Protecting Her Daughter

“I’ll let you know if I need it.”

Their whispers barely sounded in the darkness. The chill of the cave hit him hard, but he wasn’t going to let her know that. He hoped they wouldn’t be staying put very long anyway. Lance walked back to them. “I think they’ve passed us. I’m going to slip out of the cave and see if I can get a signal.”

Aaron nodded, and Lance again returned to the entrance then disappeared outside. Sophia snuggled in between him and Zoe, and Aaron wrapped his arms around them, pulling them close to share body heat. The cave wall was cold, and the chill seeped through his sweater.

Within seconds, Sophia’s head rolled against his chest and her breathing became even. “She fell asleep,” he whispered in Zoe’s ear.

“Unbelievable. Well, it’s been an ordeal between the attack and the diabetes. She’s feeling the effects.” She froze. “I don’t have her medicine,” she whispered. “I didn’t have time to grab it.”

“In the right-hand pocket of my jacket. I snagged it from the office after I knocked Pete out.”

Zoe let out a low breath. “Thank you so much.” She turned toward him, but shot a glance over her shoulder. “Do you think Lance is all right?”

“I hope so. I don’t think he would have left the cave if he thought the men were still out there. It looks like all three of them managed to survive the shots. I think I winged the one called Cody, but it wasn’t enough to stop him.”

“So it’s still three of them.”

“Looks like it.” He gently shifted Sophia until she rested against Zoe. “Hold her. I’m going to check on him.”

“Be careful,” she whispered. “Oh, you need your coat.”

“I’ll be fine. Stay put.”

He moved before she could voice the protest he saw on her lips.

As he moved to the entrance of the cave, a shot rang out, and Lance dove inside.

* * *

Sophia woke with a jerk, and Zoe held her even as her own heartbeat picked up speed. “Why are they shooting again, Mama?”

“I don’t know, honey, just be brave.”

Lance knelt on the floor and looked back at her then Aaron. “I got a call out, but help’s a good ten minutes away. Even then I’m not sure they’ll be able to pinpoint our location.”

“Even with the cell phone?” Zoe asked.

“Possibly, but the bad guys are heading this way.”

“Were they shooting at you?” Aaron asked.

“They left Pete behind to cover the area where they lost us. Just in case we found a hiding place. Smart,” he murmured then shook his head. “Just as I hung up with dispatch, Pete shot at me. He’s not too far away. We’re going to have to come up with a plan. If the others come back to join him, we’re going to be sitting ducks.”

Zoe sucked in a breath while Sophia tensed.

“Then we’ll have to play a little game of hide-and-seek,” Aaron said.

Lance lifted a brow. “What do you have in mind?”

“You and I are going to leave the cave and pin down where Pete is. Then I’m going to distract him while you sneak around and tackle him.”

Lance grunted. “That sounds great in theory. I don’t know that we should leave Zoe and Sophia in here alone.”

“We’ll be fine,” Zoe said. “We have to do something. A plan of action is better than waiting for them to come shooting.”

Lance slid his gaze to Aaron. “You have a plan to avoid getting shot while distracting him?”

Aaron nodded and removed his hat. “Oldest trick in the book. I just need a stick.”

Zoe stood and stomped her feet trying to get some feeling back into them. Finally they started tingling and then hurting and she just prayed that none of them had permanent frostbite damage. But that was the least of her worries. She’d be happy with all of them getting out alive.

Aaron slipped out of the cave with Lance right behind him. Zoe positioned herself near the entrance so she could see—and help somehow if possible. Aaron wasn’t a police officer, but that didn’t seem to faze him as he prepared to face down a killer.

Ducking low, he searched the ground, and she saw him close his hands around a stick that suited him. Still keeping himself as small a target as possible, he placed the hat on the end of the stick then slowly raised it. Lance, hunched over and cautious, moved into the trees then stopped.

Zoe’s nerves vibrated. Would it work? Would they be able to carry out such a dangerous and risky plan?

* * *

Another crack echoed through the trees and Aaron’s hat flew from the stick.

Aaron hissed when his hat landed on the ground beside him. He picked up the hat in case he needed to use it again and hoped Lance was paying attention to the direction the bullet had come from. He moved a bit up the hill. As far as he could tell the bullet had come in at a downward angle. That meant the shooter was above him. He caught Lance looking at him. Aaron pointed upward.

Lance nodded and started moving. Slowly, quietly. Where were the other men? Why hadn’t they shown yet?

Then he remembered. Sophia had taken Pete’s phone. He didn’t have a way to contact the other two who’d gone ahead of him.

But they’d no doubt heard the shots.

Which meant he and Lance had very little time to take Pete down. Aaron moved carefully, using the trees as shields, doing his best to stay invisible. Just up ahead, he thought he saw movement. But was it Lance or Pete? Or someone else?

He stayed still, feeling his heart pound in his chest. He wasn’t a hunter, but he’d grown up with three brothers and knew his way around a game of hide-and-seek in the woods. Granted, his brothers hadn’t been shooting at him, but still...

More movement. Aaron lifted the hat. Nothing. He moved it to the right, away from his body. A shot sounded. The bullet whizzed by but missed the hat. Then a thud and a yell. Aaron moved faster and found Lance on top of Pete wrestling for control of Lance’s weapon. Pete rolled. Lance’s gun flew from his fingers, and Pete dove back into Lance and landed a solid punch on his cheek. Lance howled and struck back. Pete took the hit on his jaw, but Aaron saw him reach back to his ankle. And pull a gun from his ankle holster.

Aaron moved, kicked out. But Pete moved unexpectedly and instead of getting the man’s wrist, Aaron’s boot landed on Pete’s forearm. Pete yelled, but didn’t drop the gun, instead he turned it toward Lance and fired. Only Lance was rolling and the bullet slammed into the ground beside him. Lance rocked to his feet and went head first into Pete’s gut. They both went down, Lance’s hands wrapped around Pete’s wrist, holding the gun away from him. Aaron couldn’t get in a good kick without possibly usurping Lance’s tentative advantage in the fight.

Aaron dove for Lance’s weapon, got it in his hands, pulled the slide to chamber the bullet and spun to find Lance losing his grip on Pete’s wrist. Pete landed a punch to Lance’s midsection, and the deputy lost his hold. Pete lowered the weapon to Lance’s head.

Aaron fired. Once. Twice. Center mass. Pete jerked but didn’t go down. He turned the gun toward Aaron. Before he could pull the trigger, Lance knocked the gun out of his grasp. Aaron snagged it, held both guns on the bleeding, screaming man while Lance rolled him to his stomach and fastened the cuffs around his wrists.

Lance sat back on his heels and swiped at his bleeding face. He looked up at Aaron. “Thanks,” he gasped.

“Yeah.” He stuffed the weapon in the waistband of his jeans. “Yeah.”

The sirens finally reached their ears. Aaron pulled his sweater off, leaving his long-sleeved T-shirt still on. He dropped beside Pete and pressed the material against the man’s wounds. “We have to keep him alive,” Aaron said.

“You work on him. I’m going to keep an eye out for the other two while I get back to the cave to check on Zoe and Sophia. I’ll call Clay to tell him exactly where to come.”