by Sommer Smith
“I think she’s a strong fighter, and I know how to take care of her. We’ll get the doctor to prescribe her a strong course of treatment for home, and if we must, we’ll find another hospital.” Lauren looked around. It had been a good place to get treatment for Lily and she hated to go, but she knew it was in everyone’s best interest.
* * *
Grayson intended to watch Lauren’s use of the pain meds carefully. He knew not everyone had his mother’s issues, but the less time Lauren had to depend on them, the better. Hopefully, the short-term, low dosage would keep her comfortable, but not give her enough time to form an attachment.
She didn’t seem to notice his preoccupation with it. He had told the truth. He had needed the meds after being shot, but he had weaned himself off as soon as he could.
It was several hours later before Grayson had convinced Dr. Claremont to release Lily into Lauren’s care. Cole and Shayla met them at the doors to the PICU. Hannah, their amazing nurse, helped them with all the equipment they would need to take care of Lily’s breathing treatments at home. The hospital had prescribed a nebulizer that would assist with helping Lily breathe and given Lauren careful instructions on how to reach the doctor if Lily worsened in any way. Grayson carried the baby.
“So far we’re clear. Nothing suspicious.” Cole led the way out. It was just after two o’clock, and Lauren’s pain meds must have worn off. She was much more lucid and followed Grayson with the rest of Lily’s things.
Even though the staff moved around, it was eerily quiet in the hospital, the fluorescent lights shining too brightly and buzzing too loudly in the silence. Their footsteps, harsh and unwelcoming, echoed along the empty corridor, and hospital staff looked at them curiously as they passed.
“Get Lily and Lauren settled while we keep watch.” Cole spoke the soft words just as they reached the SUV. Cole had switched his own vehicle for the one with Lily’s car seat. Rather than take two cars, Cole would drive while Shayla and Grayson kept a lookout for trouble.
Grayson helped Lauren settle Lily in the car seat, then allowed Lauren to fasten all the straps from inside the vehicle. They were about to jump in when two black vans with darkly tinted windows pulled in. One stopped in front and the other behind them.
Grayson had to prod Lauren into movement as she froze beside the vehicle. He ushered her into the SUV.
“Lock the doors.” Grayson directed the order toward Lauren and pulled his Glock, aiming it at the van in front of the SUV. Cole was calling the police on his cell. Shayla had her gun aimed at the dark van behind them.
Lauren watched from behind the tinted glass, shielding Lily. He saw her lips moving and thought she might be praying.
Two men jumped from each of the vehicles, wielding weapons of their own.
“We don’t want to shoot you. We just want the baby,” one of the men said aggressively as he approached. “Hand over the kid and no one will get hurt.”
Grayson shook his head. “You’re not getting your hands on that child.” He lowered his aim and fired a shot next to the man’s left foot. The man jumped back with a yelp but didn’t get back in the van.
“These guys must be getting paid a lot of money,” Shayla muttered beside him.
She was right. They weren’t going to give up easily.
“We can’t let you leave until you give us the kid. If you don’t cooperate, we will have to kill you.” One of the other guys was talking this time. He said it smoothly, as if it were an everyday thing.
“Not gonna happen. How exactly do you think you’ll pull that off?” Grayson was trying to keep them talking until backup arrived.
“There are three of you and four of us.” He gestured at the three marshals, all now holding guns on them. “Odds are at least one of us survives, but all of you are dead.”
“What if you accidentally shoot the baby? How’re you gonna get your money then?” It was Shayla with this argument.
No one spoke for a moment.
“I doubt all of you actually shoot that well.” Cole chuckled. “That makes the odds a little different.”
A reckless fury came over the guy’s face, and as he stepped toward them, Shayla shot at his foot, hitting the target smoothly. He began to howl in pain, falling to the ground, his weapon clattering to the asphalt.
“Oh, look. The odds have been evened up.” Shayla grinned.
