Page 5 of The Sheriff's Baby

Duncan cranked up the speed when he reached the road and headed toward town. Since he’d known Molly his whole life, he knew where she lived and didn’t have to look up her address. He just drove and tried to figure out how to make this trip as safe as possible for Joelle.

A safety she likely wouldn’t want if she was thinking like a cop.

But if necessary, he’d need to remind her that she was on desk duty until the baby arrived. That wasn’t a personal preference on his part simply because she was carrying his child. It was standard practice in the sheriff’s office, and it was something her father would have insisted on had he still been alive.

Beside him, Joelle continued to try to get some kind of response from Molly by calling out the woman’s name into her phone. Molly didn’t answer. But there was a response in the form of a dead line. When she tried to call again and got the same thing, Duncan knew that someone had switched off the phone.

“I’ll call dispatch to have Molly’s phone tracked,” Joelle told him.

He could hear the fear and nerves in every word she’d spoken. Fear that was there for a reason because they both knew that whoever was attacking Molly could have also disabled the phone, making it untraceable. Duncan hoped like the devil that hadn’t happened, though, because if Molly wasn’t home, the phone would be their best bet in tracking her.

Thankfully, there was no other traffic on the rural road at this hour so Duncan continued to press on the accelerator, eating up the distance between Joelle’s and Molly’s. Luca stayed right behind him in the cruiser.

Duncan’s phone rang, and when he saw Deputy Ronnie Bishop’s name on the screen, he took the call on speaker. “Is everyone all right?” Duncan immediately asked since he knew Ronnie was at Joelle’s.

“So far,” Ronnie quickly assured him. “No signs of the shooter, though, and there’s been no gunfire since Joelle and you left. No one’s attempted to get to the stolen black car, either.”

If the gunman had, indeed, been coming after Joelle and him, that would mean he or she had a second vehicle. And likely a partner. Either that or the gunman had positioned a second vehicle earlier and then driven the stolen one to Joelle’s. Duncan couldn’t think of a good motive for a would-be killer to do that, but the reason could be a clue to who had attacked them and why.

“How many deputies are there?” Duncan asked Ronnie.

“Six, including me. The fire department is here, too, but they’re holding off until they get the word from you that it’s safe to try to put out the fire.”

It wasn’t safe. Not with a gunman, maybe two, in the area. Hell, there could be even more than that if this was some kind of coordinated attack. No way could Duncan risk the lives of his deputies and the firemen when Joelle wasn’t even there. Yes, she might lose her house to the fire, but the goal was to get everyone out of this alive and then catch the SOB responsible.

“Everyone stays in their vehicles for now,” Duncan instructed, “but have two of the deputies go to the end of Joelle’s road and keep watch for anyone trying to sneak away from there. Two more should stay put in case the shooter isn’t done. Send the other two to Molly’s.”

If Molly had been kidnapped, or worse, then Duncan figured he was going to need as much help as possible.

Ronnie gave a fast assurance that he’d do as Duncan asked, and they ended the call just as Duncan finally made it to the turn to Molly’s. It wasn’t a typical subdivision or neighborhood like in a city but rather a spattering of homes that had been built on multi-acre lots. With all the trees and natural landscape, it was more like living in the country, which made for a peaceful lifestyle.

It also meant Molly’s neighbors might not have been able to see or hear what was going on.

Added to that, Duncan was well aware that her nearest neighbors were all senior citizens. That was the reason he hadn’t called any of them to go check on Molly and try to stop whatever was happening. Duncan hadn’t wanted to risk any of them being hurt or killed. This was definitely a situation for law enforcement.

“I want you to stay down,” Duncan told Joelle, and he made sure it sounded like the order it was.

She didn’t protest. Not with words, anyway. But he knew this was eating away at her. Especially since someone was threatening and maybe had already harmed someone she knew well.

Duncan sped into Molly’s driveway, his gaze immediately firing all around. There were no vehicles in front of the house. Nor was there anyone in sight. Just the darkness and the milky yellow illumination coming from the porch light.

“The front door’s open,” Joelle murmured.

It was. Duncan had noticed that right away, but he aimed a quick scowl at Joelle to let her know if she had seen that, then it meant she wasn’t staying down. Joelle muttered some profanity and slipped lower into the seat.

With Luca’s cruiser squealing to a stop behind him, Duncan hurried out of the car, and while keeping watch, he ran toward the porch. He couldn’t risk sitting around, waiting to see if he could figure out what was going on because at this exact moment, Molly could be inside fighting for her life.

Duncan barreled up the porch steps, taking them two at a time, and pinned his focus to the open door. If Molly’s attacker was still in there, he had to be prepared in case the guy shot at him. That’s why Duncan tried to listen for any sounds of a struggle or movement.

He heard nothing.

And knew that wasn’t a good sign. Ditto for what he spotted on the porch just to the right side of the welcome mat.

Drops of blood.

Duncan was sure that’s what it was, and cursing, he stepped around the drops and went inside. Of course, just his mere presence could contaminate the scene, but again, Molly was the priority here. He had to hold out hope that the blood belonged to her attacker, that Molly had somehow managed to fight him off and sent the SOB running.

“Molly?” he called out.

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