Always a Lawman

by Delores Fossen

  “Is someone else dead?” she pressed.

  Since her mind was already leaping to a worst-case scenario, Gabriel knew he had to tell her the truth. Or rather, show her. He reopened the email and turned the laptop so she could see the message and Jameson’s remark.

  “Oh.” That’s all she said for several seconds, and then Jodi sat on the sofa. “I guess whoever’s after me wants to rub salt in the wound.”

  It seemed that way to Gabriel, as well. And he was afraid the salt-rubbing would continue with another attack. That was probably why he went on full alert when he heard the movement in front of his house. Gabriel jumped to his feet, and in the same motion he drew his gun. Jodi drew her weapon as well, but he made sure he was in front of her when they went to the window to look out.

  And he cursed.

  “Hector,” he said under his breath.

  Jodi’s boss was in the front yard. And he wasn’t alone. Deputy Jace Morrelli was with him, and judging from Jace’s expression, he wasn’t any more pleased about this visit than Gabriel was. Not only was Hector a suspect, his car wasn’t anywhere in sight, which meant he might have been trying to sneak up on them and that Jace had caught him.

  Hector looked up at the window, making eye contact with Gabriel, and while the man didn’t have a gun in his hand, Gabriel figured he was heavily armed. That’s why Gabriel told Jodi to stay back. He disarmed the security system and opened the door just a fraction.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” Gabriel demanded.

  Hector spared him a glance. “Protecting Jodi. Something that I’ve been doing quite well for the past ten years. She comes back here, to you, and twice someone’s tried to kill her.”

  “Because her attacker is afraid she’s remembered his face. You think it’s your face she’ll remember?”

  Now, Hector did more than glance at him. He turned, his hard stare drilling into Gabriel. Even though the sun was already setting, and there wasn’t a lot of light, Gabriel had no trouble seeing the hatred in the man’s eyes. Or the fact that Hector was armed to the hilt, along with wearing a bulletproof vest.

  “I told him to leave,” Jace said.

  Good. Because it saved Gabriel from telling Hector that himself.

  “I was just going back to my car,” Hector insisted. “There’s no law against a man sitting in his own car on the road.” He made an uneasy glance around. “Someone’s trying to set me up. Maybe August or Russell.”

  “They claim someone’s trying to set them up, too,” Jodi said. “And they believe you might be doing that.”

  She stepped to Gabriel’s side. Well, as much of his side as she could manage since he was taking up most of the doorway, and he didn’t intend to go out on the porch with Hector where the man could maybe try to gun him down.

  Hector nodded, readily admitting that. “One of us is probably guilty, and it isn’t me. That means someone is making himself look bad to get the limelight off him.”

  That was Gabriel’s theory, too.

  Hector shifted his gaze back to Jodi, and while she was fully clothed, Gabriel figured the man knew what had gone on tonight. What Gabriel couldn’t tell was if Hector’s tight expression was because he was jealous or just concerned about Jodi. Either way, he couldn’t take the chance that it was the jealousy.

  “Leave,” Gabriel warned Hector.

  For a couple of long moments, Gabriel thought he was going to have to arrest the man, but Hector finally turned and started walking away.

  “Follow him to his car,” Gabriel told Jace, and Gabriel intended to stand there and watch. If Hector was guilty and desperate, he might decide to try to shoot the deputy.

  “Any chance Hector would have brought some of his security guys with him?” Gabriel asked while he glanced around the grounds.

  “No. Hector works alone.” She paused. “But if he’s truly innocent, he could have come here with the hopes of trying to draw out the killer. Of course, that would only work if the killer was watching us.”

  Gabriel had the sickening feeling that he was. And no, he wasn’t ruling out Hector. In fact, the man could have come here to set up cameras or listening devices, which meant Gabriel needed to get some backup out here.

  While continuing to keep watch, he took out his phone to do that, but something flashed in the corner of his eye. It wasn’t Jace or Hector because this came from the opposite direction.

  From his parents’ old house.

  The electricity was off, but there was definitely a light in the window. Maybe either a candle or a flashlight.

  “Someone’s inside,” Jodi said under her breath. “Could it be Jameson?”

  “No. He wouldn’t go there.” They had had trouble over the years with thrill-seeking teens, but Gabriel figured with everything going on, this was much more serious.

  “You see that?” Jace called out, tipping his head to the house.

  “Yeah. Don’t go there just yet.” And Gabriel called the sheriff’s office to round up every available deputy.

  However, before he could even press the number, a shot cracked through the air.

  * * *

  THE SOUND OF the bullet had barely registered in Jodi’s mind when she felt herself being shoved back. That was Gabriel’s doing. He rammed his shoulder into her and sent her flying backward.

  She caught on to him to keep from falling, but Jodi also did that to pull him back, too. He immediately shut the door but then went straight to the window. No doubt to check on Jace.

  Jodi hurried to the side window in the living room, which would give her the best view of his parents’ house. She didn’t stand directly in front of the glass, though, since it would make her an easy target. She stayed to the side so she would not only have a view of the old house but also that stretch of the road. What she didn’t have a good view of, however, was the trail in between the two houses. Too many shrubs and trees.

