The third bullet was even closer than the other two had been, which told them that the shooter was adjusting his aim. He might just be able to hit them the next time. And that meant Egan had to do something now.
“Stay put,” he told Jordan.
He was about to move, but she caught onto his arm. “You’re not going out there,” she insisted.
“I have to. I can pull the cruiser in front of you and use it to block the shots.”
She was shaking her head harder with each word he said. “You could also be killed. Whoever’s doing this will gun you down.”
Maybe. But he was about to tell her the same could happen if they stayed put. At least this way he might be able to save her from being shot. It could save Ian and his father, too, since his dad would almost certainly try to return fire. In fact, he was probably already going after his rifle. Egan would have welcomed that if it hadn’t meant his dad would have to come out in the open to try to stop this.
Egan gave Jordan another warning to stay down, but whether or not she would was anyone’s guess. As a former cop, it was likely hard for her not to give him some kind of backup. Still, his efforts would be all for nothing if this snake managed to kill both of them.
More shots came. All of them coming way too close to the shrubs where Jordan and he were. When there was finally a lull, Egan took a deep breath and launched himself toward the cruiser. It wasn’t far. Only about four yards, but it felt like miles.
Suddenly, there was no more lull in the shooting. The bullets came, smacking into the ground around him as he made a dive for the side of the cruiser. The fall hurt like the devil, but at least he was finally out of the line of fire.
Or not.
The next shot that came was from a different angle. Not on the side of the house where the barn and Bennie were. This one had come from the other side closer to Ian. Egan threw open the cruiser door just as another bullet smacked into it.
Egan looked around, trying to pinpoint this second gunman, and he saw the guy peering around the corner of the house. Since he was positive this wasn’t one of the hands, Egan sent a shot his way. So did Ian. And when the guy ducked back behind cover, that gave Egan his chance to scramble into the cruiser.
The moment he was behind the wheel, Egan started the engine and pulled it in front of Jordan. At least now she was semiprotected since the porch steps would block any shots coming from the second gunman. However, that didn’t mean the danger was over. The gunman in the trees must have gotten riled at Egan moving the cruiser because the shots started to come nonstop. But they were no longer going at Jordan and him.
These were going into the house.
That was when Egan saw his father in the doorway.
“Get down!” Egan shouted out to him.
Warren did drop to the floor, but Egan wasn’t sure if he’d done that because of his order or if because he’d been shot.
Enough of this. With the cruiser door still open, Egan turned in the direction of the second gunman, and the moment the guy leaned out from cover, Egan fired. Not once but twice. And he put two bullets in the man’s chest. He dropped, too, but Egan hoped the guy wasn’t dead, just out of commission. He wanted this clown alive so he could tell them who’d put him up to doing this.
More shots cracked through the air, and it took Egan a moment to realize they weren’t all coming from the first gunman. These were coming from the barn area, and for several heart-stopping moments, he thought there might be a third attacker in all of this.
But it was only Bennie.
The ranch hand had a rifle and was returning fire, his barrage of shots going in the direction of the first gunman. Since Egan didn’t have a rifle, he couldn’t help with that, but he could do more to protect Jordan now that the second gunman was down. He pulled even closer to her, moved to the passenger’s seat and motioned for her to get in the cruiser.
She didn’t waste a second doing that, and Jordan immediately took aim at the downed gunman by the side of the house. Good. With her keeping an eye on him, it freed up Egan to figure out what to do about the first shooter. He didn’t want to go after him in the cruiser since it would mean taking Jordan closer to the gunfire. Too many things could go wrong with that.
Bennie continued to shoot, causing the gunman to shift his fire toward the hand. Egan hoped like the devil that Bennie got down because this guy wasn’t stopping. He was either reloading very quickly or he’d brought multiple weapons with him and was trading out as soon as one was out of ammo.
There were more shots, and these caused Egan to curse. Something his father likely wanted to do as well since he was standing again and firing at the thug who was trying to kill them. Just as Egan feared, that caused the thug to turn his shots on Warren.
Hell.
Egan watched as the bullet sliced across his father’s arm. It wasn’t a deadly shot, but the next one could easily be. That didn’t cause his father to get down, though. He kept pulling the trigger. So did Bennie.
Until finally the shooting stopped.
Egan couldn’t tell if one of them had managed to take out the first gunman, but as the seconds crawled by with the silence, he figured the guy was either dead or making a run for it. He didn’t mind the first possibility, but he didn’t want this snake getting away. He wanted him to answer for what he’d just done.
While he kept watch around them, Egan sent Court a text to warn him that he might cross paths with this would-be killer and to have him get an ambulance out to the ranch for their dad. He was about to call Ian to tell him to head to the end of the ranch road so he could try to spot the gunman, but the movement from the corner of his eye stopped him.
“The gunman’s alive,” Jordan said on a rise of breath.
The gunman lifted himself up just enough, and he fired a shot right at them.
Chapter Ten
Jordan tried to keep her breathing level. She also tried not to wince in pain, but it hurt when the medic restitched her shoulder. She figured it was going to hurt a lot more when the numbing spray wore off, but that was minor in the grand scheme of things.
