kit didn’t move until all three men had made their way past a row of cottonwood trees far down the hill, where an old pickup was hidden. After they shot out of sight, her knees began to shake, her stomach twisting in knots.

There was no reason to feel sick. Emmett and his friends were gone. She was safe now.

Saying it didn’t help.

She leaned forward against the mesquite tree and threw up. When the spasms stopped, she set her revolver carefully on the ground and sat down on the wall above the well where mesquite leaves shivered in the wind like whispered promises.

But Kit didn’t believe in promises anymore. Every promise that ever mattered to her had been broken. Even her brother had left, tossing all the responsibilities of the ranch onto her shoulders.

She took a deep breath, sagging against the old tree. Her father had planted it the same day he married her mother. Together they had watered it, staked it and tended it. Now the thick, gnarled trunk was twisted into three knots, towering over the well like a rich, dark rope beneath a canopy of green.

Small leaves blew free, raining down on Kit’s face. She sank to the ground. How much longer before Emmett and his friends came back?

How much more could she take?

The three dogs pushed closer, licking her face with small whimpers as if offering exuberant comfort while their tails churned up little circles of dust beside the well.

She frowned, wondering where Diesel was. The most curious of the lot, he was probably back in the courtyard, tracking a squirrel or some other small animal.

But before she could go look, she leaned forward, throwing up all over again.

Some days definitely sucked.

HE WATCHED HER because it was his job to watch her. His orders had come down from the very top: no involvement, no explanations, no contact of any sort. Surveillance and covert protection, nothing else.

But that was before Wolfe had seen Kit ambushed by three men right in her front yard. He’d watched, held back from intervening only by Ryker’s explicit orders. But all that was about to change.

He punched a code into his secure cell phone, all the time studying Kit’s house. “Ryker, it’s Houston. Yes, I’m in place. But I’m requesting permission to break cover.”

“Permission denied. Cruz is almost certainly headed your way, and I don’t want anything to scare him off.”

Wolfe watched clouds shadow the nearby ridge. “Sir, she was attacked a few minutes ago. Three men.” His voice was cold and hard.

“Did they hurt her or threaten the dogs?”

“Negative. She managed to frighten the men off. The dogs helped.”

Ryker’s breath checked. “In that case, there’s nothing to worry about. Do your job and stay under the radar.”

The line went dead.