JOSH (18 page)

“About five more minutes,” her hired gun relayed to Sierra when he got off the phone.

Josh saw the man’s guns then. All three were armed with multiple weapons, and that wasn’t good odds for him. Still, he had to do something, and five minutes wasn’t much time. His best shot was probably when one of them got behind the wheel. Of course, by then they’d be trying to force Jaycee into the car.

“Come on,” Sierra said, her voice taunting again. She looked at Jaycee. “You don’t want to ask me why you were kidnapped?”

“I figured you’d tell me when you were ready.” Jaycee sounded about as happy with this conversation as Josh was. He hoped he could use every bit of info Sierra was gushing about to put the woman away for life. Of course, for that to happen, Jaycee and he had to get out of there alive.

“Guess I’m ready.” Sierra smiled. “I have a buyer who can’t father his own children, but he had a very interesting shopping list when it came to baby characteristics. Your eye and hair color but with some criminal DNA so he could train the kid to follow in his footsteps. Perfect match. You might wear a badge, Agent Finney, but your mama and daddy were lifers in prison. That appealed to him.”

Jaycee made a soft moan. It was torture listening to this and imagining their precious baby being handed over to a slimeball criminal.

“And what about Miranda Culley?” Josh asked. He didn’t really want to know, but he had to stop Sierra from talking about his baby. Because if she said one more word about it, he might just pick up his gun and risk being shot so he could put some bullets in her.

“The woman didn’t even know about what was going on. I picked her name from the missing persons registry on the internet. Figured she’d be the perfect front to lure you to the cemetery so I could take Jaycee.”

“But you failed.” Josh took pleasure in reminding her of that.

“Yes, that time I did because doofus here got the car bogged down on a dirt road.” She tipped her head to the man behind the door and motioned for him to get behind the wheel. “I didn’t want the Ryland clan combing the woods and maybe coming up on that car, so I faked the injury. It hurt like hell, too.”

Sierra touched the spot on her forehead, smiled at Josh when her gaze dropped to his arm. Then his chest. “But you know a little about hurt and pain, don’t you, Deputy Ryland? Just how bad are those flashbacks from your PTSD?”

Suddenly, they weren’t bad at all.

In fact, Josh’s head was pretty damn clear. Especially now that one of the minions had his back to him.

“Get down,” Josh warned Jaycee, and in the same breath, he snatched up his gun.

Josh was the first to pull the trigger.

* * *

T
HE
SHOTS
BLASTED
through the air, punctuated by Sierra’s screams and sounds of pain, and Jaycee had no choice but to dive for cover. Unarmed, she couldn’t help Josh, but she could hope and pray that they both got out of the path of those bullets.

Jaycee got behind the tree trunk again, and when she looked in the direction of the car, the driver was slumped on the ground. Josh had taken cover, too. Well, of sorts. He was behind a small tree that didn’t fully protect his body.

“You bastard!” Sierra yelled. “You’ll pay for that.” And she snatched the gun from the guard who was on the backseat with her.

She fired, despite the fact the man was trying to get the gun back.

Jaycee’s breath stalled in her throat, and she started praying again. It must have worked, because Sierra’s shot didn’t come anywhere near close to Josh. Of course, any shot fired right now could hit one of Josh’s cousins. She figured there were plenty of them in the woods and maybe on the road trying to figure a way to stop this.

“Give me the gun,” the man in the car said. Not an order because he was obviously talking to his boss, but he was clearly pleading with her.

Sierra ignored him. Cursing, she fired again.

So did Josh.

Sierra missed. Josh didn’t.

Josh’s shot slammed into Sierra’s shoulder and she screamed again. Cursed him, too. What she didn’t do was let go of the gun despite the blood that was seeping through her blouse. However, the man pulled her all the way inside the car and shut the door.

“We need Sierra to keep alive,” Josh called out.

Yes, they did. Because she was the only person who could tell them the extent of the baby farms. They didn’t even know how many there were and where they were located, and they could pressure Sierra to help them save the women and their babies.

With the door closed and both Sierra and one gunman still alive, Josh stayed down but maneuvered himself closer to the car.

