Landon. Delores Fossen

I have a license.” Best just to toss this out there and then deal with the aftermath. And there would be aftermath. “But I had it only because of Joel. He said he wanted me to get it so I could help him vet some of his business associates. It’s easier for a PI to do that because I had access to certain databases.”

      She got the exact reaction she expected. Landon’s eyes narrowed. Tessa wasn’t sure of all of Joel’s activities, but there were enough of them for her to know the kind of man she was dealing with. Landon had called him scummy, but he was much worse than that.

      Because Joel was a dangerous man.

      With that reminder, she looked around them again. Tessa could still see the parking lot and the hall, and Landon made an uneasy glance around, too.

      “You’ll want to keep going with that explanation,” Landon insisted. “But remember, you’re talking to a cop.”

      The threat was real. He could arrest her, but it was a risk she had to take right now. She needed Landon on her side so he could help her protect this baby. Maybe from Joel.

      Maybe from someone else.

      Mercy, it was so hard to think.

      Tessa had to clear her throat before she could continue. “I think Joel might have murdered someone.”

      His eyes were already dark, but that darkened them even more. “Who? Emmett?”

      But she didn’t get a chance to answer.

      Landon stepped in front of her, drawing his weapon. That was when she saw the man in the hall.

      He was coming straight toward them.

      And he had a gun.

       Chapter Five

      Landon had a split-second debate with himself about just shooting at the armed man who was coming right at them.

      But he couldn’t.

      It would be a huge risk to start shooting in the hospital around innocent bystanders.

      A risk for Tessa and the baby, too.

      The man obviously didn’t have a problem doing just that. He lifted his gun and took aim. Landon hooked his arm around Tessa and yanked her out of the line of fire.

      Barely in time.

      The bullet smacked into the concrete block wall where they’d just been standing. The noise was deafening, and the baby immediately started to cry.

      Landon pulled Tessa and the baby to the side so that he could use the wall for protection, but it wouldn’t protect them for long, because the idiot fired another shot and sent more of those bits of concrete scattering.

      “Tessa?” the man called out. “If you want the bullets to stop, then hand the kid to the cowboy cop and come with me.”

      Because Landon still had hold of her, he felt her muscles turn to iron, and she held the baby even closer to her body.

      “Oh, God,” she whispered.

      Landon mumbled something significantly worse. This was not what he wanted to happen.

      Of course, Landon had known there could be another attack since someone had tried to kill Tessa in that barn fire, but he hadn’t thought a second attempt would happen in the hospital with so many witnesses around. Plus, the guy wasn’t even wearing a mask. That meant he either knew no one would recognize him or didn’t care if they did. But whoever he was, one thing was crystal clear.

      This thug wanted Tessa.

      Later, Landon would want to know why, but he figured this had something to do with one of the last things she’d said to him before the guy started shooting.

      I think Joel might have murdered someone.

      Landon didn’t doubt it for a second. Nor did he doubt this armed thug was connected to Joel. But why exactly did Joel want her? Had she learned something incriminating while she was working for him vetting his “cattle broker” associates?

      “Tessa?” the man called out. “You’ve got ten seconds.”

      “He knows you,” Landon whispered to her. “You recognize his voice?

      “No,” she answered without hesitating.

      “Think about it,” the guy added. “Every bullet I fire puts that kid in danger even more. Danger that you can stop by coming with me.”

      “He’s right,” Tessa said on a rise of breath.

      She moved as if preparing herself to surrender, but Landon wasn’t going to let that happen.

      “Stay back,” he warned her.

      Landon leaned out, trying to time it so that he wouldn’t get shot, and glanced into the hall. The guy was no longer out in the open. He’d taken cover in a doorway.

      Hell.

      Hopefully, there wasn’t anyone inside the room where this man was hiding or he would no doubt shoot them.

      On the second glance, Landon took aim and fired at the moron. The guy ducked back into the room, and Landon’s bullets slammed into the door.

      He couldn’t stand there and trade shots with this guy, because sooner or later, the gunman might get lucky. Certainly by now someone had called the sheriff, and that meant Grayson would be here soon. Although it might not be soon enough.

      “Let’s go,” Landon told her.

      He leaned around the corner and fired another shot at the man, and Landon hoped it would pin him in place long enough to put some distance between those bullets and Tessa.

      Staying in front of her while trying to keep watch all around them, Landon maneuvered her down the back hall toward the other end, where there was another line of patients’ rooms. He prayed that all the patients and staff had heard the shots and were hunkering down somewhere.

      The baby was still crying, and even though Tessa was trying to comfort it, her attempts weren’t working. Too bad. Because the sounds of the baby’s cries were like a homing beacon for that shooter.

      Landon had no choice but to pause when he reached the junction of the halls, and he glanced around to see if there was a second gunman waiting to ambush them.

      Empty.

      Thank God.

      But his short pause allowed the shooter to catch up with them. The guy leaned around the corner where Landon had just been, and he fired at them.

      Since it was possible for the gunman to double back and come at them from the other end of the hall, Landon needed better protection. Again, it was a risk because he didn’t know what he was going to find, but he opened the first door he reached.

      Not empty.

      And the young twentysomething woman inside gave him a jolt until he noticed that she wore a hospital gown and was hanging on to an IV pole. She was a patient.

      He hoped.

      “Go in the bathroom,” he ordered the woman. “Close the door and don’t come out.”

      She gasped and gave a shaky nod but followed his instructions. Landon would have liked to have sent Tessa and the baby in there with her, but he couldn’t risk it. Anyone bold enough to send this gunman could have also planted backups in the rooms.

      “Keep an eye on the woman,” Landon whispered to Tessa.

      Tessa’s eyes widened, probably because she realized this could be a trap. Of course, that was only one of their problems. The baby was still crying, the sound echoing through the empty hall.

      Landon heard the footsteps to his right. The gunman, no doubt. And he readied himself to shoot