Chapter Sixteen
Lauren hadn’t had nearly enough time to steel herself up for this, but maybe there was no chance of that happening anyway. Not with the strong possibility that they were all about to die.
Cameron got out ahead of her, took aim at the man by the motorcycle and sent several shots his way. Lauren didn’t look back to see if that had pinned down the guy or sent him scrambling. She just ran as fast as she could while trying to keep hold of the blankets. Despite the rain and the slick, muddy surface, she raced across the narrow trail, went several yards into the woods and dropped behind a tree.
She had her gun. She was holding it in a death grip beneath the blankets. But no way did she have a clean shot. That was because Cameron, Jameson and Jace were in between the motorcycle thug and her.
“Run!” she called out to them.
They did, but they weren’t hurrying as much as she’d done, and they were volleying their attention between the motorcycle and the SUV. Good thing, too, because it was only a handful of seconds before both SUV doors opened, and the armed men leaned out. They stayed in the SUV and behind the doors, using them for cover.
While they sent round after round of bullets at Cameron and the others.
Lauren didn’t have a clean shot of them, either, so she could only pray that they reached safety.
Cameron and Jameson did. They ran toward her, but they only made it a few feet off the trail and ducked behind the first tree they reached. It was still much too close to the SUV, but at least they were no longer in a direct line of fire.
Unlike Jace.
He wasn’t nearly as lucky.
Lauren watched in horror as a bullet slammed into Jace’s arm.
She heard him make a sharp sound of pain, and he scurried to the front of the cruiser. It was a wreck, but at least he was out of the path of the men in the SUV. Not from the motorcycle guy, though, or anyone else who happened to be out here in these woods. That was why Lauren tried to keep watch for him.
Soon, very soon, Jace would need an ambulance, but there was little chance of getting one out here unless they stopped these hired guns. That meant killing them, since she figured they hadn’t come out here with plans to surrender.
The thugs from the SUV continued to fire at Cameron and Jameson, forcing them to stay put, though Cameron did look in her direction. Just a glimpse. And she saw the same worry on his face that was no doubt on hers.
She caught some movement from the corner of her eye. It wasn’t by the motorcycle, where she’d last seen the guy with the launcher. It was a good fifteen feet past that. But it was the same man, all right. He was behind some dense shrubs, and he lifted something. Not a launcher this time. But rather a gun.
And he aimed it at Jace.
“Look out, Jace!” she yelled.
But Lauren did more than just shout out a warning. She dumped the blankets on the ground and shot at the guy. She missed. Cursed herself for doing that because the man dropped back out of sight. She had no doubt, though, that he was still there, waiting for a shot where he could finish off Jace.
Her phone dinged with a text message, and while Lauren hated to take her eyes off her surroundings, she knew this could be important. It was. It was from Cameron.
Stay put and keep holding the blankets, he texted. Backup can’t get to us right away.
Lauren did pick up the blankets, but her breath froze. The fear wedged there in her throat that’d clamped shut.
No.
That wasn’t what she’d wanted to hear.
They needed backup. Worse, it could mean the Ranger and reserve deputies had been hurt or killed. Obviously, these hired guns had known they were trying to lead them to a trap. If they’d spotted the lawmen, then they could have taken them out before Jace had even driven onto the trail.
She forced herself to breathe. To think. Hard to do with the bullets still flying all around, not just from the SUV shooter but also from Cameron and Jameson.
Plus, she had to watch for the man with the launcher. He could send another one of those explosives at Jace. Or at Cameron and Jameson, for that matter. Lauren didn’t think he would aim at her, though. Not as long as he thought she had the babies in her arms. It didn’t make her feel better to know that she was safe while Cameron, Jace and her brother weren’t.
Lauren adjusted her gun, holding it beneath the blankets, and she continued to keep watch. The gunman who’d had the launcher finally leaned out from cover again. Like before, he took aim at Jace. But this time, Jace must have seen him because he fired first. Unlike her shot, Jace’s didn’t miss, and the guy fell to the ground.
Good, one down and at least two to go.
It wasn’t safe for Jace to try to make his way across the trail to her, but he did drop lower to the ground. She could see that he was grimacing in pain. However, he was also looking around to make sure there weren’t others who could pick him off.
Even over the noise of the gunfire, Lauren heard another sound. A car engine. Someone was coming up the trail and would soon be behind the SUV. She hoped it was Gabriel or another cop, but she couldn’t count on that. She had to do something to help.
Now that Jace was out of immediate danger, Lauren started moving. She stayed crouched as low as she could manage while still carrying the blankets, and she began to make her way to Cameron.
Jameson and he had almost certainly heard the car and knew that it could mean more trouble. If they had to fend off more gunmen, she wanted to be in a position to help.
