“Make sure Eric doesn’t get up,” he told her, and he took off running after Colleen. There were possibly some of Eric’s hired guns still in the area, and he didn’t want Colleen shot for a second time tonight. The next bullet just might kill her.
Might kill him, too.
Lucas only hoped they didn’t get caught in the middle of a gunfight.
He had to tackle Colleen, dragging them both to the ground again. This couldn’t be good for her injury since she was still bleeding. But despite that injury, she fought like a wildcat.
“I have to get to my baby!” she shouted.
Yeah, Lucas understood that, but he shook his head and got in her face. “You can’t go down there. It’s a good quarter of a mile away, and you’ll be killed.”
Logic wasn’t going to work here, so he just pinned her to the ground with his body and wrenched the gun from her hand. Colleen kept fighting him, punching his chest with her fists, and Lucas just let her do it while he kept watch to make sure they weren’t about to be ambushed.
He looked back at Hailey. Even from a distance he could see that she was shaking, but she still had the gun aimed at Eric. Eric wasn’t saying anything, wasn’t moving, either. Lucas had rarely wished someone dead, but he hoped in this case that Eric was so that he would no longer be a threat to Hailey and Colleen.
But there were other threats out there.
Colleen finally quit fighting, her hands dropping to the ground, and she sobbed. The tears came, mixed with the rain on her face, but Lucas could deal with the tears as long as she didn’t run out into the path of those possible gunmen. Now that he knew Colleen was innocent in all of this, he definitely wanted to make sure he kept Hailey’s sister alive.
He got up, pulling Colleen to her feet, and he took her to the truck, pushing her into the middle so Hailey could get in, as well. He wouldn’t be able to drive the truck, but at least being inside it was better than having them stay in the open.
Hailey had such a fierce grip on the gun and her muscles were so rigid that it took Lucas a moment to get her moving. When he finally did, she sagged against him.
“The baby,” she said.
Lucas figured she was praying that her niece was okay. He was doing the same and adding some extra prayers for Camden and the rest of his family.
“Both of you stay down,” Lucas told them once he had Hailey in the cab of the truck.
She nodded, took out his phone and showed him the screen with the missed calls. All three were from Mason. Lucas certainly hadn’t forgotten about them, but he wanted to keep his hands, and his attention, free in case they were attacked again.
Hailey must have understood that, because she hit the redial button and put it on speaker. Mason answered on the first ring.
“What the hell was that explosion?” Mason immediately asked.
“I’m not sure.” Lucas didn’t want to spell out his worst fears. “Have you talked to Grayson?”
“He’s not answering his phone, and he’s nowhere near any of the security cameras. Please tell me he wasn’t near that bomb when it went off.”
Lucas didn’t know, and again he didn’t want to guess. Grayson was smart, so maybe he’d made it out of there with the baby.
“The reason I called you earlier was to warn you about Eric,” Mason went on. “I saw him on one of the cameras. Is he dead?”
“Not yet. Can you call an ambulance for Colleen and him?” Lucas asked.
“Already done, and they’re on the way. Dade and the others have cleared the gunmen so the medics can get through. I’ll send a cruiser down to pick up Colleen, Hailey and you. Colleen is innocent, right?”
Lucas glanced back at her. “Yeah.” Innocent and shaken to the core. Also still losing some blood. Hailey had peeled off her hoodie and was using it as a makeshift tourniquet.
“Good,” Mason answered. “Then the three of you can come here. I’ll have Dade or someone wait with Eric. Let me know the moment you hear anything from Grayson.”
“I will.” Lucas looked around the yard again. “Are you sure the gunmen are all out of commission?”
“All the ones on the ranch grounds. The ones across the road, too.” He paused. “Don’t know about Minton, though.”
Yes. Lucas hadn’t forgotten about him, either. Eric had claimed there was no dirty agent, and that should clear Minton’s name. If Eric was telling the truth.
Lucas heard the sound of an approaching car coming from the main part of the ranch, and he automatically pivoted in that direction with his gun aimed and ready. But it wasn’t one of Eric’s thugs. It was Sawyer and Josh. Josh hurried out of the cruiser toward them.
“I drew the short straw,” Josh said. “Go ahead with Sawyer. I’ll make sure Eric doesn’t go anywhere.”
Lucas hated to put this on his cousin, but one look at Hailey and Colleen and he knew he had to get them out of there. He thanked Josh, and because he didn’t want the women out in the open any longer than necessary, he scooped up Colleen and took her to the cruiser. He would have gone back and done the same for Hailey, but she was already trailing along behind him. He put Colleen in the front seat. Hailey and he took the back.
“I’m okay,” Hailey said to him.
It was almost certainly a lie, but Lucas latched onto it. He also latched onto her. He pulled her into his arms, probably with a lot harder grip than either of them had been expecting.
