Josh. Delores Fossen

the only illumination coming from an exposed bulb dangling in the center of the barn and a TV that’d been mounted high on a stall post. An old black-and-white movie flickered on the screen, but the sound was barely audible.

      It took Josh a moment to pick through the darkness and shadows and spot Jaycee. She was sitting on an army-style cot, her elbows on her knees, her face buried in her hands.

      She wasn’t alone.

      Josh saw two other women, both also on cots. One was reading a paperback and the other was staring up at the ceiling. What he couldn’t tell was if there were any guards inside.

      He didn’t make a sound or move, but Jaycee’s head snapped up, and as if she’d sensed he was there, her gaze zoomed straight toward him. Josh didn’t need a lot of light to notice the relief in her eyes.

      Quickly followed by something else.

      Fear, maybe.

      She shook her head, barely moving it, and she looked down, her loose shoulder-length hair sliding forward to conceal the sides of her face. She put her finger to her mouth in a stay-quiet gesture.

      At least that was what Josh thought she was trying to do.

      “What the hell’s going on in there?” a voice boomed through the barn.

      Josh glanced around and soon spotted the source. A large speaker mounted on one of the crossbeams. Next to it was a camera.

      Hell.

      Had they seen him?

      Still no sign of either of the guards, but he got ready just in case he had to grab Jaycee and the others and run for cover.

      “Nothing’s wrong,” Jaycee shouted. She stood, her back to Josh, and she put her hands on her hips. The sleeves of the bulky windbreaker billowed out like wings as she stared up at the camera. “What, I can’t scratch my nose now without getting interrogated?”

      The tone was the same old Jaycee. Smart mouth. In charge. But Josh could see that her hands were trembling.

      “It looked like more than scratching your nose to me,” the man on the intercom fired back. “You girls aren’t trying to plan something, are you? Like another escape attempt? Because the last one didn’t go so good, did it?”

      So they were being held against their will. But why? And who was doing this?

      “We learned our lesson about that already,” Jaycee said, and the two others bobbed their heads in agreement.

      The women were at the wrong angle to see Josh, and Jaycee made it even harder for them to spot him by stepping to the side. Positioning herself and that bat-wing windbreaker between the camera and him.

      “So do I have permission to scratch my nose?” Jaycee yelled.

      “Yeah. For now anyway. But if you try to break any more cameras, this time your roommates are gonna pay for it.”

      The moments crawled by, and there was a slight crackling sound. Jaycee’s shoulders slumped, and she blew out a barely audible breath.

      “I’m getting some air,” she said to no one in particular, and she turned and headed toward the back door.

      And Josh.

      He saw it then. When she turned to the side and the windbreaker shifted. Her belly. Not flat as it’d been the last time they’d crossed paths.

      Jaycee was pregnant.

      Oh, man.

      Josh forced himself to stay quiet and calm. And he also forced himself to think about the timing of all of this. It wasn’t hard to remember the only time Jaycee and he had slept together. Because that was the same day he’d nearly died.

      Five months ago.

      Like the flashbacks, that hit him darn hard, like a heavyweight’s fist to the gut. But he bit back any sound of surprise because if the guards heard him, it would likely get them killed.

      Jaycee didn’t look at him. In fact, she gave no indication whatsoever that she knew he was even there. She strolled to the back door, eased it open several inches farther than it already was and took a deep breath—like someone indeed getting a little fresh air.

      “Don’t move,” she mouthed, her chin still lifted slightly in her fresh-air pose. “I broke the lens a couple of days ago with a rock, and they haven’t gotten a replacement yet.” She tipped her head to the tiny camera mounted on the eaves. “Right now, you’re out of camera range for the one inside, and you need to stay that way.”

      He nodded, didn’t move, except to drop his gaze to her stomach. “Whose baby is that?” he asked in a whisper.

      She opened her mouth but then closed it just as quickly. Her attention sliced to the front door of the barn, and she whirled around to step in front of him.

      Not a second too soon.

      The door flew open, and Josh got just a glimpse of the armed goon as he rushed in.

      And he pointed his rifle right at Jaycee.

      Chapter Two

      Jaycee cursed the panic that shot through her.

      After months of being held captive, she should be used to having a gun pointed at her, but maybe that was something that never got old. Especially since each time one of the guards pointed a gun at her, they aimed at her stomach.

      The one place that they knew would get her to cooperate.

      She’d risk her own neck, but not the baby.

      However, there was a new reason to do whatever they wanted so she could get the guard out of there. Josh’s life depended on it, and sadly, so did hers and the other two women’s, Marita and Blanca.

      Her cell mates spoke only Spanish, but they understood enough English to know what they had to do. When the guard came in, they got to their feet, cowering. Both pregnant, like Jaycee, and both willing to do anything to protect the babies they carried.

      “You sure you ladies aren’t up to something?” the man growled.

      Jaycee didn’t know his name, but he was bald, ugly and big, which described every guard who’d been at the ranch over the past month.

      This one came in at least several times a day, and he always made a repeat visit after bringing one of them back from the house. Maybe because he thought they were going to discuss whatever they’d seen or heard in there. Or maybe he thought they’d break some more cameras.

      On each of these visits, Jaycee wished she could punch the guy in the face, take that rifle and get herself and the others out. But so far, escape had been impossible.

      Maybe it still was.

      She couldn’t risk verbally warning Josh to stay put, but hopefully he would. He was a good agent. At least he had been before the shooting that’d nearly left him dead. If they survived the next few minutes, maybe she would be able to ask him how he’d found her and how he planned to get them all out.

      And he’d better have a plan.

      A darn good one.

      Keeping herself directly in front of the door, Jaycee lifted the leg of her scrub pants to remind the jerk that since her attempted escape, she had been wearing an ankle monitor. One that would alert him if she did manage to get out of the barn. So far, she’d had no luck in getting the monitor off or disabling the Big Brother camera inside that watched them 24/7.

      The jerk stared at them awhile longer. Jaycee didn’t prolong his stay by glaring at him as she sometimes did. Her glare would rile him, she knew that for a fact, but a riled man just stayed longer.

      She wanted him out of there now.

      Finally, he mumbled something and got moving. So did Jaycee. She knew the angles of the camera and the blind spots. Well, one blind spot anyway.