Lawman from Her Past

by Delores Fossen

  Yeah, one that could have already happened. Evelyn could have given Julia the cash to pay those gunmen. That way, if Evelyn managed to kill both Lauren and him, she’d have a better shot at getting her hands on the baby.

  “If Julia’s the snake you think she is,” Lauren said, “then we need proof to stop her. Do you have anything we can use? Something more than just her owing money to a loan shark.”

  “That should be enough,” Duane snapped. But then he huffed. “I’ll look and see what I can find. I have some incentive now that Julia’s set the dogs on me with those fake files.”

  Cameron jumped right on that. “If they’re truly fake, then figure out a way to prove that. The Rangers are looking into it, of course, but they could use your help.”

  He wasn’t so sure of that. In fact, Jameson might not want any interference from a suspect, but it could keep Duane busy. Of course, if Duane was behind the attacks, then this was all just a ruse anyway. The man could have called them just to keep the focus on those files rather than the fact that someone was trying to kill them.

  “Find something to put Julia behind bars,” Cameron repeated to Duane, and he ended the call.

  During the conversation, Cameron had glanced at Lauren a few times while also keeping an eye on the boys, but he really looked at her now. There were no tears in her eyes, but he saw that this was taking a serious toll on her. It was the same for him, too.

  “Marrying you might not help,” she said, her voice a whisper.

  “It might not.” Cameron had thought about all angles of this, and there was one angle that he needed to mention. “If we’re married and one of us dies, then the other one would have a legal claim to the boys. We’d need to do guardianship paperwork, of course. And wills.”

  Hell, that caused Lauren to go way too pale, and he reached for her, pulling her into his arms. The embrace didn’t last, though. Isaac lost his balance again, and Lauren bolted from the sofa. This time she didn’t get to him in time, and the baby fell. He didn’t hit hard, but it was enough to cause him to start crying. The commotion must have upset Patrick because he started to cry, as well.

  Lauren scooped up both boys, kissing them, and Cameron went to her to help. He didn’t get far, though, because his phone rang again. The sound of it only caused the babies to cry even louder. Lauren motioned for him to take the call while she took the babies in the direction of the kitchen.

  Cameron figured this might be Duane calling back, but it wasn’t a name or number he recognized. He pushed the answer button and hoped it wasn’t someone from the press wanting a story. There’d already been a couple of those calls, and he didn’t want another. Especially since he had “wedding” arrangements to make.

  “Deputy Doran,” he answered.

  But the caller didn’t say anything, and it put a knot in his stomach. Was this another hired gun?

  “What do you want?” Cameron snapped.

  “Uh, I’m Maria Black,” the caller finally said.

  He mentally repeated the name, and it rang a bell, but Cameron couldn’t make the connection of why it seemed familiar.

  “I was a nurse at the hospital where your sister, Gilly Doran, had her son,” the woman added several moments later.

  Bingo. Now he remembered. He’d spoken to her briefly after learning Gilly was dead. Other than her name, Cameron couldn’t recall anything else about her. But just the fact that she had gotten in touch with him piqued his interest.

  “Is something wrong?” he asked. Because it was possible that Evelyn was harassing her in some way.

  “Yes.” Her voice cracked, and it sounded as if she was crying. “I think someone’s trying to kill me.”

  That was not what Cameron wanted to hear. “You need to go to the cops now. Where are you?”

  “I’m on my way to the Blue River Sheriff’s Office right now, and I need to see you. Lauren, too. God, I’m so sorry, Deputy Doran.”

  The knot in his stomach got worse. “Sorry for what?”

  The sound of her sob was loud and clear. “I wouldn’t have done it, but your sister begged me to help her. She was dying, and she begged me to do it. Please forgive me. I’m the one who switched the babies.”

  Chapter Ten

  Lauren sat in the back of the cruiser, staring out the window but not really seeing anything. She felt numb. Of course, she’d known in her heart that the boys had been switched, but she hadn’t prepared herself to hear the proof of that.

