Книга - Gunfire On The Ranch

Gunfire On The Ranch
Delores Fossen


Ten years ago, he was a suspect in her parents’ murder. Now he’s back to protect the family he never knew he had.DEA agent Theo Carter has gone back home to protect the family he never knew he had while a murderer is on the loose. Ivy Beckett broke his heart once, will he let her break down his barriers again?







Ten years ago, he was a suspect in her parents’ murder. Now he’s back to protect the family he never knew he had.

DEA agent Theo Canton may have been the town bad boy but murder was never his MO. Too bad his girlfriend at the time didn’t see it that way. Now Ivy Beckett isn’t just the girl who broke his heart—she’s the target of a killer. Theo vows to keep the blue-eyed beauty safe, even as he meets the son she never told him about. But will it be enough to catch the perp and give their family a second chance?


From the moment they’d come back to the ranch, Theo had known an attack was possible. Likely, even.

But it still gave him an adrenaline spike to see that weapon now pointed at Gabriel’s house.

Ivy’s breathing was already way too fast, and Theo considered trying to do something to help her level it. But if he pulled her into his arms now, it would definitely be a distraction, and he needed to keep his attention on the rifle.

It was already dark, but there was enough of a moon to see the light glint off the barrel. Enough to see, too, when the barrel shifted just a little, and Theo spotted the scope on it.

“A shot from there would be able to make it here,” she said.

It wasn’t a question. She knew it could. But he hated to hear the slight tremble in her voice.

Theo watched as the barrel shifted again, and he steeled himself for what he figured would come next. He didn’t have to wait long.

The gunman fired.


Gunfire on the Ranch

Delores Fossen






www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)


DELORES FOSSEN, a USA TODAY bestselling author, has sold over fifty novels, with millions of copies of her books in print worldwide. She’s received a Booksellers’ Best Award and an RT Reviewers’ Choice Best Book Award. She was also a finalist for a prestigious RITA® Award. You can contact the author through her website at www.deloresfossen.com (http://www.deloresfossen.com).


CAST OF CHARACTERS

DEA agent Theo Canton—Ten years ago he left his hometown, but after hearing a hit man has targeted his old flame, Ivy Beckett, Theo returns to the Blue River Ranch to protect her. He soon learns Ivy has been keeping a secret from him.

Ivy Beckett—After her parents were brutally murdered and Theo and she parted ways, Ivy, too, left Blue River. Her return was supposed to be a short one, to attend her brother’s wedding, but it becomes a dangerous nightmare for Ivy and her son.

Nathan Beckett—Ivy’s nine-year-old son, who could get caught in the crosshairs of a killer.

Wesley Sanford—Theo’s fellow DEA agent who volunteers to help him find the person who’s trying to kill Ivy, but Wesley might have his own agenda.

Lacey Vogel—Ivy’s adult stepdaughter. She’s furious that her late father left his estate to Ivy and not her. Just how far would she go to get back at Ivy?

August Canton—Theo’s uncle. His brother, Travis, is in jail for murdering Ivy’s parents, and August would do anything to clear his brother’s name.

Sheriff Gabriel Beckett—He’s not only the head of Blue River Ranch, he’s also the law in his hometown, and he has no intention of letting a killer get to his sister—or allowing Theo to break her heart again.


Contents

Cover (#ud47e3c50-97d1-591f-a3fc-101c5cc413ba)

Back Cover Text (#u5522ddc4-54fc-501c-8f63-aa321ccf2a95)

Introduction (#u679d4450-1dd4-5395-aaaf-790770437d0e)

Title Page (#u57358055-43fe-50ae-8d61-f6f972785f56)

About the Author (#u6f13531f-3f4e-5e13-a452-1861acce55be)

Cast of Characters (#ue275ca44-3857-55d9-b15d-04853c8e83fe)

Chapter One (#ud90a674f-2f82-5433-b25f-db1304b9ad6a)

Chapter Two (#u5d445e98-4ed4-57db-8191-89400cb3c475)

Chapter Three (#u3ddeffa2-fe5f-5c19-b61b-31772ee5996f)

Chapter Four (#u03bfe3f8-9928-553d-8941-46a5b2c9f19b)

Chapter Five (#ueaa0c380-c503-52c2-87f8-38618a8d1dd7)

Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Fourteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Fifteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Sixteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Seventeen (#litres_trial_promo)

Extract (#litres_trial_promo)


Chapter One (#u49a61b35-618a-5e62-934e-9f9af9841507)

Theo Canton wished there was a better way to stop a killer. Anything other than coming here to the Beckett Ranch to disrupt wedding plans. But if his intel was right, there could be another murder—tonight.

Maybe Ivy Beckett’s murder.

Hell, maybe her entire family and Theo’s sister, since they would possibly all be under the same roof for the ceremony. A ceremony that was to take place tomorrow.

Theo definitely didn’t want a repeat of what had happened ten years ago when two people died at the hands of a killer. Just the thought of it put a knot in his stomach, along with bringing back old memories. He had to shove those memories aside, though, because they would only cause him to lose focus.

He had enough Beckett blood on his hands without adding more.

Theo took the final turn to the ranch and spotted the decorations already on the pasture fences. Blue satin ribbon flapping in the hot May breeze. There were no ranch hands out and about. No signs of a killer, either, but the snake could already be there, waiting to strike.

His phone buzzed, and he saw the name flash on the screen. Wesley Sanford, a fellow DEA agent who’d alerted Theo that there could be a problem, that a killer could be headed to the ranch. Theo kept his attention on the road, on his surroundings, too, but he hit the answer button to put the call on speaker.

“Anything?” Wesley asked right away.

“No, not yet. How about you?”

“I’ll be at the Blue River sheriff’s office in just a couple of minutes. I’ll tell the deputies what’s going on. I might even get the chance to speak to Gabriel himself.”

Gabriel, the sheriff of the ranching town of Blue River as well as Ivy’s brother. Well, one of them, anyway. Her other brother, Jameson, was a Texas Ranger.

“But I’m guessing that the sheriff won’t be working this late the night before his wedding?” Wesley added.

Theo had no idea. He hadn’t kept up with news on the Becketts. They were more of those old memories, and wounds, that he hadn’t wanted in his life. Besides, the Becketts wouldn’t want him keeping up with them. Or even want him around, for that matter. They’d made that crystal clear ten years ago. Theo had had no choice but to come tonight, though. Once the danger was over, however, he’d get out of there as fast as he had a decade ago.

“If Gabriel is at his office,” Theo told Wesley, “remember not to say anything in the police station. Take him outside to talk.” If their criminal informant had been right, the killer could have managed to plant a bug in the building. And in the sheriff’s house. “I don’t want this clown to know we’re onto him. I want to catch him.”

Wesley hadn’t especially needed that reminder, but the stakes were too high for either of them to make a mistake. The last time Theo had made a mistake with the Becketts, Ivy’s parents had been murdered. Maybe by this same killer who was after them now.

Or maybe by Theo’s own father.

But if his father had actually been the murderer ten years ago, then tonight Theo was dealing with a copycat. Because his father was miles away behind bars in a maximum-security prison. Still, a copycat could be just as lethal as the original one had been.

Too bad Theo couldn’t just sound the alarm and alert Ivy’s brothers and the ranch hands, but that possible bug in Gabriel’s house meant the only secure way for Theo to contact the Becketts was outside, face-to-face.

“Whether the sheriff is here or not, I’ll let someone know there might be a bug,” Wesley assured him. “Call me when you can.”

Theo hit the end-call button on his phone just as he reached the top of the hill, and the ranch house came into view. Well, one of the houses, anyway. From what he’d learned, there were now four on the grounds. One for Gabriel. Another belonging to Jameson. The third was one Gabriel’s deputy and longtime friend, Cameron Doran, had built.

It was the fourth house, though, that contained the bad memories.

Because that was where Ivy’s parents had been murdered. No one lived there and hadn’t since, well, since that night.

According to the quick check Theo had done before he’d left for Blue River, Ivy’s house was hours away in a rural area near Houston. Apparently, Theo wasn’t the only one who’d left Blue River after the murders.

