Gage Read online

  He couldn’t die. He just couldn’t.

  The tears burned her eyes. The fear had her by the throat. But she forced herself to move. She didn’t know how because everything was on autopilot now.

  Ford lifted the gun, took aim at Gage again, but Lynette shouted, “No!”

  Her father looked at her, just a split second, and she kicked at the gun. To her surprise, he stopped. Well, for just that second. And then he whipped out another gun from his pocket.

  He aimed one gun at her.

  And one at Gage.

  She glanced at Gage. He was still gasping. And he ripped open his shirt so she could see the Kevlar vest. Like the one she was wearing.

  The relief flooded through her.

  He wasn’t dead. He hadn’t been shot in the chest. But he was injured, and she had no idea how badly. She only knew she had to get him to the hospital. Hopefully, there was already an ambulance on the way. But she seriously doubted that her father planned to let Gage get the help he needed.

  “Put down that gun,” Ford ordered her.

  “No.” And Lynette didn’t hesitate.

  Her father made a sound of amusement. “I killed the last woman who told me that.”

  “My mother?” Though she already knew the answer.

  “Your mother,” he verified, volleying glances between Gage and her. Gage was doing the same while fighting for air and clutching his chest. He was also inching his hand toward his gun that had fallen on the floor.

  “You drowned her because she said no to you?” Lynette asked, and she didn’t bother to tone down the hatred. She wanted her father’s full attention on her so that Gage could get that gun.

  “Of course. She was a tramp, you know. She refused to stop seeing her lover.” He laughed. It was hollow and cold. “You should have seen her face when I told her that Sheriff Chet McLaurin was dead. She fell apart, dropped down on her knees, sobbing. Killing her was easy after that.”

  Every detail turned her stomach and made her want to pull the trigger. But she couldn’t risk that, not while her father still had that weapon aimed at Gage.

  From the corner of her eye, she saw Gage ease his hand over the gun.

  “That’s what will happen to you when I kill Gage,” Ford warned. “You’ll fall apart. You’ll need the asylum after that.”

  Lynette shook her head. “I’m not letting you kill Gage. I didn’t stand up to you ten years ago, but I’m doing it now.”

  He laughed again. “You can’t shoot me. You’re not a killer, Lynette.”

  No. She wasn’t. But she would do whatever was necessary to protect the man she loved.

  She waited until Gage had the gun in his hand before she asked her father a final question. “You think you’ll get away with murder again?” she pushed.

  “Of course. I’m a man of money and resources. With Gage dead, and you committed to the asylum, there’ll be no witnesses. No one to tell the story of what happened here tonight.”

  She looked him straight in the eyes. “Don’t be so sure of that.” Lynette paused. “I have a tape recorder in my pocket, and I turned it on when I took out the handgun. I’ve got your confession to two murders and the attempted murder of a federal agent.”

  Because she was staring at him, she saw her father’s eyes widen. Heard the jolt of breath. He opened his mouth, probably to say she was lying.

  She wasn’t.

  And her expression must have let him know that.

  Lynette heard the footsteps in the hall. Someone was running toward them. The Rylands, no doubt. They’d finally made it through the barricade on the fire escape.

  “Soon, this room will be filled with lawmen, and one of them will cuff you. Read your rights. And haul you off to jail.” She kept her attention nailed to her father. “I’ll be there when you’re convicted of murder. When you’re disgraced and the talk of every gossip in the state.”

  Gage shook his head. “Stay back, Lynette.” She did, but she didn’t stop staring at her father. “And I’ll also be there when they shove a needle into your arm.” Her chin came up. “I got you, you bastard.”

  Ford moved so fast that even though she was tuned in to his every move, she still didn’t see it coming. His hand flexed. Ready to pull the trigger.

  But he didn’t shoot at her. Or Gage.

  Senator Ford Herrington turned the gun on himself.

  And fired.

  Chapter Twenty

  Gage felt as if he’d been kicked in the chest by an ornery rodeo bull. His arm where he’d been shot wasn’t feeling too good, either. But he was alive and nearly in one piece. And the best part?

