The thought of that twisted away at him. Hell. He had to figure out a way to stop this from happening. He considered calling Gabriel, but that would only waste those precious seconds that were already ticking away. He could fill in his brother after he set some things in motion. Instead, Jameson called Cameron.
“Have four of the hands go to the old house,” Jameson explained. “The kidnappers say they’re holding Boyer’s baby there. A baby they want to exchange for Kelly.”
Cameron cursed. “I’ll have the hands start moving now.”
“I want them to keep out of sight if possible.” Jameson doubted it was. Those goons probably had the whole ranch under surveillance. “And tell them to be careful. I don’t want any of them shot.”
Cameron assured him he would, and Jameson hung up so that the deputy could get started on that.
“Will the hands make it there before our time is up?” Kelly asked.
“No.” He hated the look that came on her face. Because it was a look of surrender. “But I want them in place to back us up if all else fails.”
He hoped like the devil that it didn’t come to that, though.
“You’re not going out there,” Ivy said. Jameson hadn’t even known she’d heard the conversation, but she obviously had.
“We won’t go out there on the kidnappers’ terms,” Jameson assured her. “When they call back, I’ll negotiate it so that I go instead of Kelly. I’ll tell them that she told me the location of the file.” He glanced at her. “Do you know where it is?”
She must have remembered something because she nodded. “A safe-deposit box in San Antonio. We could just tell them that, and it might put an end to things.”
It wouldn’t. “Whoever hired those men won’t want you alive. Because you know what’s in the files.”
“It’s the same for you,” Kelly quickly pointed out.
“No. I’ve only seen the portion of the file I created. I don’t know the other things you added to it.”
That part was true. But that didn’t mean the kidnappers would believe him and keep him alive. Still, he was a lawman, trained in self-defense, and he might be able to overpower them and escape with the baby.
Jameson didn’t want to think of all the things that could go wrong with a plan like that.
Even though Kelly had known the kidnappers would call back, the sound of his phone buzzing shot through the room, causing her to gasp. It certainly didn’t ease the knot in his gut, but he answered it, praying he would be able to pull this off.
“Well?” the kidnapper said. The guy still had that smug tone that made Jameson want to punch him until he could no longer taunt them.
“I’ll come to the house. Once we have the baby and we verify that she’s okay, I’ll give you the location of the file.”
Silence, and the moments crawled by. Jameson could hear the kidnapper have a muffled conversation with someone, but he couldn’t tell if that person was also in the house or if he or she was on another phone line.
“No can do,” the kidnapper finally said. “We need Kelly to come to us. Oh, and if I were you, I wouldn’t risk any deputies or those men who work for you. That’s because we’ve set up explosives around the perimeter of the house. One wrong step, and they go kaboom.”
That kicked up Jameson’s pulse a significant notch. Kelly’s, too. He heard the sharp intake of her breath and saw her hands begin to tremble.
“You’re lying,” Jameson told the man. “When would you have had time to set up explosives?”
“Oh, we’ve had them there for nearly two days now. We sneaked in when you were all tied up at the hospital with Kelly, tending her boo-boos. We had everything in place, and a friend just brought in the baby from one of the back trails.”
With all the insanity that’d been going on for the past two days, it wouldn’t have been that hard for someone to come onto the ranch and get into the house. Still, he wanted to kick himself for letting that happen. He should have put guards on the house. Hell, on the entire ranch.
“So here’s what we want,” the kidnapper went on. “Kelly comes out of the front of the house and starts walking on the trail toward us. No guns. Of course, she’ll probably have one hidden away somewhere, but if we see the gun, we start shooting. Not at her, either.”
Jameson wanted to reach through the phone and tear this idiot to bits. Because that was a not-so-veiled threat to hurt the baby.
“Who knows, some of those shots could get into your brother’s house, where you’ve got your own kid and family stashed away,” the kidnapper added. “Wouldn’t want that, would we?”
No. They wouldn’t. It would take a long-range rifle for someone to fire into Gabriel’s place, but it could be done.
The kidnapper continued a moment later. “Like I said earlier, you can come with her, cowboy. But if you’re not at the old house in ten minutes, well, you know what will happen.”
“The baby is their leverage,” Jameson told Kelly the moment the thug ended the call. “They won’t do anything to her.”
Jameson hoped that was true anyway, but the main reason he’d said it was to get the stark look off Kelly’s face. It didn’t work. She was still terrified, still shaking, but that didn’t stop her from moving. She hurried to the tub and kissed Gracelyn. Their daughter was still asleep, thank God. No way did Jameson want her to hear any of this.
Including her mother’s goodbye.
Kelly didn’t exactly say the words, but it was obvious that’s what she was doing. Because she might not get out of this alive. Jameson kissed the baby, as well. However, he didn’t intend for this to be a farewell. Somehow he was going to make sure Kelly survived.
“You don’t have to do this,” Jameson told Kelly when she started out of the room. “I can go alone and negotiate with them once we’re face-to-face.” Of course, that was a serious long shot, and judging from the skeptical sound Kelly made, she knew that, as well.
