Rustling Up Trouble. Delores Fossen

      Blue rifled through the bag that Caleb had brought him, and he located some jeans, a shirt and boots. No badge or gun. But he did drag on the clothes so he could ditch the drafty gown. Every move he made was a painful effort.

      “You got a backup weapon?” he asked, stepping in front of her.

      A gesture that caused her to scowl and mumble something that didn’t sound pleasant. “No. I only carry backup when I’m on the job.”

      Not good. But at least he had her weapon. Something he would have to convince her to hand over to him. Of course, that was only part of the convincing he’d have to do.

      “You took a huge risk saving me earlier,” he reminded her, dropping his gaze to her stomach, “and I won’t let you take another one.”

      “It wasn’t a risk.”

      But she stopped, knowing that there was no way she could convince him otherwise. Heck, she could no doubt still hear the sounds of the bullets flying around her. Yeah, it’d been a huge risk.

      “I had no idea three gunmen would be out there when I rode out to the pasture,” she added, “and I certainly didn’t take the risk for you. I took it because I wasn’t in a position to do anything else. If I’d tried to get out of there, one of them would have spotted me and tried to gun me down.”

      Fair enough. Too bad the fairness couldn’t continue, because Blue snatched her gun, and before the protesting gasp could even leave her mouth, he eased open the door. The lanky dark-haired deputy was indeed still there, and he was on the phone.

      “I’m Deputy Reed Caldwell,” he said, his gaze snapping toward them. He shoved the phone back in his pocket. “There are three of them, and they’re in the parking lot.”

      Man, they had gotten there even faster than he’d thought. Rayanne and he probably had only a minute or two at most because in a town the size of Sweetwater Springs, the exact location of his hospital room likely wasn’t much of a secret.

      “How much backup’s on the way?” Blue asked the deputy at the exact moment that Rayanne asked a version of the same. They were both still lawmen to the core, and whether Rayanne liked it or not, they were also on the same side.

      For this, anyway.

      “The sheriff and another deputy,” Reed answered. “Both are Rayanne’s brothers, and they’re about five minutes out.”

      Good news about her brothers coming so fast. Blood kin meant they’d no doubt fight hard to make sure Rayanne stayed safe. Not so good news about the five minutes, though. That was more than enough time for the armed goons to get inside and do plenty of damage.

      Blue glanced around and spotted exits at both ends of the corridor, which was lined with doors to patients’ rooms on each side. He considered having Reed duck inside one of the rooms with Rayanne.

      Any one of them but his own.

      However, if the gunmen managed to pick the right door or if they just started randomly shooting, Rayanne could be hit or worse. Innocent bystanders could be, too. Right now he was a bullet magnet, but he wasn’t sure he trusted this deputy who he didn’t even know to be the one to protect Rayanne.

      “Which exit is closest to the parking lot where those gunmen are?” Blue asked.

      Reed pointed to the one to his left. Blue got all three of them moving in the opposite direction, and he hoped he could get Rayanne out of the hall before trouble arrived.

      “You sure you’re well enough to be doing this?” the deputy asked.

      “No, he’s not,” Rayanne answered for him.

      She was right. He wasn’t well enough. Not well enough to fight off gunmen, anyway, but the pain zapping through him wouldn’t stop him from getting Rayanne to safety.

      Blue heard some sounds. Shrieks and shouts of people panicking. Someone had no doubt spotted the gunmen, and those sounds were far too close for comfort. He dropped back so that he’d be between the gunmen and Rayanne. He also kicked up the pace a notch, racing toward the exit.

      “I’m sorry,” he mumbled to Rayanne. He didn’t have any experience with pregnant women, but he figured it wasn’t a good thing to make her run like this. Of course, the stress wasn’t good, either.

      “Don’t do anything that will make me regret this any more than I already do,” she snapped.

      That was Blue’s intention. To do no more harm. Then once he had her safely tucked away, he could figure out who these morons were and what they wanted.

      He could also deal with the baby then.

      Just thinking about it now clouded his head. The pain did, too. And a clouded head was a good way to get them killed. He needed to think straight and be able to react.

      They got to the exit just as Blue heard another unwelcome sound. Footsteps.

      Not the ordinary variety, either.

      These were the footsteps of someone flat-out running, and they seemed to be headed straight toward them.

      Blue took out the seemed when he spotted one of them. There was no seeming about it. They were coming for them.

      The first was big, bulky, mean looking.

      And armed to the hilt with a gun in his hand and two others in holsters.

      He looked a lot like the other two guys who came running in behind him.

      Blue practically pushed Rayanne to the exit when the deputy opened the door. They raced with her.

      Not a second too soon.

      A shot cracked through the air.

      Blue bit back the profanity when the bullet tore through a chunk of the doorjamb. Getting shot at twice in one day sure wasn’t how he’d wanted this to play out.

      “Hurry,” Blue told Rayanne.

      He shut the door. No lock. And the exit led them to a large covered area where vehicles dropped off patients. It was way too open for comfort, and Blue hoped there weren’t any gunmen lurking outside waiting for them.

      “My truck’s this way,” Reed said.

      Blue hoped “this way” was close, because the armed idiots wouldn’t be far behind. They ran, a lot faster than Blue’s body wanted to run, and while they were midstride, the deputy took out his keypad and used it to open a silver truck.

      “Stay ahead of me,” Blue warned Rayanne. She didn’t argue, thank goodness, and she held her hand protectively over her belly.

      The moment they made it to the truck, Blue threw open the door and pushed Rayanne inside. Reed and he quickly followed, but Reed had barely managed to get the engine started when the gunmen bolted from the exit.

      The three pivoted around, looking for them, and it didn’t take them long to spot the truck. The goon in the lead took aim.

      Fired.

      Just as Reed peeled out of the parking lot.

      The deputy thankfully didn’t waste any time getting them the heck out of there. Blue spun in the seat, ready to return fire. Well, as ready as he could be considering he was dizzy as all get-out.

      But he didn’t have a shot, anyway.

      It was too big a risk that he might hit someone other than the snake who’d just tried to kill him—again.

      Reed practically flew out of the parking lot, and Blue heard and saw the cruiser then. Rayanne’s brothers, no doubt. Maybe they’d be able to catch these dirt wads so that Blue could question them. Or beat them senseless for this stunt they’d just pulled.

      “I don’t think they’re following us,” Reed said, his attention volleying between the road and the parking lot. He reholstered his gun and took out his phone. Probably to call his