  Lynette didn’t have a scratch on her.

  How she’d come out of that nightmare unscathed was nothing short of a miracle, but it was a miracle that Gage would take. But he rethought that. No injuries, but she looked on the verge of losing it as Mason and Kade helped Gage into the emergency room. Nate and Dade were right behind them.

  “He’s been shot,” Lynette called out to the entire E.R.

  And the place wasn’t exactly empty. Grayson and his brothers’ wives were all there: Darcy, Kayla and Bree. The kids, too. Three of them, Robbie, Noah and Kimmie, were toddling around while Darcy and Kayla held twin baby girls who looked to be a couple of months old. Kade and Bree’s, no doubt.

  “Are we having a family reunion?” Gage asked.

  But his joke went over like a lead balloon because the women turned pasty-white, and Darcy immediately motioned for a medic.

  “He needs help now,” Lynette insisted.

  Actually, he didn’t, but Gage figured that wasn’t an argument he was going to win when it came to the now part. The bleeding had stopped. He could breathe without writhing in pain. And he was more than a little pleased that Lynette and his baby were no longer in danger. A bit of pain and blood were a small price to pay for that.

  “This way,” a medic said, hurrying toward them. He grabbed a wheelchair, put Gage in it, and without stopping, he wheeled him into the examining room.

  “You can wait outside,” the medic said when Lynette followed.

  “No. I can’t,” she insisted right back.

  Most of the others came, too, all of them peering at Gage and his injuries. Only Kayla stayed back with the three toddlers, probably because she didn’t want them to see the blood on Gage’s arm.

  Gage didn’t want them to see that, either.

  He hadn’t been able to shield his family from the danger, but there was no reason to add to the trauma that’d just happened.

  “How badly are you hurt?” Darcy asked, handing the baby girl to Kade.

  Gage was about to say “not bad,” but Lynette answered for him. “He has a gunshot wound to the arm. He’s wearing Kevlar, but he took a direct shot to the chest.”

  All the lawmen and Bree winced. Probably because they knew how it felt.

  “Yeah, it hurts all right,” Gage complained but then hated that it only caused Lynette to look even more concerned. Soon, he would have to do something to get that concerned, pained look off her face.

  He’d have to do some fence-mending with his family, too.

  Gage glanced at each member of his Ryland clan. Even with the pain, it was good to be here. Even better to be surrounded by blood who had his back.

  “You a dad yet?” Gage asked Grayson while the medic started easing off Gage’s shirt.

  “I am.” Grayson smiled from ear to ear. “A boy. Eight pounds, nine ounces.”

  “He’s a big one,” Darcy added. “But Eve’s doing great. We were with them when we got Dade’s call that you were coming in to the E.R.”

  “The baby’s a Ryland through and through,” Grayson went on. “Dark hair. Our gray eyes. Built like a cowboy. We’ve named him Chet David.”

  After their grandfather. It was a good legacy to continue. It was also reminder that in about seven and a half months, Lynette and he would have their own little cowboy or cowgirl. Gender didn’t matter to him. Gage was just than
kful this baby could have a safe, normal life. Especially after the unsafe, nonnormal start.

  Gage looked at Lynette again to see how she was dealing with all of this and her father’s death, but she had her attention fastened on him.

  “I’m so sorry I couldn’t stop this from happening,” she whispered.

  He caught on to her hand, even though the movement hurt, and he eased her closer. “You stopped it just fine. Later though, I’ll be riled at you for going to the courthouse in the first place.”

  Riled, for at least five seconds.

  Gage pulled her down for a kiss that was probably too long and too hot considering they had an audience.

  “Told you they were back together,” Mason mumbled.

  “I don’t think they were ever apart,” Kade corrected. “Never could keep their hands off each other.”

  Gage was amused at this speculation about his personal life, but not so amused that Lynette still looked ready to drop. He had her sit on the edge of the examining table while the medic kept on working, kept on clearing away the blood on his wound.