Jaycee had lost count of how many bullets Josh had left. He had his Glock, which meant he’d started with twenty-two bullets. Not a lot considering the gunfight they’d been in since the kidnappers had dragged her away from Josh’s place.

Sierra was still cursing and howling in pain, but Jaycee saw some movement in the car.

No.

The remaining guard was climbing over the seat to get behind the wheel. If that happened, they might escape. Jaycee didn’t want Josh or his family to take any more risks, but she didn’t want Sierra getting away, either.

Josh moved closer at the same time the car engine started. The driver rolled forward, pushing the dead gunman out of the way. If he managed to get the door shut, Josh wouldn’t be able to fire inside. Not with that bulletproof glass in the way.

“Jaycee, watch out!” someone yelled.

It took her a moment to realize that it wasn’t Josh, but rather Grayson. She turned around and didn’t see Grayson, but she saw something that put her heart right in her throat.

The armed man running toward her.

He lifted his gun, aiming not at her but at Josh. Josh turned, too, his gaze snagging the guy, and he dropped to the ground.

And Josh and the guard fired at the same time.

Jaycee was afraid to look. Terrified that the bullet might have killed Josh.

But he was fine.

Unfortunately, so was the other guy, and he fired another shot as he ducked behind one of the trees. She was beyond thankful that Josh hadn’t been shot again, but that didn’t stop the car from moving.

Sierra was getting away.

“Everyone get down!” she heard Gage yell.

She dropped all the way to the ground and prayed that Josh and Grayson did the same. A split second later, the shots started. Not coming from the side of the car where they were but from the other side.

Gage, no doubt.

He just started shooting, and unlike Josh, it didn’t sound as if he’d run out of ammo. The bullets pelted against the glass, and judging from Sierra’s screams, some of them got through.

She saw Josh lift his head, take aim, and he shot out the two tires on their side. The car bobbed to a stop, the flat rubber unable to get enough traction on the dirt.

Jaycee blew out a quick breath of relief. But there was no relief when she saw both car doors fly open. Sierra and her henchmen didn’t get out of the vehicle, but still using the protective glass in the car, they took aim.

The man aimed at Josh.

Sierra, at Jaycee.

The shots tore into the fallen tree, chipping away huge chunks of the wood. Jaycee saw Josh dive back to the ground, and she could hear shots from the direction where she’d last heard Grayson. The only armed one who wasn’t firing was Gage, and she soon caught sight of him.

He was on the other side of the car.

And he joined the gunfire. This time at much closer range, and even though Jaycee couldn’t see it, she figured his shots had to be chipping away at the glass.

“Stop!” Sierra yelled. “We’re surrendering.”

Gage, Grayson and Josh all stopped, and eerie silence settled over the road and woods.

Jaycee couldn’t believe Sierra would surrender, but maybe she was smart enough to realize it was the only way she was going to make it out alive. So she could then escape. No way would a woman like Sierra go to jail, and unfortunately, she had plenty of henchmen in place to make sure that didn’t happen.

The gunman stepped from the car slowly, dropping his weapon on the ground and lifting his hands in the air. The seconds crawled by, all of them waiting for Sierra to do the same.

But she didn’t.

Screaming like someone crazy, Sierra came out, a gun in each hand, and she started shooting.

“You’re a dead woman, Jaycee!” she yelled, and she took aim at Jaycee’s head.

However, Sierra never got a chance to pull the trigger. Josh’s shots saw to that. This time, he didn’t aim for her arm. He couldn’t because he had to stop her from killing Jaycee. When the bullet hit her chest, Sierra froze, her eyes wide with shock.

Then, nothing.

Her guns slid from her hands, and she crumpled onto the ground.

Jaycee and Josh started running toward the woman at the same time. Josh got there first and touched his fingers to Sierra’s neck.

“Call an ambulance,” Josh yelled. “She’s alive.”

Chapter Twenty

Josh tried not to wince or react when the nurse stitched up his arm. Jaycee was no doubt already feeling enough stress without his bad reaction adding to it. With the eagle-eyed way she was watching him, it would definitely add stress if she thought he was in pain.