Lauren kept moving. Kept checking her, too, to make sure Jace was all right. He was still in the same spot, and she didn’t see any other hired thugs trying to get to him.
“Stay down,” Cameron snapped when he spotted her. “Don’t come any closer.”
“I can help you return fire.”
He didn’t answer her, not with words, but he gave her a stern look while he continued to trade shots with the gunmen. Lauren did get down, but she went several more feet first and then took cover behind a tree. All in all, it wasn’t a bad position because she had line of sight of Cameron and Jameson as well as Jace.
There was blood on his shirt.
The rain was soaking him, but the blood continued to flow. She saw him grimace again, and he pressed his hand over it. Probably to try to slow the bleeding.
In the distance she heard something else to let her know that things had gone wrong. More gunfire. It seemed to be coming from two areas—both up the trail and back by the road. The gunfire was probably why the backup couldn’t get to them.
She kept her attention on their surroundings, but Lauren took out her phone again so she could try to text Gabriel. He almost certainly knew what was going on, but she wanted to make sure the babies were all right. Before she could press his number, though, her phone rang.
Unknown Caller.
Her heart thudded against her chest. Because the gunman was calling her. Maybe because Cameron was too busy shooting to answer. But it did make her wonder how he’d gotten her number.
She hit the answer button, but as Cameron had done earlier, Lauren didn’t say anything. It didn’t take long, though, before she heard the voice.
“Lauren,” the caller said. “There’s only one way for your brother and Cameron to get out of this alive. And that’s for you to bring me the babies now.”
* * *
CAMERON HAD HEARD Lauren’s phone ring, and he’d hoped it was Gabriel calling to reassure her that he had a plan to rescue her. But after one look at her face, Cameron knew it wasn’t that.
Something was wrong.
Of course, the worst possible scenario came to mind. That something bad had happened at the ranch; that they were under attack. There were plenty of people at Gabriel’s to protect Patrick and Isaac, but that didn’t mean one of the boys couldn’t have been hurt.
He wasn’t close enough to Lauren to hear what she was saying, but she was definitely responding to something the caller had said. Not a good response, either. Lauren cursed the caller, and then her gaze flew to him.
Yeah, something was definitely wrong, but he didn’t think it was fear that he saw. Cameron thought she was angry. So angry that every visible muscle was tight.
Even though Cameron had insisted that she stay put, Lauren started toward him. She didn’t exactly stay down, either. She hurried, but at least she was continuing to hold the blankets to her chest. Unfortunately, they no longer looked much like babies because the rain had soaked the blankets. It had soaked Lauren, too. The rain was dripping off her face.
When she was still several feet away, Cameron ran to her, pulling her behind the tree with Jameson and him. He was about to ask her what’d happened, but she just handed him the phone. Her hand was shaking. She was shaking. But her eyes were narrowed almost to slits.
“It’s Julia,” she said.
Cameron doubted the woman was calling to check on them or declare her innocence for the umpteenth time. No. She was the person behind this. Probably the person in the car that’d just come to a stop in back of the SUV.
Hell.
Of course, she was one of their main suspects, but it sickened him to think of this witch putting Lauren and everyone else in danger. And he figured Julia was doing that because she needed money. Now Cameron could feel his own surge of anger, and he hoped he got a chance to settle the score with this woman.
“What do you want?” Cameron snapped when he finally spoke to her. Jameson moved closer so he could hear over the drone of the rain.
“Lauren and Isaac,” Julia said without hesitation. “Have them come to my car, and you, Patrick and anybody else you brought with you will be safe. You can even get an ambulance out here for your deputy friend.”
Cameron wanted the ambulance for Jace, but that was too big of a price to pay. Jace would feel the same way about it, too.
“You really think I’ll just allow Lauren and Isaac to go to you?” Cameron asked. “You’ll kill them.”
Now Julia hesitated. “No. I’m not about to kill my brother’s son. Lauren and Isaac will be taken to an undisclosed location, and once I have the money from Alden’s estate, I’ll release them.”
“Right.” And he didn’t bother to take the skepticism out of his voice.
Lauren was plenty skeptical, as well, and he didn’t think her trembling was all from the cold rain. It was also from the rage she was feeling right now. Cameron had to make sure that rage didn’t cause Lauren to do something stupid. Like try to go after Julia.
“You don’t believe me,” Julia remarked. She sounded so calm she could have been discussing the weather, but Cameron figured the woman was also feeling loads of emotion. Fear being one of them. Julia had to know that so many things could go wrong now.
That applied to Lauren and him, as well.
“You should believe me,” Julia went on. “I’ll disappear after I have the money and settle my debts. I plan to move overseas. A place where I can’t be extradited back here.”
There were many countries that didn’t have extradition treaties with the US, but Cameron still wasn’t convinced.
“I figure you’ll stay put, right here in Texas,” Cameron said. “And you’ll probably set up Duane or Evelyn to take the fall for this.”
