But yes, that’s what had to happen.
Mason pulled in a long breath and motioned for her to follow him. She did and didn’t bother to ask where he was taking her. He led her down the hall to the bathroom and pulled out a handful of paper towels.
“Thanks.” She wiped her face and clamped onto her bottom lip when another wave of nausea hit her. Lynette slapped her hand on the wall to keep from staggering.
“You okay?” And there was so much concern in Mason’s voice that Lynette forced herself to give him a quick nod.
“Fine,” she lied.
He just kept staring her, and when his gaze dropped to her stomach, Lynette thought she might panic. Mercy, was he suspicious that she might be pregnant? He couldn’t be, because this was a man who could definitely put one and one together and come up with the correct answer.
Fortunately, Gage saved the moment, again. He came out of Mason’s office and into the hall with them.
“The pilot’s alive,” Gage told them. “But other than that, we don’t know anything else about the explosion.”
“We?” Mason challenged.
“We,” Gage repeated but he didn’t clarify. He looked at her. “Are you okay?”
“Yes,” she snapped.
At the same moment, Mason said, “She looks like she’s about to throw up.”
“It’s been a rough morning,” she added in a mumble and shot them both a back off stare. She didn’t need any more questions about her or her sudden queasiness.
Gage flexed his eyebrows and thankfully moved on. Maybe because he understood it wouldn’t help matters if Mason figured out she was pregnant. “I’m making arrangements for you to leave for a safe house.”
“Hope it’s safer than the plane was,” Mason growled.
“It will be,” Gage promised. “In the meantime, can she stay here?”
“Of course,” Mason said without hesitation. “You’ll stay, too?”
Gage shook his head. “Best if I work behind the scenes.”
That earned him one of the Mason’s infamous scowls. “In other words, you want me to lie and not tell the others you’re alive.”
“For now.” Gage’s attention went from his brother and back to her. But he didn’t get a chance to tell her whatever he was about to say because the bell over the front door jingled.
The bell meant they had a visitor.
Gage didn’t wait in the hall to see who’d just come in. He ducked back inside Mason’s office and slapped off the lights before he peered around the doorjamb to get a look at who had just entered the sheriff’s building.
Mason cursed, and for a moment Lynette thought the profanity was for Gage’s response or maybe even this whole mess of a situation. But then she followed Mason’s gaze toward the front of the sheriff’s office.
And to the two people who’d just stepped inside.
No. Not this. Not now. Their timing couldn’t have possibly been any worse.
Lynette saw Nicole Manning, her father’s longtime girlfriend, campaign manager and business associate.
However, Nicole wasn’t alone.
Senator Ford Herrington nailed his gaze to Lynette and made a beeline down the hall toward her. Toward Mason. And toward Gage.
Oh, God.
Lynette tried to brace herself for the worst.
* * *
GAGE HADN’T THOUGHT this morning could possibly get any more complicated, but he’d obviously been wrong.
Two of their suspects had just walked into the sheriff’s station, and there was no time to get Lynette or himself out of there.
Lynette shot him a stay put glare. Mason, too. And then his brother thankfully stepped in front of Lynette. Mason also drew his gun, and while Gage couldn’t see Nicole’s and Ford’s reactions, he’d bet his favorite snakeskin boots that they weren’t good ones.
“The firearm isn’t called for, Deputy,” Ford grumbled in that high-class ice-cold voice of his. And Gage hadn’t missed the demeaning way he’d referred to Mason as a deputy. In Ford’s mind that was one step below hoof grit. His opinion of Gage was even lower than that.
Maybe his opinion of Lynette, too.
Gage wished the man would give Mason and him an excuse to shoot first and ask questions later. But then he rethought that. It was the last thing he wanted to happen because Lynette would be in the line of fire again.
Two attempts on her life were enough.
Besides, Ford was too smooth to pick a fight with witnesses around. No. For him, it was all about appearances. A perfect public image reserved for everyone but his enemies. He was probably planning to send Lynette back to the crazy house in Mexico.
