someone said. A man. And Holden didn’t recognize his voice.
In case this was a lover she was meeting, Holden waited for more. He didn’t have to wait very long.
“If that marshal does come back, I’ll kill him,” the man growled.
Hell. So, probably not a lover unless it was some jealous nut-job. Holden sent a second text to Landon requesting that backup, and he made his way to the bedroom door and then into the hall.
The house was old and had creaky floors in spots. He prayed he didn’t step on one of those because he wanted to get the drop on whoever it was that had just threatened to kill him.
“The marshal won’t be back,” Nicky assured the man. “Not until tomorrow anyway.”
“He said the FBI was coming. Your doing?” her visitor demanded.
“Hardly. The FBI will be looking for the same thing you want. Something I don’t have.”
Holden didn’t know specifically what she was talking about, but it might have something to do with her latest project. A state senator who’d been missing over two weeks. Nicky had been investigating his disappearance and had cut some corners. Ones that could land her in jail.
Of course, at the moment that seemed to be the least of her worries.
“You have those files all right,” the man argued. “Now, where are they? And don’t try to hold any of them back. I want every file you stole from Conceptions Clinic.”
Everything inside Holden went still.
Conceptions Clinic?
It was the name of the fertility clinic that Holden knew well, and just hearing it brought back some painful memories. Of his brother Emmett and his brother’s wife, Annie. Annie had been Nicky’s sister, and now both Emmett and Annie were dead. Annie had died in a car accident, but that hadn’t been the cause of Emmett’s death.
No. He’d been murdered only months after Annie’s death. His killer was dead, but that didn’t soften the blow for Holden. Emmett wasn’t coming back from the grave just because the Rylands had managed to get justice for him.
Before their deaths, Emmett and Annie made multiple trips to Conceptions Fertility Clinic in San Antonio with the hopes of finally getting the baby they so desperately wanted. But that hadn’t happened. Because they’d both died before the process could be completed.
So, why would Nicky steal files from the place now?
“You’re either going to give those files to me now, or I’ll start putting bullets in you,” the man warned her. “I won’t kill you, yet, but I’ll make you wish you were dead.”
Every word of that threat put Holden on higher and higher alert, and he had to move fast.
Still trying to keep quiet, Holden hurried to the end of the hall and peered into the living room. Nicky was still by the front door, and there was a man between Holden and her. And yeah, the guy had a gun pointed right at her.
Nicky didn’t say a word, but her eyes widened just a fraction when she saw Holden, and the man must have noticed even her slight reaction. He pivoted, taking aim at Holden.
The thug fired.
Not a loud blast. He was using a silencer on his gun.
Holden jumped out of the way just in time, and the bullet tore through a chunk of the wall.
“Get down,” Holden shouted to Nicky, but she was already doing just that.
She scrambled behind the sofa. It wouldn’t give her much cover, but Holden was counting on this moron shooting at him instead of her.
And that’s just what he did.
The gunman ducked down beside a chair and fired another shot at Holden. Then, another. The shots wouldn’t be loud enough to get the attention of the neighbors, which was a good thing. Holden didn’t want bystanders hurrying over to Nicky’s house to check on this.
Whatever this was.
“You want him to die?” the man barked. “Because that’s what’ll happen if you don’t tell him to get the hell out of here.”
Holden wasn’t going anywhere. He dropped lower to the ground, leaned out and fired a shot at the guy. However, before Holden could even tell if he’d hit him, all hell broke loose.
There was the sound of something metal clanking onto the floor, and a few seconds later, tear gas began to spew through the room. The effects were instant. Holden’s gray eyes burned like fire, and he started to cough. He could hear Nicky having a coughing fit, too.
But not the man.
Maybe he’d brought a gas mask or something because Holden heard him take off running, and saw him bolt out the back door.
Even though he was coughing too hard to catch his breath, Holden hurried after the guy, but he’d only made it a few steps when Nicky called out to him.
“Let him go. We have to leave now.” Covering her mouth with her hand, she staggered her way to him, caught him by the wrist and led him toward the side entrance to the garage.
“Landon will be here soon,” he choked out.
“We don’t have time to wait around for him. Please, we need to go.”
Holden didn’t fight her as they’d gone into the garage because he welcomed the fresh air. Also welcomed getting into her car since he didn’t want to be standing out in the open with that gunman still out there. But he did clamp his hand over hers when she tried to drive away.
“What the hell’s going on?” he demanded. “Who was that man and what files did you steal?”
Nicky shook her head, fighting to get his grip off her, but Holden held on.
“The people at Conceptions Clinic did some very bad things. There are babies in danger,” Nicky said, her breath shivering. “And one of them is our nephew.”
Nicky knew that Holden had plenty of questions, but she couldn’t wait any longer. That gunman who’d broken into her house was no doubt on the way to the person who hired him.
And that person might move the baby before she could get to him.
“We have to get out of here fast,” she reminded him.
Even though Nicky was still coughing, she threw the car into Reverse and gunned the engine despite the fact that Holden still had his hand gripped around hers.
Nicky didn’t look at him. Partly because she was trying to maneuver her car out of the garage. Hard to do that, though, with him holding on. He finally let go.
“Start talking,” Holden insisted. He, too, was still coughing and rubbing his eyes. “I