Other than her address, there hadn’t been a lot of info to find on Ivy, though she had listed herself as widowed on the tax documents for her small ranch. So she’d not only moved on physically but also emotionally with another man she’d married and lost. Theo felt a hit of the jealousy before he quickly reined it in. Ivy wasn’t his, hadn’t been for a long time, so of course she had moved on. That’s what normal people did.

Theo hadn’t considered himself normal in a while now.

He stopped his truck beneath a cluster of trees only about twenty yards from Gabriel’s house. Theo drew his gun and made his way to the side of the wraparound porch. There were plenty of shrubs where he could hide and have a line of sight to all four houses. However, he’d barely gotten into position when he heard something he didn’t want to hear.

“Drop your gun,” someone snapped.

Hell. How had a person managed to get so close without him noticing? And it wasn’t just any ordinary someone, either. Theo recognized that voice even after all these years.

Ivy.

He turned, slowly, and he spotted her at the back corner of the house. Thanks to the light coming from one of the windows, he had no trouble seeing her face.

And the rifle she was pointing at him.

Apparently, she had no trouble seeing him, either, because she whispered his name on a rise of breath. What she didn’t do was lower her weapon.

Theo said her name, and it had far more emotion in it than he wanted. Of course, any drop of emotion was too much right now, since he didn’t want their past playing into this. She was his ex-lover, emphasis on the ex. All he wanted now was to do his job and get the heck out of there.

Ivy didn’t say anything else, but she started walking toward him. Her attention volleyed between his face and his gun, which he lowered to his side.

“I was getting something from Gabriel’s office when I glanced out the window and saw you,” she finally said. “We didn’t expect you. Judging from the way you were sneaking around, you didn’t want us to see you.”

No, he hadn’t wanted the killer to see him.

“I had to come,” he told her. “I found out...something.”

Ivy flinched a little and came even closer until she was only about a foot away from him. She hadn’t changed much in the past ten years. She was almost thirty now and still had that thick, dark brown hair that fell just past her shoulders. Still had the same intense eyes. He couldn’t see the color of them in the darkness, but he knew they were sapphire blue.

Despite Theo’s not wanting to feel anything, he did. The old attraction that for some stupid reason felt just as strong as it always had. But he was also feeling something else. The anger. That’s why he kept watch around them.

“I guess you heard about the wedding. Are you here to see your sister?” she asked.

“No.” Best not to get into the fact that he hadn’t seen his kid sister, Jodi, in a long time. Because that was a different set of bad memories. Not because he didn’t love her. He did. But Jodi was a reminder that he’d failed her, too. She’d nearly gotten killed the same night as Ivy’s folks, and he hadn’t been able to stop it. Now, all these years later, she was marrying Gabriel Beckett.

So obviously Gabriel and Jodi had managed to work through their shared painful pasts. He guessed they’d found their “normal.”

“It’s not safe for us to be out here,” Theo explained. “We need to get in my truck so we can talk.”

She didn’t budge, but she did follow his gaze when he looked around again. “You heard about the threatening letter,” Ivy said.

No, he hadn’t, but it got his attention, and Theo shook his head. “What letter?”

Ivy huffed, and she finally lowered her gun. “The latest one had a warning that my brothers, my sister and I would all be murdered on the anniversary of our parents’ deaths.”

Which was only two months away.

Ivy’s tone practically dismissed the threat her family had gotten. But Theo wasn’t dismissing anything. “You get a lot of letters like that?”

“Enough. Emails, too, and the occasional phone call from blocked numbers. If you didn’t know about that, then why are you here?” she asked without hesitating. “And why did you say it wasn’t safe for us to be out here?”

“Because it’s not.” He took a deep breath. “You know I’m a special agent in the DEA?”

Her mouth tightened, and she nodded. “Gabriel says you’re what law enforcement calls a joe.”

That was the slang term for it all right. An agent who went into deep cover, sometimes years at a time. Just as Theo had done. In fact, he was less than a month out of a three-year assignment where he’d infiltrated a militia group to track the sale of drugs.

“Yes,” he verified, “and I have access to criminal informants who give me intel from time to time. According to one of those informants, there’s a killer coming here to the ranch tonight.”

Her eyes widened. Then narrowed just as fast. She looked ready to bolt, of course, but he saw her quickly rein that in. “How reliable is this so-called intel?”

Good question. “Reliable enough for me to come to a place where I know I’m not welcome.”

She stayed quiet a moment. “You could have just called,” Ivy pointed out, confirming his notion about his not being welcome.

He shook his head. “According to the informant, the killer managed to bug both the sheriff’s office and Gabriel’s house.”

Theo saw another punch of concern on her face, maybe some skepticism, too, and she had another look around as Theo did. “This killer is connected to my parents’ murders?”

“The informant says the killer is.” Theo paused. “But the informant also said this is the same guy who murdered your folks.”

Ivy groaned. Mumbled some profanity under her breath. “We know who killed them. Your father, Travis Canton. And he’s sitting in jail right now because there was more than enough evidence to prove he’d done it.”

No, there was more than enough evidence to convict him. That was splitting hairs, but since his father couldn’t remember if he’d murdered the Becketts, Theo still had his doubts.

“Travis hated my parents,” Ivy reminded him as if he’d said those doubts aloud. “He threatened them just hours before the murders. And when the deputies found him by the creek, he had my father’s blood on his shirt.”

All of that was true. What she could have added was that Travis was an alcoholic who’d experienced blackouts, both that night and others. He could have killed the Becketts in a drunken haze and not even remembered.

Or someone could have set him up.

Someone waiting to finish the job by killing the Becketts’ children.

“Your father was the sheriff at the time of his murder,” he continued. What he was about to say would be old news to her, but he wanted to remind her that everything might not be black-and-white here. “Your mother was a former cop. They had plenty of enemies because of the arrests they made over the years. One of those enemies could be coming after you tonight, and that’s why you don’t need to be standing out here.”

There was a bit more worry in her eyes this time when she glanced around. But she still didn’t budge.

Now it was Theo’s turn to mumble some profanity. “Look, I know Gabriel, Jameson and your sister, Lauren, won’t want me inside—”

“Lauren’s not here and won’t be coming. She left town around the same time you did and hasn’t been back.”

Theo couldn’t fault her for that. Lauren was the youngest, had been barely eighteen when she’d been made an orphan. Like Theo, she had no doubt wanted a fresh start.

“I’m sorry,” he said, because it sounded as if Ivy was hurt that Lauren wasn’t there. It was a hurt he understood. “Hell, maybe my own sister won’t want me here, either. But can we at least sit in my truck while I convince you that this threat could be real?”

“And how will you do that?” she asked. Yeah, he’d been right about that skepticism.

“I’ve got a recording from the criminal informant. He knew some things about the night of the murders. Things that weren’t revealed to the press. He says the killer told him those things.”

Her attention slashed toward the house. “Gabriel will need to hear this.” And now there was some urgency in her voice.

Yes, he would. Jameson, too. And Jodi. “But not inside. Remember, there could be listening devices. If the killer knows we’re onto him, it could send him back underground where he could prepare for another attack. And next time, we might not get a heads-up from a CI.”

He could see the debate going on inside her, and with each passing second, Theo’s unease escalated. It really wasn’t a smart idea for them to be outside.

“Your brothers don’t trust me,” he added. “I get that.”

Man, did he. Because for a short period of time after the Becketts were murdered, Theo had been a suspect.

His father wasn’t the only one who’d had bad blood with Ivy’s parents.

Just hours before their murder, Theo had had a run-in with Ivy’s father, Sherman, and Sherman had told him in no uncertain terms that he was to stop seeing Ivy, that she didn’t need a bad boy in her life. Theo had been furious, even though Sherman had been right—Ivy had deserved something better.

“Yes,” Ivy whispered as if she knew exactly what he was thinking. “But let’s not allow old water and old bridges to play into this. Gabriel needs to hear this recording and decide if it’s something we should be worried about.”

Yes, and her brother would be worried once he heard what the CI had to say.

Ivy motioned for him to follow her. Not to his truck but rather to the back of the house. She hurried, thank God, which meant it had finally sunk in that she was in danger. But since she was clearly taking him inside, Theo had to speak up.

“Remember the part about a possible bug. When we’re inside, whisper.” That might not be enough if the listening device was sensitive and had a wide range, but at this point he just wanted her out of the line of possible fire.

