Under the Cowboy's Protection

by Delores Fossen

  “Stay put,” Warren told Thea.

  Before Raleigh could figure out if it was a good idea or not, Warren ran back toward the kitchen. Thea clearly didn’t like that any better than Raleigh did, but they needed to know what was going on. And what was going on wasn’t good. Raleigh could tell that from Warren’s stark expression when he came back into the living room.

  “Someone set a fire in the pantry.” Warren’s words rushed out with his frantic breath. “You have to get Alma and your deputy out of the house. And I need to move those hands off the porch in case the fire spreads back there.”

  Yes, he did. But that left Raleigh with a huge problem. He didn’t want Warren on the porch without backup, especially when the man was trying to move the unconscious hands. But Raleigh didn’t think it was a good idea for Thea to be outside, either. Still, that might be better than her being inside a house that was now on fire.

  “Go with him,” Raleigh told her.

  She didn’t argue, but he could practically feel the hesitation before she nodded. She tossed him his phone and followed Warren to the back.

  Raleigh hated that it had come down to this. Yes, it was her job as a cop, but that didn’t make this easier to swallow. He was afraid for Thea. Afraid he might never see her again. And angry with himself for not telling her just how much she meant to him.

  He pushed those feelings aside so he could go up the stairs and rescue his mother, but his phone dinged after he’d made it only a few steps. It was another text from Alice.

  Someone’s breaking into the bedroom.

  Hell. For just a few words, they packed a wallop, and Raleigh practically ran up the stairs. Of course, he had to stop when he got to the top because whoever was trying to break into his mother’s room would see him the moment he was in the hall.

  Unfortunately, there were no lights on in the hall, so it took Raleigh a moment to pick through the darkness and see the shadowy figure outside the bedroom. And it appeared he was trying to get the door unlocked. Raleigh didn’t shoot the guy because he couldn’t even tell if he was armed.

  “I’m Sheriff Lawton,” Raleigh called out. “Put your hands in the air.”

  The man pivoted, and that’s when Raleigh caught a glimpse of his gun. A gun he pointed at Raleigh. He didn’t give the thug a chance to fire though because Raleigh pulled the trigger first. Two shots slammed into the man’s chest, causing him to drop just as fast as his partner had minutes earlier.

  Raleigh hurried to him. The guy was dead all right. That felt like a hard rock in his stomach, but he hadn’t had another option. He couldn’t let the guy shoot him. Nor could he let him break into the bedroom.

  “Alice, it’s me,” Raleigh called out, knocking on the door. While he waited, he sent off a quick text to Thea to let her know he was okay. “There’s a fire,” he added to Alice, “and both of you need to get out of the house.”

  Almost immediately, he heard the sound of running footsteps, and a moment later, Alice opened the door. Alma was right behind her, and while his mom did indeed look terrified, he couldn’t take the time to console her. The smoke was already making its way up the stairs, and he didn’t want them trapped.

  Alice hooked her arm around Alma’s waist to get her moving, and both women glanced at the dead guy in the hall. Alma looked away, a hoarse sob coming from her throat.

  “My house is on fire?” Alma asked. She was clearly alarmed by not just the dead man but also the fact that she might lose everything. Too bad that everything might include her life if there were other hired guns waiting outside.

  “The fire department’s on the way,” Raleigh said.

  Later, once he had everyone safe, he would make sure that was true and fill her in on everything else that’d happened. Of course, the fire department was almost certainly nearby, or soon would be, but they were no doubt waiting on word from him to make sure it was safe to come onto the grounds. Right now, it definitely wasn’t safe.

  “Keep watch behind us,” Raleigh told Alice just in case someone was hiding in another one of the bedrooms off the hall.

  With Raleigh ahead of them, he led them to the stairs, hurrying as much as he could. But he also had to watch and listen to make certain they weren’t about to be ambushed. He didn’t see anyone at the bottom of the stairs or in the foyer, but that didn’t mean someone wasn’t there.

