Lawman From Her Past

That sped up her heartbeat even more because her brothers would be coming up that road to get to them. She prayed they didn’t get hurt, or worse.

“Yeah, I’ve already spotted the one on the road,” Gabriel answered. “That’s why Jameson and I stopped. The guy’s in the ditch. If he lifts his head enough, Jameson can take him out.”

Good. Except that would mean Jameson would have to take a huge risk to do that. Lauren had no idea if that guy was firing at her brothers or not. It was hard to tell with all the bullets flying.

“What about you?” Gabriel continued. “Can you shoot the one by the barn?”

“Haven’t managed it so far, but I can’t keep letting him fire bullets into the house.”

No, they couldn’t. Each one was a huge risk to the babies. And that meant she needed to push aside her fears and do something. She was the daughter and sister of a sheriff and had had firearms training. While she certainly didn’t have experience in finishing off hired guns, she had plenty of motivation to put an end to this.

“Are there only two of them?” Gabriel asked a moment later.

Good question, and she could tell from Cameron’s frustrated sigh that he didn’t know the answer. “Two men attacked your sister last night and shot her in the arm so I’m guessing it’s the same pair.”

Gabriel cursed again, and Lauren recognized that tone after all these years. He was furious, and that fury wasn’t limited to only these men, either. As her brother and the sheriff, he would have expected her to come to him with this. Later, she’d need to explain why she hadn’t done that. But that would have to wait.

“I can try to distract the shooter by firing out the kitchen window,” Lauren offered. “That way Cameron can try to get him from the front of the house.”

That offer didn’t please Cameron. It earned her a scowl, but she gave him one right back. “As you said, we can’t let him keep firing shots.”

She could see the debate Cameron was having with himself about that, but before he could say anything, his phone beeped, indicating he had another call coming in.

“It’s from an unknown number,” she relayed to him.

“Answer your phone, Deputy,” the gunman shouted from outside. The shots also stopped. “We gotta talk.”

“The thug by the barn is calling me,” Cameron told Gabriel. “While I see what he wants, try to do something about the guy in the ditch. I don’t want him getting any closer to the house.”

“We’ll do what we can,” Gabriel assured him.

Lauren pressed the button to take the second call, and she crawled even closer to Cameron so he wouldn’t miss a word of what this snake had to say.

“Are you ready to put an end to this?” the gunman asked without any hesitation. “Because I’ve got a solution that’ll make sure your nephew and that other little boy don’t get hurt.”

“Who are you?” Cameron snapped.

“You don’t need to know my name to listen to what I got to say.”

“No, but I do need to know who hired you so I can put his or her butt in jail for multiple accounts of attempted murder.”

The guy chuckled. “Let’s just say that’s not gonna happen and move on. You want me to stop shooting up your house, then here’s what you have to do. Put Lauren on the phone so the two of us can talk this out.”

A chill slid through her. Of course the goon knew she was there, but it was still stomach-twisting to hear him say her name. She opened her mouth to tell him she was listening, but Cameron shook his head and shot her a warning glance.

“Anything you think you need to say to Lauren, you can say to me,” Cameron told the gunman.

“I don’t think so. Something tells me you’re not gonna be nearly as easy to reason with as she’ll be.” Considering his casual tone, he could have been discussing the weather, but Lauren knew there was nothing casual about any of this.

“You want money, is that it?” she asked.

That didn’t please Cameron. No surprise there. He mumbled some profanity and hurried to the other side of the window—probably hoping he could get off a shot while the gunman was talking.

“Money?” the gunman repeated as if it was a joke. “No, sugar. Money ain’t gonna fix this.”

She hated his flippant attitude and wished she could be the one to silence him. But Lauren wanted that silence only after they’d learned who had hired this monster. Then him, his partner and his boss could be arrested.

“What, then?” she demanded, and Lauren hoped she sounded less shaky than she felt.

“I want you, sugar.”

For just a handful of words, they packed a punch along with making her skin crawl. She wasn’t sure if he’d meant for it to sound sexual or not.

“All you have to do is walk out the back door,” the gunman continued. “Of course, I’m gonna want your hands in the air so I can make sure you don’t have a gun. And I’ll also want you to tell the deputy that he’s out of the picture right now.”

“You’re not going out there,” Cameron told her before the gunman had even finished.

“Figured you’d feel that way, but just think about those little kids. Do I hear them crying? Bet they’re real scared, but they’re gonna get a lot more scared when I start shooting again. Because once I start, I won’t stop until I’ve ripped your place to shreds. You got thirty seconds, or the bullets start up again.”

Lauren sucked in her breath so hard that she nearly choked, and she managed to get to her feet.

“No.” Cameron hurried toward her, catching on to her and pulling her down against the fridge. He also took his phone from her and hit the end call button. “He’ll gun you down the moment you step outside.”

She shook her head, not disputing that since she figured that was exactly what would happen. Someone wanted her dead.

“But if I don’t go out there, he’ll shoot into the house,” she reminded Cameron, though she was certain he hadn’t forgotten that.

“He’ll do it anyway.” He took hold of her chin, lifting it and forcing eye contact. Brief eye contact, just enough for her to see the determination in his eyes before he went back to the window to keep watch. “Think it through. He’ll have to kill me, too, so he can escape. In fact, this plan could be about me. A way to draw me out while using you. Because that snake knows I won’t let you go to your death.”

That last part was definitely true. Cameron wasn’t a coward, and he was married to that badge he had clipped to his holster. He would put his own life ahead of hers or anyone else’s that he needed to protect.

She tried to figure out if that was indeed what the gunman had in mind, but the thoughts were flying through her head, making it hard to think. The only thing that was coming through loud and clear was that she had to do something, anything, to save the babies.

Cameron glanced around, too, as if trying to sort out what to do, and he finally tipped his head to the front of the house. “Take your gun and go to the window in there. Stay to the side, but if you get a shot, take it.”

She didn’t thank him. In fact, Lauren didn’t say anything for fear he would change his mind. As she was leaving, she heard him make a quick call to Gabriel to tell him to do something to eliminate the guy in the ditch.

Lauren’s pulse was thudding so hard now that it was hard to hear, and her feet felt heavy, as if she was trudging through mud. Still, she moved as fast as she could and tried to ignore the sounds of the babies crying. She had to focus, had to do her part to make this right. Then she could deal with the fallout of the baby swap and everything else that her homecoming would cause.

There were three windows in the living room. A huge one that faced the front and two side ones that had a view of the barn. She went to the one that she hoped would give her the best vantage point.

It did.

She immediately caught a glimpse of the gunman, and he was lifting his rifle, pointing it right at the house. That put her heart in her throat. She hadn’t needed anything to add to the urgency of their situation, but that did it anyway.

Lauren didn’t waste even a second. She broke the glass with the barrel of her gun and took aim. The gunman shifted his position, trying to turn his weapon at her. But it was too late.

She fired.