“It’s too big of a risk.” She tucked her gun in the back waist of her jeans and headed down the stairs.
It was a huge risk, but Jameson had to try. He also needed to take a few more precautions and hope they would be enough. Nothing would be as safe as he wanted it to be, but at this point he didn’t have time to figure out a better way to get close enough to those men to get back the baby.
He stopped by Gabriel’s home office and found the Kevlar vests his brother had in a storage closet. He handed one to Kelly, and he put another on while he went to the front of the house to talk to Cameron. He also grabbed a pair of night-vision goggles. Maybe one of the hands could use them to pinpoint the location of the kidnappers before Kelly and he even reached the old house.
“I want Edwin and you to stay here,” Jameson told Cameron. “Gabriel will be here any minute, but we can’t wait. When he gets here, just fill him in on what’s happening.”
“What if he wants to go after you and Kelly?” Cameron asked.
“Then tell him to be careful and let him know about the explosives. Also, make sure everything is still locked up and rearm the security system when we leave.” Jameson rattled off the code for him to do that. “And keep watch. I don’t want any of those thugs trying to sneak in.”
“Please keep our baby safe,” Kelly added.
“I’ll protect her with my life,” Cameron assured her.
Jameson hoped it didn’t come down to that. Maybe he could defuse this dangerous situation without Gracelyn being in harm’s way.
“Stay behind me,” Jameson told Kelly the moment they stepped onto the porch. “And once we’re on the trail, I want you to crouch down and use the shrubs and trees for cover.”
“But you’ll be out in the open,” she pointed out.
“They don’t want to kill me. They’re after you.” Not that she needed the reminder. He certainly didn’t, either. Because each step they took
could be their last.
There were two hands at the front of the house, two more at the back and one on each side. The one on the left side of the steps was Allen Colley, and he had both a sidearm and a rifle.
“Move onto the porch,” Jameson told him. “If you see a gunman coming after Kelly and me, try to take him out.”
Without hesitation, Allen nodded and did as Jameson said. It wasn’t much backup, but it was better than nothing. Plus, maybe there were other hands already in position who could help out if things went from bad to worse.
He also passed Allen the goggles and told the hand to text him if he was able to figure out where the kidnappers were.
Jameson started for the path, and he made sure Kelly was squarely behind him. She was. He also spotted another ranch hand behind a tree just off the trail. Good. Maybe there were others scattered around the grounds.
As soon as they reached the area where the shrubs butted right up against the trail, Kelly ducked lower and went into them. Along with the Kevlar vest, it might protect her. Or at least make her a less visible target.
Jameson had walked this path many times because as a kid, it was the way he got between home and his grandparents’ house, where Gabriel was now living. In those days, it had been a pleasant walk with the promise of ice cream or some other treat waiting for him. Definitely nothing pleasant about tonight, though.
“Once we get closer to the house, I want you to get all the way on the ground,” Jameson told her. “I’ll try one last time to negotiate with the men.” But he wasn’t holding out much hope for that.
His phone buzzed, and Jameson saw the now-familiar Unknown Caller on the screen.
“Time’s up,” the man growled when Jameson answered.
That was the only warning Kelly and he got before the shot blasted through the air.
Chapter Sixteen
Kelly wanted to scream for the kidnappers to quit shooting. But her breath froze in her throat. The fear came, too, not just for Boyer’s baby but for Gracelyn. Because any shot fired could make it through the walls of Gabriel’s house.
Jameson cursed into the phone. “We’re coming to you,” he snarled to the kidnapper. “But if that baby gets hurt, you’ve lost your bargaining power with Kelly, and you know it.”
“The kid ain’t hurt,” the man answered. He still sounded arrogant and smug despite the fact that Kelly could also hear the baby crying in the background. “We just wanted to give you some incentive to go faster than you’re going now. I’ll pull the trigger again in one minute.”
Oh, God. That got Kelly moving again. Jameson, too, but he kept the phone right next to them so she’d be able to hear.
“We were going slow because you said there were explosives,” Jameson pointed out to the man. “If Kelly is blown up, you’ll never get that file. Or whatever it is you want from her.”
“The explosives aren’t on the path between the two houses. Stay on it, and you’ll be fine.”
“Right.” Jameson made a sound of skepticism. “And I’m to believe you? You just fired a shot with a baby in the room.”
“Cowboy, you got no choice but to believe me,” the man snapped, and he ended the call.
“Should you text Cameron so he can tell the hands there are no explosives on the path?” she asked. They definitely picked up the pace, but it was a pace and position that put them right out in the open.
Jameson shook his head. “He could have said that to lure them onto the path so he could kill them. Or there really could be explosives here.”
That sent her pulse up a notch, something that Kelly hadn’t thought possible. It already felt as if her heart were about to beat out of her chest. But what Jameson said was true. There could indeed be explosives, ones that the kidnappers could set off at any time. That thought didn’t steady her any.
They continued to walk, probably not hurrying as much as the kidnapper would want, but Jameson and she were trying to keep watch. Not just at the ground but also their surroundings to make sure they weren’t about to be ambushed.
