Facing the Fire

by Calle J. Brookes

  Jasper had set it up so perfectly. There had been no room for failure. He'd called Basroni.

  Told him flat out he knew exactly what the younger man had been doing. That he had enough on Basroni for the younger man to go away for years—if he didn’t do what Jasper told him.

  He'd done some digging, the internet was a wonderful tool. He had always thought so. He hadn't realized the woman's son had changed his name. He hadn't always been Tommy. Nor had he always been a Basroni. He'd thought the name had sounded so unfamiliar, but Tommy had made a point of telling him years ago that he had been born and raised in Masterson County. Had been proud of that.

  Well, Jasper had made a point of knowing the people of his county. He should have seen the wolf in his own hen house.

  Tommy Basroni had dated his daughter. Clancy had been head over heels for him for a few weeks just three months back.

  Until she had ended it because they just weren't "clicking".

  Damn that bastard for daring to get that close to his daughter. That was what had really done it, sent him over the edge.

  Tommy had been too close to Clancy. And with careful investigation, Jasper had figured that out.

  The front door slipped open. Jasper had been waiting for this moment for hours, with all the windows covered and him waiting in an old stuffed chair. Right there in front of the door.

  Since he’d told Basroni to meet him or he’d expose everything Basroni had done.

  Someone stepped inside.

  Jasper squeezed the trigger.

  By the time he realized what he’d done, it was too late. Far too late.

  A woman stumbled, a man yelled out. He recognized her immediately. He reached, one hand still holding the gun. Another shot discharged, like he was a rank amateur who had no business with a gun.

  He was too late.

  Maggie Tyler was on her knees in front of him. Leaning over the man Jasper had just shot. Jasper just looked at them. Stunned.

  "Brandt! Brandt!"

  There was a tall man bleeding at Jasper’s feet. One he didn't recognize.

  Jasper had just shot an innocent man.

  He looked toward the open door.

  She was there.

  Marin.

  Heaven help him, Marin was there, too. Standing in the doorframe in one of those flowing skirts she’d favored and a bright red sweater.

  Shock and fear covered her beautiful face.

  She'd seen him. They had all three seen him. The girls, these two beautiful, wonderful girls, had recognized him. "Don't move! None of you move!"

  57

  “Stay close,” Rex ordered the young officer who he had paged to his office. He’d had two others he trusted accompany Joel Masterson to the home of Thomas Basroni, to ask him some questions.

  Masterson had one of his deputies and one of Rex’s out looking for the mayor now. Rex wanted to be there, but there was more he could do from his office than out on the street.

  All they could really do at this point was ask questions. They didn’t have enough for a warrant.

  They needed warrants. They weren’t going to get them just on Clive Gunderson’s word. The idea was damned preposterous to begin with.

  “What is this about, sir?” Claudia Grady wore her uniform proudly. And she looked good in it. If he wasn’t a professional who would never cross those types of boundaries, he’d admit that. She had big green eyes. She actually looked too damned innocent to be involved in law enforcement, for one thing. Still, she was good at what she did. She had potential.

  If her father was a damned criminal—and Rex believed all politicians were criminal at heart, at times—that could mean hurdles for her. It was just the way it was.

  “I may need you shortly.” It was a cop-out, of course. But she wasn’t about to question him. At least not to his face. Perk of his position. He wanted her where he could see her while the questioned her father.

  “Yes, sir.”

  His phone rang as she stepped out of his office. Rex checked it quickly. Joel Masterson.

  “Thomas Basroni is gone. Like he was never here, but he left us a nice little file filled with evidence of a cold case from twenty-two years ago. And it looks like it’s just as Clive said. Basroni was tormenting Grady for weeks. Threatening his daughters. All three of them. Even had a gun pointed at that officer of yours.”

  Hell. That was going to complicate things. Why couldn’t he have an easy weekend, for once?

  Rex disconnected, then called Clint.

