Holden. Delores Fossen

      But Landon also had to be nearby, too, and Holden had told him to do a quiet approach. Maybe his cousin would be in place before the thugs’ backup arrived.

      The one holding Nicky made eye contact with Holden before glancing at his partners. “You want me to go ahead and shoot the marshal?”

      “No shots around the kid, remember,” the boss insisted. “This is our million-dollar baby, and we can’t risk it.”

      Even in the darkness, Holden could see Nicky’s eyes widen slightly. A million bucks. That was a lot of money to pay for a baby. So, maybe this wasn’t just some black-market deal.

      But if it wasn’t that, then what the hell was it?

      Holden glanced on the other side of the car at the two men approaching, and thanks to the angle of the lights coming out of the house windows, he saw the baby then.

      And he felt as if someone had slugged him.

      He’d thought when he saw the kid that it would take some hard proof before he would believe the baby was Emmett and Annie’s. It hadn’t taken more than a glimpse. The kid was theirs, all right. The proof was all over the baby’s face and that hair. However, Holden pushed aside his thoughts and concentrated on the situation directly in front of him.

      “You obviously have a buyer for the baby,” Nicky said. “Well, I’ll match whatever offer you have. I can have the money to you within an hour.”

      That was probably a lie. Nicky came from money, but it would take more than an hour to gather up that much cash even if Holden was contributing. Which he would. No way did he want his nephew sold like property, and neither would anyone in his family.

      He wasn’t sure paying a ransom to the thugs would actually get them the baby, though. No. These men would just probably take the cash and the baby while going through with the plan to kill him. They wouldn’t want to leave a marshal alive.

      The boss huffed. “Save your breath, sweetheart,” he said to Nicky. “I’m not gonna listen to a thing you try to tempt me with. Making a deal like that with you would get me killed the hard way.”

      Later, Holden would want to know what the guy meant by that, but for now he had to focus on the mess that was unfolding right in front of him. He heard the car engine. Saw the headlights, too.

      And he knew this wasn’t his cousin because Landon would be doing a quiet approach. In fact, Landon could already be there, but he wouldn’t have let these snakes know about it.

      The thugs weren’t alarmed to see the black four-door pull into the parking lot and drive straight toward them.

      “She goes with us,” the boss said, tipping his head to Nicky. “She’s got to hand over those files before we finish things with her. We might be able to use her father as added pressure.”

      That got Holden’s attention. Nicky’s, too. “What does my father have to do with this?” she asked.

      Holden wanted to know the same thing, and he got an even worse feeling about this. Not that he needed anything else to put him on full alert.

      The thug didn’t answer her question, but Holden—and apparently Nicky—had no trouble filling in the blanks.

      “You’re planning to get that million dollars from my father,” she snapped.

      Bingo. Her father, Oscar, was stinking rich and would indeed pay a very high price to get his own grandson back. But there was no way a monster like Oscar Hart should raise a child. Oscar was barely a step above these thugs.

      Again, the boss didn’t answer. Instead, he turned to the bald guy. “As soon as we’re in the car and out of firing range, go ahead and kill the marshal and torch the place.”

      So, this was it. Holden had to make his move.

      He volleyed glances between the men and the car, but the thugs weren’t looking at the car as he’d hoped. They still had their attention on Holden. That meant he’d have to wait a few more seconds until they were moving Nicky and the baby inside.

      “There’s no reason for you to kill the marshal,” Nicky said. “In fact, if you hurt him, I’ll never give you those files.”

      All three men stared at her. “Really?” the boss challenged. “And why would you care what happens to him? You two aren’t exactly on friendly terms. Not anymore.”

      It shouldn’t have surprised Holden that this goon knew about Nicky and him. The rumor mill was in full swing in Silver Creek, and there probably wasn’t a person over the age of ten who hadn’t heard about the short affair he’d had with Nicky.

      Very short. As in twice.

      Too bad Holden thought about those two times with her more than he did all his other relationships. Much to his disgust. He chalked up his time with her as a hard lesson learned. She was the daughter of a criminal and always would be.

      “In fact,” the boss went on, looking at Nicky, “the marshal might be wondering right about now if he can even trust you. He might be thinking you knew exactly what was going on before you ever convinced him to come here.”

      She shook her head, as if defending herself, and then she looked at Holden. “I’m not lying. Not this time. I didn’t know my father was involved.”

      Maybe not. But she’d lied before, about her father’s involvement in another crime, and that was the reason their so-called relationship had been so short. She’d put Holden in danger. His brother Drury, too.

      A lot like now, in fact.

      There’d been no baby involved then, but Drury certainly had been, and her lies had nearly gotten Holden’s brother killed.

      Holden had to tamp down the anger he still felt just thinking about that. But Nicky no doubt saw, or maybe even felt, that anger.

      The car stopped only a few yards from the men, but when the doors didn’t open, the bald guy went closer and reached for the handle.

      Reaching, however, was as far as he got.

      Because the door flew open, fast, knocking right into the bald guy and sending him flying back. Landon barreled out of the car, his gun aimed right at the boss. But the boss only lifted the baby carrier in front of him like a shield.

      There was a special place in hell for a coward like that.

      Holden didn’t especially need another reason to want this guy dead, but that did it. He ran toward the boss, going at him low so that he could tackle the guy. It was a risk because the baby could still be hurt, but anything he did at this point was a risk he had to take.

      Nicky yelled something he didn’t catch, and from the corner of his eye, Holden saw her elbow the guy in the gut again. Maybe he wouldn’t shoot her, but Holden couldn’t do anything about that now. He grabbed hold of the boss’s legs, knocking him off balance, and the two of them went to the ground.

      So did the carrier.

      It didn’t fall, thank God. Even now, the boss was making sure his investment didn’t get hurt, and Holden was thankful for it.

      Holden didn’t show the guy any such carefulness, though. He couldn’t shoot him, not with the baby so close, but he could punch him, and that’s what he did.

      Landon scooped up the carrier and put it on the backseat. “We need to get out of here now,” he warned Holden and Nicky. “We managed to steal their car, but there are at least four gunmen on the road. All of them heavily armed. They’ll be on the way here by now.”

      Yeah, they would be, because they’d no doubt heard Nicky’s shout and all the commotion.

      Holden punched the boss again, the guy’s head flopping back, and he raced to Nicky. He had to give it to her. For someone so outmatched, she was fighting like a wildcat, scratching and clawing the guy.

      When