She led him onto the porch and through the back door, but Ivy stopped in a mudroom, where there were raincoats on wall pegs and cowboy boots stashed beside a wooden bench. A reminder that this was indeed a working ranch. Gabriel wasn’t just a sheriff, but also raised cattle and horses. There were cans of paint and what appeared to be scaffolding, as well.

“There was a fire last month,” Ivy said, following his gaze. “An attack. That’s why I want to make sure another one doesn’t happen.”

He wanted the same thing, especially since Theo had read about that attack. His sister had been the target, and even though the guy was now dead, he’d clearly left his mark.

“I’ll have Gabriel come back here.” Ivy put the rifle on the top shelf of the storage closet, took out her phone from her jeans pocket and sent off a text.

Theo had another look around, shut the back door and then glanced out the single window that was in the small room. Ivy reached for the light switch to turn it on, but he stopped her. Of course, that meant touching her, and he got another sucker punch of the old heat.

A third sucker punch when their gazes met.

She didn’t say anything, but Theo thought maybe she had felt it, too. He also thought maybe she was fighting to push it away as hard as he was. Yes, she was a widow, but after everything they’d gone through, she probably didn’t want to have another round with him any more than he did with her.

“It’s not a good idea to be this close to a window,” Theo insisted. And yes, he whispered. “We should at least get down.”

She clamped her teeth over her bottom lip for a couple of seconds. A gesture he’d seen her do so many times. Nerves. But she finally ducked down so that her head wouldn’t be anywhere near the glass. Theo ducked, too, but he stayed high enough so he could continue to glance out and make sure the killer wasn’t sneaking up on them.

The moments crawled by, and with each one of them Theo became well aware of the close contact between them. It was hard to fight the attraction and the old memories when they were this close. And when he caught her scent.

Hell.

For just a split second, the image of her naked body flashed into his head.

Thankfully, the image didn’t stay. It vanished when he heard the voice and the sound of footsteps. It was yet another voice he recognized. Gabriel’s.

Theo braced himself for whatever Gabriel might dole out. He could just order Theo out of there, but Gabriel barely spared him a glance when he stepped into the doorway. That’s because he was on his phone, and he took his sister by the arm and moved her out of the mudroom and into the adjacent kitchen.

Once Gabriel had done that, he finished his call, slipped his phone back into his jeans pocket and finally looked at Theo. This time, it was more than a glance.

“What the hell did you do? Who did you bring with you?” Gabriel demanded. But he didn’t give Theo a chance to answer. “One of the ranch hands just called. He spotted an armed man crawling over the back fence, and the man’s making his way to the house right now.”


Chapter Two (#u49a61b35-618a-5e62-934e-9f9af9841507)

Ivy’s heart slammed against her chest. She had already been feeling so many emotions, including dread and fear, but this was a different kind of fear.

There’s a killer coming here to the ranch tonight.

She hadn’t exactly dismissed Theo’s warning, but Ivy had prayed he was wrong. Apparently not, though. Because she doubted an armed intruder had good intentions. And according to Gabriel, he was on his way to the house. Ivy would have bolted toward the front stairs if Gabriel hadn’t taken hold of her arm again.

“I’ve already told the others to lock up and get down,” her brother said. “They’re fine.” He slapped off the kitchen lights and tipped his head to the back door where Theo and she had entered. “Lock that,” he added to Theo. Theo did, and Gabriel used his phone to arm the security system.

“There could be listening devices planted in the house and at your office.” Theo hurried into the kitchen with them. “Who else is here?” Theo asked at the same moment that Gabriel threw out a question of his own.

“What do you have to do with the armed guy?”

Judging from the glare Gabriel aimed at Theo, her brother felt his question had priority over Theo’s. Theo must have felt the same way, because he started talking.

“I don’t know who he is, but I have a recording of a CI who says that a killer is on the way to the ranch. I didn’t call because supposedly this killer had managed to plant bugs in the house and the sheriff’s office, and I didn’t want to tip him off that we were onto him. But obviously we’re past the point of being worried about tipping him off.”

“Yeah.” A muscle flickered in Gabriel’s jaw. “How long had Theo been here before you texted me?” he asked her.

“Just a few seconds.” That was possibly true. Ivy honestly had no idea how long it’d been. Time had sort of frozen when she’d come face-to-face with the man she’d never expected to see again.

Gabriel stared at her as if he might challenge that, but then he growled out, “Follow me.”

Ivy was certain that put some renewed panic in her eyes, certain that her brother saw it as well, but Gabriel kept moving, anyway. “We’ll go into my office.”

Not upstairs. Though that’s where Ivy wanted to go. “Nathan,” she said.

“He’s in the guest room with Jameson and Jodi,” Gabriel quickly answered. “They moved him into the bathroom and will make sure he’s all right.”

That steadied Ivy a little. Jameson was a lawman, and Jodi had been trained as a private security specialist. Still, Ivy didn’t want a gunman anywhere near the house or anyone in her family.

“Nathan?” Theo asked.

“Ivy’s son,” Gabriel said before she could answer. “If this gunman makes it to the house, he’ll be seriously outnumbered. But it might not even come to that, because I have three armed ranch hands headed out to stop him.”

Gabriel must have made those arrangements shortly before he’d come to the mudroom. Good. Ivy wanted every precaution taken. Correction: she needed it, because she had to keep Nathan safe.

“You have a son?” Theo asked, his voice practically a whisper now.

“Yes.” She didn’t give any other details. No time. Because Gabriel spoke again.

“I want to know everything about the recording,” Gabriel insisted, glancing at Theo again. “I want to hear what this CI has to say.”

Theo nodded and followed Gabriel into his office, which was just off the family room on the bottom floor. There were plenty of windows here, but Gabriel had already shut the blinds and drapes. He also didn’t turn on the lights. No doubt because it would alert anyone close enough to the house that there was someone in that particular room.

However, her brother did go to one of the windows that faced the back of the house, and he opened the blinds just enough so he could keep watch. Theo did the same to the window across from Gabriel. That one would give him a view of the side of the house. While the inside of the house was practically dark, there were security lights on the grounds, so maybe they’d be able to see this monster coming.

“Is there an extra gun in here?” Ivy asked.

“Bottom right drawer,” Gabriel quickly provided. It was locked, but he rattled off the combination, and she took out a Glock he had stashed there. She wasn’t an expert marksman, not by any stretch of the imagination, but she would use it to defend her son if necessary.

“The CI is someone who regularly gives me intel,” Theo started. “I’ll write down his name for you later. In case the place really is bugged, I don’t want to compromise his identity. The other person you’ll hear on the recording is a federal agent. He’s the one who sent me this, and the voices have been altered—again so that no one will be compromised.”

While still keeping a grip on his gun, Theo took out his phone and hit the play button. He held it up so that Gabriel would be able to hear it, and it didn’t take long before the man’s voice began to pour through the room.

“I heard some stuff,” the man said. “Stuff about them Becketts. I figured I oughta tell you because that family’s been through enough.”

Yes, they had been. The murder of their parents. Also the near murder of Gabriel’s bride-to-be, Jodi. It had changed their lives forever.

It was still changing them.

“There’s a killer coming after them,” the man went on. “I don’t know the fella’s name, but I heard him talking at the Silver Moon Bar over on St. Mary’s Street. He said he’d been hired—and these are his words, not mine—to put some more Becketts in the ground. He said he was going to the Blue River Ranch tonight to finish off as many of them as he could.”

A chill slid through Ivy, head to toe, and she felt her stomach clench into a tight knot. “God, will this never end?” she said under her breath.

Ivy clearly hadn’t said that softly enough, because it caused both Theo and her brother to look back at her. Theo hit Pause. He stared at her as if he might need to intervene in some way. Definitely not something she wanted. Nor did she want to give in to the fear. So she went to the window next to Theo in order to help him keep watch.

Theo continued to look at her while he volleyed glances out the window, but he finally hit the play button again.

“Describe the man who said that.” It was a second person on the recording. Theo’s fellow agent, no doubt. “And did he say who hired him?”

“Didn’t mention a word about that,” the CI answered. “Of course, it wouldn’t have been too smart if he had. And I couldn’t exactly ask him without maybe gettin’ my own self killed. But he was tall, bulky. Built like one of those navy SEALs or something.”