Silence. Which meant he was probably spot-on with his theory. No way would Julia take the blame for any of this.
“You need to hurry,” Julia warned him, her voice crisp now. “Don’t count on help from your lawmen friends, either, because my men are holding them off on the road.”
Cameron didn’t like the sound of that, and he hoped none of them had been hurt. The injury to Jace was enough. “You’ve hired an awful lot of thugs for someone who’s flat broke.”
“Funded with money from Alden’s company,” she admitted. “And a little help from the person who loaned me money.”
So the thugs belonged to the loan shark. That was why none of them had been willing to negotiate a deal with Cameron. Their boss wouldn’t have killed them. And this way, the loan shark ensured that he’d get not only the money Julia owed him but then some, too. Heck, the loan shark might end up taking most of the entire estate. Along with killing Julia. But the woman probably hadn’t realized that.
“Your deputy might have managed to take out the person who was manning the launcher,” Julia went on. “But there’s someone else out there who can do the same job. He has orders to fire if Lauren doesn’t come to me with Isaac. You’ve got a minute to send her out here.”
“I’ll go,” Lauren whispered.
Cameron cursed and muted the call. Even though Lauren already knew this, he thought it was worth repeating. “She wants you dead.”
“Yes, but when I get to the car, she’ll want to take a look at Isaac, to make sure I’ve brought the right baby. When she does that, I can escape.”
There were way too many things that could go wrong—especially since Julia would have at least one hired gun in the car with her. Still, they didn’t have a lot of options here. If the guy with the launcher fired at them, then they’d all die.
Cameron forced himself to think, and there was no completely safe way to handle this. But maybe he could do something to ensure that Lauren made it out of this alive.
“Make sure there’s not another launcher,” Cameron told Jameson.
Jameson nodded, and he started moving. Unlike Lauren had done, he kept low. Obviously trying to stay out of sight while he made his way closer to the cruiser and the area where they’d last seen the launcher.
“Give me thirty seconds before you start walking out to Julia,” Cameron added to Lauren. “I’ll try to get as close to Julia’s car as possible so I can be in place to help you escape.”
He gave one of the blankets an adjustment and gave her a quick kiss. Cameron wished there was time to say more. Exactly what, he didn’t know. But he hated to think that these might be his last moments with her.
“Thirty seconds,” he repeated, and Cameron started moving.
Thankfully, there was plenty of underbrush so he could keep hidden, but Julia had probably figured he’d be trying to do something exactly like this.
He counted off the seconds in his head, and once he was close to that thirty-second mark, Cameron stopped and got ready to fire. He considered just shooting into the windshield of Julia’s car with the hopes he’d hit her or her goons. But then the guy with the launcher would no doubt retaliate.
Cameron felt the punch of dread go through him when Lauren stepped out. Right out in the open. Of course, that’d been the plan, but still, he hated that she had to be in harm’s way like this.
“I’m coming,” Lauren called out to Julia.
She had a bundled blanket in the crook of her right arm. And she also had her gun. It wasn’t hidden nearly enough, but there was no way Cameron could warn her now. Lauren was walking directly to the car.
The car doors opened. Both on the driver’s and front passenger’s side, and even though no one got out, Cameron figured these were the hired goons. Julia was probably in the backseat, but he couldn’t see her.
“You’ll want to drop that gun,” one of the thugs told Lauren.
Lauren stopped, hesitating, and she let go of it so that it fell to the ground. She started walking again. Only making it a few steps.
Before the shot blasted through the air.
* * *
LAUREN HEARD THE sound and braced herself for the bullet to hit her. The old saying was true. Her life did flash before her eyes. The pain and the happiness. She’d known that Cameron had been a big reason for a lot of her happiness, and she regretted that she had never told him that.
But the bullet didn’t hit her.
Stunned, she stood there a moment before she realized the guy on the driver’s side of Julia’s car had fired the shot at Cameron. Lauren’s stomach went to her knees, and she called out for him.
No response.
The anger came, quickly replacing the stunned fear, and Lauren charged toward the gunman.
“Don’t shoot her,” Julia yelled. “Not until we have the kid.”
Lauren had figured all along that Julia had no plans to let her live, and Julia had just confirmed that. Since holding the baby gave Lauren some protection, she kept running. Except she didn’t go to the driver. She ran to the other side of the vehicle, where she hoped to get her hands on Julia.
Behind her, she heard the explosion. Mercy, that was where Jameson had been going, and she prayed he hadn’t been hurt. Maybe he’d managed to get out of the path before that blast went his way, but she couldn’t risk even glancing over her shoulder to check on him.
There was another shot.
The bullet slammed into the driver, and it’d come from Cameron’s direction. She prayed that meant he hadn’t been hurt and added the same prayer for her brother.
