One Night Standoff

She held her breath and saw the man step from the driver’s side of the SUV. Tall and lanky, he wore jeans and a dark shirt, common clothes for this part of the country, but it was the brown leather jacket that snagged her attention. It was nearly a hundred degrees outside, hardly jacket weather, which meant he was probably wearing it to conceal a weapon.

“I don’t recognize him,” she said before Clayton could ask. “Do you?”

“No.”

That revved up her heart even more. She’d held out hope that their visitor was a lawman, maybe even the local sheriff. He sure had the lawman’s look down pat—he glanced around, studying the entire grounds before his attention settled on the front of the church. However, Lenora saw no signs of a badge, but the guy was holding something.

A newspaper.

The man looked at the paper, then the church, as if comparing something. After a few moments, he tossed the newspaper back into the SUV.

Clayton took her by her left wrist and gently moved her behind him. No doubt trying to protect her. But he didn’t move from the window.

Lenora stood there, watching the SUV driver from over Clayton’s shoulder. Very close to him. So close that it stirred memories of him, and this was not a good time to be remembering anything about that night they’d slept together.

Some more movement got her mind back on the right track. The passenger’s side door opened. A second man stepped out, and like the driver, he was also wearing a jacket.

Oh, mercy. Two of them and both likely armed. There was no way she could explain away this.

“Come on,” Clayton said.

His grip on her wrist tightened, and with her in tow, he hurried through the rows of pews, past the pulpit and into the back entry. He didn’t stop until they made it to the door.

There were no side windows next to the door, only one on the west side of the building, facing the cemetery. Lenora did a quick look out, but didn’t see Clayton’s vehicle or anyone else on the grounds.

“Stay close and stay quiet,” Clayton warned her.

Lenora would, as well as keep watch. But she also prayed that all of this was overkill.

He unlocked the door and stepped out ahead of her. Lenora didn’t miss the grunt that he tried to muffle. Pained from the sun, no doubt. Still, he didn’t let the pain or the sun slow him down. He eased her out behind him, shut the door, and they hurried toward the cemetery.

Clayton kept watch, too, his gaze firing all around them. There was a chain-link fence that surrounded the quarter acre or so of graves, and it was obviously meant to keep out deer rather than people, because there were no locks on the gate. He opened it and immediately pushed her behind a large angel headstone.

It wasn’t her first choice of hiding place. In fact, the whole cemetery gave her the creeps. It reminded her of her father’s grave, which she’d visited once—and only once—on the day she’d found out that he was dead. Lenora hoped they didn’t have to stay crouched here for long.

She peered out and saw the men make their way toward the front of the church. They stopped by her car first, looked inside the windows and then continued to the front door. Because of the angle of the building, they disappeared from view. Maybe they would just knock and when no one answered, they’d leave.

But the thought had no sooner crossed her mind than Lenora heard something she didn’t want to hear.

No knock.

There was a loud bashing sound, quickly followed by a shot. Not in their direction, but the bullet made an unusual metallic sound.

Lenora knew exactly what it meant.

The men had shot through the lock on the front door and were no doubt already inside the church. It wouldn’t take them but a minute or two to realize she wasn’t there.

And they’d come looking for her.

“Let’s move,” Clayton ordered in a rough whisper. “Now!”

Chapter Five

Clayton waited a split second, until he was sure the two men were actually inside the church, and with his hand still gripping Lenora’s wrist, he hurried across the cemetery.

“Stay low,” he warned her.

She did, and he kept ducking them behind the larger tombstones, hoping that they’d become good cover if necessary. Most were marble, which should stop a bullet or two, but he didn’t want to take the risk of a shot ricocheting and hitting Lenora.

Or him.

Because if he was out of the picture, it would leave her a sitting duck for whoever was inside the church. Yeah, she had a gun, and Clayton knew from the surveillance tapes of his own shooting that she was a good shot. However, those guys could be better.

Clayton took out his phone, and he made a whispered 9-1-1 call and gave the dispatcher their location. Maybe it wouldn’t take long for the local authorities to respond, and even if it did, he had plans to get Lenora out of there anyway.

He cursed, not just over the fact that there were probably assassins mere yards away from them, but also that Lenora and his baby were right in the middle of the danger.

Again.

And worse, there was the possibility that he’d brought the danger right to Lenora. He hadn’t been followed, he was sure of that, but obviously these men had found her, maybe the same way he had. He should have anticipated that would happen and gotten her away from the church the minute he showed up.

Of course, Lenora hadn’t exactly cooperated with his demand that she leave with him. But Clayton was betting she’d cooperate now.

If they got out of this alive, that was.

He dragged her behind another tombstone that was closer to the far side fence and gate, and he listened and watched for any signs of the men. He also drew in some hard breaths, trying to fight off the pain that was stabbing through his head. The sunglasses helped, but nothing would help if he had to stay out in this blaring light too long. Not good. Because there was no way he could focus if the pain closed in on him.

Ironic, that a migraine could get them killed.

The pain and his plans to get her out of there did a short mental stutter, however, when he felt the movement against his back. He glanced over his shoulder at her to see what was going on.

“The baby” was all she said.

Oh.

He hadn’t forgotten that she was pregnant, no way, but it was a jolt to feel his child moving around inside her. Once they were out of here, he really had to take some time to deal with everything he’d just learned.

“Where’d you park?” Her voice was shaky. She was shaking, too, and her breathing was so fast that she might hyperventilate.

Clayton tipped his head to the other side of the cemetery, where the trees were thick. She wouldn’t be able to see his truck, but it was there on an old ranch road about a fourth of a mile away.

He heard some bashing around in the church and figured the guys were tearing apart the place, looking for Lenora, but as long as they did that, they’d be inside. And they wouldn’t be able to see Lenora and him. That was the cue he’d been waiting for. He hadn’t wanted to run with her in the open, in case the men had plans to make a hasty exit from the church.

“Let’s go,” Clayton told Lenora.

They got moving again toward the gate, and even though his heartbeat was roaring in his ears, he heard something he didn’t want to hear.

“There she is!” one of the men shouted.