The Deputy's Baby

by Tyler Anne Snell

  One he couldn’t fight, either.

  He’d parried her tongue with hers, grabbed her hips and had thrust deep inside her.

  Cassie had moaned as Henry’s movements slowed. The heat and hardness filled her, pushing her closer and closer to the edge again. When he’d picked up speed, she’d barely been able to keep it together.

  Two bodies in want. Feeding off each other’s desires. Playing off each other’s pleasures.

  Then together they’d both let go.

  As far as Cassie was concerned, nothing aside from that room had existed that night.

  And now?

  She looked at her reflection. It was easy to see what she wanted. Just as it was hard to deny the attraction she felt for Henry would still be there with or without pregnancy hormones.

  A knock sounded on the door.

  The low baritone that had once washed over her naked body soon followed.

  “Cassie?”

  Her fingers curled around the edges of the sink. She felt her nipples harden beneath her bra.

  How could he affect her so strongly?

  His voice alone seemed to be tied to every part of her.

  Before she could clobber up a response, another knock sounded.

  It wasn’t on her door, this time it was farther away.

  “Turn out the light and stay in there,” came Henry’s voice. It was harsh. Quick.

  It took every feeling of desire, lust and a good deal of the unknown surrounding both to shut them down. Hard.

  Cassie flipped the light switch. Darkness enveloped her.

  Her heartbeat continued to gallop.

  This time it was from fear.

  She held her breath, straining to hear. They were probably both overreacting. Maybe the pizza man had been really close? And already had their pizza made and ready within the minute or so it had taken to order?

  Cassie’s stomach knotted.

  Maybe it was someone from the department.

  Henry had already said a few had known where he was staying.

  Or, maybe, it was Kristen.

  Though, with a sinking feeling, Cassie realized they hadn’t even told her where they were going other than to some hotel.

  Cassie took a step toward the door. She leaned her ear against it, hoping against all hope that her feat was unwarranted. That she was just being silly. That her emotions were all over the place because she was pregnant.

  A loud bang sounded in the suite. The door shook against her face. Cassie covered the scream that tried to tear itself from her mouth.

  She had to use both hands when another sound came through the door.

  Something heavy had fallen.

  Or someone.

  Chapter Fourteen

  The world spun.

  Henry fell. The weight of the hotel door pushing him hard to the floor. His head whipped back against it. Spots danced along his vision. He was going to pass out.

  The man filling the doorway was breathing in and out like a bull readying to charge. The whites of his eyes were wild and wide, contrasting against his dark clothes and complexion. He had on a pair of hiking boots that had no doubt helped him kick the door right off its hinges. If it had been a newer hotel, he would have had to try a lot harder. As it was, Henry currently had a hunk of aged wood against him.

  Which he needed to remedy.

  Fast.

  “Where is he?” the man roared. “Where is Matt Walker?”

  Henry ignored his doubling vision and used his own boots to kick off the fragmented door. He reached for his hip holster, but the man stopped his questioning long enough to see the move. Henry rolled to the side as the Goliath ran forward and slammed his foot down, right where Henry’s head had just been, like he was trying to crush a bug.

  Again Henry’s head threatened to spiral him into the darkness of unconsciousness but he rallied against it. Adrenaline pumped through his veins. He unbuttoned the clasp of his holster and pulled his gun. Goliath roared again. A meaty fist collided with Henry’s jaw. The same one Suzy had already bruised. Bright, hot pain shot across his chin.

  “I saw you two together last night,” Goliath yelled, swinging his other fist around like an ambidextrous prizefighter. “Where does he live?”

  Henry didn’t have time to answer his questions. He rolled to his right, avoiding another blow. Whoever the man was, he was determined.

  Henry just didn’t know what he was more determined about. Crushing him? Or getting answers to his questions?

  Either way, Henry wasn’t about to take the time to suss it out. He got to his feet and had to do a quick two-step backward, just out of Goliath’s raging wingspan.

  One thing Henry did know—he was through playing defense.

  Using as much power as he could put in his non-dominant fist, he repaid the man in kind for the pain now radiating across his jaw. The hit connected hard. Goliath staggered to the side but didn’t fall.

  Still, it created space between them and was enough of a window that Henry could use.

  He brandished his gun with enough adrenaline backing him that he almost felt like he could take the man on with one hand.

  But with Cassie hiding in the bathroom, he didn’t want to take any chances. “Freeze or I’ll shoot!”

  Goliath roared.

  And did something Henry hadn’t expected.

  He did exactly as he was told.

  Chest heaving and rage clear in his dark eyes, Goliath looked down his large nose at Henry and obeyed.

  “Do you have any weapons on you?” Henry asked, reinforcing his stance. If the man so much as twitched in his direction, he’d take him out. No more chances.

  “I am the weapon,” he said with reverence. There was enough ego to choke a horse.

  “Any knives or a gun?” Henry pushed.

  The man blew out a snort through his nose. Again, reminiscent of an angry bull. In this instance Henry was the red flag. “Where is Matt Walker?” he asked instead. Malice dripped off each syllable.

  Henry didn’t understand the question. Or, really, why he was being asked and how it fit into breaking down his hotel room door. “What’s it to you?”

