Holden Read online

  Holden hoped not. He hadn’t made that last text sound like a life-and-death matter, but his cousin would come prepared for trouble. Which was exactly what Holden and Nicky were facing right now.

  “The marshal flattened two tires,” the one holding Nicky said. “What do you want me to do about that?”

  “Nothing.” The boss, again. He adjusted the baby carrier in his hand so he could read a text he got. “Someone’s already on the way to pick us up. They should be here any second now.”

  Hell. More hired guns. Just what Holden didn’t need.

  Holden knew he had to do something fast, but he still wasn’t sure what that would be. Maybe he’d get a chance when the other car arrived. The men would no doubt look in the direction of the vehicle when it approached, and Holden could use that distraction.

  Maybe.

  But Landon also had to be nearby, too, and Holden had told him to do a quiet approach. Maybe his cousin would be in place before the thugs’ backup arrived.

  The one holding Nicky made eye contact with Holden before glancing at his partners. “You want me to go ahead and shoot the marshal?”

  “No shots around the kid, remember,” the boss insisted. “This is our million-dollar baby, and we can’t risk it.”

  Even in the darkness, Holden could see Nicky’s eyes widen slightly. A million bucks. That was a lot of money to pay for a baby. So, maybe this wasn’t just some black-market deal.

  But if it wasn’t that, then what the hell was it?

  Holden glanced on the other side of the car at the two men approaching, and thanks to the angle of the lights coming out of the house windows, he saw the baby then.

  And he felt as if someone had slugged him.

  He’d thought when he saw the kid that it would take some hard proof before he would believe the baby was Emmett and Annie’s. It hadn’t taken more than a glimpse. The kid was theirs, all right. The proof was all over the baby’s face and that hair. However, Holden pushed aside his thoughts and concentrated on the situation directly in front of him.

  “You obviously have a buyer for the baby,” Nicky said. “Well, I’ll match whatever offer you have. I can have the money to you within an hour.”

  That was probably a lie. Nicky came from money, but it would take more than an hour to gather up that much cash even if Holden was contributing. Which he would. No way did he want his nephew sold like property, and neither would anyone in his family.

  He wasn’t sure paying a ransom to the thugs would actually get them the baby, though. No. These men would just probably take the cash and the baby while going through with the plan to kill him. They wouldn’t want to leave a marshal alive.

  The boss huffed. “Save your breath, sweetheart,” he said to Nicky. “I’m not gonna listen to a thing you try to tempt me with. Making a deal like that with you would get me killed the hard way.”

  Later, Holden would want to know what the guy meant by that, but for now he had to focus on the mess that was unfolding right in front of him. He heard the car engine. Saw the headlights, too.

  And he knew this wasn’t his cousin because Landon would be doing a quiet approach. In fact, Landon could already be there, but he wouldn’t have let these snakes know about it.

  The thugs weren’t alarmed to see the black four-door pull into the parking lot and drive straight toward them.

  “She goes with us,” the boss said, tipping his head to Nicky. “She’s got to hand over those files before we finish things with her. We might be able to use her father as added pressure.”

  That got Holden’s attention. Nicky’s, too. “What does my father have to do with this?” she asked.

  Holden wanted to know the same thing, and he got an even worse feeling about this. Not that he needed anything else to put him on full alert.

  The thug didn’t answer her question, but Holden—and apparently Nicky—had no trouble filling in the blanks.

  “You’re planning to get that million dollars from my father,” she snapped.

  Bingo. Her father, Oscar, was stinking rich and would indeed pay a very high price to get his own grandson back. But there was no way a monster like Oscar Hart should raise a child. Oscar was barely a step above these thugs.

  Again, the boss didn’t answer. Instead, he turned to the bald guy. “As soon as we’re in the car and out of firing range, go ahead and kill the marshal and torch the place.”

  So, this was it. Holden had to make his move.

  He volleyed glances between the men and the car, but the thugs weren’t looking at the car as he’d hoped. They still had their attention on Holden. That meant he’d have to wait a few more seconds until they were moving Nicky and the baby inside.

  “There’s no reason for you to kill the marshal,” Nicky said. “In fact, if you hurt him, I’ll never give you those files.”

  All three men stared at her. “Really?” the boss challenged. “And why would you care what happens to him? You two aren’t exactly on friendly terms. Not anymore.”

  It shouldn’t have surprised Holden that this goon knew about Nicky and him. The rumor mill was in full swing in Silver Creek, and there probably wasn’t a person over the age of ten who hadn’t heard about the short affair he’d had with Nicky.

  Very short. As in twice.

  Too bad Holden thought about those two times with her more than he did all his other relationships. Much to his disgust. He chalked up his time with her as a hard lesson learned. She was the daughter of a criminal and always would be.

  “In fact,” the boss went on, looking at Nicky, “the marshal might be wondering right about now if he can even trust you. He might be thinking you knew exactly what was going on before you ever convinced him to come here.”

  She shook her head, as if defending herself, and then she looked at Holden. “I’m not lying. Not this time. I didn’t know my father was involved.”

  Maybe not. But she’d lied before, about her father’s involvement in another crime, and that was the reason their so-called relationship had been so short. She’d put Holden in danger. His brother Drury, too.

