“Is Helen in on this?” Drury asked.
Melanie made a you’ve-got-to-be-kidding sound. “No, this was my plan and my plan only, but since you didn’t take the bait when I planted evidence against Jeremy and her, it means you sealed everyone’s fate.”
Drury shook his head. “What did you do?”
Melanie actually smiled. “Jeremy deserves what he gets. Do you know he killed Grant?”
“Got any proof of that?” Drury countered.
“Jeremy talks in his sleep,” Melanie said under her breath. “No way could I let him get away without being punished.” She motioned toward the goon holding Caitlyn. “Come on. Bring her to the car. Kill the rest,” she added to the other two. “No need to do a cleanup. I’ll have the kid and will be out of the country before any of these Silver Creek lawmen figure out it’s me. They’ll be too busy chasing Jeremy.”
She’d obviously set him up somehow, but Caitlyn didn’t care about that. “How do you think you’re going to get my baby?”
Melanie tipped her head to the fires. “Plenty of those. In comparison to the rest of this, firebombs don’t cost much at all, and I figure if we land enough of them on the Silver Creek Ranch, the Rylands will give her up to save their own.”
Clearly, she didn’t know the Rylands. They’d never give up the baby. But that didn’t mean plenty of them wouldn’t die or get hurt trying.
It felt as if someone had clamped onto her heart and was squeezing it hard. The rage bashed at her like a violent storm, building and building until Caitlyn knew where she needed to aim that rage.
At Melanie.
Melanie turned to walk away, and the goon started moving, dragging Caitlyn along with him. Leading her to where she would no doubt be tortured and eventually killed. Of course, Drury and the others would be targets long before that. They’d die within seconds if Caitlyn didn’t do something now.
She latched onto all that rage she was feeling and let it and the adrenaline fuel her. Caitlyn bashed the back of her head against the goon’s face, as hard as she could. So hard that she could have sworn she saw stars. She pushed aside the pain, though, and dropped to the ground. The goon didn’t drop with her, nor did he let go of the gun. He was cursing her now and latched onto her hair.
That’s when all hell broke loose.
Drury lunged at the thug. Dade went after the other two, and Kara scooped up Drury’s gun off the ground. She probably didn’t have a clean shot, but at least one of them was armed, and maybe she could stop Melanie from getting away.
“Kill them!” Melanie screamed.
Her thugs were certainly trying to do just that. Caitlyn’s attacker still had hold of her hair and was using his fierce grip to sling her around to block Drury from slugging him. Drury didn’t give up, though, and he finally managed to bash the guy right in the face.
It was enough to get him to stagger back and let go of her hair.
Drury pushed her away and went after the guy, plowing right into him and sending him to the ground. Caitlyn frantically looked around for the goon’s gun, and her breath stalled in her throat when she saw that he still had hold of it. Worse, he was trying to aim it at Drury.
“Do your jobs and kill them.” Melanie’s voice was a screech, followed by some ripe profanity. She sounded insane. And probably was.
Since Melanie wasn’t armed and wasn’t running, Caitlyn tuned her out for a moment and tried to help Drury.
“Stay back,” Drury warned her.
He probably didn’t want her to be anywhere near that gun, but she wasn’t just going to let him fight this alone. Caitlyn kicked at the goon’s legs. And she continued to kick until the sound of the shot stopped her cold.
Oh, mercy.
Had Drury been shot?
It seemed as if time slowed to a crawl, and the sounds in her head were a series of loud echoes. She couldn’t lose Drury. Especially not like this, while he’d been trying to protect her.
Caitlyn clawed at the goon, hitting any part of him that she could reach, but that’s when she realized Drury hadn’t been hit. The bullet had come from behind her.
Kara.
The deputy had put a bullet in one of the thug’s heads. Lifeless, he dropped to the ground.
One down, but Dade and Drury were still battling the other two attackers. She couldn’t tell if either was winning, but at least Kara had a gun, and the deputy hurried closer, waiting for a shot that Caitlyn was sure she would take if she got the chance. Maybe they’d actually get out of this alive.