  If it was the truth, that is.

  She hadn’t gotten a chance to speak to the woman who’d called Cameron, but there had indeed been a nurse named Maria Black who had worked at the hospital where Lauren and Gilly had had their sons. And while it wouldn’t have been easy, Maria would have been in a position to make the switch. That didn’t mean she had, though.

  “Evelyn could have put the nurse up to doing this,” Lauren said to Cameron and Gabriel. Her brother was behind the wheel of the cruiser, and Cameron was in the backseat with her.

  Judging from their quick sound of approval, the two had already come to that conclusion. “Do you remember Gilly ever mentioning this nurse?” Cameron asked.

  “No. But she was on the ward where we were. And Gilly was desperate to keep her baby from Trace. He was still alive then, and she was terrified of him.”

  That caused a muscle to flicker in Cameron’s jaw. It was obviously a sore subject that his kid sister had been in an abusive relationship. One that he hadn’t been able to stop. But then, Gilly had kept a lot from him because she’d been worried that Cameron might kill Trace if he learned that Trace made a habit of beating her up.

  “When we get to the sheriff’s office, I’ll ask Maria to take a polygraph,” Gabriel said. “It’s not conclusive, but if she’s lying, it might spur her into telling the truth.” He paused. “You do know I’ll have to arrest her, right?”

  Lauren nodded. She was torn between hating the woman and wanting to thank her for trying to keep Gilly’s child safe. Of course, by doing that, Maria had put their lives in a tailspin.

  “I can’t think of a reason why Julia or Duane would do a baby switch,” Lauren tossed out there.

  “They could have hoped to prove Patrick wasn’t Alden’s child,” he reminded her. “That might help Julia’s lawsuit to get her brother’s estate. It might help Duane’s cause, too.”

  True, but that seemed a stretch. Not for Evelyn, though. She might have thought it would be easier for her to kidnap Patrick since Lauren wouldn’t have been on the lookout for the woman. Still, it might not have been anything that complicated. Because Maria could be telling the truth.

  “I’m guessing you two will go through with this marriage while you’re here?” Gabriel asked.

  Lauren hadn’t been expecting his question. Though she should have. She knew that Cameron had told Gabriel about their plan to wed. She also knew her brother didn’t approve. To him it probably seemed like a knee-jerk reaction, one that Cameron and she might regret later. And they might. But doing something—anything—felt better than just spinning her wheels.

  “What the hell?” Gabriel mumbled, and he slowed the cruiser.

  Since they were still a good mile from town, that put Lauren’s heart in her throat, but it took her a moment to figure out what had caused her brother to say that. There was a car just ahead, parked on the shoulder. The driver’s door was wide-open.

  “You recognize the car?” she asked.

  “No,” Gabriel and Cameron answered together.

  Definitely not good. This wasn’t a heavily traveled section of the farm road. In fact, the only traffic was usually from people who lived nearby, but there was a way to access the road from the interstate so occasionally people would take the wrong exit and then look for a turnaround.

  “Get down on the seat,” Cameron told her.

  Lauren had already fe
lt the surge of adrenaline, and that caused her to feel even more. Her breathing was already too fast. Her heart was throbbing in her ears. She did start to move lower but not before she got a glimpse of someone slumped behind the wheel of the car.

  A woman.

  One Lauren thought she recognized.

  “I think that’s Maria Black,” she managed to say before Cameron pushed her down on the seat.

  “There’s blood,” Gabriel grumbled.

  That sent her heartbeat up another notch, and Lauren immediately thought the worst. Easy to do since Maria had said someone might be trying to kill her. Mercy, had some hired thugs gotten to her before she could make it into town?

  After Gabriel called for an ambulance, he stopped directly next to Maria’s car, and Lauren had another look just to make sure it was indeed the woman. It was.

  And, yes, there was blood.

  It was on the side of her head. Maria’s face was turned toward them with her head resting on the steering wheel. Lauren was about to ask if she was dead, but then she saw the woman move.