Theo looked at Gabriel then, and her brother nodded. “That matches the description of the man the ranch hand saw.”

“How do you know this hired gun is for real?” the agent asked the CI.

“’Cause he knew things, that’s why. Things about Sheriff Sherman Beckett and his wife, Millie, who got killed ten years ago. It was all over the news, but this fella told me there was something the news didn’t mention. Something that the cops kept out of the papers. He said the killer took Sherman Beckett’s watch. Pulled it right off his dead wrist. And that he took Millie’s necklace. It was a heart-shaped locket and had pictures of her kids in it.”

It was true. All true. Those items had indeed been missing, though they hadn’t been found on the killer, Theo’s father, Travis. Ivy had always assumed that Travis had dropped them or hidden them somewhere, but how would this man have known that?

That didn’t help the knot in her stomach, and Ivy had to fight to hang on to what little composure she had left. She had prayed this was all some kind of misunderstanding, that the CI had been wrong, but apparently no such luck. There really was a killer headed to the house who had plans to finish them all off.

“Did this hired gun say anything else?” the agent pressed. “Anything that would help us figure out who’s paying him to do this?”

“Nope, but I figure it’s gotta be Travis Canton. Yeah, I know he’s in jail, but something like this could get him out from behind bars.”

Theo didn’t say anything, but even in the near darkness, she saw his jaw tighten. “I’ve already checked with the prison,” Theo volunteered, “and other than his lawyer, my father hasn’t had any visitors in the past week. Plus, he doesn’t have the funds to hire a hit man.”

So maybe this was the work of some kind of psycho groupie. There’d been so much interest in the murders, partly because Jodi had also been attacked and left for dead in a shallow grave. And all that interest had attracted some very sick people.

“I know you gotta tell this to the Becketts,” the CI went on a moment later, “but you oughta be careful when you do it. The fella at the bar said he’d put bugs in the sheriff’s place and his house. So if you say anything to them, sure as hell don’t mention my name. I don’t want that SOB comin’ after me.”

“That’s the end of the conversation,” Theo told them. “But you can see why I had to come.”

Yes, she could. Since the CI had been right about the hired killer, maybe he was right about that bug, too. It sickened her to think that someone had been spying on them, listening to their every word. Someone who now wanted to kill them.

Her brother must have realized that, too, because he cursed and fired off a text. Several seconds later, his phone buzzed. He set it aside and put it on speaker, no doubt to keep his hands free for his gun.

“Sorry, Gabriel,” the caller immediately said. It was Aiken Colley, one of Gabriel’s ranch hands. “But we lost sight of the guy.”

That was not what Ivy wanted to hear, and she made a frantic search of every part of the grounds that she could see. No signs of a gunman. No signs of anyone.

Gabriel cursed. “Where was he when you last saw him?”

“By the south barn.”

That wasn’t that far from the house. Worse, there were other outbuildings and fences between the house and that particular barn, and this man could use those to conceal himself so he could get closer.

“I never had a clean shot of him,” Aiken went on. “The guy was running, and every few seconds, he would duck behind cover. Jake and Teddy are out here with me, and I’ve alerted the other hands.”

Jake and Teddy were two other hands, and while none of the hands were in law enforcement, they all knew how to handle guns. But apparently this hired killer knew how to dodge those guns.

“If possible, I want this guy alive,” Theo said.

Gabriel didn’t disagree with that. Probably because a dead man couldn’t give them answers, but at the moment Ivy cared only about keeping this monster away from Nathan and everyone else in the house.

“Kill him only if necessary. And be careful,” Gabriel warned the ranch hand.

“We will. We’ll keep looking for him until we find him,” Aiken added before he ended the call.

Ivy got back to keeping watch. Not that she hadn’t been doing that, but she adjusted her position just enough so that she could try to take in more of the yard and the pastures. Still no sign of him, but she could almost feel him closing in on them.

Who the heck was putting this monster up to this?

The CI had said it was Travis, and perhaps it was. Maybe he’d somehow gotten the money. But there was also another possibility. One that had been a thorn in her family’s side since Travis had first been arrested.

“Could your uncle August be behind this?” Ivy asked Theo. “Because August has been adamant that Travis is innocent.”

August was Travis’s half brother. A hothead. In the past ten years, he’d never turned to violence to free his brother, but August could be getting desperate since Travis had exhausted all his appeals.

“I haven’t spoken to August since I left Blue River,” Theo answered. “I tried to call him, but he didn’t answer. If he had anything to do with this, I’ll deal with him.”

Judging from Theo’s tone, that would not be pleasant. Not a surprise. There was no love lost between Jodi and their uncle, and it appeared to be the same for Theo. Of course, that was probably because August was not an easy man to like, and he was always saying that Travis’s “ungrateful kids” weren’t doing enough to help their father.

Theo’s phone buzzed. “It’s the agent who recorded the conversation with the CI,” Theo relayed to them, but he didn’t mention the guy by name. However, as Gabriel had done, he put the call on speaker. “The gunman’s here,” Theo told the agent right off. “Not in the house, but it appears this is where he’s headed.”

The agent didn’t jump to answer. It seemed as if he took a moment to process that. “You want me out there?”

“Not yet. This goon could fire shots at you as you drive up. Plus, I don’t want to send him running.”

Part of Ivy wanted him to run. To get as far away from Nathan as possible. But Theo was right. If the guy ran, he could possibly just regroup and come back for a second attempt.

“Did you find any bugs in the sheriff’s office?” Theo asked.

“Not yet, but the deputies are looking. One of them spoke to Gabriel a little while ago. He stepped outside to do that.”

“Cameron,” Gabriel provided. “He called the moment the agent showed up at the office.”

Of course he had. He wouldn’t have kept Gabriel in the dark about something this big. That meant Gabriel had been plenty busy in the short time since all of this mess had started with Theo’s arrival.

“The deputy wants to know if you need backup,” the agent continued.

“Not yet,” Gabriel answered before Theo could say anything. “But keep watch, because there might be more than one hired gun. Whoever’s behind this could have sent someone there.”

Oh, mercy. She hadn’t even considered that. But if someone had indeed wanted to put the Becketts “in the grave,” then the person might have gone looking for Gabriel at work.

“I just got a call,” the agent continued. “The CI is dead.”

Other than hearing she had a son, Theo hadn’t seemed surprised by much of what had happened. But he was clearly surprised now. And riled. “How the hell did that happen?”

“We’re not sure yet. We had a tail on him, just in case he tried to follow the hired gun or something, but the tail stayed a safe distance back. He saw someone dressed all in black gun the guy down.”

Ivy doubted that was a coincidence, and that meant... Oh, God.

“Was this all a setup?” she asked. Neither Gabriel nor Theo jumped to deny that, and that only caused her heart to pound even harder. “You think the hired gun wanted Theo to come here?” she added.

Again, they didn’t deny it. “If so, it worked,” Gabriel mumbled, and he tacked on some profanity.

Yes, it had. But what did it mean? It didn’t take Ivy long to come up with something that she didn’t want to consider.

All the “survivors” of the murders were now under the same roof. Gabriel, Jameson, Jodi, Theo and her. Along with their sister, Lauren, all five of them had been either in the house where her parents were murdered or on the grounds. Which meant they had all been possible witnesses to the crime.

Possible, but they actually hadn’t been.

Ivy had been in her upstairs bedroom with her headphones on. And crying. Because of the blowup that Theo had just had with her folks. The music had been so loud that she hadn’t heard her mother and father being murdered in the room just below her. Some people had told her that it was a blessing she hadn’t heard because if she had, she would have gone downstairs and possibly been killed, too. But Ivy wished she had heard. Because she might have been able to save them.

Jodi hadn’t heard the murders going on, either. She’d been outside, coming back from Gabriel’s house, which was a short distance away. She’d been attacked that night. Not by the killer, though. But rather by her ex-boyfriend who’d been in a rage over their breakup. Since he was now dead, he was no longer a possible witness.

Jameson and Gabriel had been at their own houses, but they were close enough to the main ranch house that they could have seen something. They hadn’t. But maybe the killer hadn’t known or believed that.

“What could your father or August possibly hope to gain by eliminating witnesses?” Ivy came out and asked.

“They wouldn’t,” Theo answered.

