Page 41 of Targeted in Silver Creek

“A half mile,” Boone answered just as Jesse heard another loud bang. The sound of metal crunching into metal. The SUV had plowed into him again.

Boone was no doubt going as fast as he could on the rural road, and that meant he would be here in only a couple of minutes. Minutes that would no doubt feel like an eternity.

“Can you describe the SUV?” Jesse asked. It was info he needed, but he also wanted to hear his father’s voice, to make sure he wasn’t hurt and was still capable of talking.

“A black Chevy Suburban, late model, with a reinforced bumper. I tried to get a look at the license plate, but it’s been smeared with mud or something.”

It didn’t surprise him that his father had noticed all of that—even while he was under attack. Boone was in a family of lawmen, and he wasn’t the sort to panic. Good thing, because it was obvious he was in grave danger.

“I’m guessing they obscured the license plate since it can be traced back to somebody who doesn’t want to be traced. Or else it’s stolen, and they don’t want the cops seeing it and trying to pull them over,” Boone added, and he was spot-on with that theory.

There was another loud crash, and Jesse heard his father ground out some profanity. He also heard the squeal of tires. He couldn’t see the end of Hanna’s driveway because of the trees, but this had to be his father. Well, unless the would-be kidnappers had sent another team to try to get to Hanna and him. Either way, Jesse drew his gun and went to the door. He disarmed the security system so he could open it and take aim.

That’s when Jesse heard something else he darn sure didn’t want to hear.

Gunfire.

Two shots had come from the vicinity of the end of the driveway, and he prayed the bullets hadn’t hit his father. Seconds later, Boone’s familiar red truck came into sight. He didn’t stop in front of the house though. His father continued past to the far side of the property, to a cluster of trees. A position he’d no doubt chosen because it would keep the gunfire away from the house.

And on him.

Boone could be gunned down.

Jesse stepped out from cover, his gaze firing toward the other end of the driveway where the SUV could be approaching. But it wasn’t. Just the opposite. There was a slash of headlights cutting through the darkness, and that’s when he knew the vehicle was turning around. Trying to escape.

Again, Jesse had to fight the overwhelming urge to go after them and make them pay for what they’d just tried to do. But he couldn’t take that risk. Besides, these could be more henchmen, like the one Grayson already had in custody, and there was too much at stake with Hanna and Evan for him to go after a long shot.

“I’m okay,” his father assured him when he got out of his truck. Boone had a gun, and he was already taking aim down the driveway. So were two of the ranch hands and the reserve deputy. “They’re running away like the cowards they are,” Boone grumbled.

Cowards who didn’t mind killing or endangering the life of a baby.

Yeah, they were going to pay. Jesse wasn’t sure how to make that happen, not yet, but he’d figure out a way.

“I’m real sorry about this,” Boone said, limping his way toward Jesse.

The apology riled Jesse because it wasn’t necessary. This wasn’t his father’s fault. He’d simply gotten caught up in the crosshairs of this mess. But the limp cooled Jesse’s anger.

“You said you weren’t hurt,” Jesse pointed out.

“I’m not. I just banged my knee when the cowards rammed into me. Are Hanna and Evan all right?”

Jesse nodded. Well, they were as all right as they could be. Hanna was probably terrified and huddled in the bathtub with Evan.

“Let Grayson know what happened once he gets here,” Jesse shouted out to the deputy and the hands. Grayson would likely want to go in pursuit of the SUV or at least make some calls for a BOLO on the vehicle. He rattled off the specs Boone had given him so Grayson would know what he was looking for.

“And tell Grayson I’m not hurt,” Boone added so that his son wouldn’t worry. But Jesse intended to verify that Boone was indeed unharmed.

Jesse got Boone inside the house as fast as he could and shut the door so he could reset the security system. He didn’t want a hired thug trying to sneak through one of the windows while the alarm was off.

“So, what the heck just happened?” Boone immediately asked. “Who tried to run me off the road?”

“I don’t know, but it’s possible we can get something from the man Grayson has in custody. I’m pretty sure somebody in the militia is behind this.”

Boone shook his head in disgust, but he obviously wasn’t surprised. Everything that had gone on seemed to lead right back to the militia and their illegal activities.

“Let me tell Hanna what’s going on,” Jesse said, but he’d barely made it a step when he glanced out the window and saw the bobbing of headlights coming up the driveway.

Jesse drew the gun he’d just holstered. Beside him, Boone did the same.

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