  The last thing he needed was for Clint to go hunting Grady by himself. That could mean real trouble, but Rex would understand if he did.

  Either Basroni or Grady was responsible for hurting Maggie. For burning down Clint’s home.

  How was a man supposed to just take that lying down?

  Clint wasn’t. It was time Rex went hunting. Before his friend did something stupid that destroyed everything he was working toward.

  58

  Clint got Maggie’s text just as he was about finished ordering two cribs, two crib mattress, and two changing tables to be delivered to his brother’s old place. He looked at the woman in charge of the store. “And add the best king-size mattress and box set you have.”

  His checkbook was going to be pretty damned bruised after today, but he didn’t care. He was going to get his house together for his family again.

  “Of course. Tell Maggie congratulations on the new baby for me, too. She’ll be a great mother. I bet her brothers are thrilled to be uncles, too.”

  He just nodded at that. Thrilled wasn’t the word he’d use to describe the Tyler brothers.

  Planning to roast him on a spit was more like it.

  Clint didn’t care at the moment. He had a family to provide for and a baby to prepare for.

  Hell, maybe men nested, too.

  He’d swing by his grandfather’s house and grab Maggie. Wait for word from Rex.

  He’d get his family settled tonight—and once that was done, he was calling those five brothers of hers to come guard her. While he and Rex took care of the problem.

  Rex and Joel Masterson had twelve hours to find the loose ends. For Jasper Grady and that little shit weasel assistant mayor of his. Whatever was going on between them had come too damned close to Maggie and Violet.

  Clint was going to listen in while they interviewed Grady. Find out once and for all what was so damned important Grady would hurt a pregnant woman to keep it quiet.

  Then he’d find whatever it was Grady had been searching for and turn it over to Rex. Be done with it.

  He was sick and damned tired of cleaning up other men’s messes.

  59

  She had been stupid. She should have told Clint what she felt. With everything between them as screwed up as it was, he had still deserved to know that she loved him.

  She looked at Marin. The other woman’s blue eyes showed her own fear. Jasper Grady stood behind her, a gun to Marin’s head.

  “What is it you’re looking for, Mayor Grady?” She wasn’t going to cower down in fear. She wasn’t going to do that. Maggie wasn’t going to let fear rob her of anything any longer. “Take what you want and leave. Just like before. We need to get him help. You don’t want to face a murder charge.”

  Panic threatened to sneak in.

  She couldn’t let panic happen.

  If she lost control of herself, then she would lose control of the situation.

  She took a deep breath and ran a hand over where her baby rested. “Get what you want and leave. We’re not going to stop you. I don’t care what it is, or where you go when you leave. None of us are going to stop you.”

  He hadn’t let go of Marin. His hand was splayed over her abdomen, directly below Marin’s breasts. Something in the hold…creeped her out even more than the gun he held at Marin’s temple.

  It was…so possessive.

  “I didn’t mean to shoot him. I was waiting for Tommy.”

  “Who?” Maggie asked.

/>   “My assistant mayor. He’s Bryan Thomas Johnson. His…mother…died during an investigation Clive worked. It was an accident, but enough to send Art Talley and that wife of his running for the hills. Even as pregnant as she was.”

  “My aunt was pregnant?” Marin asked. “We didn’t know that. What happened to them?”

  “Don’t know. Art took off and I said good riddance. His wife was about halfway along, I think. Hiding it, though. He took her and ran. Piss poor father.” Grady snorted after he spoke. He looked toward the window, then back at Maggie.

  “No kidding,” Marin said. “Let me go.”

  “No. As soon as I do, you two will cause trouble. I…need to think. I can’t let it get back to my kids what I’ve done.”

  It was going to. That was inevitable. He had to know that, to realize…

  Unless he killed them all and destroyed the evidence.

  Before Clint came inside.

  She’d heard his truck coming down the drive. Clint was out there.

  Somewhere.

  And he didn’t know he was walking straight into hell.