She’d killed a man today.
Since she’d once been a cop, Jordan had always known that doing something like that was a possibility, but still it caused her to feel raw and bruised. It didn’t matter that the man she’d killed was trying to murder them. She had shot him to keep Egan, Ian, Warren, Bennie and herself alive, but it would take a while for her to feel like she’d done the right thing. Especially since a dead man couldn’t give them answers.
Neither could his partner, who was still at large.
Ian had gone after him. So had Court. But they’d both come up empty. Whoever had fired the shots from those trees was long gone. Of course, that didn’t mean he or she wouldn’t be back to have another attempt at killing them.
The medic finished, moving to the side so he could gather up his things, and she was finally able to see Egan. He was pacing in the foyer while talking on his phone. Even though she was in the adjacent family room, she couldn’t hear what he was saying. However, she could tell from his body language that he was agitated.
She turned to the other side of the room when a second medic was finishing up with Warren. He, too, was getting stitches. The bullet had grazed him, but there was an angry-looking gash on his arm. It wasn’t life-threatening, but since he hadn’t fully recovered from his other attack, this might set him back.
Court was next to his father, but when he saw her looking at them, he stepped away and went to her once the medic had left. “I would ask if you’re okay, but I know you’re not. You need a drink, meds or something?”
Jordan hadn’t meant for it to happen, but at the exact moment Court was asking his question, her gaze drifted to Egan. And Court noticed, too, because the corner of his mouth lifted for a second.
“Yeah, my big brother might be a
temporary fix for what you’re feeling,” he mumbled. Then, he sighed and scrubbed his hand over his face. “Not sure that he’d let himself get too close to you, though.”
No. He wouldn’t. In fact, Egan was probably cursing himself for feeling so protective of her. Those protective feelings could lead to something more. Something that he definitely wouldn’t want. Jordan tried to lie to herself and say she didn’t want it, either. But it was just that. A lie.
She did want Egan.
And she wasn’t certain it was solely because of the spent adrenaline and tangled nerves. It had felt good earlier when he’d taken her into his arms, and she figured it would feel just as good or better now.
Jordan turned back to Court, forcing her thoughts off Egan. It wasn’t the time for them, and besides, they had plenty more to discuss. Jordan started with the easy subject first.
“How’s your father?” she asked.
“Not as tough as he’s trying to appear to be.” Court glanced back at Warren. “He’s shaken up. Riled, too, that the other gunman got away.”
Jordan felt the same way. Here, they’d nearly been killed again, and they still weren’t any closer to figuring out who was behind this. “We won’t be staying here, will we?”
Court didn’t hesitate. “No. Some of the windows have been shot out, and that might have compromised the security system. Plus, we know now that a sniper can take shots at the house. I’m taking Dad to Rachel and Griff’s place in town. Egan and you will go back to the sheriff’s office for a little while. Just until I can finish up the interviews with Kirk and Leeroy.”
With everything else going on, Jordan had forgotten about the interviews, and they were more important now than ever. Of course, she didn’t expect either of the men to confess to hiring those gunmen or killing anyone, but they might slip and say something incriminating.
“Where will Egan and I go after the sheriff’s office?” she pressed.
“Egan’s working that out now.” Court blew out a weary breath. “There’s a lot that has to be worked out. We need an ID on the dead guy to see if that leads us to the person behind this. Also, a CSI team needs to process the whole area around the house and in those trees. The shooters might have left some kind of evidence behind.”
That would be a good break if they had indeed done that, but Jordan wasn’t counting on it. If the shooters had been pros, then they would likely have been careful about that sort of thing.
Egan finished his call and walked into the family room, glancing first at his father before making his way to her. His expression wasn’t exactly pleasant, but it got even worse when he looked at the fresh bandage.
“Sorry about that,” he grumbled. “I did that to you when I pushed you off the step.”
“Yes, so I wouldn’t be shot. Thank you. I’d rather have the stitches than a bullet in me.”
That caused Court to smile a little, but when Egan saw his brother’s expression, Court’s smile faded, and he went back across the room to his father. When Egan’s attention came back to her, their gazes connected, and she saw the stripped-down emotions there that were no doubt mirrored in her own eyes.
Since he looked ready to berate himself about allowing this attack to happen, Jordan decided to stop it with a question. An important one. “How are Ian and Bennie?” she asked. She got to her feet and tried to look a lot stronger than she felt.
“Neither was hurt.”
That was good, but she figured both men would be having nightmares about this for a long time. Especially Bennie. Ian was a cop and had been trained for situations like this, but Bennie probably hadn’t expected his ranch hand duties to include a shootout with hired guns.
“I’ll go ahead and take Dad to Griff’s,” Court called out to them. “I’m guessing Jordan, Ian and you will be leaving shortly?”
Egan nodded. “After Ian finishes checking the cruisers to make sure there was no damage.”
So, maybe not long at all. Jordan knew it wasn’t safe to stay put, but they could also be attacked again on the road.
