The Baby Assignment. Christy Barritt

than it should be. “Should we get him out?”

      Tanner glanced at Shawn Williams as he slumped against the steering wheel. To try and get him out now would put his life in danger. Tanner needed to be alive in order to protect Addie and Macy.

      Instead, he opened the passenger door and released Shawn’s seat belt. The agent slumped into the passenger seat.

      Out of sight from a potential shooter.

      Just as the thought entered Tanner’s mind, one of the windows shattered. Another bullet had exploded across the air.

      “Give it up!” Tanner yelled, gripping his gun and remaining behind the car. “This isn’t going to the end the way you want.”

      Silence answered back.

      There must have been someone else at the psychotherapy center. Someone who’d been waiting outside and had followed Tanner and Macy when they’d fled. Maybe this had all been a part of their plan.

      He briefly glanced down. Macy was huddled near the sedan. She rocked Addie back and forth in her car seat. The baby’s eyes were as wide as saucers and watery. She was fighting tears. Fighting wails.

      Thank goodness Macy was here to help him with the baby. He wouldn’t be able to handle all of this on his own. Despite the hard feelings between the two of them now, they’d always been a good team. They’d even been able to finish each other’s sentences at one time. They’d been that in tune.

      Another bullet smashed the stillness around them.

      Addie let out a loud wail at the noise, and Macy began trying to shush her, speaking in gentle, calming tones to the baby.

      Tanner had to see if he could spot the shooter. He could tell from the bullet trajectory in what general direction the man was located. But that didn’t mean he was standing still in one spot.

      Tanner rose ever so slightly and scanned the woods.

      There!

      The barrel of a gun reflected in the sun.

      Tanner aimed and took a shot.

      Someone yelped.

      He’d been hit! Tanner’s aim had found the shooter.

      Addie screamed more adamantly at the loud noise.

      “Macy, stay here,” he instructed. “And stay down.”

      This was his chance to catch the man—provided he was still alive. And Tanner hoped he was. If he could question the man, maybe they would obtain some answers and get to the bottom of this.

      Macy nodded, fear drawn in the depths of her eyes. But he could see the strength there also. “I’ve got this.”

      With that last assurance, he took off in a run toward the woods. He reached the tree where he’d last seen the man. He was gone. But a faint trail of blood stretched across the ground, along with some subtle boot prints.

      Careful to remain shielded and on guard, Tanner followed the tracks through the woods.

      How much farther could the man make it? He was losing a significant amount of blood. Certainly, he’d pass out soon, when his adrenaline wore off.

      Tanner paused and listened. Was that a twig breaking?

      He crept forward, still bracing himself for whatever may come.

      Just as he took another step, a man burst from the underbrush ahead. He darted away from Tanner.

      Tanner raised his gun, but the man wove between trees. There was no way he could shoot him. Besides, he didn’t want to kill the man. He needed to capture him.

      He took off after him instead.

      Just as he reached a clearing, the man dove into a waiting car, and they squealed away.

      Another car? Had the man called for backup?

      He must have.

      This was a bigger, more elaborate operation than Tanner had guessed. Multiple gunmen. More than one vehicle. An intricate plan.

      Then another thought hit him like a slap in the face.

      What if these guys turned around and went back to Macy and Addie? They were alone right now. Alone and vulnerable.

      He couldn’t let anything happen to them. He should have never left them alone, but he’d never imagined a second vehicle.

      He couldn’t risk making any more assumptions.

      He darted back toward them and prayed they were okay.

      As he reached the highway, he spotted the empty FBI sedan. Blood rushed to his ears.

      Please, let them be okay.

      He jetted around the car and froze.

      Macy and Addie were still there, huddled at the side of the car.

      They were safe...for now. That was all he could guarantee because this whole situation was becoming more and more dangerous by the moment.

       Four

      Two hours later, Macy, Tanner and Addie pulled up to a house in the middle of the Texas countryside. It may have only been an hour from Macy’s suburban Houston home, but it felt like a foreign land. And Macy felt like an uninvited guest who didn’t belong here.

      Everything still felt hazy, like a dream. A nightmare, for that matter.

      The FBI had arrived at the roadside scene. They’d questioned her. Tanner had come back from the woods without the shooter, who’d apparently gotten away. Agent Williams had been taken away in an ambulance. He was still breathing and, from what Macy gathered, they thought he would be okay.

      Meanwhile, Addie had cried. Longing for her mom, maybe? Hungry? Tired? Scared?

      Tanner got them all moved in to the safe house. There was already a crib set up there and numerous baby supplies. Two other agents stood guard, one at each door.

      Once they were settled, Tanner had left again. Macy wasn’t sure where he’d gone, but she guessed that he had to debrief with other agents—maybe even a taskforce—about everything that had happened. Plus, his biceps had been bleeding, and he needed to have that checked out.

      At the moment, Macy sat on a leather couch in the midsize, rustic cabin. From what she could gather, the place had three bedrooms upstairs and an all-encompassing great room downstairs. Wood planks comprised the walls, and mounted deer heads and stuffed bears were the accessories of choice.

      Addie had drifted to sleep in her arms after a bottle, and Macy knew she should put the baby down, but she couldn’t. She needed to hold her and know she was okay. She wished she worked with babies this young. The instant bond she felt with Addie did something strange to her heart. It captured it, melted it and twisted it in knots, all at the same time.

      This poor, poor baby. A child should never be in the middle of something like this. Whatever this was.

      In the quiet, Macy tried to let everything sink in.

      Was all of this really happening? It seemed surreal. Confusing. Overwhelming. Who were those men? Who was the baby? There was one thing she was certain of: that man would have killed her if Tanner hadn’t come when he did.

      Macy shivered at the thought.

      She glanced at her watch. She should be headed out to Bible study right now. She was supposed to lead a discussion on the women of the Old Testament. Ruth was tonight’s topic.

      What would everyone think when she didn’t show up? Honestly, it didn’t really matter. All that mattered was keeping this sweet baby safe.

      The agent standing near the door put his phone to his ear and muttered something Macy couldn’t understand. The next instant, tires crunched on