Jameson’s phone buzzed, and Kelly braced herself for another taunting call from the kidnapper, but it was the ranch hand, Allen. Jameson hit the answer button but then handed it to her. No doubt so it would keep his hands free since there were now very close to the house. As Jameson had done, Kelly held out the phone so they could both hear.
“I used the goggles,” Allen said, “and I spotted someone in the side window of the second floor. It’s the room at the front of the house. He’s got a rifle.”
Of course, Kelly had figured the guy would have a weapon like that, but hearing it gave her a new surge of adrenaline. And fear.
“Then there are probably at least two of them,” Jameson answered. “Because the photo of the baby was taken downstairs in the family room.”
True. The kidnapper could have moved her upstairs, but Kelly doubted he’d do that. It was more likely that he had a comrade or two.
“There are hands in the bushes just off the path,” Allen went on, “but I told them to stay put for now.”
“Good,” Jameson answered. “Are they in position to return fire if it comes down to it?”
“Some should be,” Allen assured him. “I got a glimpse of somebody else, too. It’s not one of ours. Someone’s in a cluster of oak trees in the backyard at the old house. From where you are, you might be able to see him or her.”
Both Jameson and she immediately looked in that direction. Nothing. Not at first anyway. Then Kelly caught a blur of motion. A person moving to the back side of the house.
Mandy.
Her sister was right there, and she probably didn’t know about the explosives. Well, Mandy didn’t unless she’d been the one to hire these snakes who’d put them there.
“I need to try to text or call her so I can warn her,” Kelly insisted. Because if her sister was truly innocent, she didn’t want her killed. Nor did she want Mandy accidentally setting off a bomb that could hurt the baby.
“Let us know if you see anyone else,” Jameson told the hand. “Go ahead and try Mandy,” he added right after Kelly had hit the end call button.
Kelly cursed her fingers because they were shaking. Actually, all of her was shaking, but she finally texted the number that Mandy had used to call them earlier. She prayed her sister still had that particular phone with her.
Explosives might be near the house, Kelly texted.
Jameson and she kept walking, her heart pounding harder with each step. It pounded even harder when she got an answer to the text.
Haven’t seen any explosives, Mandy responded. Going into the house now. Try to cover me if you can.
Jameson groaned when Kelly showed him the text. “Tell her to wait until we’re there.”
Kelly fired off that message but got no response. Worse, Mandy disappeared from sight. Kelly was about to send another text, but the phone buzzed. This time, it was Unknown Caller on the screen, and she immediately hit the answer button.
“We’ll be there in under a minute,” Jameson assured the caller.
“That’s good to hear, but what I want to know is who’s in the car that just pulled up on the road in front of the house.”
Jameson craned his neck in that direction and shook his head. “I can’t see the road. But it’s not the cops, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
“Oh, I know it’s not them. Well, not your brother anyway. I see the sheriff just pulled up in front of his home sweet home. He used the back road and not the one that runs in front of your folks’ place.”
That gave Kelly a little relief. Now that Gabriel was there, that was one extra person to protect Gracelyn and the others. Of course, Gabriel would likely try to help Jameson and her, too.
“When you get into the front yard,” the kidnapper continued, “leave Kelly by the porch, and you go to whoever�
��s in that car and tell them to take a hike.”
“You’re sure it’s not one of your fellow hired thugs?” Jameson asked him.
“Nope. I’m thinking this thug is one of yours. Just take care of the problem, or I’ll have no use for you, cowboy.”
It sickened Kelly to hear that, especially those final words before the kidnapper hung up. To know that no matter what Jameson did, the goons inside would try to kill him anyway. Plus, going up to that car could be just as dangerous as facing whoever was inside the house.
Jameson put his phone away as they reached the edge of the yard. There were still plenty of weeds and underbrush here, too, but they finally had a line of sight of the road.
And Kelly had no trouble seeing the black car.
The driver had stopped beside some thick trees. He’d probably done that with the hope the kidnappers wouldn’t be able to spot him since it wasn’t visible from the house itself. The fact that the thugs knew the car was there told her that they had some kind of surveillance—either equipment or men—on the road.
“You think it’s Boyer?” she whispered.
“Maybe. Or it could be someone Mandy brought with her.”
Yes, her sister hadn’t said she was alone, but Kelly hadn’t seen anyone with Mandy before she’d ducked out of sight.
“Go to the car, cowboy!” someone shouted. It was one of the kidnappers, and he was in the upstairs window. The window was open a fraction, just enough for Kelly to see the barrel of the rifle sticking out. But the man carrying that rifle had stayed in the shadows.
Jameson glanced around as if trying to figure out what to do. The kidnapper had told him to leave her in the yard, but if he did that, they might just try to grab her. However, if Jameson took her with him to the car, the baby’s captors might start shooting. But that mental debate came to a quick halt when they heard another shout.
Mandy this time.
“Watch out!” she yelled.
But there wasn’t time for Kelly to try to figure out why her sister had given them that warning. That’s because the black car on the road exploded into a fireball.
Roughshod Justice Page 16