Page 55 of Tracking Down the Lawman's Son

Not merely a precaution, either.

Because Luca heard the crack of the gunshot.

The back fence wasn’t anywhere near this spot, but if Aubrey had climbed into a tree, she could have fired pretty much anywhere on the ranch. Maybe she’d decided to take out the hands first, one by one, and from that range she could maybe manage to do it.

More shots came, tearing through the truck. Aubrey probably couldn’t actually see the men on the ground, but the gunfire waskeeping them pinned down. Preventing them from returning shots. The same might be happening to the other ranch hands as well.

“I’m going closer,” Slater said. “It’ll maybe draw the gunfire away from them.”

Since the cruiser was bullet resistant, that was the right decision. However, that didn’t mean shots couldn’t get through to Bree. Luca wanted to ask her to get down, but she was already taking out her own gun.

“I need to protect Gabriel, too,” she muttered. She met Luca’s gaze, and he could see the fierce determination there. A determination he fully understood.

“If you get a shot, shoot to kill,” he advised her, hoping it wouldn’t come down to that. Right now, anything and everything was a possibility, including the fact that Aubrey might not be alone. Another hired gun could be with her.

Or her boss.

If so, Luca hoped he got to take a kill shot. Everything inside him was shouting for him to take out the SOB who’d put babies in danger like this.

Slater pulled up behind the hands’ truck, and he motioned for them to move to the side of the cruiser where they’d be better protected. They did while the shots continued. The truck and the hands were no longer the target though.

The cruiser was.

A bullet slammed into the rear window, right where Bree was sitting, but thankfully the glass held. For now. It might not if shots continued to hit that same spot.

“Trade places with me,” Luca said, not waiting for Bree to agree to that. He wanted to be on that side in case the glass gave way. Because then he might be able to return fire and get Aubrey to back off.

“Should I open the door and let the hands in?” Bree asked.

“Not yet,” Joelle said. “They’re safer on the ground where they are. Besides, there could be a shooter waiting for you to open it.”

Bree didn’t gasp, didn’t make any sharp sound of surprise, which meant those kind of scenarios had already occurred to her.

Slater’s phone rang, the sound slicing through the noise of the stream of gunfire, and after he answered it, Luca heard Duncan’s voice.

“Everyone inside the house is okay,” Duncan was quick to say. “No shots have been fired at us. Lenny’s spotted Aubrey though,” he added, referring to one of the hands. “And she’s no longer by the back fence. As you’ve probably guessed from the direction of the gunfire, she’s taken up position near the back edge of the property by the road.”

Luca immediately looked in that direction. And cursed. Because there was nothing but trees there. Thick clusters of them where Aubrey could be hiding.

“Lenny doesn’t have a clear shot, but he can fire into the trees to distract her. I would suggest you just get yourself and the ranch hands to the house—” Duncan continued.

“No,” Bree interrupted. “If we do that, she’ll just try to shoot us there.”

Duncan didn’t dispute that. Couldn’t. Because it was exactly what would happen.

“The hands here both have rifles,” Luca said. “I might be able to take Aubrey out.”

Bree was frantically shaking her head, but she stopped when Luca met her gaze again. This had to be done.

“I’ll tell Lenny to fire those shots,” Duncan said after a long sigh. “If it flushes her out, then put an end to her.”

Luca gave Bree one last look, trying to reassure. Knowing he failed. Then, he moved back to the side with the hands just as he heard the new rounds of shots. From Lenny, no doubt.

“I need your rifle,” Luca said, getting out of the cruiser. “Both of you get in the back seat.”

The hands did as he’d instructed, and Luca took aim over the top of the cruiser. Not exactly the safest position, but he had to see if he could spot Aubrey. He didn’t. Not at first anyway. But then, there was an exchange of gunfire, and Luca saw the movement in the trees. Aubrey was in one of the large oaks, and she was moving out onto a thick limb, probably so she could kill Lenny.

Luca didn’t let that happen.

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