Chapter Nine
Jameson hadn’t liked anything about this plan to meet Mandy, and he was liking it even less now.
“What baby?” he snapped.
“Just go. I’ll explain everything once we’re there. Those kidnappers will go after her.”
Her. Maybe as in Boyer’s daughter.
“Please,” Mandy said, looking at Kelly. “If they take her, we might never find her. They could hurt her to get back at you.”
Hell. That wasn’t what he wanted to hear. Of course, Jameson hadn’t wanted to hear that Kelly had had any part in taking the child. Because there was no way Boyer was just going to let this slide. He would put Kelly behind bars. And then there was the issue of the child. Boyer would almost certainly get custody of his own daughter—unless Jameson could come up with some kind of dirt to stop him. At the moment, though, he had more urgent problems.
“Where’s the baby?” Jameson demanded.
“Just drive,” Mandy insisted. “I’ll tell you once we’re on the highway. Make sure your brother follows us.”
Oh, he would. Jameson also hoped like the devil that he wouldn’t regret this. Still, if there was indeed a baby in danger, he needed to do something to save her.
“Go,” Jameson told Cameron, and he made a quick call to Gabriel to let him know what was going on. He kept watch of Mandy, though, during the handful of seconds that he spoke to his brother. She didn’t have a weapon and was hurt, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t a possible threat.
“Remember, no SAPD,” Mandy said to Jameson once he was finished with the call. “It’s too big of a risk to take to include them on this. If just one of them is on the take, it could cost a child her life.”
Jameson wasn’t immune to that threat. Especially since Kelly had indeed remembered the images of the little girl. It was a risk to go anywhere with Mandy, but he figured the biggest risk would be to stay put. After all, someone had caused that injury on Mandy’s arm, and that someone could still be around.
“Take a right,” Mandy instructed Cameron when he reached the end of the road.
Once the deputy had done that, Kelly made eye contact with her sister. “Start talking,” Kelly said.
Mandy huffed. “I was about to tell you to do the same thing.” She didn’t keep her attention on her sister, though. Her gaze was firing all around, no doubt looking for those men. “Well, this is a mess. Do you know how close I came to dying?”
“Probably as close as Kelly did,” Jameson countered, and he made a circling motion with his finger to prompt her to keep explaining.
Mandy opened her mouth, closed it and opened it again. “I’m not even sure where to start.”
Jameson hoped this wasn’t some kind of stall tactic. Just in case it was, he kept watch, as well. There wasn’t much traffic on this particular road, but it only took one vehicle carrying those men to make this situation go from bad to worse.
“Start from the beginning,” Jameson instructed. “And give me lots more details about where we’re going and this baby that could be in harm’s way.”
Mandy nodded, then took a deep breath. “You mean the beginning two years ago when Kelly left?” But she didn’t wait for him to confirm that. “Someone tried to kill her. That’s why she ran away. And don’t ask who did that because we don’t know. Like I said, I thought it might be you. Guess not,” she quickly added when Jameson’s glare intensified.
“Where did I go?” Kelly asked. “And what happened? Why are you taking us to a baby? Whose baby is it?”
Judging from the way Mandy’s eyes widened, one or more of those questions confused her. “Get on the I-35 north. Then take the second exit and turn right,” Mandy said to Cameron before turning back to Kelly. “At first you went to Austin, but then there was another attack, and you moved again. I don’t know where. You said it was best if no one knew.”
Probably because she hadn’t wanted to put her sister or anyone else in danger. But why had someone wanted her dead then? Or now, for that matter? It was too bad those memories didn’t come back to her the way the other pieces had, because they desperately needed some answers.
Cameron took the ramp to the interstate, and there was plenty of traffic here, including Gabriel who was right behind them. Jameson only hoped those kidnappers hadn’t managed to follow them.
“I hadn’t heard from you in months,” Mandy went on, talking to her sister, “and then you called me about a week ago. You asked me to meet you because you said something was wrong, that someone was following you. You thought it was August.”
“August?” Kelly and Jameson repeated in unison. Jameson certainly hadn’t been expecting Mandy to say that. Apparently neither had Kelly, because she made a sharp sound of surprise.
“Yeah. You told me that you believed August had turned stalker again.”
Jameson looked at Kelly to see if she knew anything about this, but she only shook her head. “When did August stalk Kelly?” he asked.
“Two years ago. August had a thing for Kelly, and they even went out a few times. He was furious when he found out you’d slept with Jameson.”