But that’s when Caitlyn saw something she didn’t want to see.
Melanie was running. Getting away. And if she reached the car or SUV, she could escape. Maybe she would even try to get to the Silver Creek Ranch and try to take Caroline.
Caitlyn went after her.
It wasn’t easy. She’d burned a lot of energy hitting the thug, and the smoke didn’t help. It wasn’t as thick as it had been, but it cut her breath. Still, that didn’t stop her. Nothing would at this point. Not even Drury shouting out to her.
“Caitlyn, come back.”
He was probably concerned that there were other hired killers who would come to Melanie’s aid. And maybe they would, but Caitlyn couldn’t let Melanie make it to the road.
Behind her, there were two shots. She hoped they’d come from Kara or that maybe Dade and Drury had managed to get hold of a weapon. Part of her wanted to go back and see, but she had to stop Melanie.
Melanie was running a lot faster than Caitlyn thought she could, and she made it all the way to the thug whom Drury had shot before Caitlyn caught up with her. Caitlyn dived at her, catching onto Melanie’s waist and dragging her to the ground.
That’s when Caitlyn saw the gun.
Melanie must have grabbed it from the dead guy, but she lifted her hand, taking aim at Caitlyn.
Caitlyn didn’t think. She only reacted. She hit Melanie’s hand just as the woman pulled the trigger.
The shot roared through the air.
Caitlyn couldn’t tell where the bullet had gone, but she prayed it hadn’t hit Drury or the others. Prayed, too, that she could stop Melanie from firing again. She latched onto the woman’s wrist, and even though Melanie outsized her by a good thirty pounds, Caitlyn had something to fight for.
Her daughter.
If the woman escaped, there was no telling what she might do.
Behind her, there were more shots. Caitlyn had no trouble hearing them, but she couldn’t look back and see if Drury was okay.
Melanie cursed her, calling her vile names while she fought like a wildcat. She kicked and dug her fingernails into Caitlyn’s hand. She drew blood, but Caitlyn drew blood, too, when she rammed her forearm against Melanie’s face.
She howled in pain, cursed even more and tried to bash Caitlyn against the head with the gun. Caitlyn dodged it and dropped her weight onto the woman, pinning her arms to the ground. That didn’t stop Melanie from screaming and fighting, and just when Caitlyn wasn’t sure how much longer she could hold her, she heard the movement behind her.
Since she hadn’t been able to look back and see what was going on, Caitlyn didn’t know if this was friend or foe approaching her. Worse, there was nothing she could do because if she let go of Melanie, she would pull the trigger.
The fear rose inside Caitlyn as the hurried footsteps got closer and closer, but she tried to steel herself for whatever might happen.
“It’s all right,” someone said.
Drury.
The relief nearly caused Caitlyn to go limp. Temporary relief, anyway. She still wasn’t sure he was okay.
He wrenched the gun from Melanie’s hands and moved Caitlyn off her so he could flip Melanie onto her stomach. He restrained her with some plastic cuffs that he took from his pocket.
&nb
sp; Caitlyn pulled in her breath and held it. Until Drury finally turned and looked at her. He had some blood on his face. No doubt from the fistfight with the hired gun, but he was all right.
“You shouldn’t have done that,” he said, his breath gusting. “She could have killed you.”
“She didn’t,” Caitlyn managed to say, but she could see from the stark look in Drury’s eyes that this had almost certainly triggered some flashbacks of Lily’s death.
Even though Drury didn’t exactly have a welcoming expression, Caitlyn leaned in and kissed him. A very quick one because his attention went back to where she’d last seen Dade, Kara, Nicole and those other goons.
Caitlyn snapped in that direction, too, and she spotted Dade hurrying toward them. He had Nicole in his arms. Kara was right behind him, and she was still keeping watch all around them.
“What happened to the gunmen?” Caitlyn asked.
Kara shook her head. “All dead.”