She looked at Gabriel to see if he would argue that. He didn’t. “If they wanted to clear Travis’s name,” Gabriel explained, “they could be desperate enough to arrange a murder. But Theo and Jodi wouldn’t be the targets.”

Because Travis still seemingly loved his children. Of course, that didn’t exclude Travis’s brother. August wasn’t fond of Jodi or Theo. “This could all be something August put together.”

“If August had come up with this plan to make my father look innocent,” Theo went on, “he would have hired someone to stab his victim.”

The way her parents had been killed.

Ivy was about to say that could be the hired thug’s plan. But then she heard a sound that stopped her cold.

“Get down!” someone shouted. Aiken.

But there was no time to do that. Because a bullet came crashing through the window where Ivy was standing.


Chapter Three (#u49a61b35-618a-5e62-934e-9f9af9841507)

Hell. Theo hadn’t even seen the shot coming.

But he sure as heck heard it. Felt it, too, when the glass flew through the room and a piece of it sliced across his cheek. It stung, but he ignored it and scrambled toward Ivy so he could pull her to the floor. She had already started in that direction, but Theo helped her along by hooking his arm around her and dragging her about five feet away from the window.

Good thing, because another bullet tore through what was left of the glass.

“Stay down,” Theo warned her, and he put her behind a huge leather chair so he could hurry back to the window. He didn’t get directly in front of it but instead kept to the side.

This was exactly what Theo had been trying to stop. Ivy and her family had been through enough, but apparently that moron outside didn’t feel the same. He was adding to their misery, and in doing so, he was putting an innocent child in danger. Theo didn’t know how old Nathan was, but it was possible he was a baby.

“Do you see him?” Gabriel asked. He came to the window next to Theo and peered out through the edge of the blinds.

Theo looked over the grounds as best he could, but there were too many places their attacker could use for cover. A barn, several vehicles, shrubs and trees. However, it became a little easier to narrow down a hiding place when the next shot blasted through the air. Like the other two, this one slammed into the wall near the door, and it allowed Theo to pinpoint the man’s location.

“He’s on the right side of the barn,” Theo relayed to Gabriel. “I can’t see him, but I can see a rifle barrel.”

Gabriel didn’t waste any time. He tossed Ivy his phone. “Text Aiken and tell him to stay back from the barn.” And like Theo, Gabriel took aim in that direction.

Theo didn’t look back at Ivy, but he could hear the clicks on the phone as she wrote. However, they were soon drowned out by another shot. This time, it went through the window near Gabriel.

That must have been the final straw for Ivy’s brother because he cursed, took aim at the barn and fired. Theo did the same, all the while watching to see if their attacker would show his face. He didn’t. And he didn’t seem put off by being shot at, because he continued to fire, as well. However, something was off because Theo could no longer see the rifle.

“I think he’s trying to make a getaway,” Theo mumbled. “I’ll go after him.” He didn’t allow Gabriel or Ivy a say in that. Keeping low, Theo hurried toward the door. “Disarm the security system so I can go out front but reset it as soon as I’m outside.”

Theo had only been in Gabriel’s house a time or two even though the man had lived there for going on thirteen years. Gabriel hadn’t exactly been a fan of Theo’s when he’d been dating Ivy, but Theo had dropped by a couple of times to pick her up there. That’s why Theo knew the general layout, and he ran up the hall and through the family room to get to the front door.

Gabriel must have turned off the system because the alarm didn’t go off when Theo eased open the door. However, he did hear a sound he didn’t especially want to hear.

Footsteps behind him.

It was Gabriel. “You’ll need help,” Gabriel growled.

“You should stay with Ivy,” Theo growled right back.

“She’s the one who insisted I go with you.” Gabriel didn’t seem especially pleased about that.

This was part of that “old water, old bridge” thing between Theo and the Becketts. Still, Gabriel was a lawman, and he knew it was a stupid time to discuss this or anything else, especially all that old baggage. Gabriel rearmed the security system, this time using the keypad on the wall, and he shut the door. He then tipped his head to the left side of the house.

“I’ll go that way,” Gabriel said, “and make my way to the back. As soon as I get to the porch, I’ll fire at the barn, but I’ll keep my shots low to try to avoid a kill shot. You do the same from this side of the house. Ivy’s texting the hands to let them know we’re out here so they won’t hit us by mistake.”

Good. Gabriel had been thorough. Now, if everything played out as planned, they could catch this snake and get him to talk. If August or his father was involved, then there’d be hell to pay. Not just from Theo but from the Becketts.

Theo made his way to the side of the porch and peered around the edge. He was careful, but the gunman must have been looking for him because he sent a shot right at Theo. It smashed into the wood siding, tearing a hole in it.

That caused Theo to curse again, and he hoped like the devil that none of those shots made it through the wall where Ivy was or upstairs to the others. If the shots went in the direction of her son, Theo was almost certain that Ivy would go running up there, and in doing so she might get herself killed.

Theo waited, giving Gabriel a couple of seconds to get into place, and even though those seconds seemed to crawl by, he knew Gabriel was hurrying. And the next sound Theo heard was a shot coming from the direction where Gabriel had said he would be. Their attacker would obviously soon know that Gabriel was back there.

Theo leaned out, aiming low, and he fired two rounds. Almost immediately, he ducked back behind cover. Good thing, too, because the gunman fired off two rounds of his own at Theo. But Theo could also hear the man cursing. Maybe because he’d been hit. Perhaps because he realized that coming here alone had been a stupid mistake.

That last thought had no sooner crossed his mind when Theo felt that bad feeling crawl up his spine. It was a feeling that had saved his butt a few times, so he didn’t ignore it. He pivoted, looking around him.

And spotted the second man near Theo’s own truck.

He was dressed all in black, armed with multiple weapons on an equipment belt. He had one weapon in his hand, as well. That’s the one he aimed at Theo.

Theo fired first.

He double tapped the trigger, the shots slamming directly into the man’s chest, and the guy dropped to the ground. Maybe dead or dying, but it was equally possible that he was wearing a Kevlar vest and had simply had the breath knocked out of him. If so, he could still be dangerous.

“There’s a second gunman,” Theo called out to Gabriel. “And there might be others.”

Of course, Gabriel didn’t need him to add that last part, but it was also, hopefully, a reminder for everyone inside to stay down. Especially Ivy. She was on the bottom floor and could easily be hit by bullets meant for Gabriel and him.

The guy by the barn fired another couple of shots, one of them in Theo’s direction. At least one went toward Gabriel’s office, though. Maybe the guy had thermal equipment or something because he seemed to know that there was still someone in that particular room. When the goon sent another shot at the office, Theo knew he couldn’t wait.

He leaned out and fired.

Not low this time.

Theo sent some rounds in the area of the shooter’s chest. And finally the shots stopped. Just like that, it was quiet again. Theo didn’t hear any moaning or sounds of pain. Definitely didn’t hear anyone trying to run away.

It was a risk. Anything he did at this point could be, but Theo left the porch and ran toward his truck, where the second gunman was still on the ground. He kept his gun ready, kept watch around him, too, but as he approached the man, he didn’t see any movement.

But he did see blood.

It was on the ground around the guy, which meant he hadn’t been wearing Kevlar after all. Theo touched his fingers to the man’s neck.

Dead.

He didn’t curse, though that’s what he wanted to do. Maybe the other one was still alive.

Using shrubs for cover, Theo started making his way to the barn. “I’m back here,” he called out to Gabriel.

But calling out to him wasn’t necessary because Theo soon spotted the sheriff at the back of the house. Gabriel was closer to the barn now, heading toward the first gunman. And he wasn’t alone. There was another man with Gabriel. One of the hands no doubt.

“Are the hired killers dead?” Ivy asked, and that’s when Theo realized she was at one of the blasted-out windows.

“Get down!” Theo ordered her.

He hurried past Ivy but not before he got a glimpse of her face. She was too pale and had a death grip on the gun she’d taken from her brother’s desk, but she appeared to be unharmed. Physically, anyway. This had to be triggering flashbacks of her parents’ murders. Also triggering new fears of the danger to her son and family.

Gabriel and the hand got to the gunman ahead of Theo, and Theo braced himself for Gabriel to say the guy was dead. He didn’t.

“Ivy, call an ambulance,” Gabriel shouted. “Tell the medics to hurry.”