“That doesn’t feel right,” Kelly said, touching her fingers to her head. “Well, not the part about me dating August anyway. He gave me the creeps when I saw him at the sheriff’s office, but he certainly didn’t say a word about us going out.”
“Nor has he ever said anything about it to me,” Jameson added. “And I’ve had a lot of ‘conversations’ with him in the past two years.”
Maybe that meant Mandy was lying. But why would she do that—especially since it was something he could verify with August? Of course, August might not tell him the truth.
“How did August know that Kelly had slept with me?” Jameson pressed.
Mandy lifted her shoulder, then winced. A reminder that she still needed medical attention for that gunshot wound. “Beats me. But the man was always hiring PIs to help get his brother out of jail. He could have had a PI watching Kelly.”
“I didn’t know,” Kelly whispered, and she repeated it to Jameson.
“Well, you need to be careful around him,” Mandy insisted. “The man is bad news, and I wouldn’t put it past him to have set those kidnappers on me. He could be responsible for the attacks on you, too.”
Jameson glanced at Kelly to see how she was handling that. Not well. She hadn’t exactly been steady at the start of this trip, but she was obviously learning things that were hard for her to swallow.
Things hard for Jameson to swallow, too.
Hell. That’s because he was jealous. Of August, of all people. Feeling the attraction for Kelly was bad enough, and now this was eating away at him. It was also something else he had to add to a growing to-do list. But if Kelly had indeed gone out with August, Jameson needed to find out why. Because it could be connected to the nightmare that was going on right now.
Cameron took the exit, and Jameson turned away from Kelly so he could make sure there were no suspicious vehicles around them. At least the traffic was thinner here, but there were plenty of buildings.
“Later, I’m going to want to hear a whole lot more about August,” Jameson clarified to Mandy. “For now, let’s get back to where we’re going and the baby we’re going to save from these thugs.”
“We’re going to a safe house. Of sorts,” Mandy added in a mumble. “It’s something Kelly set up last week. I’m just hoping it’s as safe as we need it to be. As for Boyer’s daughter, Hadley came to us, begging for help...”
Jameson followed Mandy’s gaze and soon saw what had snagged her attention. It was a black SUV that came out from a side road and was now right behind Gabriel. Even though the driver didn’t do anything suspicious like gun the engine and try to get closer to the cruiser, it still put Jameson on edge.
“The kidnappers used a vehicle like that.” Mandy’s voice was suddenly a hoarse whisper. “I’d like to have that gun back now.”
Jameson didn’t give it to her, but like the rest of them, they continued to watch the SUV. Apparently, Gabriel was doing the same thing because he got a text from his brother.
“Bad news?” Gabriel asked.
“Possibly,” Jameson texted back.
A moment later, Mandy took her phone from her pocket, and she cursed when she looked at the screen. “Two missed calls. I’m betting this is the kidnappers. It’s says Unknown Caller, but that’s how their calls have been coming through.”
Probably because they were using another burner cell. “You spoke to them after you escaped?”
She quickly shook her head. “No. I didn’t answer. I didn’t want them to hear me talking and use that to pinpoint my location.”
Wise move. But Jameson very much wanted to talk to them now. He took the phone from Mandy. She reached for it as if to snatch it back from his hand, but he gave her a look that Jameson was certain could have melted ice.
“I just don’t want them to find us,” Mandy said. It was not only stating the obvious, but it was also an insult to him.
“I’m a Texas Ranger,” he reminded her. “And I want you to stay quiet if they answer.”
With that warning, Jameson hit the callback button. Even though he put it on speaker, Kelly still moved closer to him. Until they were shoulder to shoulder.
“Didn’t you learn your lesson the first time you ran, Mandy?” a man said when he answered. “You want another bullet in you?”
That meshed with what Mandy had told them, but Jameson decided to stay silent to see what the kidnapper would say. It didn’t take long for the guy to continue.
“I know the cat hasn’t got your tongue,” the goon taunted. “And I saw you get in the cop car. I know exactly where you are.”
Mandy flinched, her attention shooting right back to that SUV. Kelly didn’t fare much better. She clamped her teeth over her bottom lip, but that didn’t stop it from trembling.
“Yeah, you’re a special kind of stupid all right,” the kidnapper went on. “This isn’t much of a guess, but the cop is probably listening right now. So speak up, cop. If not, I plan to open the window and just start shooting. Might not hit the cruiser or the cop behind him, but I’ll sure as hell hit something.”