  Goliath seemed to be close to bursting at the seams. Pent-up anger mixed with adrenaline and, by the glaze of his eyes, probably narcotics of some kind. Henry recognized that destructive energy. He’d been around it on the ranch undercover. He’d felt it himself once or twice, too.

  Whatever was in the man a few feet from him, he wasn’t going to hold it in much longer. Gun pointing in his face or not.

  Henry was already on thin ice. And only growing heavier with as each second went by.

  “He ruined my life,” Goliath said. “I want to repay him for that.”

  “And why are you here?” Henry couldn’t resist asking.

  Goliath’s eyes trailed over his shoulder to the window behind him. Henry wasn’t about to turn his back on the man, though.

  “I can’t find him. He doesn’t live in the same house he used to. You were with him yesterday, but I couldn’t follow you. So you know where he lives. Where he is now.” He glanced back at Henry like he was a mild annoyance. “And it’s almost time for—”

  “You boys sure do talk a lot.”

  For one wild moment Henry thought it was Cassie who interrupted. But the woman who sashayed through the open door and around Goliath was definitely not the woman he’d had on his mind the last several months.

  Henry ball-parked her age in the mid to late twenties. He didn’t recognize her. Tall, thin and sneering, she had jet-black hair, braided in pigtails, wore a black tank top that showed her pierced belly button and a pair of dark jeans that were so tight they left little to the imagination. Not that Henry cared about any of that. What he was pinpoint focused on was the shotgun she held steady in he
r hands.

  He met her aim with his own. She didn’t flinch.

  Instead she tsked at him.

  “I’m quick,” she said, her sneer widening. “And even if I’m not...”

  Movement caught his eye but not his aim as another unknown entered the room. This time it was a man. Compared to the threat that Goliath and the woman obviously presented, he did little to compare. Short and wiry, he was sweating openly. Nervous. The handgun he moved in Henry’s direction shook.

  “Jason may be slightly useless, but he does know how to pull a trigger,” she added.

  If Jason was offended, he didn’t show it.

  Henry kept his aim on the woman.

  Three against one.

  He should have taken out Goliath when he’d had the chance.

  “So how’s this going to play out?” Henry kept his voice even. Calm. He aimed the question at the woman. She seemed to be the one in charge. “You threaten to kill me to get to Matt?”

  Goliath actually smiled. Henry was talking his language now.

  The woman, however, wasn’t. She laughed.

  “I don’t care about Detective Walker,” she clarified. “In fact, I don’t care about you, either. I just need you to be here and be still for a little while. So, if you’d please, put your gun down before I let Kevin here rip you from limb to limb like he seems to want to.”

  Goliath, apparently named Kevin, swung his head around, already biting his words off in anger. “He said I could have Matt. This guy knows where he is. So he’s mine.”

  The woman wasn’t amused. Her sneer wiped off, replaced by thinly veiled disgust. “I run things here. He stays here and alive until I say.” She snorted. “You shouldn’t have waited so long to get your shit together, Kevin. You should have already done your homework like everyone else. Not my fault you’re an idiot.”

  Kevin rounded on the woman so fast that Henry barely had time to clear the shotgun blast she sent into the big man’s chest. Blood and bone and everything in between exploded along with sound through the small area. The woman might have been ready to shoot, but she hadn’t braced herself properly. She flew backward into the small dining set in the corner next to the door. Kevin went in the opposite direction.

  Henry’s ears rang with the shot, but he wasn’t about to waste his opening. He turned his gun toward Jason. The man might have been nervous, but his boss had been right. He did know how to pull a trigger. He shot at Henry but missed, hand shaking like a leaf.

  Henry could have ended him right there, but he refused to return fire. Not when his angle was all off. If he missed the man or the bullet went straight through him, its trajectory would be pointed straight at the bathroom. He wasn’t about to chance Cassie or his son.

  His son.

  The thought flashed across his mind with such an intense feeling of protectiveness that it rallied Henry even more. He knew then that, no matter what, he’d take on anyone and anything to keep his child safe.

  Rushing the small man who looked like he was about to unravel? A no-brainer.

  Henry closed the space between them before Jason could get another shot off. He grabbed his wrist and pulled up hard. The man let out a cry and dropped his gun but not before Henry used the butt of his service weapon to strengthen his next blow. The hit dazed the man. He fell to his knees. Henry drew back and landed a knock-out hit. Jason crumpled to the floor with a whimper.

  “Ah!”

  Henry turned in time to see the shotgun discarded on the floor in the corner. The woman who had been wielding it, however, was not. With a twisted face filled with violence, she was on him within seconds. This time she was swinging a knife. He yelled as it sliced into his shoulder.

  “I...can’t...kill...you,” she grunted against him as he grabbed the hilt of the knife, keeping it from going in any farther. “But... I...can...hurt you!”

  She kicked out and hit him in the groin. He brought his gun up to her stomach, but she used another move he hadn’t anticipated against him.

  With a wild cry she head-butted him.