“You sure you’re okay?” Jaycee asked, and it was something she’d asked a lot on the drive to the Silver Creek hospital and since they’d arrived.

Yeah, despite the throbbing from the gunshot wound and the stitches, he was fine, even better now that the doctor had said Jaycee was all right. Josh hadn’t let the doctor check him out until he knew all was well with her and the baby.

Sierra was a different matter.

She’d been alive when the ambulance had finally managed to get into that remote part of the ranch, and she was now in surgery. However, Dr. Mickelson had warned them that while Sierra’s chances looked good, she still might not survive.

And Josh blamed himself for that.

He’d had no choice but to shoot her, or Sierra would have gunned down Jaycee. Josh had tried not to go for a kill shot, but that had been hard to do, especially since Sierra hadn’t been standing still. Instead, the woman had let the rage take over and had been trying to get into a better position to end Jaycee’s life.

Now he could only hope for the best.

In this case, the best was for Sierra to stay alive at least long enough to lead them to the baby farms and her own daughter. Josh was hoping and praying they could get that info by some other means, but it was sad but true that Sierra might be their only chance at doing that.

The nurse finally finished with him, and Josh stood, pulling down his sleeve so that Jaycee wouldn’t have to see the stitches. Of course, that meant she could see the blood on his shirt.

She saw it, all right.

Tears welled in her eyes, and she pulled him into a gentle hug. “I’m so sorry.”

Jaycee made it sound as if all of this was her fault. It wasn’t. She’d been a victim, and if Sierra and her minions had had their way, Jaycee would have soon been a dead victim. After she’d delivered the baby who would be sold to some slimeball criminal, that was.

Sierra’s heart had to be as black as night to have made an arrangement like that.

“Don’t let it eat away at you,” Jaycee whispered, as if she knew exactly what he was thinking. It was spooky just how often they were on the same wavelength.

Josh brushed a kiss on her cheek. Didn’t dare risk more. His body was one big giant nerve right now, and if he really kissed her, he might not stop. Because right now, having Jaycee in his arms melted away the pain. The memories.

And even the nightmare that’d just happened.

As she’d said, he wouldn’t let it eat away at him, but that was because he had Jaycee there to remind him that there was another side of life. A good one that didn’t involve kidnappers and baby farms.

Josh kept his arm around Jaycee’s waist as they left the examining room and went back into the waiting area. In this case, it was aptly named since there were two people waiting for them.

Grayson and Valerie.

The person missing was his brother, Sawyer, who’d been there earlier, not long after Josh and the others had arrived.

Valerie immediately got to her feet. “How’s Sierra?”

Josh had to shake his head. “She’s still in surgery.” And she might be there for a while. That was a best-case scenario because it would mean she was not only still alive but also that the damage was being repaired. “The doctor expects her to live.”

Valerie’s legs buckled, and she dropped back down into the chair. “Good. I know you don’t think much of her, but she’s still my sister.”

Josh could understand that. In part. He would be devastated if something happened to his brother. But then, Sawyer wasn’t an insane criminal who’d wrecked heaven knows how many lives for the sake of money.

Grayson stood, blowing out a long, weary breath, and he studied both Jaycee and Josh. “Are you two really okay?”

Josh waited for Jaycee to nod before he added one of his own. He figured it’d be a while, though, before it was actually the truth, since both of them had come damn close to dying tonight, and they could thank Sierra and her henchmen for that.

Josh tipped his head to the empty seat where he’d last seen his brother. “Where’s Sawyer?”

“Out looking for the baby farm and Sierra’s daughter. Gage found two recent addresses on the GPS in the car Sierra was using.”

That was the best news Josh had heard all day. Well, other than hearing from the doctor that Jaycee and the baby were okay. “Sawyer and Gage are checking them out now,” Grayson added.

“Not alone?” Jaycee immediately said.

Grayson shook his head. “Kade and some other FBI agents went with them.” He glanced down at the phone in his hand. “I’m hoping for a call from them any minute.”

