Caitlyn couldn’t tell if either had been hit, but she couldn’t just hide there and watch them get gunned down. She leaned out from the tree, took aim with the backup weapon Drury had given her.
And she pulled the trigger.
She wasn’t sure where the shot landed, but it must have been close enough to the shooter that it got him to duck back inside. From the side of another tree, Kara fired off a shot as well, pinning down the gunman enough so that Dade and Drury could scramble in beside them.
“Stay down,” Drury immediately snapped, and he pushed her out of the line of sight of the thug in the SUV.
Not a second too soon.
Because he fired off more rounds, each of them slamming into the spot where she’d just been. It stunned her for a second. Then terrified her. Because those bullets could have hit Drury, too.
“Keep watch all around us,” Drury instructed, and he glanced at Nicole. “How’s she doing?”
Nicole managed to nod, though she was holding her hands over her stomach and chest. “Just stop these monsters, please.”
Caitlyn knew that Drury and the others would try to do that. So would she. But they didn’t know what they were up against.
She glanced around at their surroundings. The night. The smoke. And way too many places for backup thugs to hide and ambush them. It sickened her to think that Drury, Kara and Dade were in grave danger because of her. These men were clearly after her. Probably Nicole, too, since she might have witnessed something while captive that could be used to identify them.
Nicole moaned, drawing Caitlyn’s attention back to her. She knelt down beside her and tried to see if there was anything she could do to help her. There was a gash on her forehead that was bleeding, but it wasn’t enough to be life threatening. However, the woman could have internal injuries.
“Caitlyn?” someone called out. It was the man in the SUV. The one who’d been shooting at them. “You can make this easy on your boyfriend and the cops if you just give yourself up.”
“That’s not going to happen,” Drury shouted before she could say anything. “It’s not,” he repeated to her.
Caitlyn knew that Drury wasn’t going to want to hear this, but she had to try anyway. “You could use me to draw them out. Then we could maybe take the SUV and get Nicole to the hospital.”
As expected, Drury was shaking his head before she even finished. “They’ll gun you down the second you step out into the opening.”
“Maybe. But they might want to take me to the person who hired them.”
Drury cursed. “That isn’t helping to convince me. In fact, nothing will convince me to let you go out there.”
Caitlyn went closer to him. “It could save you. It could save the others. At least consider it.”
Drury’s next round of profanity was much worse. “You’re not going out there. Do you want to make your daughter an orphan, huh?”
It felt as if he’d slapped her. No, she didn’t want that, and going out there could indeed get her killed. It ate away at her to think of her baby growing up without a parent, but this was eating away at her, too.
“We’ll find another way out of this,” Drury insisted. He tipped his head to the phone. “Keep checking for a signal.” Before she could continue the argument, he switched his attention to Kara. “You keep watch on your right. Dade, look for anything coming up from behind. Caitlyn will make sure the left side stays clear.”
Judging from the way Drury barked out those orders, there wouldn’t be any compromises or debates. The glare he shot her only verified that. He knelt down by the side of the tree and pinned his attention to the SUV, so Caitlyn did the same. Except she looked in the area he’d assigned to her.
Nothing.
Well, nothing that she could see anyway. There was another cluster of trees about only ten yards away, and it was plenty thick enough for someone to be hiding there.
“Caitlyn?” the thug called out again. “Maybe this will convince you that it’ll be a good idea to come with us.”
The barrel of a rifle came out from the SUV, and the shots started. A string of them. The bullets slammed into the tree and sent a spray of splinters all over them. Caitlyn and the others had to shelter their eyes. Worse, the wind shifted, and the smoke started drifting their way. It wouldn’t kill them, but it would be hard to aim if they were coughing.
Even though the bullets were deafening, Caitlyn volleyed her attention between the phone and the area to their left. At least she did until a slash of light caught her attention. Not coming from the trees but rather the road.
Mercy, had Grayson or the deputies found them?
She held on to that hope for several seconds. Until she heard Drury curse again. Caitlyn glanced at the SUV and saw the black car pull to a stop behind it. Since the thugs weren’t shooting at the vehicle, it meant this was probably more hired killers.
“What the hell are they doing?” Dade asked.
Drury shook his head, and Caitlyn tried to follow his gaze to see what had caused that reaction. Someone stepped from the car. Yes, definitely another thug. He was dressed in all dark clothes and was wearing a ski mask.
He also had the launcher aimed at them. It wasn’t the same size as the other one had used. This one was much smaller.
Caitlyn’s heart slammed against her ribs because she thought it might be a grenade or another firebomb, but when it hit the ground, there wasn’t a blast. Instead, it began to spew out a thick cloud of smoke.
“Are they trying to get us to run?” Kara asked.
Neither Dade nor Drury answered. They continued to keep watch. Not just on the smoke but all around them.
With everything going on, it was a miracle that Caitlyn remembered to glance down at the phone, but when she did, she saw a welcome sight.
“We have a signal,” she said. “It’s a weak one, but I can try to text Grayson.”
“Do it,” Drury insisted.