Jameson wanted to curse, but instead he handed Kelly his own phone. “Text Gabriel and tell him what’s happening,” he mouthed. He didn’t want his brother blindsided by shots this idiot might fire. Once she’d started that, Jameson turned his attention back to the caller.
“Why’d you take Mandy?” Jameson came out and asked him.
The guy didn’t jump to answer that, but Jameson could hear him having a muffled conversation. Probably with his partner. Or rather his partners. Mandy had said two men had taken her, but that didn’t mean there weren’t more than that following them.
“I was following orders,” the guy finally said. “Just like now. Either you and the other cop pull off the side of the road and hand over Kelly to us, or we start shooting.”
“Kelly?” Jameson questioned. “I thought you were after Mandy.”
“Not now that we have Kelly in our sights. And she is in our sights, cop.”
Jameson wasn’t sure how Kelly managed to finish the text to Gabriel because her hand was suddenly trembling as much as her mouth. She handed him back his phone.
“I can’t put all of you in danger again,” Kelly said. Her voice was barely audible, but Jameson heard it loud and clear.
He hoped Kelly didn’t have trouble hearing him, either. “No. You’re not surrendering to these nutjobs. You’ll be dead within minutes if you step out of this cruiser.” Just in case she had plans to jump out, Jameson took hold of her arm.
“He’s right,” Mandy assured her. “They want you dead.”
Jameson hadn’t been certain that Mandy would be willing to put herself in the path of those kidnappers, but it sounded as if she was bracing herself for a fight.
And that fight came.
“Time’s up,” the kidnapper snarled.
The guy ended the call, and within seconds a shot blasted through the air. That put Jameson’s heart right in his throat, and he fired glances around, trying to figure out if the shooter had hit anything.
He had.
The back window of Gabriel’s car had been cracked. It was bullet-resistant, but if the shots continued, eventually they’d be able to make it through.
The gunman fired again, and this time Jameson spotted the guy’s hand when he stuck it out the window. It was impossible to see his face, though, because of the heavy tint on the windshield.
“Speed up,” Jameson told Cameron. “Get us out of here.” That way, Gabriel wouldn’t be trapped between the cruiser and the SUV.
“Give me the gun, and I’ll try to return fire,” Mandy insisted.
Jameson couldn’t say “no” fast enough. For one thing, he didn’t want the window down to make it easier for shots to get into the vehicle. There could be other gunmen stashed along the road who could do that. For another thing, he didn’t want Mandy firing a shot that could hit an innocent bystander.
Cameron sped up. Behind them, Gabriel did the same. But the shooter in the SUV didn’t give up. It went faster as well, and the shots continued. These bullets didn’t seem to be going into Gabriel’s car, either. The snake was firing random shots, trying to kill someone.
In the distance, Jameson heard the sound of sirens. Gabriel had likely called for backup for them to already be that close to the scene. That didn’t mean Jameson had plans for them to slow down or stop.
“Take the next left,” Mandy told Cameron.
Cameron’s eyes met Jameson’s in the rearview mirror, and Jameson nodded. “Where are we going?” Jameson asked her.
“That safe house.” Mandy’s breath was gusting now, and she had her attention pinned to the SUV. Despite the sirens, the thugs were staying right behind them and were continuing to shoot.
One of those bullets slammed into the back glass of the cruiser.
Jameson cursed, shoving Kelly down onto the seat. “You get down, too,” he told Mandy, but he didn’t wait to see if she’d do that. He turned in the seat, positioning his body above Kelly and making himself ready to return fire if those shots did indeed take out the glass.
Cameron took the left turn, the tires squealing on the asphalt, and the deputy had to fight with the steering wheel to keep them from going into a skid. Beneath him, he could feel Kelly’s tense muscles, and he knew she was scared. She looked up at him, their gazes connecting for just a second, but in that glimpse, Jameson also saw something else.
The determination to put an end to this.
Good. He preferred her riled than on the verge of losing it. That said, he didn’t want her to do anything stupid. He’d already filled their stupid quota for the day by bringing Kelly with him and putting her in yet another life-and-death situation.
“Take another left at the stop sign,” Mandy told Cameron.
Another shot smacked into the back window of the cruiser, but despite the webbed glass, Jameson was still able to see that Gabriel made the turn with them. So did the SUV. His brother stayed right behind the cruiser while the hail of gunfire continued. The only saving grace was that there wasn’t much traffic on this road. No buildings, either, so it minimized the gunman’s targets.