  “Stay in the cruiser with Lauren,” Gabriel told Cameron.

  Lauren could tell he didn’t want to do that. Cameron wanted to be out there helping his boss, but he stayed put. However, he did open the door a fraction and drew his gun.

  Because the person who’d injured Maria could still be around.

  Keeping low, Lauren glanced around, trying to spot anyone else in the area. There weren’t many trees on this stretch of land, only pasture, so it would be hard for someone to hide. But then she remembered one of the goons at the ranch who’d hidden in the ditch outside Cameron’s house. There were plenty of ditches, including one that was just to the right of Maria’s car.

  “Be careful,” she warned her brother.

  Gabriel also drew his gun and went to Maria. Lauren couldn’t hear what he said to her or vice versa, but she did see the woman’s lips move. Maria didn’t seem strong enough, though, to lift her head, and she didn’t open her eyes. Lauren couldn’t tell if that was because the woman was dazed or if she was dying. Yes, there was blood, but it didn’t seem like there was enough to indicate she was bleeding out. It was possible she’d had to slam on her brakes and hadn’t been wearing her seat belt. Her head could have hit the steering wheel. She certainly had seemed frantic when she’d called them, and people in a panic made mistakes.

  “Maybe it won’t take long for the ambulance to get here,” Lauren muttered. And while she was hoping, Lauren added that whatever Maria was saying to Gabriel, that it would help them figure out what the heck was going on.

  Gabriel took Maria’s hand and had her press it to her side. Maybe that meant she was injured there, as well, and her brother had done that to make sure the wound didn’t bleed too much. After Gabriel had done that, he came by the side of the cruiser.

  “She says someone rammed into the rear end of her car,” Gabriel explained. He wasn’t looking at them, though. Like Cameron, he was keeping watch around them. “A big bulky guy got out of the other vehicle, came up to her and shot her at point-blank range.”

  Oh, mercy. Lauren had to put her hand to her chest to try to steady her heart. “How is she still alive then?”

  “My guess is she won’t be for long. The bullet appears to have grazed her head, but she was shot in the chest, too.”

  Cameron cursed. “What did Maria say to you?”

  “She only said one word, and she kept repeating it.” Gabriel paused. “Julia.”

  The air was suddenly so still that it felt as if everything was holding its breath. Everything including Lauren.

  “Julia’s behind this,” Lauren heard herself whisper.

  “Or someone wanted Maria to believe she was,” Cameron quickly pointed out.

  Yes, that was possible. Julia had perhaps tried to set up Duane, and now he could be doing the same to her. But why would he, or Julia for that matter, hire someone to murder Maria?

  Gabriel’s head whipped up, his attention going in the direction of the road behind him, where she heard the sounds of someone slamming on their brakes. Lauren hoped it was just someone who belonged out here, someone who was stopping to see if they could help.

  But judging from Gabriel’s expression, he didn’t think that.

  Neither did Cameron. He pushed Lauren all the way down on the seat, and Gabriel ran back to the cruiser. However, before her brother could get back in, Lauren heard another sound.

  Someone fired a shot.

  * * *

  CAMERON DIDN’T HAVE much time to react. In the blink of an eye, the shooter leaned out from the SUV, sent a bullet slamming into the cruiser and ducked back behind the heavily tinted glass. Almost immediately, the driver sped up, and Cameron knew they were about to slam into them.

  He didn’t have to tell Gabriel to hurry. He was. But Cameron did have to warn Lauren again to keep down. She was obviously terrified for her brother. And she should be. Gabriel was literally out in the open, and another shot could kill him.

  However, the gunman didn’t fire again. That was because the SUV did plow right into them, jolting them forward.

  Cameron’s shoulder smacked into the back of the seat, the impact so hard that the pain jackknifed through him. But that was the least of his worries. The impact also caused the cruiser to collide right into Gabriel. Lauren shouted out to him as he fell to the ground.

