Finger on the Trigger Read online

  “No,” she yelled. “Please, no.”

  It seemed like a prayer to him, and Griff was doing his own share of praying. He pinned Brad to the floor and looked at Rachel, hoping that he wouldn’t see her wounded.

  Or worse—dying from a lethal shot.

  But he couldn’t tell if she’d been hit because she turned and ran to her father. That’s when Griff realized that Rachel was okay, but that Warren had been injured.

  Griff couldn’t go to her because he didn’t want to risk letting go of Brad. The man was still very much alive, and Griff couldn’t let him get away and try to go after the guns that were scattered around the room.

  Thea was moaning, too, as she fought to get to her feet. Griff didn’t know what she was going to do at first, but she kicked the guns away from Brad’s reach and then took the jammer from the table. She bashed it against the china hutch.

  Good.

  Maybe now they’d be able to make a phone call.

  “You’ll need these,” Thea said, taking a pair of plastic cuffs from her jeans pocket.

  “Check on Rachel and Warren,” Griff said, after he mumbled a thanks. “And try to call for an ambulance.”

  His sister practically stumbled across the room, a reminder that Warren wasn’t the only one who needed medical attention. So did Thea. Probably Rachel, too. And Brad, of course. But at the moment Griff didn’t care if the man lived or died. In fact, it took everything inside him not to kill the DA on the spot.

  Brad smiled, making Griff’s rage go up a notch. “Rachel will never really be yours.” He kept smiling while Griff got the cuffs on him. “No way will Warren McCall let trailer trash like you be with his daughter.”

  Griff hadn’t even been sure that Rachel was listening, but she made a sound of outrage and came back toward them. Thea was on the phone, probably with the hospital, and had her hand pressed to Warren’s shoulder. The older man was definitely bleeding, but not as much as Brad.

  “Brad’s dying,” Griff told Rachel, because she looked ready to launch herself at the man.

  She stopped, dropped down to her knees beside Griff and kissed him. “I just wanted you to know that I’m in love with you.”

  Maybe she’d said that as a dig to Brad, or Rachel could have just gotten caught up in the heat of the moment. Either way, Griff found himself wishing that the words were real, that she truly did feel that way.

  Brad cursed them both, but they ignored him as they gazed at each other. There was plenty Griff wanted to tell her. Not in front of Brad, though. And definitely not while so many things were unsure.

  “Egan and the ambulance are on the way,” Thea relayed. “Someone needs to check on Ruby and the hands.”

  Griff certainly hadn’t forgotten about them, but for a moment he’d been wrapped up in what Rachel said.

  “I can go see about Ruby,” Rachel volunteered, and she was already turning to go there when Griff caught her hand.

  “Wait here with Thea and your dad. Warren needs you right now.” Yeah, that was playing dirty pool, to use her father, but Griff didn’t want her straying off in case Brad had a hired gun somewhere in the house.

  Griff dragged the DA to the corner and used his belt to tie up the man’s feet. Even though Brad was cuffed and injured, he was desperate enough to try to make an escape.

  After all, he would be facing multiple counts of attempted murder and at least one count of murder for killing Buddy. Being a DA wouldn’t help him, and in fact might work against him. Brad had to know that he could get the death penalty for his crimes.

  Once Griff was sure the man was secured, he picked up his gun and made certain Rachel was across the room with Thea and her father. She was, and was currently applying pressure to Warren’s bleeding shoulder.

  “Keep watch,” Griff told his sister. He hated to put this on her right now, but there wasn’t a choice.

  Griff waited until Thea nodded before he hurried into the living room. It was still dark, since the power was off, but he spotted the woman right where he’d left Warren and her earlier. She was unconscious, though, which meant Brad had maybe drugged her after he’d used a stun gun on her.

  Griff lifted her to a sitting position, propping her against the wall. It was all he could do for her now, so he went to check on the ranch hands. Brad had said he’d only tied up the men, but he could have hurt them, too.

  Griff hadn’t taken more than a step or two before he saw movement in the foyer. Someone was by the now-opened front door. Griff took aim but didn’t fire, because it could be Egan or someone who worked at the ranch.

  It wasn’t.

  It was Marlon.

  The man stayed back, peering at Griff from around the edge of the door.

  “What the heck are you doing here?” Griff demanded.

  “Brad.” And that was all Marlon said for several moments. “He brought me here. He said you were going to kill him and then set me up to take the fall. I can’t let you do that.”

  Hell.

  That’s when Griff saw the gun that Marlon was holding by the side of his leg.

  Even though the man didn’t have it aimed at Griff, that could change in the blink of an eye. And worse, Rachel, Thea and Warren were all still in the dining room and could be hit if shots went through the walls. However, Griff figured he was Marlon’s target now.