It was hard to feel any grief over the deaths of hired killers, but Caitlyn also knew that if they’d managed to keep at least one of them alive, then he could perhaps spill details they might not get from Melanie.
“You think this is over?” Melanie snarled when Drury hauled her to her feet. She looked back at Caitlyn, and the raw hatred was all over the woman’s face. “It’s not over. You’ll never see your daughter again.”
Chapter Twenty
“Hurry,” Caitlyn insisted.
Though she really didn’t have to remind Drury to do that. He already was in the “get there fast” mode and hadn’t even waited for backup to arrive. Instead, Caitlyn and he had taken the car that Melanie and her thugs had used. It was a risk since there could be some kind of tracking device on the vehicle, but Drury weighed that risk against an even greater one.
Not getting to the baby before there was an attack at the ranch.
“Do you have a signal yet?” he asked, tipping his head to the cell phone she was holding.
Caitlyn shook her head. Cursed. It was frustrating, all right, but they’d be out of the dead zone soon, and she should be able to call the ranch. And Grayson. Drury had no idea what was going on with him, and it was entirely possible that Melanie had had another team of attackers go after the lawmen in the sheriff’s office.
As Drury continued to do, Caitlyn glanced all around them. Watching for more of those hired guns. He was certain that Kara and Dade were doing the same thing. They’d taken the SUV so they could get Melanie to jail and Nicole to the hospital.
The surrogate was yet another concern.
Her injuries could be life threatening. Of course, Melanie was high on his list of worries, too, because she could have arranged for more gunmen to be positioned on the road. He didn’t know how many hired killers that the million dollars of ransom money would buy, and Drury didn’t want to find out.
“What do you think Melanie did to Jeremy?” Caitlyn asked.
Drury hadn’t had time to give it much thought, but he didn’t need a lot of thinking time to know that it probably wasn’t something good. Melanie had been plenty riled over Jeremy’s rejection and betrayal, and she’d no doubt set him up somehow to take the blame for all of this.
He took another turn onto a farm road, heading toward the ranch, but they were still a good ten minutes out. Drury figured it would seem more like an hour before they got there.
“Finally,” Caitlyn said, looking at the phone screen. Her hands were shaking when she pressed Grayson’s number.
Drury hoped that his cousin would answer on the first ring. And he did.
“You two okay?” Grayson immediately asked.
“Yeah, but Melanie might have sent someone to attack—”
“I just got off the phone with Dade, and he told me. I’ve alerted the ranch hands, and Nate, Mason and our cousin Sawyer are heading down to the road now to make sure no one is there.”
Caitlyn’s breath rushed out from relief. They weren’t out of the woods yet, but there was no way his cousins would let Melanie’s thugs get close enough to do any real damage.
“I told Ronnie that we had Melanie in custody,” Grayson went on, “and he’s ready to spill all for a plea deal.”
Drury had to shake his head. “If Ronnie was working for Melanie, why did she bring him at gunpoint to the jail?”
“Ronnie says that’s the plan they worked out. That she’d pretend to turn him in, and that he’d take the fall in exchange for his kids getting a ton of money. He figures there won’t be a payoff now that Melanie’s being arrested.”
No, there wouldn’t be. In fact, Melanie’s accounts would be frozen, and Caitlyn would get back any portion of the ransom money that Melanie hadn’t spent on these attacks. Of course, that was probably the last thing on Caitlyn’s mind right now. She just wanted to see her baby and make sure she was all right.
“Let me call you back after I’ve finished talking with the DA,” Grayson continued. “Oh, and be careful when you make it to the ranch.”
Drury would be, but he doubted he was going to be able to hold Caitlyn back. She had such a grip on his phone that she would probably have bruises. Bruises to go with the ones on her face.
It turned his stomach to see them. To know just how close he’d come to losing her.
“After this is done,” he said, “I intend to chew you out for going after Melanie like that.”
“You would have done the same thing if you’d been me.”
He would have. “But I’m an FBI agent trained to do things like that.” He paused, huffed. “That doesn’t trump motherhood, though.”