Of course, that meant the goon continued to send shots into the cruiser.
“I see the cops,” Mandy said, volleying glances all around.
So did Jameson. There were two SAPD cruisers, their blue lights flashing and the sirens blaring. They were still a good distance behind them, but at least now the SUV would be sandwiched between them.
“Hold on,” Cameron warned them a split second before he reached the stop sign. The deputy slowed just enough to make the left turn and then sped up again.
Jameson watched Gabriel take the same turn. But the SUV didn’t. The driver went straight through the intersection and kept going.
Getting away.
“You want me to go after him?” Cameron asked.
It was tempting, especially since these goons had endangered so many people, but Kelly and Mandy had already had enough risks for the day. For a lifetime, really.
“No. Keep going,” Jameson answered. Behind them, the SAPD cops went in pursuit of the SUV. Good. Maybe they’d catch the SOBs.
Kelly got up from the seat, glancing back at the messed-up glass before turning to her sister. “How far is this safe house?”
“Not far.” Mandy paused. Stared at her. “You really don’t remember?”
“No. How far?” Kelly repeated.
Mandy looked at the road, which was leading them to a rural area. In fact, there were no visible houses, just pastures. “About two miles. But we need to keep watch to make sure those men aren’t following us.”
Jameson was already doing that. There was no one behind Gabriel, and they hadn’t yet passed any immediate side roads, where a gunman could park and wait. That was about to change, though.
“Take a right at the stop sign just ahead,” Mandy instructed Cameron. Unlike Jameson, she kept her attention nailed to Kelly while Cameron took the turn. “Kelly, you’re sure you want to go here?”
That spiked Jameson’s concern a significant notch. “Why wouldn’t she?” he snapped. “You said we needed to go here to make sure the men didn’t get to the baby.”
Mandy nodded without even looking at him. “Are you sure?”
“If it can save a child, then yes, I’m sure,” Kelly said. But she didn’t sound certain at all. Neither was Jameson.
There was also plenty of wariness in Cameron’s eyes when he looked back at Jameson, silently asking him what to do.
Jameson leaned forward and got right in Mandy’s face. “If this is a trap, you’ll pay and pay hard. Understand?”
“No trap,” she assured him in a ragged whisper. “Pull into the driveway just ahead,” she added to Cameron.
Jameson got his gun ready again, and he handed Kelly the weapon he’d taken from Mandy. He prayed she didn’t have to use it, but he needed her to be ready for anything.
“Anything” definitely wasn’t what Jameson had expected.
The moment that Cameron turned into the driveway, Jameson saw the one-story white house. Not a fortress or a trap. It looked like, well, a home. There was a picket fence surrounding the yard, which was dotted with shrubs and flowers. And the place wasn’t empty. There was a blond-haired woman sitting on the porch in a rocking chair.
The woman wasn’t alone. Beside her on the porch was a little girl. A toddler. She was wearing pink shorts and a white top, and the vehicles got both their attention. The woman stood, scooping up the little girl, her motions jerky and fast as if she was ready to bolt with her. She might have done just that, too, but she stopped when Mandy stepped from the cruiser.
Even though Jameson was about ten yards from the woman, he saw the relief on her face. It didn’t last, though, because she spotted the blood on Mandy’s sleeve.
“You’re hurt,” the woman called out. “What happened? Do we need to leave? Has there been more trouble?”
Mandy waved it off and went closer. “Kelly’s with me.” She added something else to the woman, something that Jameson couldn’t hear.
That put him on full alert, and he stepped from the cruiser in case Mandy had just given this woman the order to attack. But no attack. The woman carried the baby off the porch and stood her in the yard. The little girl grinned and toddled her way toward Mandy. The kid obviously wasn’t very good at walking, because she teetered a few times as if she might fall.
Jameson was so focused on what was playing out in front of him that he didn’t notice Kelly opening the door until it was too late. She got out, and since she was on the other side of the car, he couldn’t get to her before she started going closer to the house.
As the woman had done with Mandy, she smiled at Kelly. So did the little girl. The baby immediately changed directions, no longer headed toward Mandy but straight to Kelly.
Jameson hurried to them, his gaze slashing all around in case they were about to be ambushed. But there didn’t seem to be a threat. The woman certainly didn’t seem alarmed.
When Kelly reached the baby, the little girl outstretched her arms for Kelly to pick her up. And Jameson had no trouble hearing the one word that the child babbled.
“Mama.”