Lawman From Her Past

“What’s happening?” Merilee asked. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Lauren is here,” he said after a pause.

Merilee would remember Lauren since she’d been the Beckett housekeeper all the way up until the time of the murders. Lauren’s mom was a former cop who also worked the ranch, and Merilee had been a pseudo-nanny to Lauren and her siblings.

He nearly asked about Isaac, to make sure his nephew was all right, but right now Cameron only wanted to focus on what was going on outside. Besides, if something had been wrong in the nursery, Merilee would have let him know.

“Thank you,” Lauren whispered.

Cameron was about to tell her not to thank him yet, but the movement stopped him cold. This time he saw what Lauren had almost certainly spotted by the barn.

A man.

He only got a glimpse of him, but the guy was wearing camo. Definitely not a ranch hand.

“He’s got a gun,” Lauren relayed to Cameron.

Yeah, he’d seen it, too. Again, just a glimpse, but it appeared to be a rifle. Not good because it gave the intruder a longer range that he could use to shoot into the house.

Without taking his attention off the man, Cameron pressed redial on his phone, and Gabriel answered on the first ring.

“Jameson’s here,” Gabriel explained. “We’re going to the SUV now.”

“Don’t. One of the shooters is here at my place by the side of my barn. I figure he’s not alone.”

Gabriel made a sound of agreement followed by some profanity. “Okay, we’re on the way to your place. I’ll also get some of the hands over there.”

“Tell them to be careful. The guy is armed, and he’s in position to pick off anyone who comes up the road to my house.”

And that was probably the reason he was there. Which made that bad feeling inside him go up a significant notch. If these goons knew the trail, maybe they’d watched the place. Perhaps his house. It wouldn’t have been hard to do. On any given day there were at least two dozen hands working the ranch along with deliveries and the normal traffic that came with a place this size.

There could be gunmen waiting to ambush Gabriel, Jameson and anyone else who came this way.

Because if their ultimate goal was to get the baby, then it wouldn’t matter how many people they killed.

He hated to put something else on Lauren’s shoulders, but he needed an extra pair of eyes at the front of the house. That meant he’d have to stay to keep watch of the thug by the barn. Cameron was about to give her instructions as to what to do, but the blur of motion stopped him.

There was a second gunman at the back of the barn.

Unlike his partner, this one didn’t immediately duck back behind cover. He lifted his rifle and fired. The shot crashed through the window right where Cameron was standing.

Chapter Four (#u0d5d373d-fe9f-598e-8e39-52e1c91d3203)

Lauren shouted for Cameron to get down, but it was already too late. The gunman had fired the shot, the bullet blasting through the window.

In the blink of an eye, she saw a piece of glass slice across Cameron’s arm. He was wearing a shirt, and she could immediately see the blood start to spread across the sleeve.

She ran to him, but Lauren wasn’t quite able to reach his arm. That was because Cameron took hold of her and dragged her to the floor. But he didn’t stay there. He got right back up and took aim out the now gaping hole in the window.

“You’re hurt,” she said, her breath gusting so hard that Lauren had trouble speaking.

“I’m okay,” he grumbled.

But she had no idea if that was true. She couldn’t tell if the glass was still in his arm or not because of all the blood.

From the other side of the house, Lauren heard a sound she didn’t want to hear. Patrick was crying. Probably because the noise from the gunshot had frightened him. She considered going to him, but she didn’t want to leave Cameron alone. She got confirmation that would be a bad idea when two more shots came through the window. These slammed into the side of the fridge.

“Merilee!” Cameron called out to the nanny. “All of you need to get down on the floor and stay there.” He glanced at her then, letting Lauren know that applied to her, too.

However, she shook her head. “If I go to the side window, I might have a clear shot and be able to stop the gunman.”

“Yeah, and he might have a shot to stop you. Stay down,” he repeated, this time through clenched teeth. She couldn’t tell if the tight expression was for her or because he was grimacing in pain.

Lauren huffed. She’d forgotten just how stubborn Cameron could be, but this brought it all back. Worse, he didn’t stay out of the line of fire. He leaned away from the wall, took aim out the window and pulled the trigger.

The blast echoed through the room. Through the entire house. And Lauren heard both babies cry. She prayed the nannies could keep the boys as calm as possible, but better yet, she just wanted the women to protect them so that none of the bullets could make it to them.

Her son was in danger.

Both her sons.

Because Isaac might be hers by blood, but Patrick was also hers in every way that mattered. Now the babies were at huge risk, and she didn’t even know why. That was what cut away at her right now. That, and the bullets that continued to tear into the house.

She thought of what Cameron had said earlier. About Trace’s mother, Evelyn, pulling a gun on him. And Lauren wondered if she was behind this. But she couldn’t be. For one thing, the woman was in jail, and for another, she wanted custody of her grandson and almost certainly wouldn’t put him at risk like this.

But Julia or Duane were capable of that.

They wouldn’t have nearly the level of concern for Patrick or any other child that Evelyn likely would. In fact, it would make things easier for Julia or Duane if Lauren and her son were out of the way.

That certainly didn’t help her raw nerves.

However, there was a third player in all of this. The idiot who was sending those threatening messages to her and her family. If so, they didn’t have a clue who they were dealing with, and that person might not care if everyone inside the house died in a gunfight.

Cameron fired another shot, and he followed it with some profanity. “He’s ducked back behind the barn.”

Probably because Cameron’s shots were getting too close to him. Lauren doubted, though, that the man was retreating. No. He was probably regrouping or else contacting his comrade so he could come at them from a different angle.

Cameron ran to the side of the room where Lauren had been earlier, but the moment he made it to that window, the gunman sent more bullets their way. That created yet another spray of glass over the room and caused Cameron to scramble back. Thankfully, he didn’t get cut this time, and the bleeding on his arm seemed to be slowing down. Still, he needed medical attention. That wasn’t going to happen, though, until those gunmen were stopped. No way could an ambulance risk coming to the house, since they would drive right into gunfire.

Cameron’s phone rang, the sound somehow making it through the deafening blasts. He glanced at the screen and tossed it to her. “It’s Gabriel. Let him know what’s going on and find out his location.”

Lauren cursed her trembling hands because it took her precious seconds to hit the answer button, and she put it on speaker so that Cameron could hear.

“Is everyone okay?” Gabriel asked right off.

“No. Cameron’s hurt. His arm is bleeding—”

“I’m fine,” Cameron snarled. “I’ve got a shooter by the barn and another out by the road.”