She made a sound of agreement. Followed by a helpless moan. “Please just hurry,” Caitlyn repeated.
Drury did, taking the final turn. When the ranch finally came into view, he saw something that had him hitting the brakes.
There were men clustered around the cattle gate at the start of the ranch road, and someone was on the ground.
Hell.
Drury hoped he hadn’t driven Caitlyn into the middle of another attack. Just in case, he turned off the headlights and eased closer. While he was trying to get a better look at what was going on, his phone buzzed, and he saw Mason’s name on the screen.
“Is that Caitlyn and you in the car?” Mason growled.
Drury felt some of the tightness ease up in his chest. If Mason could call them, then he was okay. Well, maybe.
“Yes. What happened?” Drury asked.
“This dirthead we’ve got on the ground thought it would be a good idea to try to shoot something at the ranch. Trust me, he knows now it wasn’t a good idea. We’re about to haul him off to jail.”
“Is Caroline okay?” Caitlyn asked.
“She’s fine. Josh and Bree are with the nanny and her.”
Josh, his other cousin, and Bree, who was Kade’s wife and had once been in law enforcement. Caroline was in good hands. Better yet, she was safe.
Caitlyn’s breath rushed out again. And the tears came. Tears of relief, no doubt. The happy tears would come once she had her baby in her arms.
“Was the hired gun alone?” Caitlyn asked.
“He was,” Mason verified. “But we’ve got the hands patrolling the area just in case. They found the clown’s car just up the road, and there are no signs that anyone else was in it.”
Maybe because Melanie had thought one firebomb shooter was enough. Or perhaps the woman had just wanted to save a little money.
“The gate and the fences are all armed, though,” Mason went on. “So the alarm will sound if there are any stragglers who try to get onto the grounds. Someone’s also monitoring the security cameras.”
Good. It was a lot of security, but it had obviously worked since they’d caught this guy before he’d managed to do any damage.
He watched as Nate and Sawyer got the hired gun to his feet and started moving him toward a car that was nearby.
“Is it okay for me to drive Caitlyn to the guesthouse?” Drury asked Mason.
Mason kept his glare on the man being arrested. “Yeah, because if this dirthead moves even an eyelash, he’s going to pay and pay hard. It’s too late to be testing my patience.”
Drury wondered if it was ever a good time to test Mason’s patience, but he didn’t say that to his cousin. He drove onto the ranch.
“By the way,” Mason said just as Drury was about to end the call. “Have you fixed things with Caitlyn yet?”
Since they were on speaker, Drury hesitated before he said anything. “Fix things?” he settled for asking.
Mason cursed. “Have you told her you’re in love with her? And no, the question isn’t for me. It’s because I know when I get back home, Abbie will ask me how the personal stuff worked out for you two.”
Drury glanced at Caitlyn, who seemed a little shell-shocked. Maybe because of the whole ordeal she’d just been through. Maybe in part because of Mason’s you’re in love with her comment.
“I’ll keep you posted,” Drury answered, and he didn’t bother to take out the sarcasm.
There was a ranch hand at the main entry gate, and he ushered Drury in, closing the gate behind them. Yet another security measure that Drury appreciated.
When Drury approached the guesthouse, he parked as close to the front porch as possible, and the moment he stopped, Caitlyn hurried out. He didn’t try to stop her. No chance of doing that. So, he just raced in after her.
With all the chaos that’d gone on, being in the quiet room seemed a little surreal. The baby was asleep in her bassinet. Josh was sitting next to her, guarding her, and Bree was at the kitchen table quietly looking at the feed from the cameras.
“She’s okay,” Bree assured Caitlyn. Maybe because Bree was a mother herself, she no doubt figured Caitlyn would want to hear that right off.
“Thank you,” Caitlyn said, and she repeated it several more times while she scooped up the baby. She pressed a flurry of kisses on her cheeks and held her close. Drury wondered if she’d ever let Caroline out of her sight again.
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