  “What are you planning to do with us?” Marin asked.

  Maggie watched as the mayor tightened his hold on Marin. The gun in his hand trembled.

  He could shoot any of them at any moment.

  “I just want you two to stay quiet. I need to think.” He looked at Maggie, but he never let Marin go. “I’m sorry about the fire. I panicked. Wasn’t thinking straight. And there were so many evidence boxes, it was just more expedient to burn them all instead of searching for hours. I’m an older man now, I was getting tired. I didn’t even see the trees behind the shed until it was too late. And that lumber on the front porch…” Grady stepped around Marin, then came to Maggie. He grabbed her elbow. Marin protested, as he dragged her along by her wrist.

  He waved the gun in Marin’s face, then grabbed Marin’s chin. He forced Marin to look at him. Maggie stayed where she was, feeling beyond helpless. Her hands pressed into the wound on Brandt’s shoulder. “You both know that I have used this before. Don’t tempt me. I’ve always found you fascinating, Marin. You…haunt my dreams at night. I don’t want to hurt you, or Maggie. But I will, if it becomes necessary. I need a few moments to think, to figure out what I need to do next.”

  Grady tied Marin to the old rocking chair in the corner, winding a curtain cord around her wrists.

  “That’s too tight,” Marin said. “Please…Mayor Grady…It’s too tight. You’re hurting me.”

  “That’s the point, honey. I don’t want you getting loose and causing trouble. You will, too. First chance you get. I’ve watched you, you know. When you weren’t looking. Found you fascinating for years, since you were no more than twenty. Don’t cause me any trouble. Please. I’m begging you not to make me hurt you. I really don’t want you to, honey.” He cupped Marin’s cheek. Caressed her lips with one finger.

  Something about the look in his eyes had Maggie shivering.

  When he pressed an exploring kiss to Marin’s lips Maggie almost gagged. He stood back up. “I always did like your mother, Marin. Something about the fire in her eyes. I love my wife, of course, but…there were quite a few what-ifs in my head. Sorry about her getting sick like that.”

  Marin didn’t say a word. Grady just kept talking. Pacing.

  “I really am sorry about having to do all of this to you both. And that boy there. I just…can’t have some of that stuff getting out there. It would have ruined everything. Of course, it already has. Once people put it together that I’m responsible for this, well, I’m as good as ruined around here. I just hope my children aren’t ostracized after this.” He cupped Marin’s cheek and ran his finger over her bottom lip. “Someone will have to make certain that doesn’t happen.”

  He kissed Marin one more time, holding her head with his free hand when she would have pulled away. Marin had nowhere to go.

  No one did. Grady blocked the only exit.

  Then he turned to Maggie.

  And reached for her.

  She couldn’t evade his hand.

  “Come on, honey. You’re going to help me look for a way out of this. And keeping you close will keep that girl in line. Keep Clint from shooting me where I stand.”

  Maggie had no choice. She shot a look over her shoulder at Marin.

  Her friend looked more terrified than Maggie had ever seen.

  Brandt was still bleeding at Marin’s feet.

  They were all alone with a man who had everything to lose. Except for Clint.

  Grady yanked her along behind him so fast, Maggie went down to one knee again, crying out as she did so. Her arm went around the baby and she tried to protect him as much as she could.

  Grady just yanked her back to her feet, cursing.

  60

  Jasper was sweating.

  There was a back door. He’d picked the lock earlier. It was closest to his SUV.

  He just had to get there.

  Maggie was damned awkward to drag along behind him. And Marin…he could hear her yelling at the top of her lungs. Trouble. She would be trouble, that woman. “I should have gagged her.”

  Every possible scenario ran through his head; he discarded most of them. Jasper wouldn’t be able to shoot a damned pregnant woman who’d once played Barbies with his daughters. He just couldn’t do it.

  “You would be better off turning yourself in,” she said, quietly.

  Just as Marin yelled out again. Woman was loud enough to wake the dead.

