Page 149 of Proof of Guilt

“Everything’s in place,” one of the thugs said to her captor.

She didn’t recognize the voice, but it made her wonder if Theo would. Ivy peered out through the door but could no longer see him. Could no longer see Gabriel, either, but maybe either he or one of the hands was making his way to the front of the house where the man was taking her.

The lights were all off in the house, but Ivy looked around for anything she could try to grab so she could club the guy. The only thing she could spot was a vase on a table in the family room, but when she reached for it, the man snapped her back so hard that Ivy nearly blacked out from the pain and loss of breath. She couldn’t try that again, not while he had her in a choke hold, anyway, or he might kill her. Still, she didn’t intend to go with him without a fight.

But where was he taking her?

Better yet, how did he plan on getting her off the ranch?

She soon had the answer to her last question. There was a third masked thug by the front door, and he opened it. When the man dragged her onto the front porch, she saw the black SUV parked by the steps. Maybe this was the vehicle the shooter in the old house had used. It could have been driven up the path between the two houses. Given the limited visibility from the gas fog and the darkness, it would have been hard to se

e. Still, she couldn’t imagine one of the hands not spotting it. Did that mean these thugs had killed them?

It sickened Ivy to think that could have happened, but with all the gunfire going on, it was impossible to know.

There was a new round of shots. This time at the back of the house where she’d last seen Al and those two hired thugs. Gabriel was in that general area, too, and she prayed that none of them had been hit.

In one last-ditch effort to save herself, Ivy dropped down her weight, trying to throw the man off balance, but he just hooked his other arm around her waist and kept going. Straight for that SUV.

“Wesley?” someone called out.

Theo.

Ivy couldn’t see him, but judging from the sound of his voice, he was on the side of the house toward the front of the SUV.

As the man had done the other times Theo or she had spoken to him, he didn’t say a word, but she felt his arm tense just enough to let her know that Theo had been right. This was Wesley or else someone working for him.

But why would Wesley want her?

“Ivy has nothing to do with this,” Theo continued. “This is between you and me.”

Again, her captor’s arm tensed, but he still didn’t talk.

“You don’t want me to hear your voice,” Theo added. “But I recognized one of your hired guns. He’s a criminal informant. I know because I’ve used him myself. My guess is you got him to do this for cheap or else you threatened him with arrest. Either way, it doesn’t matter. This ends here.”

The gunmen at the front door came onto the porch, took aim at Theo and fired. Ivy’s heart went to her throat, and her breath stalled in her chest until she realized Theo had dropped back in the nick of time. He hadn’t been hit.

However, he could be.

In fact, this could end badly for all of them. That’s why she had to try to bargain with this man.

“I’ll go with you,” she told him, “but you need to leave Theo and everyone else here alone.”

Wesley or whoever this was certainly didn’t jump to agree to that. The man started backing her down the front porch steps, and it would be only a matter of a few seconds before he had her in that SUV. Heaven knew then where he’d take her. Or what he’d do to her. Plus, that would leave the hired guns in place to keep attacking Gabriel, Theo and the hands.

Theo came out from cover again, and he fired at the gunman who wasn’t holding Ivy. The bullet hit the thug and despite the fact that he was wearing a Kevlar vest, he dropped onto the porch. That’s when Ivy saw the blood and realized Theo’s shot had gone into his neck. If he wasn’t dead already, he soon would be.

Her captor mumbled some profanity under his breath and started moving her even faster. It was a mistake. Because it gave Ivy the chance to trip on the last step. She paid for it with pain when he bashed her upside her head with his gun, but that only got him out of position to shoot Theo.

Theo, however, was in position.

Now that Theo had a clean shot, he didn’t hesitate; he fired three shots. All three bullets slammed into the guy’s chest. He was also wearing Kevlar, but the bullets must have knocked the wind out of him because he fell, his head smacking onto the side of the SUV.

The driver’s-side door flew open, and the gunman inside took aim at Theo. However, he barely had brought up his hand when someone fired. Not the gunman or Theo. It was Gabriel. He was now in the doorway of the house, and he’d taken out the thug with a shot to the head.

While Theo ran toward her, Ivy kicked the gun out of the fallen man’s hand, and it landed a few feet away. Once Theo reached her, he maneuvered her next to the porch railing, where she’d have a little cover in case there was another attack, and he went to the man. The guy was wheezing and clutching his chest, but Theo ripped off the gas mask.

It was Wesley all right.

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