The thug on the passenger’s side took aim at Cameron, and he started shooting. One shot right after the other. And Cameron wasn’t returning fire.
Lauren kept moving, pushing aside all the gunfire and the possibility that the gunman would turn his weapon on her. In case he tried that, she held the blanket even higher so that it would make it harder for her to kill him.
When Lauren reached the car, the thug stopped shooting at Cameron, and he reached out to grab her. She didn’t give him a chance to do that, though. She used the entire weight of her body to ram into the car door, which, in turn, rammed into him. He cursed her and howled out in pain. But Lauren ignored him and threw open the back door.
Julia.
The woman sat there, alone on the backseat, and she had a gun aimed right at Lauren.
“Give me the kid,” Julia snarled.
Her sister-in-law had never been friendly to her, but now Lauren saw the pure hatred in the woman’s eyes. She was certain there was hatred in her own eyes, too. Hatred that she aimed at Julia.
Yelling at the top of her lungs, Lauren tossed the blanket at her. She caught just a glimpse of Julia’s stunned look before Lauren launched herself at the woman. Pinpointing all of her rage into her fist, she punched Julia right in the face.
Julia didn’t just sit there and take that, though. She let out her own feral yell, and she came at Lauren, grabbing her by the hair and shoving her back. They fell out of the car and onto the ground. Unfortunately, Julia landed on top of Lauren, and she whacked her gun across Lauren’s jaw.
The pain slammed through Lauren so hard and nearly robbed her of her breath. Still, that didn’t stop her from fighting back. Nor did the shots that she heard being fired all around them. Cameron and maybe Jameson were in a fight for their lives, but Lauren was in her own fight. One that she had to win so that she could help Cameron and the others.
Lauren managed to catch on to Julia’s wrist to stop the woman from hitting her with the gun again, but Julia only punched her with her left hand. That one wasn’t nearly as hard as the first one had been, but it still dazed her for a moment.
“You should have just brought the kid!” Julia shouted. “They’ll kill me now, but first I’ll make sure you’re dead.”
Lauren had no intention of just letting her do that. While she still had a grip on Julia’s wrist, Lauren shoved up her hand—and Julia’s gun slammed into the woman’s chin. Julia cursed her again.
And pulled the trigger.
The gun was close to Lauren’s ear. Too close. Because the blast from the bullet was so loud that it deafened her. But she had no trouble feeling, and even though Julia’s shot had missed her, that didn’t stop her from head-butting Lauren.
Enough of this. Lauren wasn’t just going to lie there while Julia beat her into unconsciousness. Then she’d be an easy kill. She didn’t intend to make any of this easy for Julia.
Lauren mustered as much energy as she could, and she threw Julia off her. She moved fast to pin the woman’s hands to the ground by throwing her body over Julia’s.
“Kill Cameron,” Julia shouted out to her hired thug. “Kill him now.” And the thug fired some shots.
That was not the right thing for Julia to say, and it caused a new wave of anger to wash through Lauren. She slammed her forearm into Julia’s face, causing the woman’s head to flop back. Lauren took full advantage of that. She ripped the gun from Julia’s hand, turned toward the thug.
Lauren fired.
But her shot wasn’t necessary. The thug was already in the process of falling to the ground. That was when she saw Cameron. Alive, thank God. And with his gun aimed right at the fallen man.
Beneath her, she felt Julia’s body tense. The woman was probably about to gear up for another round of the fight. She didn’t get a chance to do that, though. Cameron raced toward them, and he pointed his gun at Julia.
“Please move so I can shoot you,” he said through clenched teeth.
Julia went limp, her hands dropping to her sides. Lauren didn’t relax, though. She got up and took aim at the woman, as well.
Lauren risked a glance at Cameron to make sure he was okay. He seemed to be. No blood anyway. She was certain she was bleeding, though, from the punches she’d taken from Julia.
The sound of running footsteps sent Cameron snapping in the direction of the cruiser. Lauren looked there, too, and saw a welcome sight.
Jameson.
Her brother seemed fine, too.
“The guy with the launcher’s dead,” Jameson said. “I don’t see any other hired guns around, but we need to get out of here.” He glanced down at Julia. “We can get that piece of slime behind bars.”
Julia had a strange reaction to that. She looked up at Lauren and laughed. “It’s not over,” the woman said. “I had a backup plan in case something went wrong. In case you didn’t bring the babies with you, after all.”
“What do you mean?” Lauren asked, and she reminded herself that anything that came out of the woman’s mouth could be a lie.
But this didn’t feel like a lie.
Not with that sick smile on Julia’s face.
“Evelyn didn’t want any part of the violence,” Julia continued. “She didn’t want to get her hands dirty. But she’s at the ranch now to get her grandson. And I sent enough hired guns with her to do just that.”