  Jasper cursed and tightened his hold on Maggie.

  He dragged her back down the hall from the dining room to the living room where he’d left Marin and Brandt.

  “What are you doing?” He almost hissed it. He nudged Maggie toward the far corner. “Stay there.”

  He untied Marin quickly, then fisted the thin red sweater she wore in his free hand. He used it as a handle her to jerk her closer.

  Just like that, he’d shifted one hostage for another. Marin—Marin would be a better hostage than Maggie. She could move faster, for one thing.

  He’d take her, put her in his SUV and drive. Canada was only twelve hours away. By the time anyone figured out he was involved, he could be gone from here. Or he could use her as a hostage, if needed. Though he knew very well how that tended to turn out. Never good.

  The life of a fugitive was a tough one, but it was better than being dead. It would kill his kids if he was dead.

  Of course, it would kill his kids if they learned about this, anyway.

  He had to get out of there and think. It might be best if he took Marin with him when he went.

  Maggie, as pregnant as she was, would just be far too much of a liability.

  61

  Maggie was a ranch girl at heart. She’d seen blood before, but she was definitely not equipped to deal with a gunshot wound. She checked Brandt’s pulse, hoping she was checking in the right place. It was strong and steady.

  Pumping his blood right out of his body. She slipped one hand beneath his strong shoulder, feeling. There had to be an exit wound, right? Wasn’t there always an exit wound on TV?

  Marin cried out next to her. Maggie looked at her. Marin looked terrified. She’d never seen Marin that afraid.

  Panic threatened. Marin—Marin never panicked. Marin could handle anything.

  Maggie bit back her own terror. The mayor jerked Marin even closer.

  “What are you doing here, mayor? What is it that Clive had that you need so badly you’d do this?” Brandt shifted beneath her fingers. Maggie checked his face.

  His eyes blinked.

  He was still in there. Thank God.

  Mayor Grady stood in the center of the living room. Blocking the path to the door.

  They had no other way out—except the windows.

  She couldn’t get out of here, not as big as she was now. Not safely.

  And Brandt…she and Marin couldn’t lift him. Not as big as he was.

  They had to get
the mayor and the gun he held out of the way. Somehow. And they had to get Brandt help, as fast as they could.

  They were a good forty miles away from the hospital now.

  “I know you don’t want to hurt us. You never intended that at all, did you?”

  62

  Jasper looked down at the woman at his feet. Maggie had gotten back to her knees after he’d bumped her down, and leaned over the young man. The man was a big sort of brute. At least six-foot-six and built like a bull.

  Jasper looked at Marin. “Your boyfriend?”

  He hoped not. Marin didn’t need a boyfriend like this. Not her.

  She just stared at him, terror in her big blue eyes. He had always loved her eyes. They were her mother’s eyes.

  He’d always found Marin’s mother to be a beautiful, alluring woman.

  But she had chosen Gerald Talley over him. A shame.

  Though he had loved Jody with every fiber of his being. He hadn’t regretted Jody, but the what-might-have-beens were real.

  “Why did you shoot him?” Maggie asked, more fire in her words than he would have thought she was capable of.

  She’d landed on her stomach when he’d bumped her.

  The shot had been wild; he had been aiming next to where he’d thought Tommy’s head would be. He hadn’t meant to shoot Tommy.

  It would have made it too hard to make it look like an accident.

  There was a man Jasper didn’t recognize bleeding at his feet. Jasper took a quick look at him.

  Hell, he wasn’t any older than Cadell or Calloway. With the dark hair, he looked like one of Jasper’s boys right there.

  Hell. He was someone’s son, and Jasper had hurt him.

  “Marin, help her stop the bleeding,” he ordered. Jasper wrapped his hand around her elbow. She’d pushed the sleeves on her thin sweater up. Her skin was so damned soft.

  He trailed a shaking hand down her flesh.

  He swore, seeing his fingers wrapped around her soft, creamy skin.