  “We left Mel and Luis at the courthouse,” Dade relayed to Grayson.

  The other deputies, Gage recalled. He felt sorry for them. Working that crime scene was going to be a bear. Dead bodies always were.

  “I’ll go back in a few minutes and check on things,” Dade added. “It won’t be long before the press gets wind of this.”

  Dade was right. A senator’s suicide would make the front page for a while. Maybe he could talk Lynette into staying away from a newspaper and a television for the next couple of weeks. Even her own newspaper. He didn’t want her reliving that even if he couldn’t completely shield her from the necessary follow-up that Grayson would have to do.

  “I have something for your investigation,” Lynette volunteered. She reached in her pocket, took out the tape recorder and handed it to Grayson.

  So, it hadn’t been a bluff after all. She had finally gotten the evidence to prove that her father was a cold-blooded killer. And a coward, of course.

  “My father made a confession of sorts before he killed himself,” Lynette added. She looked back at Gage.

  And he finished for her. “Ford murdered Lynette’s mother and Granddaddy Chet.”

  The silence slipped through the room, and even the young medic stopped and volleyed glances at all of them. There probably wasn’t a person in Silver Creek who hadn’t heard of their grandfather’s murder, the way he’d been gunned down by an unknown assailant.

  The gossip had never stopped.

  Neither had the family’s pain.

  Some folks had even whispered that Gage’s father, Boone, had been the one to pull the trigger. Or maybe Gage’s mother. Perhaps Lynette’s mother, too, since there had also been gossip about the affair between Chet and her. But Ford’s reputation hadn’t made him a top-list suspect. Well, except in Gage’s and Lynette’s minds.

  Later, each of his brothers would have to deal with the loss in their own way.

  But it wasn’t a wound that would completely heal.

  Ever.

  Gage didn’t have any training in psychology, but it didn’t take a shrink to know they were all in law enforcement because of their grandfather. Chet McLaurin had made them all the men they were today.

  And his murder had sealed their fates.

  Gage mentally shrugged. There were much worse fates and paths that could have been sealed. At least they were all on the good side of the law.

  Mason’s favorite saying was right. Justice isn’t just coming—it’s already here.

  “I can take over,” Gage heard someone say, the voice cutting through the silence.

  Dr. Mickelson shoved back the green curtain and stepped around the others. Gage had known the lanky doc his entire life. Heck, the man had delivered him, but apparently he was still going strong.

  “Welcome home, Gage,” the doctor greeted. “You Ryland boys are keeping me in business with these gunshot wounds. And babies.” He gave one of the twin’s toes a playful jiggle. “I don’t guess it’d do any good to ask y’all to go in the waiting room?”

  No one budged.

  “Didn’t think so.” The doctor flexed his eyebrows. “Well, if you’re squeamish or prone to puking, look away, because a gunshot wound isn’t pretty.”

  Dr. Mickelson peeled off the rest of Gage’s shirt, and Lynette went pale again.

  “It’s not that bad, Lynette,” the doctor assured her, even though he hadn’t done more than glance at her. The doctor had delivered her, too. “Looks like the bullet went through and through.”

  The medic unstrapped the Kevlar vest, and Gage saw the makings of an ugly bruise near the center of his chest. Ford might have been a coward, but he was clearly a good shot. If Gage hadn’t been wearing the vest, the bullet would have gone through his heart.

  “You’ll need that wound dressed,” the doctor continued. “And a chest X-ray to make sure your ribs aren’t cracked. Your family and Lynette can’t be there for that.”

  “Lynette is my family,” Gage corrected. “She’s my wife.”

  The doc flexed his eyebrows again, made a sound of approval and turned to her. “We’ll get Gage all stitched up and then check you out, too. You’re looking a little peaked there.”

  “I’m pregnant,” she confessed, never taking her attention off Gage.

  Dr. Mickelson made another sound of approval. Darcy and Nate made a sound of a different kind. Surprised ones.

  “When are you due?” Nate asked.

  “Early May,” Lynette answered.

