are the men now?” Laine asked. “What are they doing?”
“They’re still following your tracks.” They were taking slow, easy steps, and only one of them had his attention on the house.
The other was doing the tracking.
Tucker mumbled some profanity when the men drew their guns, and he debated what he could do to try and diffuse the situation. He should probably identify himself as a lawman, but if they were indeed killers, they’d just try to eliminate him so they could get to Laine and the babies.
Then they’d eliminate her.
After all, they’d followed her here, which meant they knew she’d either witnessed the murder or had some knowledge about it or the dead woman.
And that made Laine a loose end.
The seconds ticked with each step the men took, and every inch of him became alert. Tucker had been in situations like this. Facing down suspected killers and waiting for an attack that might or might not happen. But the stakes had never been this high. He had two newborns to protect.
One of the men suddenly stopped, his gaze zooming to the back part of the property. No doubt the route that Rayanne would be taking.
Had they seen her?
If so, he hoped his sister had taken some basic precautions so she wouldn’t get herself shot. He suspected she hadn’t when the other man pivoted in that direction. Tucker knew he couldn’t wait. He had to do something to make sure they didn’t gun Rayanne down.
He reached over and opened the door just a fraction so he could see out. “I’m Tucker McKinnon, Texas Ranger,” he shouted to them.
Like his earlier call to Rayanne, Tucker wasn’t sure what response he’d get from them. But the men stopped and lowered their guns.
That was a good start.
“I’m Sergeant Floyd Hines,” the one on the left answered. In his late twenties or early thirties, he was heavily muscled and had nondescript brown hair. “And this is my partner, Detective Norman Hacker.” He was on the lean side, with a mean-looking scar running down his cheek.
“We traced a fugitive here,” Hines added.
Tucker had to hand it to them—they sure sounded like cops. And maybe they were. Dirty ones. Because he already knew they weren’t SAPD.
The rain started. Tucker stayed to the side of the door so they could still hear him, without him needing to put himself in the direct line of fire.
“What fugitive?” he asked the men.
“Laine Braddock. She assisted in helping a federal prisoner escape.”
Laine made a sound of outrage, but Tucker motioned for her to stay quiet. Maybe the babies would do the same.
“She’s not here,” Tucker lied. “You need to be on your way.”
The men exchanged glances, obviously not pleased with his lack of cooperation.
“Where is she?” Hines asked, in the way a cop would ask. A demand rather than a question.
“Wouldn’t know. I’m not exactly on friendly terms with her.”
Hines mumbled something to his partner that Tucker couldn’t hear. “We have reason to believe she’s inside your house,” Hines continued. “We’re coming in to check.”
Well, they weren’t short of gall. But then neither was Tucker. “You got a search warrant?”
That earned him scowls from both of them. “We figured you’d cooperate with your brothers in blue.”
“Not this time. Come back when you’ve got that warrant.” Tucker shut the door and kept watch out the window.
The pair definitely didn’t turn and leave. They stood there mumbling and looking around for what seemed an eternity. That eternity screeched to a halt when one of the babies started crying.
Not a whimper, either.
A full-fledged cry. Worse, the other one started to cry, too. No way could those men miss that.
Hines raised his gun again and started toward the house. He was no longer moving at a cautious pace. He began to run as if he planned to ram right through the back door.
“Wouldn’t do that if I were you,” someone shouted.
Rayanne.
Hacker pivoted in her direction. Fired. The shot blasted through the air, and he dropped to the ground behind a tree. Hopefully Rayanne had gotten down, as well.
“Stay on the floor, as low as you can get,” Tucker warned Laine again, and he threw open the door so he could return fire.
Hines bolted behind Tucker’s truck. That didn’t stop the man from shooting, though. This time, the bullet smacked into the door less than an inch from where Tucker was standing.
Hell’s bells.
So, he had his confirmation.
These guys were killers, and they were firing shots into a house where they knew Laine and the babies were hiding.
“Don’t go out there,” Laine whispered as Tucker stooped down and opened the door a little farther.
“I can’t let them keep shooting into the house.” And anyway, Rayanne was out there. Responding to his call for backup. He didn’t intend to let her face down these guys alone.
Laine continued to protest, but the sounds of the babies’ cries and the shots drowned her out. Tucker created some sounds of his own by sending a shot at Hines. The bullet smacked into Tucker’s truck, very close to his intended target, but the miss got him the results he wanted.
Hines leaned over to fire again.
And this time, Tucker made sure he didn’t miss.
He didn’t go for a kill shot. He wanted this dirtbag alive so he could explain what the heck was happening here, so Tucker shot Hines in the right shoulder. When the idiot still kept hold of his gun, Tucker put another bullet in his arm.
Even over the noise of the gunfight, Tucker heard Hines groan in pain, and he finally let go of his gun.
Hacker cursed. No doubt because he realized his partner had been shot and was now unable to return fire. Rayanne gave him another reason to spew some profanity. Tucker saw her dart out from behind one of the trees and take aim at Hacker.
“Drop your gun now!” she ordered.
Tucker hurried onto the small porch and took aim at Hacker, as well. A single word of profanity left the man’s mouth before he tossed his gun to the side and lifted his hands in surrender.
“Get on the ground,” Tucker demanded. “Both of you.”
Hines’s arm and shoulder