  A lot like now, in fact.

  There’d been no baby involved then, but Drury certainly had been, and her lies had nearly gotten Holden’s brother killed.

  Holden had to tamp down the anger he still felt just thinking about that. But Nicky no doubt saw, or maybe even felt, that anger.

  The car stopped only a few yards from the men, but when the doors didn’t open, the bald guy went closer and reached for the handle.

  Reaching, however, was as far as he got.

  Because the door flew open, fast, knocking right into the bald guy and sending him flying back. Landon barreled out of the car, his gun aimed right at the boss. But the boss only lifted the baby carrier in front of him like a shield.

  There was a special place in hell for a coward like that.

  Holden didn’t especially need another reason to want this guy dead, but that did it. He ran toward the boss, going at him low so that he could tackle the guy. It was a risk because the baby could still be hurt, but anything he did at this point was a risk he had to take.

  Nicky yelled something he didn’t catch, and from the corner of his eye, Holden saw her elbow the guy in the gut again. Maybe he wouldn’t shoot her, but Holden couldn’t do anything about that now. He grabbed hold of the boss’s legs, knocking him off balance, and the two of them went to the ground.

  So did the carrier.

  It didn’t fall, thank God. Even now, the boss was making sure his investment didn’t get hurt, and Holden was thankful for it.

  Holden didn’t show the guy any such carefulness, though. He couldn’t shoot him, not with the baby so close, but he could punch him, and that’s what he did.

  Landon scooped up the carrier and put it on the backs
eat. “We need to get out of here now,” he warned Holden and Nicky. “We managed to steal their car, but there are at least four gunmen on the road. All of them heavily armed. They’ll be on the way here by now.”

  Yeah, they would be, because they’d no doubt heard Nicky’s shout and all the commotion.

  Holden punched the boss again, the guy’s head flopping back, and he raced to Nicky. He had to give it to her. For someone so outmatched, she was fighting like a wildcat, scratching and clawing the guy.

  When the guy saw Holden approaching, though, he took aim at him. Holden had faced down killers before and knew without a doubt this guy would pull the trigger.

  So, Holden fired first.

  Nicky was about six inches shorter than her attacker, and that was just enough to give Holden a clean shot. He put a bullet in the guy’s head. Before the kidnapper even dropped to the ground, Holden grabbed Nicky and ran with her to the car.

  He stuffed her into the backseat next to the carrier and followed in right behind her. Holden saw his cousin Gage behind the wheel, and Landon jumped into the passenger seat.

  “Hold on,” Gage warned them a split second before he gunned the engine.

  But Gage had barely gotten started when the shot crashed into the front windshield. Holden pushed Nicky lower onto the seat even though she was already headed in that direction, and she covered the baby with her own body. Holden covered both of them with his.

  Gage sped away with the bullets still coming right at them.

  Chapter Four

  Nicky had so many emotions going through her. Especially fear. She had found the baby, and he was safe.

  But things might not stay that way.

  More shots slammed into the rear window of the car, but the glass was reinforced, and the bullets didn’t make it through. Thank God. Since this was supposed to be the kidnappers’ getaway car, they’d probably made sure it could withstand an attack from the cops, but Gage and Landon had turned the tables on them and had obviously managed to somehow steal the car.

  “They’re dropping back,” Holden said. He lifted his head even more, no doubt so he could have a better look. “They’re turning around to leave.”

  Nicky’s first instinct was to say “good!” She didn’t want these monsters anywhere near the baby, but there was a huge downside to that. If they got away, she wouldn’t get answers she needed as to why the kidnapping had happened in the first place.

  And worse, they could regroup and come after the baby again.

  A million dollars was a lot of incentive to try to kidnap the newborn and to eliminate anyone who got in their way. Plus, as long as those men were out there, they would want to get to her, too. To get their hands on those files.

  From the front seat, Landon made a call, but because Nicky’s heartbeat was crashing in her ears, she could only hear bits and pieces of the conversation. But she did hear him give someone their location with a request that other deputies go in pursuit of the kidnappers. He also asked that someone secure the inn. Nicky doubted the kidnappers had left any kind of evidence there, but it was a start in case the deputies didn’t manage to catch the men.

  “How did you get this car?” Holden asked.

  “Makeshift roadblock,” Gage answered, still keeping watch around them. “We parked an unmarked car sideways in the road. I hadn’t planned on someone else coming in, though. I just wanted to stop someone from going out. But when the car approached, and Landon and I spotted two guys armed to the hilt, we waited until they got out of the vehicle, sneaked up on them and clubbed them.”

  Smart thinking. If they’d shot at the men, the others would have heard it and probably wouldn’t have gotten close enough to the car for Gage and Landon to help Holden and her escape.

  “The men are tied up and cuffed in a ditch,” Landon added. “So even if the rest of them get away, we’ll have those two. Grayson and one of the other deputies are on the way now to get them, and they’ll bring them to the sheriff’s office for questioning.”

  Nicky finally felt some relief. “Thank you. For everything.”

