Page 21 of Protecting the Newborn

Of course, just because Tony knew Zimmer, it didn’t mean they’d stayed in contact with each other. Still, it was a connection that made Ruston very uneasy.

“Now that we have a name and a face,” Slater went on, “we can put out an APB. The more lawmen looking for Zimmer, the sooner he’ll be found.” He locked gazes with Ruston. “Of course, the person who hired Zimmer could be sheltering him. Or trying to silence him.”

Yeah, and either one of those wasn’t good. Ruston didn’t want Zimmer to disappear or die. He wanted answers, and after that, he wanted him in a cage for the rest of his miserable life.

“Text me a copy of that picture,” Ruston said.

Slater did that before he continued. “The CSIs will continue to process the other prints they retrieved from the truck,” Slater went on. But he stopped. All of them did. They froze.

Outside, Ruston heard something that tightened every muscle in his body.

A gunshot.

Chapter Six

The moment Gracelyn heard the sound, she hurried to the baby, scooped her up and scrambled away from the windows. Even though the drapes and blinds were closed, that wouldn’t stop a bullet.

Part of her, the former-cop part, wanted to grab a gun and be ready to return fire, but the baby had to come first. She couldn’t protect Abigail if she was doing what Slater and Ruston were doing. They had already drawn their weapons, and Ruston had hurried to one window while Slater had gone to the other. They both lifted a few slats of the blinds so they could look out.

Joelle pulled out a gun, too, from the back waist of her jeans, but instead of the window, she maneuvered herself in front of Gracelyn and the baby.

There was the popping sound of another gunshot. It didn’t sound close, and neither bullet had slammed into the house. Maybe that meant the shots had come from a hunter or someone who was trying to scare off a wild animal. Gracelyn wanted to hang on to that hope, but after what’d happened the night before, this was most likely another attempt to come after all three of them.

It was an incredibly risky move.

The ranch had four cops and ranch hands, all armed. Then again, these shots were likely coming from a sniper and it wasn’t a close-range attack. It was possible the shooter thought he could pick off some of them before moving in to finish the job he’d started.

“Is everyone all right?” Duncan called out. Judging from the sound of his voice, he was downstairs.

“So far,” Joelle answered. “Can you see the shooter?”

“No,” Duncan replied quickly. “But it’s not any of the hands.” He paused a heartbeat. “Someone’s coming.”

Duncan added that last part just as there was a third round of gunfire. And just as Ruston muttered some profanity. “It’s an SAPD cruiser,” Ruston snarled. “Probably Tony.”

Gracelyn shook her head. “He’s not the one firing those shots.”

“No,” Ruston agreed. “It appears he’s the one being shot at.”

That definitely didn’t tamp down any of Gracelyn’s worries since the gunman could change targets at any second. But it did punch some holes in one of her theories that Tony might be behind the attacks.

She heard the sound of the vehicle then. The sharp squeal of brakes as it came to a stop.

“The cruiser isn’t in front of the house,” Ruston relayed, glancing back at her to make very brief eye contact. “He’s stopped at the end of the driveway.”

Gracelyn nearly asked if that was because the driver had been hit. The cruiser was bullet resistant, but that didn’t mean shots couldn’t get through. So, if this was indeed Tony, he could be hurt. Then again, it was also possible he hadn’t wanted to come closer since the gunshots could endanger those inside.

The silence came, and it seemed to her that everyone was holding their breaths. Even Abigail wasn’t making a sound.

Then Ruston’s phone vibrated.

It barely made a sound, but it cut right through the silence. While he continued to volley glances out the window, he took out his phone. “Tony,” he said, and he answered it on speaker. “Are you in the cruiser at the end of the driveway?” Ruston demanded.

“Yeah,” Tony immediately verified. “Who’s shooting at us?” There were hitches in his breath, and the question rushed out.

“I was about to ask you the same thing,” Ruston countered.“Us?”he questioned. “Who’s with you?”

“It’s me,” Charla said. So, their call was on speaker as well. “Are the shots maybe coming from one of the local lawmen or a ranch hand?”

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