“Quit messing around! Just get the kid and let’s get going—” This third man’s voice sounded a little panicked as sirens wailed in the distance, almost before he could get the demand out.
He let out a curse. “Let’s go!”
The guy Shayla had shot in the foot began to whine. “Hey, somebody help me. I can’t get in the van like this! Come on!”
One of the bigger men grabbed him with one arm, still pointing his gun at the marshals with the hand of the other. He dragged the wounded man to the van as he screamed the whole way. “Shut up or I’ll just leave you here for the cops.”
The rest of the men backed toward their respective vans, as well. They held their guns aimed on the marshals until they had closed the doors on the vans and peeled off, police cars giving chase.
When they were out of sight, Grayson motioned for Lauren to unlock the doors. “That was close.”
* * *
Lauren was trembling. “Too close,” she replied. Lily was beginning to fuss. The marshals loaded into the SUV, Grayson taking the vacant seat on the other side of Lily’s carrier. Lauren felt his eyes scan her before looking over Lily to see how the baby fared.
“Don’t waste any time. We need to get Lily out of here.” Grayson was instructing Cole, who had taken the wheel. Lauren didn’t register all of his instructions. She was too focused on Lily.
“No problem.” Cole glanced back to be sure everyone was ready and put the SUV in gear.
They made it a few miles before another van started following them, this one white.
“That didn’t take long.” Shayla, riding shotgun, pulled her weapon. “Can I shoot out his tires?”
“No shooting.” Grayson growled the order. “We just need to lose them.”
The town was fairly small and there wasn’t much of anywhere to go. When a second white van joined the chase, it became obvious they wouldn’t be able to return to the lake house anymore. Grayson grumbled out the news, making Lauren wonder why he might want to stay. But the kidnappers were desperate. It was time to move.
“I’m calling for the plane. We have to get this baby out of here,” Grayson declared. Neither Cole nor Shayla argued. Lauren felt ill.
Grayson had been put on hold and turned to explain to Lauren that the Marshals Service had private planes for just such a purpose, but they just had to get to the aircraft safely.
Once he disconnected, Grayson leaned forward to talk to Cole, keeping his gun drawn and ready. “The nearest private airstrip is about an hour away. Do you think we can ever get there?”
Cole jerked his chin in an affirmative motion. Lauren thought he looked kind of happy about the challenge. “Oh, yeah. Just let me lose these goobers.”
The two white vans sped closer, trying to force them into stopping by swerving in front of them and hitting the brakes. Lauren’s unsettled stomach protested anew.
“Right. Well, could you do it soon? I’m getting a little tired of hitting my head on the roof every time you swerve.” Shayla grabbed for the handle above her with her right hand. Cole was doing the best he could, but Lauren was in complete agreement with Shayla. She wasn’t enjoying this ride.
Cole practically growled at her. “Don’t you think I’m working on it?”
Shayla wasn’t at all intimidated. “Well, work faster. You’re probably making the baby dizzy.”
“Why don’t you drive and I’ll navigate?” He let go of the wheel as if to prove a point.
“Cole!” Shayla g
rabbed the wheel.
“Somebody better drive. While you two are flirting, the bad guys are gaining on us.” Grayson gave them both a look that said they’d better straighten up.
Cole took back the wheel.
Lauren knew the marshals were in control, but her pulse was racing and she felt ill. The sweet scent of the lotion the nurses had used on Lily at the hospital after giving her a cooling bath heightened her nausea. She closed her eyes, praying that this would be over soon and she would have Lily safely in her arms.
Grayson’s solid presence was a comfort, though, and the way he kept giving her concerned glances, as if to assure himself she was okay, made her insides go a little soft. He looked so fiercely handsome directing Cole and watching the kidnappers to anticipate their next move.
She watched as Grayson punched a number into his phone and, after a brief conversation, reported to Cole and Shayla. “We have state troopers en route to help us.”