The relief came. She was alive and in one piece. No thanks to Eric. That fight could have played out a dozen different ways, and in any one of the scenarios, Hailey could have been hurt or worse.
Colleen, however, wasn’t faring as well. She was sobbing now, hunched over and probably in a lot of pain. Maybe it wouldn’t be long before the ambulance arrived, though Lucas was worried that she might not go to the hospital until they got news about the baby.
It wasn’t a long trip to the main house, but it certainly felt like one. Lucas kept watch the whole way, but thankfully he didn’t see any signs of danger.
Only the aftermath.
He spotted one of the gunmen, dead, in the pasture. Not far from where they’d launched the smoke bombs and the tear gas. The goon and his fellow hired thugs had turned the Silver Creek Ranch into a war zone. That twisted at Lucas’s gut. But it was also something he had to push aside.
For Hailey’s sake.
Heck, for his own peace of mind.
Because he thought they could both use it, he brushed a kiss on Hailey’s forehead. Then her cheek. Yes, they both needed that. Needed the real kiss that followed, too. It wasn’t nearly long enough, but Lucas figured he could do better later. Later, he wanted to do a lot of things. Like tell Hailey that he had died a thousand times tonight worrying about her, and that it had driven home to him just how important she was to him.
“I’m in love with you,” Hailey blurted out.
Judging from the startled look in her eyes, she hadn’t intended to say that. Nor did she have time to add more, because Sawyer pulled to a stop directly in front of the main house, and that was their cue to get moving. Sawyer helped with Colleen, but before they even made it up the steps, Lucas heard two welcome sounds.
The ambulance sirens.
And his son.
Camden was fussing, and while it was obvious he wasn’t happy about something, just hearing him eased the knot in Lucas’s stomach.
Despite her limp, Hailey hurried in ahead of them. And Lucas let her. She looked around the massive foyer. No sign of Camden there, but he was in the adjacent family room with Tillie and Mason’s wife, Abbie. Tillie was pacing while rocking Camden, obviously trying to get him to sleep. Hailey went to him and pulled him into her arms.
Camden stopped fussing right away and studied her face. Hailey was still pretty much a stranger to him, but that didn’t stop his boy
from smiling. He smiled even more when he looked in Lucas’s direction.
Everything suddenly seemed all right with the world.
Well, almost everything. His phone buzzed, and when he saw Grayson’s name on the screen, Lucas knew this was a call he had to take.
“Is it about the baby?” Colleen asked. Sawyer was trying to get her to sit, but she batted away his hands and went to Lucas.
Lucas figured it was indeed about the baby, but he wasn’t sure it would be good news. No way to buffer it from Colleen, though, since she was right next to him. Because she would probably be able to hear every word anyway, he went ahead and put it on speaker.
“I have the baby,” Grayson immediately said.
Lucas could feel the relief go through the room, and Hailey went to her sister to give her a hug. Colleen broke down again, crying, but Lucas figured these were happy tears.
“Is she okay? Was she hurt?” Colleen blurted out.
“She’s fine,” Grayson answered. “I’m bringing her to the ranch right now. The ambulance is ahead of me.”
Which meant Colleen wouldn’t have much time with her daughter before being whisked away to the hospital. She wouldn’t care much for that, but Colleen needed medical attention ASAP. She also clearly needed to see her daughter right away, because she started toward the door and would have hurried out, no doubt to watch for Grayson. But Lucas stopped her. He didn’t want any one of them outside just yet.
“What about the explosion?” Hailey asked.
“The bomb detonated after the baby was already out of the car,” Grayson answered. “Minton killed the kidnapper, but he couldn’t disarm the bomb, so he took the baby and ran. When I’d looked in the SUV earlier with the binoculars, I thought she was still in the vehicle, but it was only her car seat that I saw.”
Good. Lucas hated that the baby had even had to go through a nightmare like that, but at least she wasn’t near the blast.
Thanks to Minton.
“Where is Minton?” Lucas pressed.
“With me.”
Lucas felt no regret about that whatsoever and hoped all of Eric’s hired thugs were dead or arrested. And speaking of Eric, he needed to give Grayson an update on the idiot who’d done his best to make their lives a living hell.
“Minton won’t be staying,” Grayson continued. “He wants to borrow a vehicle to get him back to his office, so once I’m at the house, I’ll let him use my truck.”
Even though Minton was innocent and had helped them by saving the baby, Lucas could understand why the agent didn’t want to hang around. He hadn’t exactly been friendly to Hailey and the rest of them. Plus, like Grayson, he probably had reports to write up about the attack.
“If Eric’s still alive, he’ll need to go to the hospital, too,” Lucas said.
“Yeah. I got a call from Dade. Eric died a couple of minutes ago. The ME will come out and take care of the body. The bodies of the other gunmen, as well.”