  Too many places for someone to hide.

  Just as they’d done the night she was attacked.

  She tried not to think of that now because it wouldn’t help. The only thing she could do was keep watch to make sure someone didn’t get close enough to fire another shot.

  The light was still on upstairs in the old house, and it was flickering. Maybe because someone was moving it, but if it was a candle, it was possible the wind was blowing it since the window seemed to be open a couple of inches. It definitely hadn’t been open when she’d visited the place two days ago.

  From the other side of the room, she heard Gabriel call the sheriff’s office and ask for backup. It wouldn’t take the deputies long to get out here, but she prayed they wouldn’t be driving into the middle of a gunfight.

  But there were no other shots.

  In fact, there were no other sounds, period. The place had suddenly gotten so quiet that the only thing she could hear was her own heartbeat drumming in her ears. And she wasn’t sure that silence was a good thing. At least if she could have heard footsteps or spotted movement of some kind, she would have known where the shooter was.

  “Is Jace okay?” she asked Gabriel.

  “Can’t tell, but he doesn’t appear to have been hit. Hector and he are behind some trees.”

  Not ideal, because if Hector was the one responsible for the attacks, he could kill Jace. The deputy had to know that, of course, so maybe he was watching carefully to make sure that didn’t happen.

  “The shot couldn’t have come from anywhere near my parents’ house,” she heard Gabriel say.

  No, the angle was all wrong. Whoever had fired that shot was closer to where Hector’s car was parked. Did that mean there were two attackers out there—one in the house and the other on the road?

  Jodi glanced back at Gabriel, but he had his attention pinned to his side of the house. “Do you see anyone
?”

  “No. Maybe the person ran off after he fired.” But Gabriel didn’t sound very hopeful about that.

  Part of Jodi didn’t want this snake to run. She wanted to go ahead and have a showdown, one that would put an end to the danger once and for all, but with Jace out there, and the other deputies on their way, that wasn’t a good idea. There had already been too many murders, and she didn’t want anyone else dying tonight.

  A sound shot through the room, causing her to gasp, but it was only Gabriel’s phone. Without taking his attention off their surroundings, he hit the answer button and put the call on speaker.

  “Sorry that I didn’t see the guy before he took a shot at us,” she heard Jace say from the other end of the line.

  “I didn’t see him, either,” Gabriel answered. “He must have come on foot from up the road.”

  “Yeah, that’s what I figured, too. But I did get a glimpse of him. Male, wearing a ski mask like the other guys who attacked us. He ran into the woods across from your folks’ house. That was just a couple of seconds after Hector and me got behind these trees, and I haven’t seen the guy since.”

  So, maybe he had run after getting off that single shot, but the knot in her stomach told her that there was another reason he wasn’t firing. Like because maybe he was getting in a better position to do more damage. This way, too, Gabriel was separated from his deputy, so not only didn’t he have immediate police backup in the house, Jace was out there without backup, as well.

  “I’m going after him,” someone said. Hector. She had no trouble hearing him, either. “I’m not just going to cower here while he picks us off one by one.”

  “You’re staying put,” Gabriel told him.

  But neither Jace nor Hector answered. Jace did curse, though, and there seemed to be some kind of scuffle going on. Mercy, no. Hector couldn’t be doing this.

  However, he was.

  “The SOB punched me,” Jace said, “and then he started running. You want me to go after him?”

  Before Gabriel could answer, there was another shot, then another. Both came from the same area where the first one had been fired.

  “Stay put and take cover,” Gabriel told Jace. There was a franticness in his voice. In his movements, too, because he threw open the door, took aim and fired.

  Jodi couldn’t see the person Gabriel had shot at, and she didn’t want to leave the window in case someone came in or out of the old house.

  “Get back!” she shouted to Gabriel when a bullet smacked into the door frame right where he was standing.

  He did get back, but cursing, he hurried to the front window and threw it open. Like her, he stayed to the side, and he fired out through the screen.

  “I think I might have hit him,” Gabriel relayed to her.

  Good. She hoped he’d killed him because this was probably a hired thug. Yes, they could possibly get answers from him, but the only way for that to happen was to get to him and arrest him. No way did she want Gabriel going out there.

  “When Jameson gets here, I’ll have him stay with you,” Gabriel added. “Jace and I can go after this clown who shot at us. Hector, too.”

  Jodi shook her head. “The attacker will come to us, and when he gets close enough, we can kill him.”

  “Hector was right. This guy will try to pick us off, and he can sit out there and shoot at us until he gets us. We need to stop him.”

  She couldn’t argue with that, but she didn’t want Gabriel out there. He glanced at her, their eyes connecting, and even though he didn’t say anything, the glance was a reminder that catching bad guys was his job. No way would he want to stay inside where it was safe while his deputies and heaven knew who else was in danger. But “safe” was where she wanted him to be.

  This was about the sex.

  It had indeed changed everything. And while even before tonight Jodi certainly hadn’t wanted Gabriel hurt, now it cut her to the core to think of him being shot. Or worse.