It couldn’t have been as long as it seemed, but finally the sirens became audible. Relief swept through Lauren and she thought Grayson’s relief was almost tangible also.
The vans chasing them skidded to a stop and Cole floored it on out of town.
When they were finally in the clear, Cole spoke to Grayson over his shoulder. “Get me a route on GPS.”
Grayson already had it pulled up. He started giving Cole directions. “Don’t waste any time. They’ll regroup and be right back on our tail in no time.”
“Not if I can help it.” Cole drove with almost obsessive concentration, but it was a pretty good while before Lauren could fully release the breath she was holding.
She just didn’t know how much more of this constant adrenaline she could handle.
* * *
To Grayson’s amazement, they drove for almost a full hour without incident. He knew, however, that things were about to go in a different direction. In a situation like this, when villains were quiet, a more elaborate plan was likely being hatched.
They were close to the private airstrip where the plane sat fueled up and ready, and Grayson was growing anxious again, his senses heightened. Lauren’s shampoo wafted toward him as she turned to adjust Lily’s blanket, and he couldn’t help but be aware of her, despite his desire to keep his distance. She was everything good in this life and he felt a tenderness for her welling up in him, much like the tenderness she was showing toward Lily as she gently smoothed the blanket. He wanted to shield them from all this, but right now, he just had to keep them safe.
He forced his thoughts to return to the task at hand.
“You’re about five minutes out, but we’re going to go around the back way and enter through a service entrance. I don’t like how quiet our bad guys have been.” Grayson leaned up and checked on Cole, then handed Shayla his phone.
“Roger that. I won’t relax until we’re in the air,” he agreed. Grayson half expected Shayla to quip about Cole’s inability to relax ever, but she remained silent, studying the phone in her hand.
Lily still slept, most likely lulled into a deep, restful state by the medicine and the illness. He knew that Lauren watched the baby very closely, rarely taking her eyes from the infant for more than a second. She had to be exhausted and her arm must hurt terribly, though she never uttered a complaint.
They pulled up to the back gate and showed a man their badges. Grayson had called to let airport security know they would be entering that way, so the man at the gate had been expecting them.
“Be prepared. The kidnapper and his men have been staying one step ahead of us.” Grayson little more than had the words out when the prickles started.
“Grayson?” Cole must have felt it, too.
“Stay right here. I’m calling for backup.”
At that, an army of automatic-rifle-armed people started coming out of the woods around the airstrip, moving closer to the SUV as a single entity.
“Whaaaa—? How did they get in?” Shayla sounded as freaked out as the rest of them had to be feeling.
As the line of armed men closed in, another line of rifle-bearing men emerged from the other side of the airstrip.
“Someone knew where we were headed.” Cole gritted the words out through his teeth.
“How do they keep finding us?” Lauren’s voice was pitched high with fear.
“There is only one way they could be staying one step ahead of us.” Grayson’s eyes met Shayla’s and she nodded. She handed his phone back wordlessly.
“Only the Marshals Service has access to our GPS. It’s blocked to everyone else.” Cole voiced aloud what Grayson meant.
“So you really do think there is a leak?” Lauren spoke so softly, she seemed afraid of the words themselves.
The SUV was deathly silent for a moment before Grayson answered. “It would seem so.”
“But who?” Lauren asked.
“It’s hard to tell. My guess is the marshal assigned to Savannah Reid might have a good idea.” Grayson was looking over the assembly of armed men on the parking lot. “But we don’t have a name.”
The rest of the questions would have to wait. The attention of everyone in the SUV was drawn to the situation at hand.
The two sides eyed each other, even as they watched the SUV. What was that about? Something strange was going on here.
Grayson was on the phone trying to get some backup, but Shayla and Cole continued to converse while Lauren just listened in.
“Cole, something weird is going on. Look, some of them are turning their guns on each other.” Shayla leaned forward as she looked out the window.