“Lynette, you’re here,” Nicole said. No ice for her. The woman sounded concerned, but Gage knew that could be faked. After all, Nicole slept with Ford on a regular basis, and she’d no doubt learned some of his tricks.
“She is here,” Mason verified. “But the real question is—why are you here?”
Gage smiled. No one had ever accused Mason of being a nice guy, and he gave them back as much snark as Ford had doled out to him.
“I called my daughter’s house,” Ford calmly explained, “and when she didn’t answer, Nicole and I drove over to check on her.”
“We were worried,” Nicole added. “Especially when we saw that someone had broken your bedroom window.”
Broken, not shot. Of course, maybe Ford knew the difference, especially if he’d been the one to send the hit man who’d shot through that glass.
“Someone tried to kill me,” Lynette said.
Oh, man. She sounded shaky, and he hated she had to go through this. If Gage had thought for one second that revealing himself would make this better, he’d be out in that hall with them.
But it wouldn’t make things better.
It might spur on her father or someone else to try to kill her again. Right here, right now. After all, he was betting that Nicole was carrying a weapon in that purse that he’d managed to get just a glimpse of before he’d had to duck into the office and out of sight.
“Any idea who’d try to kill Lynette?” Mason asked. He still didn’t ease up on the snide tone, and he asked it in such a way to let them know that he not only knew the answer, they were the answer.
“No,” Ford and Nicole said in unison.
“Why would we?” Ford continued.
Mason shrugged. “I figured you must have suspected Lynette was in some kind of danger. I mean, why else would you call her at such an early hour and then have driven over there in this storm?”
Gage heard Ford step closer, and he ducked deeper into the dark office. “Is that an accusation?” Ford challenged.
“It’s a question,” Mason clarified. “A simple one. I was kind of hoping for a simple response.”
The seconds crawled by.
“I was worried about her,” Ford spoke up. The facade was back in place now, and he sounded like a concerned daddy. “I’d tried to talk to Lynette yesterday, and she seemed frazzled, or something.”
“It was the or something,” Lynette answered. “I was busy at work and didn’t have time for your call. Besides, I didn’t want to talk to you.”
Gage smiled again. Lynette really had developed some sass when it came to her father. Too bad it had come ten years too late.
“Why did you try to call me this morning?” Lynette pressed. “And why bring Nicole in on this? I don’t trust her, and I don’t want her or you doing welfare checks on me.”
“So, now you’re accusing me?” Nicole snarled. “You’d better think before you speak.”
“I have,” Lynette assured her. “I think about you a lot. My father and Patrick, too. And what I’d like is for you both to leave. If you aren’t going to tell us why you’re
really here, then you’re of no help.”
But Gage didn’t hear anybody jumping to leave.
“Who tried to kill you?” Ford asked. He took down his tone a notch.
Now, there was movemen
t. Lynette stepped closer to her father, and Gage silently cursed. He didn’t want her closer. He wanted her tucked safely behind Mason and his gun.
“He didn’t tell me his name,” Lynette simply stated. “He just shot and ran.”
That was partly true. The hit man had indeed run— after Lynette and him.
“So, it could have been a botched burglary attempt,” Nicole suggested after blowing out what sounded to be a breath of relief.
“Could be,” Lynette agreed, but there was no agreement in her voice. Lynette stared at the woman so long that Gage had to wonder what had snagged her attention.
“There,” Nicole concluded. “The mystery’s solved, and the sheriff can start looking for a burglar. Maybe it was a kid who got scared when he realized you were home.”
“Maybe.” But there was still no hint of agreement. “Now, if you don’t mind, Mason here has to take my statement, and I have to fill out an insurance claim for the broken window. Then I’d like to get some sleep. Nearly getting killed has made me a little cranky.”
