Page 48 of The Sheriff's Baby

In the chaos of the fight, it was possible someone had sneaked in and taken Kate. There was a good argument to be made for that since Kate’s phone had been left on the bed. If the woman had fled of her own accord, she likely would have taken that. Then again, she might have left it behind since the phone could be used to pinpoint her whereabouts.

If so, Kate might have left out of fear of her own arrest.

Duncan huffed when they cleared another room and there was still no sign of Kate. At least this particular room hadn’t had a patient. Some of the others had been occupied, and it had to be unsettling to have two cops show up and conduct a search. Joelle had doled out a lot of apologies. Not just to the patients but the nurse who’d been shaken up in the brawl. Thankfully, the woman hadn’t been hurt other than some bruising and frayed nerves.

“Three more to go,” Duncan muttered when they went back into the hall. “And supposedly none is occupied.” He’d likely gotten that info from one of the nurses since Duncan’s phone had been dinging every few minutes with texts.

As they’d done with the other rooms, Duncan kept his gun ready while he eased open a door and peered inside. Once he’d done the initial check of the main part of the room, Joelle stepped in to cover him so he could have a look in the bathroom.

“Empty,” he said, and he stopped to read another text. “The hospital security guard is searching the roof to see if Kate went up there.”

Joelle figured if the woman was going to run, it wouldn’t be to the roof where she would essentially end up trapped since there was only one set of stairs leading to it. Still, Kate might not be thinking straight.

Duncan and she went back into the hall, which had thankfully been cleared of any gawkers, and they made their way to the next room. This one was easier than some of the others since the bathroom door was wide open, so all they had to do was a cursory sweep before moving on to the final room. Once they checked it, they’d be able to head to the sheriff’s office where they could question Brad and Hamlin while the search for Kate continued.

They came to a quick stop outside the final room when there was a thumping sound just on the other side of the door. Duncan glanced back at her, a silent warning for her to use extra caution. She would. Because even if it was Kate in there, it didn’t mean the woman wouldn’t attack them. Maybe out of fear.

Maybe, though, because Kate was the killer.

Duncan motioned for Joelle to stand back, and he eased open the door. Unlike the other rooms, this one was pitch-dark, probably because someone had lowered the blinds. Joelle barely managed a glance inside when she heard another sound. One that she instantly recognized.

A stun gun.

“Duncan,” she managed to call out.

But it was too late.

The gloved hand that snaked out of the darkness jammed the stun gun against Duncan’s throat. He staggered back, and Joelle reached for him, trying to break his fall, but she didn’t get to him in time. Duncan dropped like a stone.

Oh, God.

“Duncan,” she shouted.

Joelle automatically drew her gun. But it was too late for that, too. A bulky man wearing orderly scrubs and a ski mask charged right at her, pushing her back against the wall. In the same motion, he tried to knock the gun from her hand. She held on, twisting her body to try and get away from him so she’d have a clean shot. No chance of that since this thug might deflect the gun, and the bullet could hit Duncan.

“Officer down,” she yelled, hoping that someone would hear her and come running.

The thug must have thought that was a possibility, too, because he clamped his hand on hers and her gun and started muscling her toward the exit. He was not only tall but strong. A lot stronger than she was, but Joelle knew she had to fight him.

For her baby’s sake.

For Duncan’s.

This goon might turn and shoot Duncan before he made that final push to get her out of the building. Kidnapping her. Just as Willie Jay had tried. And the other two dead gunmen.

Joelle didn’t want to mentally play out what would happen to her if he did manage to get her outside and into a vehicle. Instead, she focused on the baby and Duncan and tried not to let the terror take over.

She stomped as hard as she could on the goon’s foot, and while it slowed him down and made him curse her, it didn’t stop him. So Joelle twisted around and rammed her elbow into his gut. That worked better than the foot stomp because he staggered back a step, his back smacking against the wall. He still managed to keep his beefy grip on her gun.

From the corner of her eye, Joelle saw Duncan struggling to move, and he was lifting his gun. She had no idea if he had the motor control yet to pull the trigger, and like her, he didn’t have anything close to a clean shot.

The goon pushed himself away from the wall, throwing himself at her and off-balancing her. Joelle had no choice but to protect her stomach, and she did that by bending forward. Not an easy task because of the baby bump, but she used her upper torso to protect her child.

Her attacker cursed her, and as Willie Jay had done, he latched onto her hair. The pain shot through her. With his other hand on her gun, he probably hoped to use that leverage and the pain to force her to move.

That failed, thank heavens.

Joelle got another slam of adrenaline. Another punch of the fight mode, and she used that strength and her training to twist his hand. And her gun. Until she had it aimed at his right leg.

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