Theo soon figured out why the hurry part was necessary. Just like the guy in the front yard, this one had gunshots to the chest, and he was bleeding out fast. Theo kicked away the guy’s weapon just as Gabriel got right in the man’s face.

“Who hired you?” Gabriel demanded, sounding very much like the lawman that he was.

The guy shook his head, and he opened his mouth as if to answer. But he didn’t. His eyelids drifted down, and his head flopped back, prompting Gabriel to check for a pulse.

“He’s still alive,” Gabriel said, glancing at Theo. “Go back in and check on Ivy and the others. Ivy still has my phone so tell her to disarm the security system. Also let Jameson know what’s going on.”

Theo didn’t like leaving Gabriel out there with just the hand, but he soon saw two other men making their way toward them. Not gunmen. These were dressed like ranch hands.

“I heard Gabriel,” Ivy volunteered. Which meant she was still too close to the blasted window. “I turned off the alarm.”

Good, because the sooner Theo got in the house, the sooner he could chew her out for taking a risk like standing too close to the window. But he didn’t get a chance to even start the chewing out. By the time he was through the door and into the foyer, Ivy was already headed up the stairs. Theo shut the door and followed her.

She stopped at the top of the stairs, looked at him, and he saw that her bottom lip was trembling. Actually, she was trembling all over.

“There really could be others?” she asked. Her voice was as shaky as the rest of her.

“Maybe.” And he hated that he even had to say that to her because it certainly didn’t help with her frayed nerves. “We just don’t know who or what we’re dealing with right now.”

She nodded. But didn’t budge. “I need a second to calm down. I don’t want Nathan to see me like this.”

Theo understood that. As a single mom, she probably wanted to be strong for her kid. But she took more than a second, and the trembling seemed to be getting worse. He figured it was a mistake, but since Theo didn’t know what the heck else to do, he put his arm around her.

Ivy automatically stiffened. Maybe because the last time she’d been in his arms, they’d still been lovers. But there was no trace of that attraction now, and Theo heard her try to choke back a sob.

She pulled away from him, hiking up her chin. Or rather, trying. She wasn’t doing a very good job of it until one of the doors opened and Jameson stuck out his head.

“Are you okay?” Jameson asked, his attention going straight to his sister.

She gave another nod. “Gabriel’s with one of the gunmen, the one who’s still alive. The other guy’s dead. Theo had to shoot him.”

Jameson’s attention went to Theo then, and he stepped back when Jodi came out of the room and into the hall. She didn’t hurry to Theo. She didn’t curse him, either. Considering that he hadn’t contacted her in a while, he deserved the cursing.

Ivy didn’t linger in the hall, though. She pushed past all of them and hurried into the room, no doubt to see her son.

“You came because of these gunmen?” Jodi asked him.

“Yeah,” Theo verified. “I tried to stop this.”

Jodi made a sound of understanding, and this time she went to him. Just as he’d done to Ivy, Jodi hugged him. For a couple of seconds, anyway. But then she eased back and punched him in the arm.

Hard.

“That’s for not calling me.” She punched him again. “That’s for letting me think you might be dead or dying somewhere.”

The emotion surprised him. So did the tears that sprang to his sister’s eyes. Jodi wasn’t the crying sort. Or at least she hadn’t been the last time he’d seen her. But she hadn’t been engaged to Gabriel Beckett then. Obviously, his sister had taken her life in a new direction.

“I love you,” Jodi added. “And you’re bleeding.” She used the sleeve of her shirt to wipe his cheek.

Theo hadn’t forgotten about the glass cutting him, but he also hadn’t figured it was serious since he wasn’t hurting.

“Who’s with Gabriel?” Jodi asked.

“Three ranch hands.”

Jodi glanced back at Jameson, and that seemed to be the only cue the Ranger needed to get moving. Maybe Jodi wanted her soon-to-be husband to have as much backup as possible.

“Wait here with them,” Jameson said to Theo as he headed down the stairs. “And don’t let them go outside until I say so.”

Theo doubted Ivy would want to venture out of the house as long as that gunman was out there, but since his sister was already nibbling on her bottom lip and looking around, she might try to disobey Jameson’s orders. Just in case that’s what she had on her mind, Theo took Jodi by the arm.

“Is there a bathroom in here so you can get me a cloth for this cut on my cheek?” he asked. Not that he particularly wanted to do that, but it would give Jodi something to do.

“Yes, this way.”

Theo followed her into the bedroom and then to the attached bathroom. It wasn’t that big, but it still took Theo a moment to spot Ivy because she was in the corner next to a claw-foot tub. She had a boy clutched in her arms.

Definitely not a baby.

This kid was older, school-age, and he was looking up at Ivy as if to comfort her rather than vice versa.

Jodi froze, practically in midstep. Ivy froze, too, but the boy turned and faced Theo. And Theo felt as if he’d just been punched in the gut. Because he knew that face. Or rather he knew the features, because he saw them every time he looked in the mirror.

Hell.

Ivy must have seen his reaction then, because she shook her head. Not a denial, exactly, since there was no way she could deny what Theo had just realized.

He was looking at his own son.


Chapter Four (#u49a61b35-618a-5e62-934e-9f9af9841507)

Ivy could have sworn her heart stopped beating for a few seconds. Theo knew. God, he knew.

From the moment she’d seen Theo by the side of the house, Ivy had feared this might come. In fact, at first that’s why she had thought Theo was there, that he’d found out about Nathan. It would have been safer if that’s why he’d been there. But it wasn’t going to be easy to deal with the storm that was brewing behind Theo’s narrowed eyes.

“Who is that?” Nathan asked, his attention suddenly fixed on Theo. “He’s not one of the bad men, is he?”

On the surface those were easy questions, but neither Ivy, Jodi nor Theo jumped to provide him with answers. Ivy wasn’t even sure she could speak yet, and she doubted Theo could, either, because his jaw was clenched so tight.

“Uh, this is my brother, Theo.” Jodi finally spoke up. “And no, he’s not a bad guy. He’s sort of a cop like your uncle Gabriel and uncle Jameson.”

Because Ivy still had her arms wrapped around Nathan, she felt his muscles relax a little. It would probably be a while before he completely relaxed. Even when he did, this had changed everything for him. Her little boy had heard those gunshots, had felt the terror that went along with him.

There’d be nightmares.

Ones similar to hers, ones she’d been having for a decade. And Ivy silently cursed the gunmen for that. Silently thanked Theo, too, for warning them, or those two thugs might have made it all the way into the house. Then her son might have to deal with more than fear, tight muscles and nightmares. They could all be dead.

A thought that sickened her to the core.

At the moment, though, Theo probably wouldn’t want her thanks. For anything. In fact, his shock had morphed into a glare that he was now aiming at her.

“How old are you?” Theo asked. His glare softened significantly when he looked at Nathan.

“Nine,” her son answered, meaning Theo could narrow down the date he’d been conceived.

Theo clearly wasn’t surprised by her son’s answer. Not after seeing Nathan’s face. In fact, Theo might even be able to remember the exact date of Nathan’s conception. Because it was the same night of the big blowup between her parents and him. A blowup that’d happened because her mom had found Nathan and her in bed together.

All of those feelings came back, too.

Ivy pushed them aside, that mix of pleasure and grief, and she got to her feet. It was obvious there were some things she needed to say to Theo. Obvious, too, that he had some questions for her, and she didn’t want him asking those in front of Nathan. Eventually, her son would have to know the truth, but now wasn’t the time. He wasn’t ready for it. Heck, she wasn’t ready for it.

“I’ll stay with Nathan,” Jodi volunteered. “He’ll be okay.”

Even though Ivy hadn’t said anything to her, Jodi and she were on the same page about what needed to be done. But Ivy didn’t want her explanation to Theo to come at the expense of her son’s safety.

Theo didn’t say anything, either. He just followed Ivy out of the ensuite bathroom and into the bedroom, and he pulled the bathroom door shut behind them. She didn’t go far, just a few feet away. Hopefully close enough so she could still get to Nathan if there was another attack but far enough away from Theo so that they weren’t in each other’s personal space. Even though it did seem a little late for that since they’d once been lovers.