Gage saw Ford’s hand snake out, and for one horrifying moment Gage thought this was all about to come to a head with Mason pulling his gun. And both men firing. But Ford only aimed his finger at her.
“You need to be careful,” Ford warned. It didn’t exactly sound fatherly, but the words were right. He added, “Call me after you’ve had time to rest.”
“Of course,” Lynette replied. Again, there was no hint of cooperation in her voice. Just the opposite.
Gage finally heard the sounds he wanted to hear. Footsteps. Followed by the bell jangling over the door. He was ready to step out when Mason motioned for him to stay put.
“Anything else, Nicole?” Lynette asked.
So, the woman hadn’t left with Ford after all. Why? But Gage figured he’d soon hear the answer.
“Your father’s under a lot of stress,” Nicole finally said. “You need to cut him some slack.”
“Why would I do that?” Lynette snapped, and she folded her arms over her chest.
Even though Gage couldn’t see Nicole’s face or expression, neither Mason nor Lynette seemed pleased with her presence or this waffling conversation.
“Ford makes it hard on everyone when he’s under stress,” Nicole added. “Especially on me.”
Lynette made a sound of weary amusement. “I doubt he’s been any harder on you than he has on me. You know what he’s capable of, and yet you still go to his bed. If you’re looking for sympathy, you won’t get it from me.”
“It’s not sympathy,” Nicole said, her voice quivering on the last word. “It’s self-preservation. For all our sakes, Lynette, back off.”
Gage heard more footsteps, and the bell jangled again.
“She’s gone,” Mason told him. “Now, would both of you mind explaining to me what the heck is going on?”
Gage walked to the doorway and tried to assemble an explanation that would be short, sweet and effective. “Someone hired a hit man to come after Lynette. I suspect it’s because she was trying to learn some things about her father and his business associates. Nicole, included. That’s why Nicole’s running scared and gave that cryptic warning.”
Mason swung his attention to her. “Does this have to do with your mother’s death?”
“Maybe,” she admitted, and she seemed surprised that Mason zoomed right in on that. “My father told me he killed her, and I was looking for proof.”
Mason cursed. “You should have come to Grayson or me with this.”
“Too dangerous.” Lynette said, then paused. “My father’s a dangerous man.”
“Never doubted it for a minute,” Mason said. He looked back at Gage. “So, Ford sent this hit man because Lynette figured out the truth?”
Gage had to shake his head. “It could have been Nicole.”
“Yes,” Lynette verified.
Gage remembered the look Lynette had given the woman. “Did you see something that made you more suspicious?”
Lynette stayed quiet a moment. “Something wasn’t right, but I’m not sure what. It was almost as if Nicole was scared. Not just of me but my father.”
“She’s not usually scared of him?” Mason pressed.
“No,” Lynette answered. “Nicole has a warped sense of right and wrong when it comes to my father, and she could have done this to protect him. Plus, she’s no doubt had some dirty dealings of her own, and maybe I got too close to learning the truth about her.”
“What about Ford’s business partner, Patrick Harkin?” Mason asked.
“Also a suspect,” Gage answered. Mason clearly understood the dynamics of what was going on here. No surprise though. He’d been a deputy sheriff for fifteen years, and there wasn’t much that went on that Mason didn’t know about.
“I stopped my investigation,” Lynette told his brother. “But I might have stopped too late.”
Mason gave a weary sigh. “Or this could have come from that drug lord you mentioned.” He looked at Gage for verification.
And Gage couldn’t deny it. There was only a slim chance that Sampson Dalvetti had done this, but he couldn’t rule it out completely.
This time Mason huffed. “So, what’s the plan? I don’t want to face a drug lord or Ford and his crew unless we have something worked out.”
Gage had already been going over this in his head, but the devil was in the details. The possible danger, too. “I need Lynette in protective custody until I can get this safe house nailed down. And I also have to disappear while I do that. Deal?”
Judging from the look on Mason’s face, he was about to disagree with some part of the plan. But he didn’t have time to voice that argument.
