She didn’t know who Dade was, but she figured it was another Ryland brother, since there were six of them and they were all lawmen. Jaycee ended the call with Grayson and felt the minutes and the miles click off in her head.
Nothing happened.
But that didn’t last long.
Just ahead, she saw the flash of brake lights on the van. It slowed, and Josh followed suit, slowing, too. And then the driver of the van slammed on his brakes, turning the vehicle until it was sideways on the road.
Directly in front of them.
Josh cursed, hit his brakes as well and gave the steering wheel a hard turn to the right. They went into a skid.
It felt as if everything was moving in slow motion. But it was fast, too. It all happened in the blink of an eye. Josh’s truck kept moving closer and closer, and Jaycee braced herself for the collision that would crush Josh against the side of the van.
But somehow, Josh managed to stop the truck just inches from the other vehicle.
Jaycee didn’t have time to feel any relief.
The new position put them window to window with the van. It would be the perfect time for anyone inside to start shooting. Josh couldn’t drive to the left, right or straight ahead. But he threw his truck into Reverse and slammed his foot on the accelerator, speeding away from the vehicle.
Now the van window came down, and she caught a glimpse of the armed man inside, who was wearing a mask. He lifted his gun. Aimed.
Not at her.
But at Josh.
However, Josh ducked to the side just as the bullet slammed into the windshield. The blast tore a gaping hole in the glass. But even over the roar of the blast, she heard a welcome sound.
Sirens.
They were coming from the direction of town, which meant Mason was nearly there. She prayed he got there in time to stop this attack.
The driver of the van no doubt heard the sirens, too. He turned the vehicle and came right at them. No shots. But while Josh continued to drive in Reverse, he took aim through the hole in his windshield, and he fired. Not once but three times. The noise was deafening, and when Jaycee felt the baby kicking, she put her hands over her stomach to try to muffle the sounds.
Jaycee heard the squeal of brakes and glanced over the dash to see the van come to a stop. There were holes in their windshield, too, so maybe Josh had managed to hit the driver.
But she rethought that.
This part of the road was wider, and the van turned around right in the middle, clipping the ditch. The left tires barely missed going into the boggy water. And the moment the driver had the vehicle facing away from the truck, he put the pedal to the metal.
No!
They were getting away.
* * *
IT TOOK EVERYTHING inside Josh not to go after those men in the van. They’d clearly tried to kill him, and in doing so, they had endangered Jaycee and the baby. He wanted to beat both of them to a pulp for doing that and then arrest them so he could force the answers out of them about the location of those missing women and the baby farms.
But going after them would put Jaycee at further risk.
Josh had no choice but to stop his truck and ease onto the narrow shoulder. The first thing he did was look at Jaycee to make sure she was okay. She was pale and shaking, her hands still covering her stomach, but she was unharmed.
Well, physically anyway.
This would be another set of images to add to the nightmares she was already having.
Josh looked in his rearview mirror and saw Mason approaching in the cruiser. The blue lights were whirling, and the noise got louder until he came to a stop beside the truck.
“There are at least two of them,” Josh relayed. He tipped his head to the windshield. “They’re obviously armed.”
“Grayson’s right behind me. Get Jaycee back to the ranch,” Mason said, and he took off after the van.
Josh figured if anyone could catch those men, it’d be Mason, and since he couldn’t help his cousin, he threw his truck into gear and started driving.
“You think that man who fired at us was one of the escaped guards?” Josh asked.
Jaycee nodded, brushed some of the pellets of safety glass off her lap and sat up. “Hard to tell, but I’m betting it was.”
Yeah, he would bet that, too. Except maybe if this operation was as big as the laptop files led them to believe, then there was no telling how many guards there were.
And how many more attacks there would be.
“These guys seem hell-bent on getting you back. But why?” Josh pressed, though he didn’t expect Jaycee to have the answer.
“It can’t be something as simple as they don’t want me spilling anything about their operation. If it was just that, why aim at you? Why not just kill me?”
The thought of that turned his stomach. But it was a valid question. The guards had likely wanted him out of the picture so they could take Jaycee alive, force her to be a captive again and then steal the baby once she’d delivered.
Josh was trying to deal with that thought when he saw Dade just ahead. His cousin was in his own truck, but it had a portable siren attached, and he slowed as Josh’s truck approached him.
“Mason’s in pursuit, going west of the farm road,” Josh explained to Dade.
“I’m headed there now.” And that was the only thing Dade took the time to say before his truck went racing after his brother.
Jaycee gently rubbed her hands over her stomach. It was a soothing motion, but it didn’t seem to be working. She looked ready to lose it.
“Maybe the person running the baby farms has a buyer for my baby. Maybe that’s why they want me alive.” Her voice quivered over the last words.
And Josh’s stomach turned again.
He hated the thought of someone using his baby to make money—especially money from a buyer who had heaven knows what in mind when it came to adopting a child. That was why he had to stop these guys, and maybe his Ryland cousins would be able to do that.