  Pain blossomed across his nose as blood instantly rushed out. The gun in his hand hit the floor, but he wasn’t going to let the crazed woman get the better of him. He used his free shoulder and pushed her off him enough to get room to land a kick. It pushed her small frame backward and to the floor.

  Henry bent to get his gun, but the woman recoiled like a gold-medaled gymnast. Maybe Kevin hadn’t been the only one on something. If he didn’t get her under control soon—

  A gunshot ran out once again in the suite. The woman fell back once more on the carpet. This time she didn’t spring back up. Instead she cried out, cradling her arm.

  Henry laced his fingers around his service weapon and turned to take on whoever the new player was. It wasn’t like there seemed to be honor among the group so far.

  But this time Henry did recognize the shooter.

  Cassie stood in a nearly perfect stance, gun held firmly and eyes set on her target.

  “You come at him again and I’ll prove to you that I was aiming to hit your arm,” she said. Not a waver or a break in her voice. “Then I’ll aim for something else.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” the woman said in response. Though she didn’t make an attempt to move again. “Damn, Henry! You had a pregnant lady waiting in the wings as backup. I didn’t see that coming.” Despite her precarious situation, she laughed. Henry grabbed the knife in his shoulder and pulled it out. He tossed it behind him, angry.

  “Who do you work for?” he asked, not caring how cliché it sounded.

  The woman clenched her upper arm. Blood pushed out between her fingers. Still she kept her smile. “Don’t tell me you’ve already forgotten about your partner, Deputy. Because I’ll tell you what, he hasn’t forgotten about you.” She nodded to the dead body she’d created in the middle of the room. “All of this is really for you.”

  Thunder rumbled in the distance. The light in the room had dimmed since Kevin kicked down the door. It only added to a rise of foreboding in Henry’s stomach. What was going on? What was Calvin’s game?

  “I don’t understand,” he admitted. “How is any of this for me? How is finding Matt part of it?”

  The woman laughed. This time she flinched at the movement. “That was Kevin’s target. His chance at revenge.” She shrugged, flinching again. “You aren’t the only one who’s stepped on some toes during your career.”

  Another crash of thunder sounded. Closer.

  She turned toward the window.

  Henry chanced a glance out, too.

  A blanket of clouds darkened the sky above the Eagle and the town behind it. More menacing than the earlier flash storm that had popped up. By the looks of it, this one had staying power.

  That was when it clicked.

  Henry’s blood ran cold.

  “‘As soon as it gets dark, all hell will rain down,’” he said, repeating what Travis had said in the interrogation room. The woman turned to him, lips already curving up into a smile. “You weren’t waiting for the night. You were waiting for a storm.”

  “That’s how all this is really for you,” she said, positively radiating some kind of sick satisfaction. It was unsettling an already anxious feeling, pulling his muscles tight in anticipation. “He said this would be your perfect nightmare.”

  Lightning flashed.

  Henry backed away from the woman and moved closer to Cassie, never taking his eyes off the former. “Cassie, there’s a flashlight in the top drawer in the nightstand,” he rasped. “Get it. Now.”

  Henry sensed Cassie’s hesitation. Judging by the woman’s smile, they might not be able to afford it.

  “Ah, there it is,” she cooed. “Now you know what happens next.” She turned her head to face the window. As if she didn’t have a care in the world. “Out there is about to g
et crazy. Don’t say I didn’t try to protect you, Deputy Ward.”

  Henry heard the drawer in the next room open. Cassie had to have been maybe five steps behind him. It was too far away.

  Another boom lightly shook the glass in the windows. This time it wasn’t thunder.

  Henry watched helplessly as the town of Carpenter’s power slowly blinked out.

  “Cassie?” He tried, but it was too late.

  The lights didn’t even flicker. They all just went out.

  Chapter Fifteen

  The AC whirled as it shut down. The air in the suite went from cool to stale in what felt like one second flat. It was such a loud silence by contrast that Cassie stalled by the edge of the bed. What had been the beginning of a storm in the distance was now a darkness that reached through the windows and created the void she had been thrown into.

  The adrenaline high she’d taken advantage of after hearing Henry cry out in pain was dropping off.

  Suddenly she felt like a child again, terrified of the darkness.

  “Cassie.”

  She couldn’t see him, but Henry’s voice was enough to bring her out of the fear clinching her chest like a vise. She remembered the weight in her hand. The flashlight was small but illuminated her immediate area. Enough that she saw Henry’s concern clearly.

  Without being asked Cassie tossed the light over. He was fast to turn it on the woman who had attacked him. She hadn’t moved from her spot. She was still smiling, too.

  It sent a chill down Cassie’s spine.

  “The more you shine that thing on me, the faster he’ll end up finding you,” the woman said, almost coyly. Like she was trying to flirt with Henry. Cassie didn’t like it for several reasons.

  “Cassie, can you keep a gun on her while I get my cuffs?”

  Henry’s entire demeanor was hard. He was channeling the law right now.

  In answer Cassie lifted her gun and braced her feet apart again. She knew how to shoot and not just because she worked in a sheriff’s department. Three Christmases ago, her eldest brother, Davie, had given each of his sisters shooting lessons and paid for their classes to get licenses to carry. She’d have to make sure to thank him again.