He stood there staring, and she could see he was trying to work out what to say to her. Hopefully, he wasn’t going to yell at her, since she didn’t want Nathan to overhear something like that. At least at the moment Theo wasn’t yelling. In fact, he wasn’t saying anything. Theo put his hands on his hips, shook his head and turned that glare on her again.

“Why?” he finally asked, and he did keep his voice at a whisper. An angry one that dripped with emotion.

Since that simple word could encompass a lot of territory, Ivy went with a simple explanation. “I couldn’t find you to tell you I was pregnant.”

Ivy watched him process that, and she knew it wasn’t something he could dispute. Theo had vanished shortly after the attacks. Jodi had been in the hospital, still recovering from her horrific injuries, and she certainly hadn’t known how to get in touch with her brother.

“I left because you told me to leave,” Theo reminded her.

She couldn’t dispute that, either. Ivy had indeed ordered him out of her house and her life after the argument with her parents. In part, she’d done that for Theo’s own safety. Because she’d been afraid her father was going to beat him up or have him arrested for something. No way would Theo believe that now, though. And even if he did, it would only make him madder than he already was. He wouldn’t have wanted her fighting those kind of battles for him.

“Does Nathan know the truth?” Theo snapped.

Ivy shook her head, and she prayed Theo didn’t rush out and tell him.

“How about your late husband?” Theo again. “Did he know?”

“Yes. His name was Chad Vogel, and Nathan was eleven months old when I married him. But Jameson, Lauren and Gabriel didn’t know I was pregnant or that I had a child. Neither did Jodi. At least they didn’t know until I came back to Blue River two days ago.”

Now Theo cursed. “One of them should have called me. And don’t say they couldn’t find me, because Jameson’s a Texas Ranger. He could have tracked me down if you’d asked him to do that.”

“Yes,” she repeated. “And FYI, Jodi said I should tell you after she finally met Nathan day before yesterday. I just thought it was best if I waited until after the wedding to do that.”

Judging from his still-tight expression, Theo didn’t agree. And maybe he was right. Maybe she should have searched harder for him, especially after her husband passed away.

Theo glared at her a few more seconds before he finally glanced away and cursed some more. “Is Nathan healthy? Is he okay?”

It seemed petty for her to hesitate even a second to give him that info. But she knew that with each new bit, Theo would only want to know more and more. Then he would want Nathan to know who’d really fathered him.

Theo. And not Chad.

Of course, Nathan didn’t have a lot of memories of Chad anyway, since he’d died after losing his battle with cancer when Nathan had been only five.

“I’m sorry,” she said. It didn’t seem nearly enough, but there wasn’t much else she could say or do at this point.

There was a sound outside the window, a car engine, and Theo hurried to look while motioning for her to stay put. Just like that, her heart revved up again. Not that it’d gone back to normal, and that might not happen for a long time.

“It’s just the ambulance,” Theo told her. He stayed at the window with his gun drawn.

She was glad that it’d arrived. Now maybe the medics could save the gunman so they could find out what the heck was going on. And soon. It was probably too much to ask to find the person responsible for this attack and get him behind bars so that Gabriel and Jodi could get on with the wedding, but Ivy prayed that would happen. Her brother and Jodi deserved to have their special day.

“Did you love him?” Theo asked.

The sound of his voice cut through her thoughts, and it took Ivy a moment to realize that he probably wasn’t talking about Nathan. Of course she loved him. But Theo knew that and was asking about Chad.

“Yes. I did.”

In some ways that was a lie, but Ivy wasn’t about to get into that now. Besides, what Theo probably wanted to know was how she could go so quickly from him to another man. Especially when she’d had Theo’s child. But it was because of Nathan that she’d agreed to marry Chad. Once Theo got past the initial kick of anger, she’d maybe tell him more.

More that he wasn’t going to want to hear.

“Does it look as if the gunman is still alive?” Ivy said. It was definitely time for a change of subject, because whatever was going on outside that window was critical to their situation. A situation that didn’t necessarily have to include Theo.

He nodded. “The guy’s moving, clutching his chest.”

Probably because he was bleeding and in pain. She wasn’t certain of the details of his injury, but Ivy had heard Gabriel’s quick phone chat that he’d had with Jameson.

And now she moved on to the part about Theo not having to be in Nathan’s or her life. “For the record, I don’t expect anything from you,” Ivy continued a moment later. “We were practically kids when I got pregnant, and the feelings you once had for me are obviously long gone.”

Theo gave her a look that could have frozen the hottest levels of Hades. “I’m not leaving,” he spat out. He stared at her as if he might repeat it, but then he shook his head. “I just need to stop whoever sent those thugs, and then I can deal with everything else.”

That sounded like some kind of threat. And Ivy wasn’t immune to it. She’d never had to share her son with anyone. Not even Chad, who had been a “father” in name only, had been able to spend much time in the parent roll because of his health problems. She didn’t feel ready to share Nathan with Theo, either.

“Yeah, we were kids,” Theo went on, “but we sure as hell aren’t kids now.” He paused again, those jaw muscles stirring like crazy. “You should have found a way to tell me.”

Ivy huffed. “You can say that now,” she argued. “But we were in a different mind-set back then. Remember?”

“Of course I remember. Your mom caught us in bed. Your dad blew a fuse when she told him, and he ordered me to stay away from you. That should have been the time you backed me up, but you didn’t. You agreed with him and told me to get out of the house.”

Ivy had indeed told Theo to leave, but she darn sure hadn’t agreed with her father. Sherman Beckett could be a hard man sometimes, and he hadn’t approved of Theo and his minor run-ins with the law. Ironically, her dad had thought Theo would get her pregnant and then run out on her. Strange how all of that had worked out. Strange, too, that Theo had become a lawman, the last thing her father or she would have expected him to become.

“Then you and your brothers actually considered me a suspect in your parents’ murders,” Theo added. Judging from his tone, that was still an extremely sore spot for him.

It was for her, too.

Because she hadn’t stuck up for Theo. That had obviously been the straw that had broken the camel’s back. As soon as Theo’s name had been cleared, he’d left Blue River.

Ivy was about to put an end to this conversation, or a temporary end at least, but she heard the footsteps in the hall. Both Theo and she pivoted in that direction, and she felt herself gear up for another fight. If a gunman had actually made it into the house, he wasn’t getting to Nathan.

“It’s me,” Jameson called out.

The relief came, but it didn’t completely wash away the adrenaline punch she’d gotten when she thought they could be near another attack. A moment later, the door opened, and her brother came in.

Jameson’s attention went to her first, and he no doubt saw her tense body. Perhaps saw a whole lot more than that, though, when his gaze shifted to Theo. Then to the bathroom door where he knew Jodi—and Nathan—were waiting. It didn’t take Jameson long to piece everything together, and he cursed under his breath.

“Just in case there’s a bug in the house, I’ll whisper,” Jameson said. “How much trouble is this situation with Nathan going to cause the two of you?” he asked. He didn’t specifically direct the question to either of them, and neither of them answered.

However, Theo did ask a question of his own, and it was indeed meant for Jameson because he was staring at her brother. “Did the gunman say anything about who sent him and why?” He, too, kept his voice at a whisper.

Ivy figured that he hadn’t, but Jameson nodded. He took a deep breath, and that’s when she knew this was not going to be good news.

“The gunman died right after the medics put him in the ambulance,” Jameson said.

Now Ivy wanted to curse. She didn’t. Over the years, motherhood had taught her to rein in the profanity, but still this was a situation that warranted some cursing.

“He didn’t know who hired him,” Jameson went on. “Or at least that’s what he said. According to him, it was all done through a third party. A San Antonio thug everyone just called Mack. I’ve never heard of him, and I know most of the CIs and other informants in the area. And yeah, I’ve already made a call about him.”

That didn’t sound very promising, especially since it wasn’t a name her brother knew, but Ivy got the sinking feeling that it wasn’t his not knowing Mack that’d put that troubled look on his face.

“The gunman said something else,” Jameson continued a moment later. “This Mack hired other men. At least three more.” He turned to his sister then. “And, Ivy, they have orders to use whatever means necessary to kill you.”


Chapter Five (#u49a61b35-618a-5e62-934e-9f9af9841507)

“Ivy’s the target?” Theo immediately asked Jameson. He figured it was a question that Ivy wanted answered, as well.