Before he even got to the cattle gate at the ranch, he saw the armed hands guarding the road. They waved him through and then closed the gate. Of course, someone could still cut through the miles and miles of pasture, but the ranch hands were out there, too. And more were surrounding the main house.
No kids on the playground today. Thank God they were all tucked safely inside.
Josh drove straight to his barn apartment where there was another armed ranch hand nearby, and got Jaycee up the steps as fast as he could.
And the waiting began.
Neither of them sat down. Too many nerves for that. Jaycee started to pace, and Josh just leaned his back against the door and tried not to lose hope. His cousins had to find these men so the threats would stop.
Her pacing continued for several minutes, but then she jerked to a stop, and her gaze flew across the room toward him. “I didn’t even think to ask. But did all of this cause you to have flashbacks?”
It had. Some bad ones, too. But Jaycee had enough demons to battle without adding to the mix.
“I’m okay,” he settled for saying. Not quite a lie. Not quite the truth, either. Josh tipped his head to her hands that were still on her belly. “What about you? You need to see a doctor?”
“No,” she answered the second he finished the question. “But I think the noise from the shots bothered the baby. It’s kicking a lot.”
That sent a jolt of concern through him. Josh hadn’t even considered something like that. He took out his phone. “I’ll call the doctor.”
“No,” Jaycee repeated, and she made it across the room to him before he could press the numbers. “It’s all right, really. The baby’s already settling down.” And she took his hand and put it on her stomach.
Josh felt a jolt
of a different kind. Soft thumps against his hand. For such a small thing, it sure packed an emotional punch. That was his baby in there, moving around and maybe scared from the gunshots.
As he’d seen Jaycee do, he rubbed his hand over the movements. Then he realized what he was doing. It wasn’t just his baby he was feeling.
But also Jaycee.
He lifted his head. Met her gaze. There was no fear in her eyes this time, but there was some kind of connection between them because of the baby.
Or maybe it was something else.
After studying her, he was leaning toward the something else.
Jaycee’s mouth parted; her breath was slow and warm. Like the look she suddenly got in her eyes. And he caught her scent. Not the sweat and fear from the attack. But something feminine and fiery hot.
Okay, that last one was probably his imagination.
Or wishful thinking.
Because he was suddenly having some fiery-hot thoughts about her.
He could blame it on the adrenaline, but Josh was suddenly in the mood to make another huge mistake. And he dived right in. He slid his hand around the back of her neck and pulled her to him. In the same motion, he put his mouth to hers for a kiss that shouldn’t be happening.
He expected Jaycee to push him away. To remind him they shouldn’t be doing this.
She didn’t.
Jaycee made a sound. A soft moan of pleasure, and she slipped her arms around his neck. Worse, she kissed him right back.
Part of this had to be the shot of fear they’d just had from the attack and all that touching he’d done on her stomach. But he was pretty sure the bulk of the kiss was just about the fire that’d always been between them. Josh made that fire a whole lot worse by deepening the kiss.
Jaycee did her own share of deepening, and she eased her body against him. Because of her pregnant belly, it wasn’t possible for them to get as close as he wanted. But, man, did they try. And what had started out as a stupid, really good kiss ended with a bad ache inside him.
She pulled back. Their eyes met again. And he saw the urgent need there for just a split second before they went at each other again. This kiss was deeper and hotter than the first. As if they were starved for each other.
Maybe they were.
Josh hadn’t been with a woman since Jaycee. Not much time for that while recovering from a gunshot wound and jump-starting his life. He doubted Jaycee had been with anyone, either. So, maybe it was just because they needed someone. Anyone.
And Josh wished he could believe that.
It would be so much easier than feeling all this fire. This ache. This confusion.
Because it was wrong to kiss Jaycee like this if he couldn’t forgive her, and he wasn’t certain he was ready to do that.
Josh also got that bad feeling in the back of his head. The one that whispered he might never be able to forgive her. He pulled back. But stayed close.
Her face was flushed, and her breath was ragged. She was looking at him as if they’d lost their minds.
A distinct possibility.
Especially on his part.
“Don’t,” she said, easing back. “I don’t want you to say you’re sorry unless you truly are.”
Since Josh had no idea if that truly applied to him, he just kept his mouth shut and tried to talk himself out of kissing her again.
Yeah, talk about zero willpower.
It took him a few seconds to realize the ringing sound wasn’t in his head. It was his phone. Good grief. With everything going on, the last thing he should be doing was kissing Jaycee, since it was a serious distraction. Among other things.
Still cursing himself, Josh took out the phone expecting to see one of his cousin’s names. But it was the 911 dispatcher.
“Josh Ryland,” he answered, wondering what the heck had gone wrong now.
“Deputy Ryland,” the man said, “someone just called and said it was an emergency, that she needed to speak to you right away. She sounded desperate—”
“Who is it?” Josh asked.
“She won’t give me her name, but I can transfer the call to you. You can talk to her yourself.” And the seconds crawled by until Josh heard the woman.