  “The cruiser’s parked right outside,” he told Alice. “Get Mom inside, and I’ll find the others.” Including those two hands who could be hurt.

  Opening the door was a risk, but everything he did at this point would be. Still, the cruiser was the safest place for his mother.

  He eased open the door and looked out. No one. So Raleigh unlocked the cruiser and then handed the keys to Alice.

  “You’re not coming with us?” Alma asked. Her voice and the rest of her were shaking.

  “I’ll be there soon,” he told her and hoped that was true. “Move fast,” he added to Alice in a whisper. “And if something goes wrong, drive out of here as quickly as you can.”

  Alice nodded, and Raleigh stepped out onto the porch to give them cover as they ran to the cruiser. However, Alice and his mom hadn’t even gotten in yet when he heard something that caused his heart to slam against his chest.

  “No!” someone shouted, and Raleigh was pretty sure that someone was Warren, who was at the back of the house.

  And the shout was followed by another sound Raleigh didn’t want to hear.

  A gunshot.

  * * *

  THEA TRIED TO keep watch of the backyard as she pulled one of the hands off the porch and away from the fire. It wasn’t easy. He was a big guy, and since she couldn’t lift him, she had no choice but to drag him down the steps and toward the grassy area behind the house.

  Warren was doing the same thing to the second hand, and he was struggling as much as Thea was. She only hoped this wasn’t doing more damage to Warren’s already injured body, but even if it had, it wouldn’t have stopped him.

  The sprinklers didn’t help the situation, either. They were still going full blast, and while that appeared to be containing the fire in the yard, it was also soaking Warren and her. Plus, the combination of water and smoke in her eyes made it even harder to see.

  She’d just made it to the bottom step when she heard the two shots from inside the house. It caused her pulse to skyrocket because they had almost certainly come from the second floor, where Raleigh would be rescuing his mom and Alice.

  Thea looked up at the windows but couldn’t see anything, and she forced herself not to run inside. However, the second her phone dinged with a text message, she stopped dragging the ranch hand and looked at the screen. It was from Raleigh. We’re okay.

  The breath of relief rushed out of her, and she prayed it was true, that Raleigh hadn’t told her that just to stop her from going inside. She would though. As soon as she’d finished moving the hand, she needed to make sure Raleigh, Alice and his mom had made it out. That meant going inside.

  Thea kept dragging the hand. She had to get the man far enough away from the house in case the fire caused it to collapse. He still hadn’t regained consciousness, and there was no way he’d be able to move to save himself.

  “Over here,” Warren told her.

  He motioned toward the front of a small barn, where he was heading. It wasn’t ideal cover because both ends were wide-open, but it would give them some protection from the sides. As it was now, they were out in the open, where anyone could gun them down.

  “Was Raleigh hurt?” Warren asked, and he didn’t sound like a lawman but rather a concerned father.

  She shook her head. “He said they were all okay.”

  Thea’s arms were aching by the time she reached the barn, but she got the hand in. It was like stepping into a cave since it was so dark. Too dark for her to see any of the corners. Plus, there wa
s a tractor and some other equipment, plenty of places for someone to hide. That’s why she took a moment to listen and made sure no one was inside. If someone was, he or she wasn’t making a sound.

  Since Warren was struggling, she went out to help him drag in the second hand, and she positioned him next to the other one.

  “Wait here with them in case the fire comes this way and they need to be moved again,” she told Warren. She tried to wipe some of the water off her face. “I need to check on Raleigh to see if he needs any help getting Alma out.”

  She expected Warren to argue with that because he didn’t like her going out there without backup. And he no doubt wanted to argue, but he probably knew it wouldn’t do any good. Instead, he huffed.

  “Don’t go in through the back,” he warned her.

  She wouldn’t. By now, the fire had probably spread into the kitchen. Or maybe even farther into the house. That meant she’d need to go on the side so she could get to the front porch. But hopefully that’s where Raleigh would be if he had indeed managed to get his mom and Alice out of the house.