  Now more shots came. Three of them, and Cameron had to fight to regain not only his balance but his aim, too. Hell, he was hurting, but he pushed that aside and threw open the door that had slammed shut during the collision. He had to return fire. Had to keep these thugs from killing Gabriel.

  Cameron leaned out of the cruiser, took aim at the SUV’s front windshield and started firing. The glass was obviously bulletproof, but his shots were doing some damage. They were causing the glass to crack, and maybe that would be enough to obstruct the driver’s view.

  It wasn’t enough for the gunman, though.

  The thug’s hand came out from the passenger-side window, and he fired at Cameron. Cameron had to scramble back, and in the same motion, he pushed Lauren onto the floor in case the glass on the cruiser gave way.

  “My brother,” she said on a rise of breath.

  He couldn’t see Gabriel, which meant he was probably pinned down in front of the cruiser. He couldn’t stay there because Cameron needed him back in so they could get the heck out of there. That meant trying to get Maria into the cruiser, as well.

  Cameron took out his backup weapon from the side holster in his jeans and handed it to Lauren. “This doesn’t mean I want you getting up and returning fire,” he warned her. “I want you to have it just in case.”

  What he meant was in case all else failed and those goons made it to her. If that happened, it would mean they would have already shot Gabriel and him.

  “What are you going to do?” Her voice was shaking like the rest of her.

  Something that wouldn’t be particularly safe, but then, nothing was safe right now. He gave her his phone, as well. “Make sure we have some backup on the way out here.”

  That wasn’t just busywork, either. Cameron wasn’t sure if Gabriel had requested assistance when he’d called the ambulance, and if he hadn’t, Cameron needed more deputies on the way now.

  “They’re coming,” Lauren relayed to him a few seconds later. “But the ambulance can’t get in here as long as shots are being fired.”

  Yeah, he’d known that would be the case, but he had to try.

  “Don’t get up,” he told Lauren one last time.

  He threw his door all the way open, using it for cover. Not just for him but for Gabriel, too.

  “We need to get Maria,” Cameron said to Gabriel.

  Cameron didn’t shout it because he didn’t want to telegraph his moves to the gunmen, but they likely couldn’t have
heard anyway because the bullets were slamming nonstop into the cruiser. It wasn’t only the passenger firing, either. The driver had gotten in on the shooting.

  Gabriel came around the side of the cruiser. He didn’t appear hurt—thank God—and he opened the front door. Cameron didn’t lean out far enough to make himself a target, but he fired some shots at the gunmen, hoping he would get lucky and hit one of them. He didn’t, but at least it caused them to pull their hands back into the SUV. That gave Gabriel and him a few precious seconds to rescue Maria.

  Even though Gabriel had said the nurse probably wasn’t going to make it, Cameron couldn’t leave her there to die. The thugs would likely just shoot her again, and this time, they would finish her off.

  Cameron and Gabriel both took hold of Maria, dragging her out of her car and into the front of the cruiser. Gabriel climbed over her, getting behind the wheel, and Cameron scrambled to get in the backseat. He almost made it, too.

  But the SUV slammed into them again.

  Cameron heard Lauren call out to him. He heard Gabriel curse, too, but he couldn’t respond. That was because the impact caused the still open back door to smack against his head. His arm and shoulder were still hurting, but this was a whole new level of pain. Worse, it dazed him enough so that it blurred his vision.

  The shots started coming at him again, the bullets tearing through the metal in the door. Cameron groped around, trying to orient himself, but he was pretty sure he was failing. Until someone caught on to his arm and pulled him onto the backseat of the cruiser. He landed against the seat and came up, ready to fire.

  But Lauren fired first.

  That was when he realized one of the thugs was right there. Just a few feet away from him. The guy had obviously gotten out of the SUV with plans to get close enough to kill him. And that was exactly what he would have done if Lauren hadn’t put a bullet in his head.

  The shooter dropped to the ground.

  Seeing his partner fall must have enraged the driver because he slammed the SUV into them again.

  “Hold on,” Gabriel warned them a split second before he gunned the engine and sped off.