  “Me, too,” Darcy said, explaining the reason for the surprised sounds.

  Mason just groaned. “None of you better expect me to change diapers. Or babysit.” He took the tape recorder from Grayson. “I’ll get started on the paperwork.”

  Mason gave Lynette and him a glance that Gage decided to interpret as brotherly affection. Coming from Mason, it was practically warm and fuzzy.

  The others weren’t so subtle. They came forward in a wave to hug Lynette and offer congrats and good wishes. It wasn’t quiet, but the doctor tolerated it for several moments before he hitched his thumb to the waiting room.

  “The sooner I do this, the sooner you can take him home,” Dr. Mickelson said.

  That sent them all scattering. All but Lynette. And she still had that terrified look in her eyes. Gage decided this couldn’t wait for X-rays and stitches.

  “Could you give us a minute?” he asked the doctor and the medic.

  The doctor mumbled something about Rylands, bullets and babies and strolled out. The medic went with him. And Gage turned to Lynette to get this show on the road.

  “You’re not leaving me,” she blurted out. But then she shook her head. “I mean, you’re not leaving me, are you?”

  Gage hated that she’d spent one second worrying about that. He stood. Or rather tried to. But Lynette grabbed his good arm and had him sit on the examining table.

  “I’m not leaving,” he verified. “In fact, I’m not going back to the CIA. I’m staying here in Silver Creek. Maybe I’ll even apply for a deputy job so I can spend more time with you and the baby.”

  Finally, he saw the relief on Lynette’s face, and her breath just swooshed out. It was Gage’s turn to catch on to her, and he eased her closer so that he had hold of her and she was standing between his legs. Since they were already halfway to a hug anyway, he pulled her even closer.

  Yes, there was pain, but he didn’t care.

  Especially when he kissed her.

  One taste of her mouth, and the last thing he felt was pain. Lynette did some floating, too, and made a silky little moan right before she melted against him.

  “Your mouth can stir a lot of things inside me,” she whispered. And then she did something amazing.

  She smiled.

  Her entire face lit up.

  That put everything in his head and his body in their right places. Lynette was okay. His baby, too.
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br />   “I always thought you deserved better,” he let her know, sliding his hand over her stomach.

  “Then you should change your name to better, because you’re what I want. What I’ve always wanted.” Her breath broke on the last word, and tears watered her eyes.

  He shook his head. “I have no idea why.”

  “Let me remind you.” And she kissed the breath right out of him.

  As reminders went, it was a darn good one. Even though Gage wasn’t in any shape to drag her off to bed, he sure as heck could fantasize about it.

  Later, he’d do more than fantasize.

  She kissed him again and then stepped back. “You need that X-ray.”

  Gage didn’t let her go. He snagged her hand. “I’m in love with you. You know that, right?”

  More tears came, but she nodded. “I suspected as much. But it’s good to have the words.”

  Then he would say them to her often. Daily, in fact.

  “I’m in love with you, too,” she added. “You know that, right?”

  Now, it was his turn to feel the relief. “I suspected as much when you told me you hadn’t had sex in ten years.” Gage kissed her again. “I think we need to make up for all that lost time.”

  She put her mouth against his ear. “I’ll respect you in the morning.”

  He gave her his best devilish smile. “It’s not respect I’m aiming for, darlin’.”

  Lynette laughed, and he realized it’d been way too long since he’d heard that. Another note.

  Make her laugh daily.

  “Will you marry me?” he asked.

  “We’re already married. Ten years now,” Lynette reminded him.

  Man, he had some anniversary gifts to make up for. He was ready to spend some serious time shopping and keeping Lynette happy.

  “Then, marry me again?” Gage asked. “Go on a honeymoon with me so we can stay in bed for a week. Make that two,” he corrected. “And we’ll promise to love each other for the rest of our lives.”

  Her mouth hovered over his. “Deal.”

  Now, that was a word he’d wanted to hear. Gage hauled Lynette to him and he kissed her.

  * * * * *

  USA TODAY bestselling author

  Delores Fossen’s miniseries,