Caitlyn’s hands were shaking, and it took her a few seconds to steady them. However, she’d barely gotten the message started when Drury caught onto her arm and pulled her to her feet. He immediately pivoted and took aim in the direction of the SUV.
“Run!” Drury shouted.
Dade picked up Nicole and started running, too, with Kara racing right along behind him. Caitlyn glanced back but all she saw was the milky smoke.
At first anyway.
Then she saw the man. Maybe the same one who’d fired at them from the SUV, and he had the big launcher. And he fired.
The firebomb came right at them.
* * *
CHAOS.
That one word kept repeating through Drury’s head.
He fired two shots at the goon with that launcher, but couldn’t stop him in time. Now, all hell was breaking loose.
“Run!” Drury repeated to the others, and he hoped like the devil they were doing that.
He ran, too, toward the other cluster of trees that was nearest to them, but he also pulled up, pivoted and fired at their attacker. Maybe, just maybe, Drury could stop him from shooting another firebomb. Or even regular shots. At this range, the gunman would be able to pick them off.
It didn’t take long, mere seconds, for the smoke to get so thick that Drury couldn’t see. Plus, there was the heat from the fire.
He couldn’t stay put, not out in the open like this, because those gunmen could come from that wall of smoke at any second. He also didn’t want to leave the others alone any longer than necessary since they’d probably already made it to the trees. That twisting feeling in his gut let him know that this could get even uglier than it already was.
“Get behind cover now and stay down,” Dade called out to them.
Drury tried to do just that, and he hoped Dade had eyes on whoever was coming after them.
Drury raced to those trees, dropped down and took aim. He immediately saw one of the thugs who was positioning himself to shoot what appeared to be another firebomb.
Right at them.
Drury double-tapped the trigger, sending two shots into the guy’s chest. He fell, but Drury couldn’t tell if he was dead or not. He hoped so because he didn’t want the idiot to get another chance to use those bombs. Of course, that didn’t mean there wasn’t someone else ready to take the downed thug’s place.
The seconds crawled by while Drury waited for someone else to come at them. There could be a half dozen or more in the SUV and car. Heck, there could be more in these woods, and that’s why Drury glanced around to get his bearings and to make sure they weren’t about to be ambushed.
Kara was about three yards behind him, watching their backs. Dade had taken up position two trees over, and he was looking all around them. Nicole was flat on her back and moaning in pain.
Drury hated that he couldn’t do anything to help the woman, but maybe Caitlyn had managed to send that text to Grayson so that he would have their position. Grayson wouldn’t be able to get an ambulance in here, not with the possibility of shots still being fired, but he and the other deputies could help them deal with the attackers.
He glanced around to ask Caitlyn about that text.
And his breath stalled in his throat.
She wasn’t there. He frantically looked around while also trying to keep watch for the attackers, but there was no sign of her.
“Where’s Caitlyn?” he asked Dade and Kara.
They, too, glanced around, and Drury could tell they didn’t have a clue. His first instinct was to call out to her, but that would give away their position, so he dropped back and began to search behind every tree. Hard to do that, though, with the thick underbrush covering the ground and the smoke. It was getting even thicker now.
Hell, was Caitlyn hurt?
That revved up Drury’s pulse a significant notch. In all the mayhem of them running for cover, one of the thugs could have shot her. Or maybe she hadn’t made it out at all.
With his stomach twisting, Drury looked back at the other set of trees. The ones that were on fire now. If she was in the middle of that, then... But he didn’t even want to go there.
Caitlyn couldn’t be dead.
He heard the sound to his left. A snap of a twig maybe, and the relief flooded through him.
But not for long.
It was Caitlyn all right, but she wasn’t alone. Nor was she all right. There was someone behind her. One of the ski mask–wearing goons. And he had his left arm clamped around her throat in a choke hold.
He also had a gun pointed at her head.
“Surprised to see me?” the man taunted.
That immediately caused both Dade and Kara to pivot in his direction, and they took aim just as Drury already had. But none of them had a clean shot. The man had ducked down and was using Caitlyn as a human shield.
“I’m sorry,” Caitlyn said. “I didn’t see him in time.”
Drury hated that she felt the need to apologize. Hated, too, that look in her eyes. Fear, not just for herself but for all of them.
“You probably know what you have to do next,” the man continued. “You gotta all put down your guns just like Caitlyn did.”
“I didn’t put mine down,” she snapped. “He knocked it from my hand.”
“Just doing my job, and my job includes killing her right here, right now if you don’t put down those guns. Same for the bimbo on the ground. My friend wants me to give her a little payback for hurting him. Of course, she won’t like my version of payback.”
Drury didn’t recognize the guy’s voice, and it definitely wasn’t one of their suspects. However, it was obvious he was connected to the men who’d taken Nicole from the back of the sheriff’s office.
“Who are you working for?” Drury demanded.
The man tightened his grip on Caitlyn’s throat. “What part of my order didn’t you understand? I mean, it was simple enough. Guns on the ground now!”