  “Put down that gun,” Griff warned him. “Brad lied to you,” he added, though he doubted that Marlon was going to believe it. Especially since Marlon thought the worst about Rachel and him.

  He shook his head, and he didn’t put down the gun.

  “Griff’s the one lying,” Brad shouted out. “He shot me. He tried to kill me.”

  Until then, Griff hadn’t known that the others could hear Marlon and him. But they didn’t just hear them, Rachel peered out from the dining room, and she, too, had a gun.

  “Get back!” Griff ordered.

  But Rachel didn’t move. “I’m not just going to stand here and let Marlon shoot you.”

  Griff was about to play dirty again and remind her of the baby, that this was too big of a risk to take, but he didn’t get the chance. Marlon was lifting his weapon toward Rachel, but Griff didn’t give him a chance to take aim.

  He fired, sending two shots right into Marlon’s chest.

  The man looked down at the front of his shirt and his eyes widened. But only for a second before he dropped to the floor.

  Griff cursed. Not just because Marlon had wasted his life, but also because Rachel had had to see another man die. Right in front of her. Heaven knew how long the sight of this would haunt her dreams. It would certainly haunt Griff’s.

  Outside, he heard the sound of a siren. Egan. It wouldn’t be long now before he got there. Only a few minutes. But Griff didn’t want him to walk in on another shooting, so he went to Marlon, kicked away the gun and checked to make sure the man was truly dead.

  He was.

  Griff shifted his attention back to Brad then. He was still alive, but was bleeding out fast. Warren was faring slightly better, thanks to Thea helping him. Rachel, however, didn’t have a drop of color in her face.

  She started toward Griff just as he went toward her, and when she reached him, she practically fell into his arms. “I was scared,” she whispered.

  Yeah, he’d been terrified. Not for himself. But because he could have easily lost her to a gunman.

  Griff couldn’t help himself. He kissed her. And while it wasn’t one of those heated kisses that had landed them in bed before, it was a reminder that even now the attraction between them was still strong.

  A reminder, too, that it might be a whole lot more than just attraction.

  Griff would have asked her about her “I’m in love with you” comment, but the cruiser pulled to a stop in front of the house, and Egan came barreling out. Not one but two ambula
nces pulled up right behind him. Griff let go of Rachel so he could head to the front door.

  Egan’s face was a mask of worry and concern. “Thea said Brad tried to kill you,” he began. He glanced at Marlon on the floor, but his attention zoomed to his sister.

  “I’m okay,” Rachel insisted.

  “You’ve got blood on your face,” he quickly pointed out.

  She wiped it away, looking at her fingers when she was finished. “Griff’s blood. I’m the only one who wasn’t hurt. Dad, Thea and Ruby all need to go to the hospital.”

  “So do you,” Egan insisted. “I don’t care if it’s your blood or not. You’re getting checked out by a doctor.” He gave her hand a gentle squeeze before he went to check on Warren.

  “I will, but only after everyone else,” she argued as her brother walked away. “There are two hands outside, tied up. They’ll need to be checked, too.”

  “Court and Ian are circling the house now to make sure no one else is out there,” Egan assured her. “They’ll find the hands.”

  Two medics came rushing in, and Griff directed them to the corner where Ruby was still unconscious, and to the dining room. One went to Ruby, the other to Thea and Warren. Since this was going to quickly become a busy path, he took Rachel to one side of the living room.

  Another medic came in and Griff pointed him in Brad’s direction. That left Rachel and him standing there, and since she no longer looked steady on her feet, Griff slipped his arm around her.

  “This one’s dead,” the medic called out, when he got to Brad.

  Since Griff had known the man most of his life, he probably should have felt some sadness. He didn’t. After what Brad had tried to do to Rachel, Griff was finding it hard to forgive him.

  “He’s dead,” Rachel said, her voice a little shaky. He thought she might cry. She didn’t. “At least we won’t have to worry about him coming after us again. Marlon, either.”

  Yes, that was a big plus. No way did Griff want to go through anything like this again. There’d been enough danger for a couple lifetimes.

  He glanced into the dining room, to see the medic moving from Brad to attend to Thea. The other one was still with Warren, and Egan was right by his father’s side. In fact, Egan was now having a whispered conversation with him.

  A conversation that caused Egan to glance back at Griff.

  Hell. Warren had probably told him that Rachel was pregnant. Warren wouldn’t have done that to rile Egan; he’d probably only told him so he’d make sure Rachel got some medical attention. But Egan wouldn’t be pleased about it.

  And that meant Griff had a decision to make.

  The timing couldn’t have been worse. Both Rachel and he had blood on them, and there was a dead guy just a few yards away. The law enforcement chaos was about to set in, because this was now a crime scene. Still, Griff didn’t want to keep this inside him for another minute.

  “You said you were in love with me,” he stated, putting it out there. He only wished he’d softened his tone a little. It came out like an accusation.