Grayson lost track of some of the conversation going on in the SUV while he reported what was going on, but when he disconnected, Lauren was talking.
She gestured to a tall, dark-haired man in a navy blue hoodie. “I recognize him. The news report. He’s one of the men from the Harmon gang, wanted for his involvement in the shootings.”
“But the guy over here in the gray T-shirt—he’s one of Romine’s men. He’s been in custody before, but they didn’t have enough to hold him.” This was from Shayla.
“It seems,” Grayson began, looking at them both, then back at the armed men, “that we’re caught between the two gangs trying to kidnap Romine’s baby. There is definitely a leak.”
NINE
A chill traveled down Lauren’s spine. Memories of the news report she had watched on the previous battle between the rival gangs flashed back to her. They were all in serious danger.
More than half a dozen men on each side squared off on one another. They formed two rows, with the SUV at one end of the rows of men, but not quite between them. It was almost like a movie scene playing in slow motion. The whole thing seemed to unfold before their eyes as the heavy dread filled her chest cavity.
The yelling started just before the gunfire began. The horrible rat-a-tat of the AK-47s pierced her eardrums as Cole threw the SUV into Reverse just in time, peeling out backward through the gate.
The last thing Lauren saw before squeezing her eyes shut was the dropping bodies on both sides of the lines as the AK-47s fired. She felt the vehicle wheel around to go away from the scene.
Shayla was calling 9-1-1 to get paramedics on the way, and Grayson was feeding her details on their location and the number of potential injuries. Lauren thought they were being pursued based on the conversation going on around her, but she couldn’t focus on it, nor did she have any idea which side was pursuing them, or if it were both. Not that it mattered.
She swallowed back the thick bile rising in her throat, praying her stomach would calm.
Lily had awakened and began to fuss weakly. The receding sounds of gunfire and shouting seemed surreal to Lauren, and she squeezed her fists closed as she concentrated on her breathing. She spoke in a low and soothing voice to Lily, barely aware of what she was doing. Between the pings of bullets, exci
ted voices and g-force on the passengers of the vehicle, brought on by their rapid acceleration, pressing them hard against the seats, Lily responded unhappily, filling the vehicle with her cries. Lauren spoke softly to the baby, doing her best to calm her.
“Stop.” Grayson made the command to Cole in a calm, quiet voice, leading Lauren to wonder if she had imagined it.
“Are you crazy?” Cole never let off the gas.
“Stop. The shooting has stopped. There’s no one pursuing us. We need to go back.” Grayson sounded completely numb, almost robotic. Was this how he dealt with such incidents?
“Are you sure it’s safe? We have a baby in the vehicle.” Shayla’s voice was also low.
“I’m aware. If it’s safe, we still need to board the plane.” Grayson held up a hand and Cole finally stopped.
Lauren realized he was right. No one followed them. Everything was quiet. It was eerie. “How do you know it isn’t another trap?”
The wailing sirens answered her question. None of the gang members would stick around with police and emergency personnel swarming the place.
“That’s going to scatter them if they aren’t gone already.” Shayla’s words echoed her thoughts.
As the SUV pulled back into the airstrip’s parking area, she averted her eyes. She didn’t want to look at the lifeless bodies or the bullet holes. Scenarios she had only seen on television. The reality of what had happened constricted her lungs.
“Lauren, you and Lily go straight to the plane. I’ll do my best to divert any questions from the local police and reporters and get us off the ground quickly. I’m so sorry you had to see this.” Grayson squeezed her hand before getting out of the vehicle.
She looked up briefly to nod at him, and then she remembered herself. Though it was a devastating circumstance, she was a trained nurse. She grabbed for his hand again. “Grayson, I know there probably aren’t any survivors, but I’m a trained nurse. Shayla can take care of Lily for a bit if necessary. If there is anyone who needs me...” She let her words trail off. Emergency vehicles had begun to swarm the scene and she realized the EMTs would probably have it covered.