  Before she could start running, Warren caught on to her hand and made eye contact with her. It was so dark that it was hard to fully see his expression, but his forehead was bunched up with worry.

  “Be careful,” he said.

  She was about to remind him to do the same thing, but then she saw the change in Warren’s body language. His shoulders went back, and he started lifting his gun.

  “No!” Warren shouted, his attention on the area behind her.

  That was the only warning Thea got before the gunshot blasted through the air.

  For a horrifying moment, she thought Warren or she had been shot. But the bullet went into the barn just as Warren grabbed hold of her and yanked her to the floor.

  At least that’s what he tried to do.

  But someone took hold of her from behind, hooking his arm around her throat. In the same motion, he knocked her Glock from her hand and put a gun to her head.

  The fear and adrenaline slammed into her, and her body went into fight mode. She rammed her elbow into his stomach, but it didn’t work. The man was wearing some kind of body armor, and he didn’t loosen his grip. In fact, he tightened it and dug the barrel of the gun into her temple.

  Warren cursed and froze, his weapon aimed at an attacker she couldn’t see, but he must have realized he didn’t have a shot, because Warren scrambled to the side of the tractor. Good. At least he wouldn’t be gunned down—which was probably what her attacker had planned to do because he fired another bullet in Warren’s direction.

  “Let go of her,” Warren demanded.

  Thea doubted that would work, and it didn’t. The man held on. But he didn’t start to move as if to escape, and he didn’t fire any other shots at Warren. He seemed to be waiting for something. But what did he want and why was he doing this?

  “Not much longer now,” he growled in her ear. His voice was a raspy whisper. Maybe it was Nick or Simon, but it could be just another hired thug. One that maybe Yvette had sent to attack them.

  When she heard someone running toward them, the man shifted her body so that she was facing the opening of the barn. He stayed behind her, using her as a shield.

  Just as Raleigh came into view.

  He’d obviously run through the sprinklers because he was wet, and even though he had his gun aimed and ready, he didn’t have a clean shot. However, he must have been able to see her attacker’s face because Raleigh cursed.

  “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Raleigh snapped.

  “Finishing this,” the man readily answered. He didn’t whisper this time though, and Thea had no trouble recognizing his voice.

  It was Simon.

  * * *

  A DOZEN THOUGHTS went through Raleigh’s head, and none of them were good.

  First and foremost though was that Thea was in grave danger. He could lose her right here, right now, to this sick piece of work. Raleigh had to stay alive to try to save her, and that’s why he took cover by the side of the barn door.

  Thea had to be terrified, but she was clearly trying to rein in her fear. Warren wasn’t even attempting the facade. Raleigh could practically feel Warren’s rage, and he shook his head, hoping it would keep Warren from launching himself at Simon. Raleigh wanted to try to defuse this, and that wouldn’t happen if gunfire broke out.

  And it wasn’t just Thea and Warren he had to be concerned about. The two hands were on the barn floor, and they could easily be hit with gunfire. Simon basically had five people’s lives in his hands.

  “I thought you were in love with my mother,” Raleigh reminded Simon. He kept watch around them, trying to make sure Simon didn’t have another goon who would try to sneak up on them. “You’ve got a funny way of showing it since you nearly killed her with the fire you had your hired thug set. And now her house is burning down.”

  No way for Raleigh to save the house. Because it was too risky for him to get the fire department on the grounds. Hopefully Alice had managed to get his mother far from here.

  “I was in love with Alma,” Simon snapped. “Until I read that letter about her still having feelings for Warren. I’ve waited in the wings for years for her to be through with him, and just when I finally thought it had happened, Alma does something like this.”

  So that letter was the motive, and Raleigh could fill in the rest. “You killed Sonya and Hannah to get back at Warren, to punish him.”