Jameson lifted his shoulder. “That’s what the guy said.” Like the rest of them, he continued to keep his voice at a whisper. “That doesn’t mesh with what the CI told you, though, does it?”

Theo had to shake his head. “But maybe the person behind this changed his mind and decided to go after one of us at a time. He or she might think Ivy would be the easiest to pick off.”

Ivy made a soft gasping sound, and Theo wished he hadn’t voiced that aloud. Still, it was true. Since they didn’t know the person’s identity or motive, anything was possible.

“Are you okay?” Jameson asked his sister. He gave her arm a soft pat.

She shook her head as if pulling herself out of a trance. “Yes.” Ivy fluttered her fingers toward the bathroom. “I just need to check on Nathan.”

“Give yourself a couple of minutes,” Jameson advised her. “You’re as pale as paper right now, and Nathan will pick up on that.”

The kid probably would. Then again, Nathan and Jodi both had to be on edge waiting for news.

“Are you okay?” Jameson repeated. Not directed at Ivy this time, but at Theo.

Theo lied with a nod. He was far from okay. His mind was whirling. Hell. He’d thought this would be a quick in-and-out trip back to the Beckett ranch, but there was no way that was possible now.

He had a son.

And if that wasn’t enough to get him to stay, someone wanted Ivy dead. Of course, the gunman could have been lying when he’d said that Ivy was the target of would-be assassins, but the attack had been real. Bullets had actually been shot into the house, and even if she was the sole target, that didn’t mean others couldn’t have been caught in cross fire. Nathan and anyone else could have been killed.

“Look, I know you two have plenty to work out,” Jameson went on, “but you need to leave it here for now. Gabriel wants to take everyone to the sheriff’s office. The medics will need to take a look at that, too.”

It took Theo a moment to realize Jameson meant the cut on Theo’s cheek. “I don’t want a medic,” Theo insisted. “But someone should check on Jodi and Nathan.”

It wasn’t the first time he’d said his son’s name aloud, but for some reason, it hit him like a punch to the gut. Theo actually had to take a moment just to regather his breath.

“Yeah,” Jameson mumbled. Whatever the heck that meant. “You both stay here, pull yourselves together, and I’ll go in and talk to Nathan and Jodi. Be ready to leave as soon as Gabriel has the cruisers in place.”

Jameson stepped into the bathroom, shutting the door and leaving Ivy and him alone. Since Theo didn’t want to keep glaring at her, he turned his attention back to the window so he could watch for the cruisers.

“Why would Gabriel want us to go to the sheriff’s office?” she asked, her voice shaky. “Wouldn’t it be safer to stay here rather than risk going outside?”

“No. There could be other gunmen in the area. Plus, he probably wants to set up some security measures here.” He glanced at her and saw that didn’t do anything to ease the tension on her face. “Gabriel knows what he’s doing.”

Theo hoped that was true, anyway. There was no love lost between Gabriel and him, but Ivy’s brother had been sheriff for nearly a decade now. Maybe that meant he knew how to handle an attempted murder investigation along with keeping Ivy and the others safe. Theo had no intentions, though, of just backing off and letting Gabriel run with this. Not when his son’s safety was at stake.

“When I first saw Nathan, he asked who I was,” Theo reminded her. “He thinks your late husband is his dad?”

She paused a long time, and it was so quiet that Theo could hear Jameson talking in the bathroom. He couldn’t hear what the Ranger was saying. Which was a good thing. Because it meant Nathan wouldn’t be able to hear what Theo and Ivy were talking about.

“No. Nathan knows the truth,” Ivy finally answered. “Chad was a widower and a lot older than me. He had a college-age daughter, Lacey, when we got married. Lacey told Nathan when he was about six.” Her mouth tightened enough to let him know that was a sore subject. “My stepdaughter and I don’t get along that well,” she added.

Theo made a mental note of the woman’s name. Right now, he needed to look at all the angles to figure out who was behind this, and a riled stepdaughter could definitely have motive for putting this together.

Of course, so could Uncle August.

Theo would be contacting him very, very soon.

August had been a thorn in nearly everyone’s side since his brother’s arrest for the Beckett murders. For whatever reason, August had become Travis’s champion of so-called justice even though Travis had never asked him to do that. In fact, from everything Theo had heard, his father had accepted his fate and was willing to spend the rest of his life behind bars.

His phone buzzed, and Theo answered it when he saw Wesley’s name on the screen. “I heard about the shooting at the ranch,” Wesley greeted. “I’m still in Blue River, so you want me to head out there?”

“No need. The danger seems to be contained. For now, anyway.” Theo didn’t mention they’d all soon be going to the sheriff’s office since this wasn’t a whispered phone conversation. If there truly was a bug in the house, he didn’t want to tip off the gunmen’s boss about them leaving, since that would mean they’d be out in the open, at least for a little while.

“The deputy here got an update from Gabriel,” Wesley went on. “The gunmen didn’t ID the person who hired them.”

“No. But I’ve got a lead. I’ll tell you about it when I see you.”

“A lead?” Wesley practically snapped. “Who?”

“The house might be bugged,” Theo reminded him. “The info I got might not amount to anything, but it’s a start.”

“Text me what you have,” Wesley added a moment later.

Theo hadn’t thought it possible, but Wesley seemed even more on edge than Theo did. “I will.” Theo ended the call so he could do that, but the bathroom door opened before he could even get started on the text.

And Nathan came out.

Jameson was in front of him. Jodi, behind. Both still had their guns in hand. Nathan gave Theo a long look, and Theo wondered if the boy recognized their similar features. If so, he didn’t say anything. He just hurried to his mom, and Ivy looped her arms around him, pulling him close to her.

“Gabriel wants us in the cruisers,” Jameson mouthed to Ivy and him. “Don’t take anything with you in case it’s bugged.”

It was a good precaution, and while Theo wasn’t exactly eager to have Ivy or Nathan outside, he understood why they were in a hurry when they followed Jameson out of the room and to the stairs. There wasn’t exactly a peaceful, safe feeling in the house right now.

Jodi paused long enough for their gazes to connect, and he saw the questions in her eyes. How was he handling this? It was too long of an answer and one that he couldn’t give her with just a mere glance.

When they made it to the front of the house, Theo spotted the two cruisers that were now parked by the porch steps. There was a deputy behind the wheel of one of them and another deputy next to him, but Gabriel was driving the cruiser in front. “Ride with me so we can talk,” Gabriel insisted. He motioned for them to get in with him, and he threw open both the back door and the passenger’s side.

“Hurry,” Jameson reminded them. “Jodi and I will ride in front. Theo, Ivy and Nathan in the back seat.”

Jameson didn’t have to tell them twice to hurry. Jodi and he took off running, and Theo got Ivy and Nathan moving fast. Nathan ended up in the middle between Ivy and him, and the moment they were buckled up, Gabriel got them out of there. The deputies followed right behind them, no doubt as backup in case there was another attack.

“Is everyone okay?” Gabriel asked.

Gabriel brushed a kiss on Jodi’s forehead, and when his sister looked at her soon-to-be husband, Theo could practically see the love in her eyes. Not really a surprise, though. He had always suspected that Jodi was in love with Gabriel, and despite their painful pasts, it appeared that Gabriel felt the same way about her.

Each of them, including Theo, answered or made some kind of sound to indicate they were okay.

“He’s not all right,” Nathan said, and he motioned toward Theo. “He’s bleeding.”

Theo didn’t exactly thank him for pointing that out, because Nathan seemed to be alarmed by the blood. Theo hated to add to the boy’s anxiety, but he also didn’t want anyone to make a fuss about a small cut. At least he thought it was small. He hadn’t really had a chance to look at it, but he did know that his cheek was stinging.

Jameson opened the glove compartment, located a small first-aid kit and passed it not to Theo but to Ivy. “Since Theo said he won’t see a medic, you make sure he doesn’t need stitches.”

That request seemed to add to Ivy’s anxiety level, but she opened the kit and took out some gauze and antiseptic cream. She reached over Nathan and blotted the gauze against Theo’s cut. It wasn’t a very manly reaction, but he grunted from the pain.

“When Mom’s fixing up my cuts,” Nathan said, “I just think about a computer game or my horse, Willow. You have a horse?” he asked Theo.





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