  No one acknowledged what she’d said. Maybe because they considered this part of the job. Also maybe because they didn’t want to waste their breath speaking to her. She wasn’t exactly on friendly terms with the Rylands even though her sister, Annie, had been married to one of them. But that connection didn’t outweigh what Nicky had done.

  It never would.

  In their eyes, Nicky would always be the one who nearly got one of their own killed. And that was unforgivable.

  “There were other men in those woods,” Holden reminded them.

  Landon made a sound of agreement, and there went what relief Nicky had felt. Because those men could make it to their tied-up comrades in the ditch and free them before Grayson and the others could get to them.

  “We didn’t want to get into a gunfight with those men patrolling the woods,” Gage explained. “Because we didn’t want anyone in the inn alerted. And we didn’t want to risk shots hitting any of you.”

  Nicky whispered a thanks for that, too.

  Holden had another look behind them, around them as well, and he must have been satisfied that the men weren’t following them because he eased off of her. In the same motion, he looked down at the baby. Not that he could see much in the dark car, but she figured Holden had a lot of thoughts going through his head right now. She certainly did.

  First things first, though—she had to make sure the baby was okay. He was squirming a little so Nicky checked to make sure he hadn’t been hurt. He didn’t appear to be harmed, and his diaper was even dry. He also smelled of baby formula so maybe that meant the kidnappers had taken good care of him.

  That was something at least.

  But there was no telling what the little guy had been through. And that broke her heart. He’d come much too close to danger tonight. Much too close to being taken away from Nicky forever, and the threat still wasn’t even over.

  “Is that really Emmett and Annie’s baby?” Landon suddenly asked.

  “Yes,” Nicky said. “I have proof from some computer files and then recordings from the clinic.” Of course, that got Gage’s and Landon’s attention so she added, “You can’t use the recordings or files to make an arrest, but one of the files identifies the baby as Emmett and Annie’s son.”

  Landon stared back at her, and Gage even looked at her in the rearview mirror. Since they were clearly still skeptical, she huffed and tried to make this a quick explanation. Her voice was shaky. Heck, she was shaky, and with the adrenaline pumping through her, it was hard to think.

  “I stole the information, all right,” she snapped. “But if I hadn’t done that and if I hadn’t put a listening device in Conceptions Clinic, I wouldn’t have even known the baby existed, much less found out where they were holding him.”

  And she wasn’t going to apologize for that—especially since the info had turned out to be true and they had the baby.

  “I’ll want those files,” Holden insisted. “The recordings and anything else you have. I don’t suppose in all your snooping you also got proof of who’s behind this?”

  “Behind what exactly?” Gage queried.

  This was probably going to be as hard for him to hear as it had been for her. Mainly because Nicky hadn’t believed that anyone could do something like this.

  “Someone connected to Conceptions Fertility Clinic—I don’t know who, yet—used Annie and Emmett’s stored embryos to make this baby. And not just him,” Nicky added. “There are others. Not necessarily Annie and Emmett’s child, though. In fact, I don’t think it is, but there are two other newborns out there somewhere.”

  That got the responses she expected. A stunned look from Landon. A sound of surprise from Gage. A glare from Holden.

  “Where are the o
ther babies?” Gage asked.

  “I don’t know.” That was the truth. “It was pure luck that I overheard them talking about Annie and Emmett’s baby, and there were no other names mentioned.”

  “This could be connected to the missing senator, Lee Minton,” Holden added after a long pause. “Could be,” he stressed. “But it could also be connected to Nicky’s father, Oscar.”

  That caused both Holden and Gage to curse again, and Nicky didn’t have to ask why. Her father wasn’t any better liked by the Rylands than she was, and worse...he was dirty. He’d never been arrested for his shady business dealings, but that was only because he hadn’t gotten caught.

  Gage looked at her again in the mirror. “Oscar wanted a grandchild?”

  Nicky had to nod. “Specifically, he wanted a grandson to carry on his so-called legacy.”

  “A daughter wouldn’t do?” Landon snapped.

  “My father and I are, well, estranged,” she admitted. “And he wasn’t exactly thrilled with Annie when she married Emmett.”

  “Probably because he didn’t like the idea of having a federal agent for a son-in-law,” Holden mumbled.

  She had to add another nod to that as well. It was true. Her father hated Emmett, resented Annie for marrying him, and that’s why this didn’t make sense.

  “It’s true that my father wants an heir,” Nicky continued, “but this seems...extreme considering that he hated Emmett.”

  “Your father does extreme things all the time,” Holden reminded her. “Plenty of them illegal. Plus, if you two really are estranged, maybe he figured this was his only chance at having an heir from his own gene pool.” Then, he shook his head. “But if he did do this, something must have gone wrong because those kidnappers said this was the million-dollar baby.”

  Nicky thought about that for a second. “I need to talk to my father.”

  “It can wait,” Holden insisted. “We’re almost at the sheriff’s office.”

  She glanced out the window and saw that they were only a mile or so away, and maybe because they were so close, Landon and Holden started making preparations. Landon called the hospital and asked that a doctor come to the sheriff’s office. To check out the baby, no doubt. If something was indeed wrong, though, the child would have to go to the hospital. Still might have to do that since he was obviously still a newborn.