  “And it worked. Warren nearly went crazy blaming himself and trying to figure out who killed Hannah.” Simon smiled, but it quickly faded. “Except Sonya wasn’t supposed to die. The men were supposed to kidnap her, but they overreacted when she escaped and ran.”

  “They murdered her,” Raleigh pointed out. “Since you hired them, you’re guilty of murder, too. And endangering the babies. How the hell could you do something like that to them?”

  “I didn’t endanger them, and I sure as heck didn’t hurt them,” Simon yelled. He glanced around, too, as if looking for something. Or someone. “Hannah’s baby was well cared for, and Thea would have already been dead, but she was too close to Sonya’s kid, so Marco couldn’t shoot her.”

  That’s why Thea had been spared. All because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Another minute before or after, and the baby might not have been close enough to her, and Marco or Buck would have gunned her down. Like Simon was planning to do.

  Or not.

  Simon obviously had already had a chance to kill her, so why hadn’t he? Was he waiting for Warren to come out from cover so he could shoot him first?

  Or did Simon plan to kill both Thea and him in front of Warren?

  That way, Warren would lose his son and the woman he loved like a daughter. If that was what Simon had in mind, then Raleigh had to stop him. That meant buying himself some time so he could figure out how to safely launch himself at Simon.

  “Why involve Sonya, Hannah and Thea in this? Why didn’t you just kill me?” Warren growled.

  Simon’s mouth tightened into a sneer. “Because I loved Alma enough that I didn’t want her to grieve. I wanted her over and done with you, and if you’d been murdered, you would have become a martyr to her. That’s why I didn’t rat you out to your wife and kids. To Raleigh,” he added.

  Maybe. But Simon might have been worried that Warren would have chosen Alma instead of his wife and family. That definitely wouldn’t have worked in Simon’s favor to try to win Alma’s heart.

  “Everything I’ve done has been for Alma,” Simon insisted. “That should prove to you how much I loved her.”

  No, it only proved that Simon was pathetic. And a killer.

  A killer who clearly planned to murder Thea, but he wasn’t trying to do that. Why? Simon had Warren right where he wanted him.

  A moment later, Raleigh had his a
nswer to that, and it wasn’t an answer he liked.

  “Finally,” Simon snapped.

  Raleigh heard the movement behind him, and he turned in that direction. And his heart skipped a couple of beats. Because there was a ski-mask-wearing thug coming toward him, and he wasn’t alone.

  He had Alma with him.

  Hell. This was the reason Simon hadn’t already added more murders to his list of crimes. He wanted to kill Alma in front of Warren. Or vice versa. Either way, Simon would almost certainly then try to murder all of them since he couldn’t leave this many witnesses alive.

  “Where’s Alice?” Raleigh asked.

  “This jerk used a stun gun on her,” Alma answered, her voice cracking. “We didn’t see him in time. Before Alice could drive away, he pulled her from the cruiser and left her on the driveway when he took me. Raleigh, I’m so sorry.”

  He hated that his mom felt the need to apologize for a thug assaulting a deputy and then manhandling her. Hated even more that this was happening. One way or another though, he would stop it. He just had to make sure he didn’t get anyone killed in the process.

  “Simon,” his mother said, her voice quivering even more. She shifted her attention to Thea, then Raleigh and finally Warren. With each shift, her eyes got wider, and he could see the horror on her face when she realized what was happening. “Simon,” she repeated.

  “Don’t look at me like that,” Simon growled at her. “You’re responsible for this.”

  “He read the letter,” Raleigh told her.

  Alma shook her head. “And you felt you had to do this because I still love Warren?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “Because Warren doesn’t love me. He’s back with his wife, and it’s over between us.”

  The glare that Simon gave Alma was scalpel sharp. “It’ll never be over between you. Never. But it ends now. Everything ends.”

  Simon tipped his head to the masked thug, and the man shoved Alma forward, right into Raleigh. Raleigh didn’t catch her because it would have meant taking his aim off Simon, but he used his body to help break the fall, and then he maneuvered himself in front of her.