Gunfire On The Ranch. Delores Fossen

after her husband passed away.

      Theo glared at her a few more seconds before he finally glanced away and cursed some more. “Is Nathan healthy? Is he okay?”

      It seemed petty for her to hesitate even a second to give him that info. But she knew that with each new bit, Theo would only want to know more and more. Then he would want Nathan to know who’d really fathered him.

      Theo. And not Chad.

      Of course, Nathan didn’t have a lot of memories of Chad anyway, since he’d died after losing his battle with cancer when Nathan had been only five.

      “I’m sorry,” she said. It didn’t seem nearly enough, but there wasn’t much else she could say or do at this point.

      There was a sound outside the window, a car engine, and Theo hurried to look while motioning for her to stay put. Just like that, her heart revved up again. Not that it’d gone back to normal, and that might not happen for a long time.

      “It’s just the ambulance,” Theo told her. He stayed at the window with his gun drawn.

      She was glad that it’d arrived. Now maybe the medics could save the gunman so they could find out what the heck was going on. And soon. It was probably too much to ask to find the person responsible for this attack and get him behind bars so that Gabriel and Jodi could get on with the wedding, but Ivy prayed that would happen. Her brother and Jodi deserved to have their special day.

      “Did you love him?” Theo asked.

      The sound of his voice cut through her thoughts, and it took Ivy a moment to realize that he probably wasn’t talking about Nathan. Of course she loved him. But Theo knew that and was asking about Chad.

      “Yes. I did.”

      In some ways that was a lie, but Ivy wasn’t about to get into that now. Besides, what Theo probably wanted to know was how she could go so quickly from him to another man. Especially when she’d had Theo’s child. But it was because of Nathan that she’d agreed to marry Chad. Once Theo got past the initial kick of anger, she’d maybe tell him more.

      More that he wasn’t going to want to hear.

      “Does it look as if the gunman is still alive?” Ivy said. It was definitely time for a change of subject, because whatever was going on outside that window was critical to their situation. A situation that didn’t necessarily have to include Theo.

      He nodded. “The guy’s moving, clutching his chest.”

      Probably because he was bleeding and in pain. She wasn’t certain of the details of his injury, but Ivy had heard Gabriel’s quick phone chat that he’d had with Jameson.

      And now she moved on to the part about Theo not having to be in Nathan’s or her life. “For the record, I don’t expect anything from you,” Ivy continued a moment later. “We were practically kids when I got pregnant, and the feelings you once had for me are obviously long gone.”

      Theo gave her a look that could have frozen the hottest levels of Hades. “I’m not leaving,” he spat out. He stared at her as if he might repeat it, but then he shook his head. “I just need to stop whoever sent those thugs, and then I can deal with everything else.”

      That sounded like some kind of threat. And Ivy wasn’t immune to it. She’d never had to share her son with anyone. Not even Chad, who had been a “father” in name only, had been able to spend much time in the parent roll because of his health problems. She didn’t feel ready to share Nathan with Theo, either.

      “Yeah, we were kids,” Theo went on, “but we sure as hell aren’t kids now.” He paused again, those jaw muscles stirring like crazy. “You should have found a way to tell me.”

      Ivy huffed. “You can say that now,” she argued. “But we were in a different mind-set back then. Remember?”

      “Of course I remember. Your mom caught us in bed. Your dad blew a fuse when she told him, and he ordered me to stay away from you. That should have been the time you backed me up, but you didn’t. You agreed with him and told me to get out of the house.”

      Ivy had indeed told Theo to leave, but she darn sure hadn’t agreed with her father. Sherman Beckett could be a hard man sometimes, and he hadn’t approved of Theo and his minor run-ins with the law. Ironically, her dad had thought Theo would get her pregnant and then run out on her. Strange how all of that had worked out. Strange, too, that Theo had become a lawman, the last thing her father or she would have expected him to become.

      “Then you and your brothers actually considered me a suspect in your parents’ murders,” Theo added. Judging from his tone, that was still an extremely sore spot for him.

      It was for her, too.

      Because she hadn’t stuck up for Theo. That had obviously been the straw that had broken the camel’s back. As soon as Theo’s name had been cleared, he’d left Blue River.

      Ivy was about to put an end to this conversation, or a temporary end at least, but she heard the footsteps in the hall. Both Theo and she pivoted in that direction, and she felt herself gear up for another fight. If a gunman had actually made it into the house, he wasn’t getting to Nathan.

      “It’s me,” Jameson called out.

      The relief came, but it didn’t completely wash away the adrenaline punch she’d gotten when she thought they could be near another attack. A moment later, the door opened, and her brother came in.

      Jameson’s attention went to her first, and he no doubt saw her tense body. Perhaps saw a whole lot more than that, though, when his gaze shifted to Theo. Then to the bathroom door where he knew Jodi—and Nathan—were waiting. It didn’t take Jameson long to piece everything together, and he cursed under his breath.

      “Just in case there’s a bug in the house, I’ll whisper,” Jameson said. “How much trouble is this situation with Nathan going to cause the two of you?” he asked. He didn’t specifically direct the question to either of them, and neither of them answered.

      However, Theo did ask a question of his own, and it was indeed meant for Jameson because he was staring at her brother. “Did the gunman say anything about who sent him and why?” He, too, kept his voice at a whisper.

      Ivy figured that he hadn’t, but Jameson nodded. He took a deep breath, and that’s when she knew this was not going to be good news.

      “The gunman died right after the medics put him in the ambulance,” Jameson said.

      Now Ivy wanted to curse. She didn’t. Over the years, motherhood had taught her to rein in the profanity, but still this was a situation that warranted some cursing.

      “He didn’t know who hired him,” Jameson went on. “Or at least that’s what he said. According to him, it was all done through a third party. A San Antonio thug everyone just called Mack. I’ve never heard of him, and I know most of the CIs and other informants in the area. And yeah, I’ve already made a call about him.”

      That didn’t sound very promising, especially since it wasn’t a name her brother knew, but Ivy got the sinking feeling that it wasn’t his not knowing Mack that’d put that troubled look on his face.

      “The gunman said something else,” Jameson continued a moment later. “This Mack hired other men. At least three more.” He turned to his sister then. “And, Ivy, they have orders to use whatever means necessary to kill you.”

       Chapter Five

      “Ivy’s the target?” Theo immediately asked Jameson. He figured it was a question that Ivy wanted answered, as well.

      Jameson lifted his shoulder. “That’s what the guy said.” Like the rest of them, he continued to keep his voice at a whisper. “That doesn’t mesh with what the CI told you, though, does it?”

      Theo