  Two more shots came at them, both of them smacking into the side of Gabriel’s house. She doubted the bullets would be able to get through the walls, so maybe the gunman was doing this as a way of pinning them down.

  But why?

  She didn’t like any of the answers that came to mind, but it was possible the shots were a distraction, meant to keep them occupied while someone sneaked closer to them. Jodi had already been keeping a close watch around them, but she tried even harder to pick through the near darkness and see someone.

  And she did.

  “Gabriel,” she managed to say despite her breath having gone thin.

  “Hell,” Jace said only a few seconds later. Probably because the deputy had seen the same thing Jodi had.

  Hector, coming out of the trees near the old house, and he wasn’t alone.

  The ski-masked thug was behind him and had a gun pointed right at Hector’s head.

  * * *

  GABRIEL FELT A punch of dread and adrenaline. This was not what he wanted to happen, especially not without plenty of backup in place.

  His first thought was this could be a ruse, one concocted by Hector to draw them out into the open. After all, Hector was a trained security specialist. But Gabriel knew firsthand that sometimes all the training and experience wasn’t enough to keep thugs from getting to you.

  Jodi moved away from the window, coming toward him. “You’re not going out there,” she said to him.

  He was about to tell her the same thing, but if Hector was innocent, Gabriel didn’t just want to stand by and watch an innocent man get killed. Especially since it appeared that the ski-masked guy had disarmed Hector.

  “Call Hector right now,” Gabriel instructed. “I need to see what this thug wants.” And he also wanted to hear Hector’s voice, to try to figure out what was really going on here.

  Jodi nodded, and while she took out her phone and made the call, she also returned to the window to keep watch. Good. He hated having her near the glass where she could be shot, but Gabriel needed someone to keep an eye on that side of the house since it was essentially a blind spot for him.

  Gabriel opened the front door, and while he didn’t go onto the porch, he angled himself in the doorway so he could better see Hector. And also get a look at the guy in the ski mask. No way did Gabriel have a clean shot, but he wanted to be ready just in case.

  Since he was watching Hector so closely, he saw when the man glanced down at Hector’s pocket. Probably because his phone was ringing with the call from Jodi. His captor must have told him to answer it because a couple of seconds later, Hector reached in his pocket. Using just two fingers, he took out his phone, pressing the button on it and then lifting it in the air.

  “Jodi,” Hector answered. She put the call on speaker, so Gabriel had no trouble hearing the man.

  Or the guy who had Hector at gunpoint.

  “Do you want him dead?” the thug asked.

  That was still to be determined, but for the moment Gabriel wanted both of these guys alive.

  “I don’t want Jodi coming out here,” Hector said before Gabriel or she could answer.

  “Neither do I,” Gabriel assured him. “And it’s not going to happen. She’s staying inside, where she’s safe.” Hopefully.

  “Then you’re going to have to watch a man die,” the gunman said.

  Maybe it was a bluff, but every one of his lawman’s instincts were yelling for him to stop this. If for no other reason than he didn’t want Jodi to have to witness her boss and mentor being murdered in front of her.

  “I might have a shot,” Jodi mouthed, and she hit the mute button on her phone after she laid it on the window ledge. By doing that, she freed up both her hands. Probably to take that shot she’d just mentioned.

  But Gabriel shook his head. “I don’t want you that far out
of cover. Besides, if you miss, you’ll hit Hector.”

  Her mouth went flat, and she looked a little insulted that he’d even suggested she wouldn’t be able to hit her intended target. “I’ll aim for the goon’s left leg. With the way he’s standing, I can hit it, and when goes he down, Hector can get the gun away from him. Hector’s probably already planning to elbow this guy in the gut or something.”

  Gabriel had figured that out. He just hoped it didn’t get Hector killed. Because it was possible this guy wasn’t alone. In fact, it was probable that he wasn’t. Heaven knew how many friends he’d brought along with him. And if he wasn’t holding his boss at fake gunpoint, then he could be out there, as well.

  In the distance, Gabriel heard the sirens from the police cruisers, and that meant he had to make a decision now. He definitely didn’t want his brother and deputies driving into a hostage situation.

  “On the count of three, I’ll fire over their heads,” Gabriel finally told her. “You go ahead and try to hit the guy in the leg. If Hector moves out of the way, then one of us can take the kill shot.”

  She nodded, turned and didn’t waste any time taking aim.

  Gabriel wanted to count as fast as possible, so he could get her out of the line of fire. “One, two, three.” And he pulled the trigger.

  So did Jodi.

  She didn’t miss, either.

  Her shot slammed into the thug’s leg, and he howled in pain. The guy staggered back, and Hector went after him. If this was Hector’s hired muscle, then Jodi’s boss made the punch that he delivered look very convincing. Hector ripped the gun from the man’s hand and took aim.

  Just as another shot cracked through the air.

  This one went right into Hector.

  He fell, clutching his chest, but he didn’t stay on the ground. Even though he was clearly struggling, Hector was trying to crawl toward the ditch.

  “Oh, God.” Jodi automatically turned as if ready to run out and help him.

  “He’s wearing a Kevlar vest,” Gabriel reminded her.