“I’m pretty sure I know the answer to this,” Egan said, “but do you want me to take you to the hospital? The medic took care of those stitches, but—”
“No hospital. There’s no reason for me to see a doctor.” She hoped.
He gave her a suit-yourself nod and mumbled a “be safe” to Court and his father when they went out of the house and to the cruiser.
“Will they be okay?” Jordan asked. She followed him to the window where he watched his brother and father drive away.
Egan nodded. “Several of the hands are following them into town. Everyone will be on the lookout for that gunman who got away.”
And maybe the gunman was done for the day so that Warren could get to safety. The man had been through enough. Of course, Egan and she fell into that “enough” category, too.
“This means we might end up staying in the break room again at the sheriff’s office,” he added a moment later.
She’d suspected as much, and while it was far from ideal, at least there’d be immediate backup around if something went wrong. It also meant, though, that Egan and she would be sharing close quarters again and therefore wouldn’t get much sleep. But the close quarters wouldn’t just fuel the lack of sleep. It wouldn’t help the attraction, either.
Jordan looked at him, knowing it was a mistake. Because there was no way she could conceal the worry, the pain or anything else. They had just survived a horrible ordeal, and the danger might not even be over.
Egan gave a heavy sigh, reached out and pulled her into his arms. The relief was instant. With just that simple gesture, it felt as if he took some of the weariness from her body. It might have stayed as simple as relief, too, if Egan hadn’t looked down at her. He growled out some profanity, but she didn’t have to ask why he’d done that. That was because she saw the kiss coming before it happened.
She even felt it.
The memories of his other kisses were still plenty clear enough, but she still got a jolt when his mouth touched hers. And the heat roared through her. Jordan felt herself moving right into that kiss and closer to him. Until his chest was against her breasts. He deepened the kiss, but the sound he made wasn’t one of pleasure. Egan was already regretting that he was doing this, but like her, he wasn’t able to stop.
“Damn you,” he whispered against her mouth.
That would have caused most women to move back, but she was positive he wasn’t cursing her but rather himself. His frustration came out in the kiss, too. Almost an angry kiss. In fact, coming from any other man that was exactly what it would have been, but this was Egan. The attraction cut through anger and everything else.
For those few scalding seconds, Jordan forgot all about the attack, their past and the danger. Heck, she forgot how to think or breathe. She could only stand there and let the kiss rage on. It wasn’t Egan or her who ended it. It was the sound of his phone. That must have jolted him back to reality because he finally pulled away from her.
When he took out his phone, she saw Thea’s name on the screen. Since this could be important, he answered it right away and put it on speaker.
“Sorry to bother you,” Thea said, “but Leeroy’s yammering on about having waited around here long enough. You want me to reschedule the interview?”
“Are Tori and Kirk still there?” he asked. His breathing was still a little rushed just as hers was.
“Yes, but they’re whining, too. I can reschedule them, as well.”
Egan’s forehead bunched up while he obviously gave that some thought. “Court will be there soon. He can talk to Tori and Kirk. Reschedule Leeroy, but put him on the phone first. I want to ask him a question.”
“You’re sure you’re up to that after just getting shot at?” Thea pressed.
“No, I’m not sure, but put him on the phone anyway.” Egan gl
anced out at Ian again and then motioned for her to move to the center of the room with him. Away from the windows. A reminder that the gunman could return at any moment.
A few seconds crawled by, but Leeroy finally came onto the line. “You’d better have a damn good reason for keeping me waiting,” Leeroy immediately snapped. Maybe the man hadn’t heard about the attack at the ranch, but it was just as likely that he didn’t care. He hated Egan and her, and he wouldn’t cut them any slack simply because someone had tried to kill them.
Egan didn’t even respond to that. “Tell me why you visited Kirk,” Egan demanded.
“You asked me that last night. Am I gonna have to explain every move I make to you now?”
“You do when you might have committed a crime.” Egan huffed. “Look, my patience meter is at zero right now so either answer the question, or I’ll have Thea arrest you. Why did you go to Kirk’s house?”
It was hard to miss the profanity that Leeroy spat out. “Because I’m going to file a wrongful death suit against Jordan and you, and I thought I could count on Kirk as an ally.”
Egan pulled back his shoulders. “A lawsuit?”
“Yeah because the two of you are partly responsible for Shanna’s murder. I want both of you to pay for that.”
Jordan could only sigh. Leeroy was clearly hurting over losing a child, and he apparently thought her killer’s conviction wasn’t enough justice. It wasn’t. But nothing the man could do was going to bring Shanna back.
“So, let me get this straight,” Egan said. “You thought Kirk would help you with a lawsuit. Why exactly would he do that?”
“Because he doesn’t think you two did all you could to help or stop his brother. I agree.”
Of course, Kirk and Leeroy would believe that, but judging from Egan’s disgusted expression, he wasn’t buying this. After all, Kirk had thought Leeroy was there to find Tori. It was possible that Leeroy had concocted the story about a possible lawsuit to cover for the fact that he was indeed looking for Tori.
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