Drury hated to surrender his weapon because he didn’t have a backup. He’d given it to Caitlyn. But Kara and Dade almost certainly had some other weapon stashed away. Weapons they would no doubt need to get all of them out of this alive.
Dade was the first to drop his gun. Then Kara. Drury finally did, too, while he continued to fire glances around them. It would be a good time for other attackers to swarm in and take them all, and if that happened, their chances of survival would drop considerably.
“Now kick the guns away so you can’t get to them,” the man ordered.
They did, but Drury kicked his in Nicole’s direction. It was a risk since there was a slim chance she could be working with these clowns. But he doubted it. And even though she was clearly in a lot of pain, maybe she’d be able to use his gun if it came down to it.
“So, what now?” Drury asked the goon when he just stood there.
“Waiting for the boss. Shouldn’t be long now.”
Drury doubted the boss had anything good in mind for Caitlyn. For any of them really.
The moments crawled by, and when the wind shifted, Drury saw someone walking through the smoke. Not just one person but three. Two men both dressed in black and wearing ski masks. They were armed.
But not the person in the middle.
Hell.
So, this was the boss.
Chapter Nineteen
Because of the way the goon had her standing, Caitlyn couldn’t see the reason Drury had cursed. But she figured it couldn’t be good.
Nothing about this was good, and they’d need plenty of luck to get out of it alive.
Since Dade, Kara, Drury and even the thug holding her now had their attention focused in the direction of the road, Caitlyn considered trying something. Maybe like elbowing the guy or dropping to the ground. It might cause him to shoot, but at least his gun was still aimed at her.
Mercy, she didn’t want to die. But she doubted whoever was coming would spare any of them. This way, there might be a scuffle. One that Dade, Kara and Drury could maybe win.
But why hadn’t the goon already killed her?
That was the question racing through her head when Caitlyn finally saw the people making their way toward them. Two more hired guns.
And Melanie.
The woman wasn’t a hostage, either. Dressed as if ready to attend a business meeting, she was walking beside the men, and even though she wasn’t armed, she didn’t need a gun. Not with those two hired killers.
“I got her just like you said,” the goon holding Caitlyn relayed to Melanie.
“Good.” Melanie barely spared the others a glance. Instead, she kept her stare on Caitlyn.
Except it was a glare.
Even in the near darkness, Caitlyn had no trouble seeing it. Melanie hated her, and while she hadn’t exactly kept that hatred under wraps while they were at the sheriff’s office, this was pure venom that she was now aiming at Caitlyn.
Melanie’s glare was still in place when she made a sweeping glance around them. “Couldn’t get your lover out of this, huh?” she directed at Drury.
“The night’s not over,” he countered, matching her glare for glare.
Melanie smiled as if all of this were a done deal. It wasn’t. Somehow they had to fight their way out of this because if Melanie and those hired killers eliminated them, they might go to the ranch next.
“Is she still alive?” Melanie asked when she looked at Nicole.
“Yeah,” the goon behind Caitlyn verified. “Wasn’t sure if you wanted her kept alive or not.”
“No. She’s worthless to me now that I can’t get any money for her.”
There it was—Melanie’s motive all spelled out for them. We
ll, her partial motive anyway. She wanted Grant’s money.
“Is that why my baby was born, because you wanted me to pay for her?” Caitlyn asked. She didn’t bother to contain the anger in her voice and wished she could blast this idiot to smithereens.
“Of course,” Melanie readily admitted. She glanced at the others again. “And I guess you know that means it’s bad news for all of you. Well, bad news for everyone but Caitlyn.”
Caitlyn replayed the words to make sure she’d heard her correctly. “Why would you keep me alive?” But she immediately thought of the answer. “You want me to drain all my bank accounts and give the money to you. There isn’t much left.”
“I want every penny of it.” Caitlyn hadn’t thought Melanie’s venom could get any worse, but it had. Melanie fanned her hand over the thugs. “Grant’s money paid for all of this.”
“And you put that money in an offshore account with my name on it,” Caitlyn snapped.
Melanie shrugged. “It seemed the easiest way to cover my tracks, and there’s no way you could have gotten your hands on it because you didn’t know the security code I set up.”
And by covering her tracks, Melanie had also tried to make Caitlyn look guilty. It hadn’t worked, but she hadn’t needed it to work since she had the upper hand here.
“Grant’s money will pay for a whole lot more since there are some loose ends that need to be tied up,” Melanie added. “And what it doesn’t cover, Helen will pay for. My personal living expenses, nannies and private schools for the baby.”
Everything inside Caitlyn went still. “Are you talking about nannies and private schools for my daughter?”
“She’s Grant’s daughter, too, and I plan to raise her as my own. That way I’ll have a part of Grant. If Helen cooperates with me, then she’ll get to see the child. Not here, of course. I won’t be able to live here.”
If the thug hadn’t held her back, Caitlyn would have gone after her. “You’re not getting my child.”
Melanie shrugged. “We’ll see about that, and I’m sure Helen will pay up when she realizes I have her granddaughter.”
Drury Page 17