Baby Trouble. Beth Cornelison

had to be right now before the darkened car turned into the drive. She took off running as fast as she could. God bless her personal trainer for the misery he’d put her through this past month. She wasn’t in the best shape of her entire life, but at least she wasn’t a complete marshmallow.

      She darted onto the back porch as Ellie roused, complaining about being jostled around so hard in the baby carrier.

      “It’s okay, sweetie. Go back to sleep,” Laura soothed as she pushed open the already partially ajar door. She closed it behind her and somewhere nearby, the house’s security system beeped, reactivating.

      She slipped into the deep shadows of a coat room and then into a kitchen. She had to hurry. The bad guys would be here in a minute or so. “Nick!” she called out. She moved into a long hallway that led toward the front of the house. “Nick!”

      He emerged from what looked like an office, looking thunderstruck. “Laura? What are you doing here?”

      “Later,” she bit out. “We’re about to have company. The kind with guns.”

      Nick darted to a window to look outside. “I don’t see anyone.”

      “They’ve pulled around back, then. Can we open the front door without setting off the alarm system?” she asked urgently.

      “Who cares? Let’s set it off. The police will be here in a few minutes and it’ll chase off these bastards in the meantime.”

      She nodded and they stepped forward. That was when he spotted Ellie.

      “You brought the baby with you?” he exclaimed incredulously.

      “I’m a nursing mother, and I wasn’t exactly expecting armed men to threaten us,” she snapped. “Let’s go. They’ll be inside any second.”

      Nick nodded.

      She nodded back and he opened the front door. A piercing alarm screeched deafeningly as they raced across the front porch. Ellie lurched against Laura’s back and immediately commenced screaming at the top of her lungs. It was that special, baby-in-mortal-danger wail that absolutely demanded an instant response, and it was all Laura could do to keep running across the front yard toward Nick’s car and not stop to comfort her.

      A bang behind her and a simultaneous metallic ping in front of her did get an immediate reaction out of Laura, however. Someone was shooting at them! Ducking instinctively, she looked over her shoulder. A dark figure was coming around the corner of the house.

      Out of her peripheral vision, she caught sight of a second figure coming around the other side of the house. Plus a third man entering the house … she swore mentally. She and Nick were outnumbered, which meant they were also outgunned.

      The two men advanced cautiously, not shooting any more after that first volley of shots aimed at Nick’s car. Then it hit her. The shooters must have disabled the vehicle so she and Nick couldn’t escape. Which meant they wanted to capture Nick.

      No! Not again! He couldn’t disappear again. This time it would undoubtedly be for good. They’d capture him over her dead body. Super Mommy roared to the fore, and Laura fumbled frantically in the baby bag banging around at her side as she ran after Nick.

      “Your car’s dead,” she panted. “Mine’s that way.”

      He veered in the direction she pointed and sprinted for the woods with her on his heels.

      Her fingers frantically identified objects inside the baby bag. Bottle. Diaper ointment. Pacifier. Dammit, where was her gun? Finally, she felt its cold weight and yanked it clear of the fabric bag. She and Nick gained the edge of the woods and slowed down to navigate the heavy underbrush. Thankfully, Ellie had fallen mostly silent. Nick held back a jumble of vines for her and she slipped past him. She turned to face their pursuers. The pair of men were advancing slowly, now, weapons held out in front of them in grips that looked entirely too competent for Laura’s comfort.

      “My car’s through the woods,” she whispered urgently. “That way.”

      Nick whispered back, “You go first. I’ll go behind you. That way if they shoot at us they’ll hit me and not Ellie.”

      “Take my pistol.”

      He reached under his coat. “I have one. Keep yours.”

      Where in the heck had he gotten a hold of a gun? Did he even know how to use the thing? She eyed him in dismay but was relieved to see him holding it in a reasonable grip. They might just get out of this alive, after all. If they could keep Ellie quiet so she wouldn’t give their position away.

      Nick moved close as they crept forward cautiously. He crooned to Ellie, “Hush, sweetheart. Be an angel for Daddy.”

      How he could be so cool with armed men chasing them, she had no idea. Shockingly, his calm tone seemed to mollify the baby and she quieted completely.

      “That’s my brave girl,” Nick continued to murmur.

      Laura looked back over her shoulder. The pair of men had been joined by a third and they were moving cautiously in this direction. She and Nick needed a diversion. Something dramatic. She dug around in the baby bag until she felt the steel cylinder of a silencer. She screwed it onto her weapon, assumed a shooter’s stance, took careful aim and fired at the gaudy chandelier on the front porch. It exploded spectacularly, glass shattering in all directions, and the three men ducked at the abrupt noise behind them.

      Laura sprinted like a madwoman through the woods with Nick panting right on her heels as they dodged left and right around trees. Shots rang out behind them. Thankfully, in the real world, most people couldn’t hit the broad side of the barn when they were running themselves and aiming at another fast-moving target.

      Bark flew nearby. Uh-oh. It didn’t look like their pursuers were shooting to take out tires anymore. That looked like a shot aimed to kill.

      Waaaaaah! Ellie let out a renewed scream.

      Laura fumbled through the contents of the bag desperately, as she ran, seeking the familiar shape of the pacifier. Ammo clip. Bottle. Diapers. No pacifier!

      Bingo. A soft rubber nipple. Laura yanked it out as she ducked under a low branch. She stumbled as her foot slid off a half-rotted log buried in the leaves, staggered left and barely managed to right herself. But she’d dropped the all-important pacifier. She paused a precious second to look around. Thank God. White plastic caught her eye. Laura pounced on it and took off running once more.

      The men behind them were close enough for her to hear their heavy breathing. At this range, they might actually hit a moving target. She put on a terrified burst of speed, zigzagging like a rabbit fleeing for its life.

      Ellie’s screaming took on a rhythmic quality as the baby was jostled by Laura’s steps. No way were they going to escape their pursuers until the child quit giving away their position like this. They needed to turn this into a stealth exercise.

      More gunshots rang out behind them. Nick swore behind Laura. “Hurry,” he grunted. “That was close.”

      Desperate, she wiped the pacifier on her shirt and stabbed backward over her shoulder. She was so going to mommy hell already for putting her child in the line of fire, she supposed giving her a dirty pacifier wouldn’t make matters much worse. But what choice did she have? It was that or die.

      Miraculously, she hit Ellie’s mouth, and even more miraculously, the infant took the pacifier, sucking it angrily. Laura slowed, ducking into an area of thick brush. Nick followed closely, helping her lift brambles aside as they crept forward. Male voices called back and forth behind them. Apparently, their pursuers had lost sight of them. Hallelujah.

      She pointed off to their left in the direction she thought the car was, assuming she wasn’t completely disoriented out here in the pitch-black night and bewildering tangle of trees and undergrowth, and Nick veered that direction.

      They burst out of the trees as a dirt road opened up before them. “This way,” she gasped.