Josh hoped that call would be good news. He was sick and tired of hearing mostly bad stuff when it came to this. Plus, if this turned out to be the locations of the baby farms, they wouldn’t need to wait for Sierra to come out of surgery and then recovery. They could go in and rescue the captives.

“When Sierra’s baby is found,” Valerie said, getting to her feet again, “I’ll take her.” She stopped, sucked in a quick breath. Blinked back tears, too. “She’s my niece, and I love her. I swear, I’d do my best to take care of her.”

She sounded sincere enough, and heck, maybe she was. Josh had been dealing with scum for so long that it was hard to see the good in people.

“When the baby’s found,” Josh started. And he used
when
instead of
if
because he refused to believe the little girl would just disappear in this baby farm maze. “We’ll get it all sorted out. You’re the next of kin so you’ll have a big say in what happens to her.”

Valerie gave a shaky nod and sank back down onto the chair. “And when Sierra recovers from her injuries, she’ll be going to jail.”

For a long, long time. They were all thinking it, but none of them said it aloud. Judging from Sierra’s behavior tonight, she had likely even committed murder, and that could get her the death penalty.

Ironic that she would survive a gunshot only to face that. But Josh had no sympathy for the woman who’d destroyed and tried to destroy so many lives.

Including his and Jaycee’s.

“You should take Jaycee back to the ranch,” Grayson suggested. “Not to your place but mine or the main house. It’ll take a while to clear out the smell of the tear gas in your apartment.”

Yeah, it would, but thankfully that was the only damage. Josh had been worried about the fires that Sierra had claimed had been set. And a few had been. But Grayson had already told him that the ranch hands had easily contained them, and there’d been no real damage. Sierra had only meant the fires to be a distraction.

They’d worked, in part.

The fires had tied up some of his cousins and the ranch hands. But that hadn’t stopped Gage, Grayson, Jaycee and him from stopping Sierra.

“Did you figure out how the kidnappers got on the ranch?” Jaycee asked.

Grayson lifted his shoulder. “Probably came in with the wedding decorators. Dad tried to check everyone’s IDs, but there were a lot of people coming and going. He thinks they might have sneaked in one of the vans that were bringing in supplies.”

“This wasn’t his fault,” Jaycee said. “Sierra was determined to kidnap me. Sooner or later, she would have found a way to get to me.”

It was the truth, and it hurt Josh far more than a gunshot wound. No matter what precautions they’d taken, Sierra and her goons had figured out a way around them. But that was over now. Sierra and her hired guns would go to jail for the rest of their lives.

“I’ll call you with any updates,” Grayson added, and he handed Josh the keys to his truck. “Dade and Bree are waiting outside to go with you.”

“Oh, God,” Jaycee mumbled, and he knew why she’d said that.

Because the danger maybe wasn’t over.

That was the reason Grayson had arranged for Bree and Dade to ride with them. They were protection that they might end up needing. Again.

“It’ll be okay,” Josh whispered to her, and he got her moving toward the exit. “Soon we’ll put all of this behind us, and you can focus on having a healthy baby.”

That was his wish list anyway. Now he had to make it happen.

However, Jaycee stopped and faced him. “It will be okay,” she said, surprising him.

After everything that’d just happened, he expected at least a little bit of gloom and doom, but she slid her hand over her stomach. And kissed him.

“You saved my life tonight. Multiple times. Thank you for that,” she said.

You’re welcome
didn’t seem nearly heartfelt enough. “You saved me a couple of times, too.”

She nodded, and Josh leaned in for another kiss, but she pressed her hand over his mouth. “I’m just going to say this fast. Like ripping off a bandage. I’m in love with you, and I know that’s not the right thing to say. That it puts a lot of pressure on you—”

Josh moved her hand away and kissed her. It wasn’t to shut her up.

Okay, that was part of it.

He just figured the best way to shut her up was to remind her of this heat that was between them.

And it was a reminder, all right.

He kissed her until air became a serious issue, and they had to break away to catch their breaths.