“Deputy Ryland?” the woman didn’t wait for him to confirm it. “You have to help me. Please.”
“Who is this?” he demanded. Jaycee moved closer to the phone so she could hear.
“It’s Sierra DeSilva.”
Well, he hadn’t expected to hear from her. Especially not like this. “I just had a chat with your sister and your ex-lover, Bryson. Did one of them contact you?”
“No. I haven’t seen either of them in weeks.” She made a hoarse-sounding sob. “I was kidnapped and taken to some kind of place where they’re holding pregnant women.”
Everything inside Josh went still. “A baby farm?”
“Yes,” Sierra jumped to say. “And I just escaped. Please, Deputy Ryland, come and get me. Because if they find me, they’ll kill me.”
Chapter Nine
Jaycee was back to pacing again. This time at the Silver Creek sheriff’s office while she waited for Josh and the other deputies to return with Sierra. Josh had insisted she not go with Grayson, Dade and him to collect the woman.
Because it could be a trap.
So instead Josh had taken her to the sheriff’s office, where she was being guarded by yet two more of his cousins. Gage and Bree. According to what Josh had told her, both had once worked for the Justice Department and had loads of training.
And they were a vigilant pair.
Even though Jaycee couldn’t see her from the office doorway, Bree was posted at the rear exit, armed and ready for a possible attack. Gage was at the front door. They’d given Jaycee strict orders to stay away from the windows.
Which she’d done.
She wanted Sierra rescued safe and sound. If the woman truly needed rescuing, that was. But Jaycee didn’t want to be part of the rescue if it meant putting her own baby at further risk.
If Sierra contacts you for any reason, don’t believe a word she says, Valerie had warned them.
But the problem with that was Jaycee didn’t know if they could trust Valerie, either. This could be a case of bad blood between siblings, and maybe Sierra was innocent in all of this.
Maybe.
Or this could be some kind of hoax meant to draw out Josh for another attempt to kill him.
She looked up at the clock on the wall again. Frowned. Not even a minute had passed since she’d last checked, and since she couldn’t tamp down all this pressure-cooker energy inside her, she just kept pacing.
It’d only been forty minutes since Josh and the others had left to get Sierra at an abandoned gas station just outside of town. That wasn’t nearly enough time to start worrying that something had gone wrong.
But Jaycee worried anyway.
She blamed that in part on that stupid kiss. It’d been wonderful, no doubt about it, but that didn’t make it right. Josh still had to deal with his feelings for her. Added to that, they needed to focus on the case. However, that wasn’t even the best reason to ban all future kissing.
It was because she was falling for him.
Of course, she’d had a thing for Josh since she’d first met him several years ago, but that kiss had reminded her that the thing could be a whole lot more. She needed to nip that idiotic notion in the bud and not weave some stupid fantasy of them getting together to be a family.
Besides, she didn’t want a family. She’d had one of those once, and it hadn’t worked out so well.
She only wanted for her baby to be safe.
The bell jangled over the front door and Jaycee peered out from the office. She saw Grayson come in. Then Dade, who had his arm looped around
a pale-skinned woman with flaming red hair.
Sierra, no doubt.
The woman was indeed pregnant and had her hands splayed over her stomach.
As good as it was to see that Sierra had been rescued, Jaycee didn’t stop holding her breath until Josh walked in. Her heart did a flip-flop. And she cursed it. Because she figured her heart shouldn’t continue to have a say in this.
It’d rarely made good decisions in the past.
Josh snagged her gaze for just a second and she could see the relief in his eyes. Relief no doubt because there’d been no repeat attacks while he was gone. They all moved toward Grayson’s office, but Gage kept his position at the door, probably to make sure Sierra and the others hadn’t been followed.
“You have to find her,” Sierra said, her breath ragged.
“Her?” Jaycee asked.
“The woman who escaped with me. I don’t know her name, but we both sneaked out of the house when the guard was asleep.”
“Any sign of this woman?” Jaycee asked.
Josh shook his head. “Sierra said they got separated in the woods.”
“We did,” Sierra verified, frantically bobbing her head. “And this woman isn’t well. In fact, I think she’s crazy. Doesn’t surprise me after being held in that horrible place. Anyway, she was rambling, saying things that didn’t make sense.”
Yes, it would be easy to lose your mind while being held captive, and Jaycee hated the thought of this woman wandering around in the woods.
“We’ll find her,” Josh insisted, and the other Rylands voiced some kind of agreement.
“We’ll keep Sierra here for a little while,” Grayson explained to Jaycee. “There were two suspicious vehicles with out-of-state plates in the parking lot at the hospital, so I thought it’d be safer to bring her here.”
That got Jaycee’s heart pounding. Those armed guards could be in the vehicles. They could come to the sheriff’s office and stage another attack to kill Josh.
Josh must have seen the worry in her eyes because he ran his hand over Jaycee’s arm. “It’s okay. Mason and the other deputy are checking out the vehicles now.”
JOSH Page 8