The back door flew open.
So fast that Gage barely had time to react. He took hold of Lynette, dragged her behind him and drew his gun.
Chapter Seven
Lynette had tried to prepare herself for the worst—another hit man—but it was Gage’s brother Grayson who came through the door. Grayson’s attention went straight to Gage, and he stopped cold.
“Yeah, he’s alive,” Mason announced. No emotion in his voice. Unlike Grayson’s face.
There were a lot of emotions there, including shock and anger. Those came first, but then Lynette saw something else. Something stronger. Relief.
Maybe.
Grayson hurried up the hall, grabbed on to Gage and hugged him. Okay. She could breathe a little easier. It had been relief, and Lynette knew exactly how Grayson felt. Gage’s eldest brother had been more of a father than a sibling.
“I could beat you to pulp for letting us believe you were dead,” Grayson told him.
“I didn’t have a choice,” Gage whispered. He pulled back and met Grayson’s gaze. “Still don’t. I’ll explain it all later, once Lynette is safe.”
Grayson looked at Lynette. Then, at Gage again. “Are you two back together?”
“No,” Lynette assured him, but since Mason had asked her the same darn question just minutes earlier she wondered just how obvious the heat was that was still zinging between Gage and her.
Heat that had to end.
She hoped reminding herself of that would work.
Gage wearily scrubbed his hand over his face. “Look, I know I don’t have a right to ask, but I need you and Mason to keep Lynette safe while I do some things.”
She grabbed Gage’s arm. “Things that don’t involve my father, right?”
“Things that involve your safety,” he answered. Which wasn’t at all an answer to her question. He looked at his brothers. “The plane that blew up was supposed to get Lynette out of here.”
Grayson shook his head. “The fire chief thinks the explosion wasn’t an accident.”
She didn’t believe it had been, and Lynette was having a hard time getting past the fact that she’d been within just seconds from death.
Grayson turned his attention to Mason. “Why don’t you go ahead and take Lynette to the ranch?”
“The ranc
h?” Gage challenged. “It’s not safe enough.”
“Oh, these days the ranch is plenty safe,” Mason assured him. “We’ve had some trouble over the past couple of months so we increased security. Plus, all my ranch hands know how to shoot.”
Lynette knew all about the trouble. There’d been several attempts to break in to the place and even some shootings. But the talk of the town was that the ranch had become more like a fortress. That was partly because all five of Gage’s brothers lived there, and they were all in law enforcement. So was one spouse, and another spouse was the assistant district attorney.
“A lot has changed since you’ve been gone,” Grayson continued. He held up his left hand to show Gage the wedding band that was there.
“I heard.” Gage shrugged. “I had my handler keep tabs on all of you. You and Eve are married with a baby on the way. I’m happy for you both. You and Eve belong together.”
“Funny,” Grayson commented. “We always said that about Lynette and you.”
“Yeah, funny,” Gage grumbled.
The silence was long and awkward. Lynette didn’t volunteer anything. She’d already blabbed enough for one night. If she’d kept her mouth shut about the baby, she might have been able to talk Gage into leaving. Into going someplace safe.
But she doubted she could do that now.
She hadn’t been sure of what Gage’s reaction would be to her pregnancy, though she had thought about it. Actually, she’d thought about every possible aspect considering Gage. That he was alive. That he would return. But none of the fantasies involved him risking his life to save her.
“Can you take Lynette to the ranch now?” Gage asked Mason.
Mason nodded, but Lynette didn’t budge. “I need a moment alone with Gage,” she insisted.
Grayson exchanged glances with Mason, and they started up the hall toward the front dispatch desk to give Gage and her some privacy.
“What are you going to do?” Lynette came right out and asked.
He lifted his shoulder as if the answer were obvious. It wasn’t, and she let him know that with a scowl.
“Safe house preparations,” he clarified. “I need to get a report on the explosion and the hit man cleanup.”
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