was being held and forced to give information.
Which she wouldn’t give easily.
Not Jaycee.
She wasn’t just married to the badge, it was her soul mate. The only thing she actually cared about. She’d die—and get others killed—before giving up anything that would compromise an investigation. Even an unauthorized one.
He knew a lot about that, too, when it came to her.
Josh cursed under his breath. “Cover me. I’ll move in for a closer look.” And then he remembered that he wasn’t talking to a fellow agent but rather his new boss. “I’ll stay low and out of sight.”
Grayson stared at him, his lips pressed together a moment, but then he nodded. “Call me if you spot trouble.”
His phone was already on vibrate, and Josh drew his gun. That simple gesture gave him another jolt of flashbacks, but he wrestled the images aside and made his way back down the hill. It wasn’t much of an elevation, but thankfully just enough to keep him hidden.
Grayson had left his truck parked on a ranch trail about a quarter of a mile away. That was no doubt where his brothers would park when they responded to the scene. They were all experienced cops and would know to do a quiet approach, but Josh wanted to finish his surveillance and be back in place with Grayson before they arrived. That way, they could discuss the best way to handle this.
Whatever this was.
He didn’t see any guards on the side of the barn that wasn’t facing the house, but he stayed low and used the vehicles for cover to make his way from the road and to the barn. No windows, of course. So he went to the back and spotted the door. It wasn’t the type that’d normally be on a barn. More like a house door with a padlock on the outside.
But it wasn’t locked now and was open just a fraction.
Still no sign of any guards, so Josh went closer and peered inside. It was dimly lit, 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
