just been. Some of the embers landed on his shirt, igniting it, and Landon had to slap them out before they became full-fledged flames.
The woman moaned again, but he didn’t look back at her. He kept moving, kept dragging her until they were finally away from the fire. Well, the fire itself, anyway. The smoke continued to come right at them, and it sent both Landon and her into coughing fits.
And that was when he heard that catlike sound again.
Landon dropped down on his knees, putting himself between the woman and what was left of the fire. Part of the barn was still standing, but it wouldn’t be for much longer. He didn’t want them anywhere near it when it finally collapsed.
“Are you okay?” he asked her, rolling her to her back so he could see her face. Except he couldn’t see much of her face until he wiped off some of the soot.
Ah, hell.
Tessa.
He felt a punch of relief because she was obviously alive after all. But it was a very brief punch because she could be hurt. Dying, even.
Landon checked her for injuries. He couldn’t see any obvious ones, but she was holding something wrapped in a soot-covered blanket. He eased it back and was certain his mouth dropped open.
What the heck?
It was a baby.
A newborn, from the looks of it, and he or she was making that kitten sound.
“Whose child is that?” he asked. “And why are you here?”
Those were just two other questions Landon had to add to the list of things he would ask Tessa. And she would answer. Especially answer why Emmett’s body was found in her house and where the heck she’d been for the past four days.
“You have to help me,” Tessa whispered, her voice barely audible.
Yeah, he did have to help. Just because he didn’t like or trust her, that didn’t mean he wouldn’t save her. Landon didn’t want to move her any farther, though, in case she was injured, so he fired off a text to get an ambulance on the way.
Both the baby and she had no doubt inhaled a lot of smoke, but at least the baby’s face didn’t have any soot on it, which meant maybe the blanket had protected him or her.
“Did you hear me?” he snapped. “Why were you near the burning barn? And whose baby is that?”
He wanted to ask about that dyed hair, too, but it could wait. Though it was likely a dye job to change her appearance.
Landon couldn’t think of a good reason for her to do that. But he could think of a really bad one—she was on the run and didn’t want anyone to recognize her. Well, she’d picked a stupid place to hide.
If that was what she’d been doing.
She stared up at him. Blinked several times. “Who are you?” she asked.
Landon gave her a flat look. “Very funny. I’m not in the mood for games. Answer those questions I asked and then tell me about Emmett.”
“Emmett?” she repeated. She touched her hand to her head, her fingers sliding through her hair. She looked at the ends of the dark strands as if seeing them for the first time. “What did you do to me?”
Landon huffed. “I saved your life. And the baby’s.”
At the mention of the word baby, Landon got a bad feeling.
He quickly did the math, and it’d been seven months, more or less, since he’d landed in bed with Tessa. And he hadn’t laid eyes on her since. Seven months might mean...
“Is that our baby?” he demanded.
As she’d done with her hair, she looked down at the newborn who was squirming in her arms. Tessa didn’t gasp, but it was close. Her gaze flew to his, the accusation all over her face.
“I don’t know,” she said, her breath gusting now.
That wasn’t the right answer. In fact, that wasn’t an acceptable answer at all.
He didn’t hold Tessa in high regard, but she would know who’d fathered her child. If it was indeed Landon, she might also be trying to keep the baby from him. After all, they hadn’t parted on good terms, and those terms had gotten significantly worse with Emmett’s murder.
Damn.
Were Tessa and he parents?
No. They couldn’t be. The kid had to be Joel Mercer’s and hers, and even though Landon had plenty of other reasons for his stomach to knot, just thinking of Joel’s name did it. That night, seven months ago, Tessa had sworn she was through with Joel, but Landon would bet his next two paychecks that she had gone right back to him.
She always did.
In the distance, Landon heard the wail of the sirens from the fire engine. It’d be here soon. The ambulance, too. And then Tessa would be whisked away to the hospital, where she could pull another disappearing act.
“Start talking,” Landon demanded, getting right in her face. “Tell me everything, and I mean everything.”
The baby and the ends of her brown hair weren’t the only thing she looked at as though she’d never seen them before. Tessa gave Landon that same look.
“Who are you?” she repeated, her eyes filling with tears. “Whose baby is this?” Tessa stopped, those teary blue eyes widening. “And who am I?”
She couldn’t catch her breath. Couldn’t slow down her pulse. Nor could she fight back the tears that were stinging her eyes. Her heart seemed to be beating out of her chest, and everything inside her was spiraling out of control.
Where was she?
And who was this man staring at her?
Except it wasn’t only a stare. He was glaring, and she could tell from the tone of his voice that he was furious with her.
But why?
With the panic building, she frantically studied his face. Dark brown hair. Gray eyes. He was dressed like a cowboy, in jeans, a white shirt and that hat. But he also had a gun.
God, he had a gun.
Gasping, she scrambled to get away from him. She was in danger. She didn’t know why or from what, but she had to run.
She clutched the baby closer to her. The baby wasn’t familiar to her, either, but there was one thought that kept repeating in her head.
Protect her.
She knew instinctively that it was a baby girl, and she was in danger. Maybe from this glaring man. Maybe from someone else, but she couldn’t risk staying here to find out. Somehow she managed