“I tell you I love you, and that’s how you react?” Jaycee frowned, shook her head. “Wait, that didn’t come out right. What I meant—”

He kissed her again. “I know what you meant,” he whispered against her mouth. “You want to know how I feel about that? Well, I don’t feel pressured, that’s for sure, and it was the absolute right thing to say. Because I’m in love with you, too.”

Until that moment he hadn’t known for sure, but it was true. He was crazy, head over heels in love with Jaycee. He wasn’t sure when or where it’d happened, but he was certain of his feelings for her.

She smiled. Then it faded, and she got another of those concerned looks in her eyes. “But what about the past?”

“It’s the past,” he quickly let her know, and he put his hand on her stomach. “Seems best for us to focus on the future now.”

Despite everything he’d just told her, her concerned look went up a significant notch. “You’re not in love with me just because of the baby?”

“No.” And that was yet something else he knew with absolute certainty.

Josh would have proved that with another kiss, but he heard Grayson’s phone ring, and both Jaycee and he turned back around to see if this was good news.

Or if they truly did need protection driving to the ranch.

“Gage,” Grayson said.

Josh couldn’t hear a word Gage said, and he couldn’t tell from Grayson’s expression, either. All he could do was stand there and wait to find out what was going on.

And take care of some much-needed personal stuff.

“Marry me,” he whispered to Jaycee.

She didn’t move. Didn’t respond. She certainly didn’t jump into his arms and say yes. And that meant he’d blown this big-time. He should have guessed after her reaction to his last marriage proposal. Of course, that one hadn’t been the real deal.

This one was.

“I’m not asking you to marry me because of the baby,” he quickly clarified. “Though that’s a nice bonus. But the reason I proposed is because I’m in love with you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

Jaycee still didn’t move, but tears welled in her eyes, and she made a little gasping sound.

“Oh, man.” Josh groaned. “Now I’ve made you cry.”

“For the best of reasons,” she said.

Her voice was all warmth and breath now, and there was no more concern in her expression. She put her arms around him and kissed him until Josh was feeling all warm and breathy, too.

Actually, he was wishing he could haul her off to bed. And he figured soon he could make that happen.

“Yes,” she whispered.

Because he was caught up in the kiss, it took him a moment to realize that was the best thing Jaycee could have said to him.

“Yes?” he clarified and hoped like the devil that he hadn’t misunderstood.

He hadn’t. Her slow smile and quick nod proved that. So did their next kiss, and it went on a little longer than planned because he heard Grayson clear his throat.

“Sounds as if congratulations are in order,” Grayson said, smiling. “Well, I can give you two something else to celebrate. You, too,” he said to Valerie. “They found both of the baby farms, and Sierra’s daughter was at one of them.”

While that sounded good, Josh immediately thought of the guards who’d escaped with those women. “Did Gage say if there were any injuries or escapees?”

“Doesn’t appear to be. There were four women at the first place. Three more at the second, and those women are the ones who were taken from the farm where Jaycee had been held.”

“And they’re okay?” Jaycee asked.

Grayson nodded. “Everyone is okay, and the guards have been arrested.”

Jaycee made a sound of sheer relief and landed in his arms again.

“Are the guards talking?” Josh asked. Because they might need info from them to find any other baby farms that Sierra had set up.

“One’s talking, and that’s all it takes. We’ll cut a deal with him so he can testify against the others. And against Sierra. He’s already told Kade that he’ll spill any-and everything.”

That was definitely a huge reason to celebrate. Of course, the guard might not know the full extent of Sierra’s operation, but Josh wasn’t going to borrow trouble. What the guard didn’t know they could probably piece together with the other evidence they’d find at the baby farm locations.

Plus, there was Sierra.

When she came out of surgery, she might be willing to give information to take the death penalty off the table. Sierra was the sort of woman who’d do all sorts of bargaining to stay alive, and that in turn could save anyone else who was unlucky enough to have been kidnapped and held.

“I’ll wait here until Sierra’s out of surgery,” Grayson added. “When she wakes up, I’ll let you know.”

Josh thanked him and got Jaycee moving toward the door again. It seemed odd, stepping outside without worrying if someone was going to try to kidnap or kill them. It felt like a new lease on life.