Holden. Delores Fossen

go inside. Instead, he went to a window and peered around the edge. He snapped back so fast that she knew there had to be someone in the room. Someone who had caused his muscles to go iron-stiff.

      “Two men,” Holden whispered. “Both armed. There’s a baby carrier on the table.”

      Even though she figured Holden didn’t want her to move, Nicky had to see for herself.

      Nicky took in everything in one quick glance. The two men, one bald and the other wearing a black baseball-type hat.

      And the ginger-haired baby asleep in the carrier.

      Mercy. She’d tried to steel herself for whatever they might face, but it sickened her to think of a baby being around hired guns.

      “If you create a distraction,” she said, trying to make as little sound as possible, “I can sneak in.”

      Holden gave her a look again, to let her know that wasn’t going to happen. But she didn’t want to stand around there and wait. If these goons heard the other deputies, they might start a gunfight, and the baby would be caught in the middle.

      Even though the window was closed, she had no trouble hearing a phone ring inside. She also had no trouble hearing one of the men answer it. Not with a greeting, either.

      He simply said, “What now?”

      Too bad he hadn’t put it on speaker because Nicky would have liked to know who she was dealing with. But nothing. For several snail-crawling moments. She had no idea what the caller was telling him, but it caused the man’s forehead to bunch up.

      “All right,” the man finally said. “We’ll move the kid now. See you in a few.” He ended the call and turned to the bald guy. “That reporter’s car was just up the road. She wasn’t in it, but they’re sending someone to torch it and the house just in case.”

      Considering all the other things going on, that was small potatoes. Still, it sickened her to think of these snakes destroying her home. And it would all be for nothing. Because the files weren’t even there.

      “You know she didn’t just leave,” the other man said. “She’s out there somewhere.”

      The first one nodded and slapped off the lights. “If she really knows what’s going on, she won’t shoot around the kid, and she’ll make sure the marshal doesn’t, either.”

      The thug was right about not wanting to start a gunfight, but he was wrong about her knowing what was going on. She still didn’t understand why someone would do this.

      “You don’t shoot around the kid, either,” the hat-wearing guy warned his partner. “But if you get a clean shot of the marshal, take it. Do the same to any of the locals who might show up to poke around here. Nobody who sees or could see anything gets away from here to rat us out.”

      Nicky’s chest was already so tight that she couldn’t breathe, and that didn’t help. She hated that she’d involved Holden in this, and she didn’t want him or anyone hurt. But the baby had to come first.

      Both men started to move. Even though there wasn’t much light in the room now, she saw one of them grab the carrier seat with the baby, and the other took some keys from his pocket.

      Holden got them moving, too. They were quickly off the porch and headed straight for the car. The moment they reached it, he maneuvered her to the far side, away from the house, and they ducked down.

      He pulled out a knife from his pocket and jammed it into the front tire and went to the rear to do the same. That would slow them down, but it wouldn’t stop them. Those men were in a hurry to get out of there, and they’d drive on the rims if they had to.

      The men raced out the door of the house, making a beeline for the car. They were just yards away when Nicky heard a sound she didn’t want to hear.

      Footsteps.

      Behind Holden and her.

      Holden pivoted, aiming his gun, but it was already too late.

       Chapter Three

      The man seemed to come out of nowhere.

      Before Holden could do anything to stop him, the guy grabbed Nicky by her hair, hauled her back against his chest and jammed a gun to her head.

      Damn.

      This was not how Holden wanted things to play out.

      He hoped there would be time to curse himself later for this botched rescue attempt. He should have waited until he had better measures in place. But maybe he could still figure out a way to fix this before it was too late for Nicky, him and, especially, the baby.

      Holden scrambled to the front end of the car so he could take cover. That didn’t do a darn thing to help Nicky, but he wouldn’t be able to help her at all unless he stayed alive. Of course, another thug could gun him down, but right now using the car was the only option he had.

      Nicky didn’t stay put, either. Despite having a gun to her head, she rammed her elbow into the guy’s stomach. The guy called her a couple of bad names and staggered back a step, but then latched onto her even harder.

      “Try that again and I’ll bash you upside the head with this gun,” the thug growled.

      Even though it was a clear enough warning, Nicky must have realized that he truly didn’t intend to kill her. Holden could see her face tighten, could practically feel her gearing up for a fight.

      “No,” Holden warned her. “Don’t.”

      And much to his surprise, Nicky listened. She also looked at Holden as if expecting him to tell her what to do next. He would.

      When he figured out what the next step was.

      For now, though, he didn’t want her in a wrestling match with a goon who was twice her size. Just because the guy had no plans to shoot her, it didn’t mean the gun wouldn’t accidentally go off, and Holden couldn’t risk a misfired bullet. Not just for Nicky’s sake, but for the baby’s.

      “Can I punch her?” the thug asked his comrades approaching him.

      “Not yet,” the guy carrying the baby answered. “I don’t want her bleeding in the car. Too hard to clean up.”

      His voice was ice-cold. As was his expression. He was the one wearing a baseball cap and was also the one who’d talked about torching Nicky’s house and car. Holden figured he was the boss.

      Well, the boss of these three anyway.

      They were likely working for the person who’d been on the other end of that phone conversation. If Holden could just get the guy’s phone, he might learn who that was. First, though, he had to get them out of this alive.

      All three of the men were dressed in black—that was probably the reason Holden hadn’t seen the third one sneaking up on them. They were all also heavily armed and wearing masks.

      “Any sign of the locals?” the boss asked.

      “No. But we got somebody watching the road. If they try to get here, we’ll see ’em.”

      Holden hoped not. He hadn’t made that last text sound like a life-and-death matter, but his cousin would come prepared for trouble. Which was exactly what Holden and Nicky were facing right now.

      “The marshal flattened two tires,” the one holding Nicky said. “What do you want me to do about that?”

      “Nothing.” The boss, again. He adjusted the baby carrier in his hand so he could read a text he got. “Someone’s already on the way to pick us up. They should be here any second now.”

      Hell. More hired guns. Just what Holden didn’t need.

      Holden knew he had to do something fast, but he still wasn’t sure what that would be. Maybe