  Rachel stared at him. Then nodded. “And you’re thinking I said that to get back at Brad.”

  Bingo.

  “I didn’t,” she quickly added, before he could speak. “I wasn’t talking to him when I spoke, but to you. That’s because I am in love with you.”

  She paused, maybe waiting for him to respond. But Griff was going to have to gather his breath before he could do that. She had stunned him with those words.

  “I know this doesn’t make things perfect,” she went on. Her tone wasn’t soft, either. She sounded like she was in the middle of an argument. “Maybe my family will never want us to be together, but I don’t care. And you shouldn’t, either. You’re a good man, Griff.”

  Again, no breath. Mercy. He’d always wanted to hear Rachel say those things, and now that he was hearing them, it felt like a miracle.

  She frowned. “Now would be a good time for you to tell me how you feel about me.”

  Since Griff didn’t trust his voice, he pulled her to him and kissed her. It was way too long and hot, considering that Egan was probably still aiming daggers at him. But Griff didn’t care. He had exactly what he wanted in his arms.

  He had Rachel and their baby.

  Griff eased back, looked down at her, and was pleased to see that he’d left her a little breathless, as well. “I love you,” he said.

  Despite everything, that caused her to smile. “Took you long enough.”

  “We found the hands,” someone called out. It was Ian. “They’re okay.”

  Good. That was one less thing to worry about. That worry list was way too long, and it was nice to scratch something off it.

  The news must have pleased Rachel, too, because she pulled Griff back for another kiss. This one wasn’t nearly as long or hot, because Egan cleared his throat and walked closer to them.

  He dropped his narrowed eyes from their faces to Rachel’s stomach. “It’s true?” he said. “Did the test confirm you’re pregnant?”

  “Yes,” Rachel answered. Kissed her brother on the cheek. “You’ll be an uncle, and even though you’re scowling right now, I predict you’ll be happy about this one day. Almost as happy as I am.”

  Egan glanced around the crime scene and huffed. “Well, I suppose if you can be happy in the middle of all this, then I won’t punch Griff for getting you pregnant.”

  “No, you won’t punch him,” Rachel agreed. “Because Griff just told me he’s in love with me. That’s good, since I told him I was in love with him, too.”

  Egan didn’t exactly jump for joy, but Griff took it as a good sign that the man didn’t curse. “Fine. Because I was about to tell him that I expect him to marry you. Not immediately,” Egan snarled, when Rachel made a sound of outrage. “Catch your breaths first. Get cleaned up. Kiss some more. And then you can talk about getting married.”

  That sounded a little like a brotherly decree.

  One that Griff liked. A lot.

  “Well?” he asked Rachel. “What do you think?”

  She leaned in for another kiss. “Yes, to catching our breaths, getting cleaned up and kissing some more. Especially kissing.”

  And that’s what Griff did. He kissed her, pulling her so close that her body was pressed against his.

  “When we talk marriage, what do you think your answer will be?” he asked, with his mouth still against hers.

  She smiled again. “Yes, of course. Always yes.” She took hold of his shirt and pulled him even closer.

  That robbed him of the breath he’d finally managed to regain, but Griff didn’t care. He wanted Rachel far more than his breath, anyway, and he let her know that with his next kiss.

  * * * * *

  Look for the next book in USA TODAY

  bestselling author Delores Fossen’s

  The Lawmen of McCall Canyon miniseries,

  available in early 2019.

  And don’t miss the previous title in

  The Lawmen of McCall Canyon series:

  Cowboy Above the Law

  Be sure to check out the books in her

  Blue River Ranch series:

  Always a Lawman

  Gunfire on the Ranch

  Lawman from Her Past

  Roughshod Justice

  All these titles are available now from Harlequin Intrigue!

  Keep reading for an excerpt from Four Relentless Days by Elle James.

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  Four Relentless Days

  by Elle James

  Chapter One

  First night back at the All Things Wild Safari and Resort in Kenya, Africa, and Harmon “Harm” Payne had trouble sleeping. Their commander had granted the team a bonus week of vacation. After a particularly difficult mission in South Sudan, cleaning up the damage done by a ruthless warlord bent on wreaking havoc with the locals and stealing their children for his army, the SEAL team deserved this time to unwind.

  Though his week of rest and relaxation had begun, he couldn’t rest or relax and paced the sleek wooden floors of his cabin, hoping to get sleepy, but so far, nothing was working.

  As a US Navy SEAL, he was used to snatching some shut-eye whenever he had fifteen minutes to spare. Why couldn’t he do it now?

  He stood by the window, staring out into the darkness of night, studying the myriad of stars twinkling in the heavens. The setting was perfect, the mission had been a success, but he couldn’t calm his racing pulse. Harm felt on edge, as if he teetered on the precipice of something.