Lucas thanked him. He definitely didn’t want any of his cousins or their families waking up to a giant crime scene, so maybe the bodies and the debris could be cleared out by morning.
Grayson had been right about the ambulance, because Lucas heard the siren as it made the turn toward the main house. He wished he could talk Hailey into going to the hospital, too, to be checked out, but judging from the grip she had on Camden, that wasn’t going to happen.
“Maybe I can ride with the baby and Colleen in the ambulance?” Tillie suggested. Lucas wanted to kiss the woman for making the offer. “Unless Hailey and you need me here for Camden, that is.”
“No,” Hailey and Lucas said in unison. They’d be just fine now that the danger had passed.
Well, maybe it had passed.
“Are we sure there are no more hired killers?” Lucas asked Grayson.
“The hands and deputies are doing a final search now, but there’s no one shooting. Just in case one’s hiding, Sawyer and Josh are going to do a sweep with infrared. Mason’s still in his office checking the security cameras.”
Hailey closed her eyes a moment, nodded. She was obviously thankful for these extra security measures. It would help everyone get some sleep for what was left of the night. Everyone except Colleen. But he figured she wouldn’t mind. She was alive, and her baby had been rescued.
Grayson ended the call just as the ambulance pulled to a stop in front of the house, and this time Lucas wasn’t able to hold Colleen back. That’s because Grayson had said he was right behind the medics. And he was. He didn’t waste any time getting out and bringing the baby to Colleen.
There were more tears, of course, and Colleen hugged her daughter as tightly as Hailey was hugging Camden.
“You should go,” Grayson prompted Colleen. Apparently he’d already given his keys to Minton, because the agent drove away.
Colleen managed a shaky nod, but despite the fact she was bleeding, she carried the baby toward the ambulance. Tillie was right behind her.
“Call me when you can,” Hailey told her sister. “And if the doctors keep you at the hospital overnight, I’ll be there first thing in the morning.”
Despite everything that had gone on, Colleen managed a weak smile and a thank-you. Maybe this was the start of a better relationship between the sisters.
“Tell Mason I’m taking his cruiser,” Grayson said to Abbie. “If anyone needs me, I’ll be with the ME and then at the office.”
Lucas felt guilty since Grayson had a long stretch of work ahead of him. And he’d help. But not tonight. Tonight he needed to be with Hailey and Camden.
“Do you want me to take Camden?” Abbie asked.
Lucas certainly hadn’t forgotten about Mason’s wife being there, but he didn’t understand her question. No way did he want Camden out of his sight. But Lucas looked at Hailey. Then himself. They were soaking wet, covered in mud, blood and heaven knew what else.
“You can use the showers in the guest rooms,” Abbie suggested.
“In just a couple of minutes.” Hailey kissed Camden’s cheek, and despite the fact that he was right up against her wet clothes, he didn’t seem to mind.
Abbie must have decided they needed some alone time, because she disappeared down the hall. Probably to check on her own sons.
Hailey got a few more kisses and then passed Camden to Lucas so he could do the same. It was pure magic. Somehow, just holding his son could melt away most of the misery from the past couple of days.
But misery wasn’t the only thing that’d happened tonight.
“You said you were in love with me,” Lucas reminded Hailey.
She made a soft sound of surprise. “Yes, that.” Then she dodged his gaze and opened her mouth to say something that Lucas realized he might not want to hear.
“You can’t take it back,” he growled, and then frowned when he heard the tone of his own voice. He hadn’t meant to make it sound like an order. “Please don’t take it back,” he amended.
Hailey didn’t make another sound of surprise, but judging from the way her eyes widened, she certainly hadn’t been expecting that from him. Well, Lucas hadn’t expected it, either. Nor was he sure when he’d wanted Hailey’s “I’m in love with you,” but he definitely wanted it.
With Camden in the crook of his left arm, Lucas slid his right hand around Hailey’s waist and pulled her closer. He kissed her. Not some gentle, everything-will-be-all-right kind of kiss, either. This was long and deep. Just the way he liked his kisses when it came to Hailey.
The kiss stirred the heat between them, but it did more than that. It made things crystal clear for Lucas.
“I fell in love with you shortly after we met,” he said with his lips still against hers. “That hasn’t changed. Never will. I want you in my bed...my life. Our lives,” he added, glancing down at Camden.
And Lucas pulled back so he could see her reaction. He expected her to be stunned. Maybe even have a run-for-the-hills kind of look in her eyes.
She didn’t.
Hailey smiled, slow and easy. A smile that lit up her whole face, and she pulled him right back to her for another kiss. “Good. And you can’t take it back.”
Lucas had no intentions of ever taking it back. Ever. He gathered Hailey and his son into his arms and held on.
* * * * *
There’s much more to come from
Delores Fossen in 2017.
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Lucas Page 18