LITMIR.BIZ

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gasping sound, and Theo wished he hadn’t voiced that aloud. Still, it was true. Since they didn’t know the person’s identity or motive, anything was possible.

      “Are you okay?” Jameson asked his sister. He gave her arm a soft pat.

      She shook her head as if pulling herself out of a trance. “Yes.” Ivy fluttered her fingers toward the bathroom. “I just need to check on Nathan.”

      “Give yourself a couple of minutes,” Jameson advised her. “You’re as pale as paper right now, and Nathan will pick up on that.”

      The kid probably would. Then again, Nathan and Jodi both had to be on edge waiting for news.

      “Are you okay?” Jameson repeated. Not directed at Ivy this time, but at Theo.

      Theo lied with a nod. He was far from okay. His mind was whirling. Hell. He’d thought this would be a quick in-and-out trip back to the Beckett ranch, but there was no way that was possible now.

      He had a son.

      And if that wasn’t enough to get him to stay, someone wanted Ivy dead. Of course, the gunman could have been lying when he’d said that Ivy was the target of would-be assassins, but the attack had been real. Bullets had actually been shot into the house, and even if she was the sole target, that didn’t mean others couldn’t have been caught in cross fire. Nathan and anyone else could have been killed.

      “Look, I know you two have plenty to work out,” Jameson went on, “but you need to leave it here for now. Gabriel wants to take everyone to the sheriff’s office. The medics will need to take a look at that, too.”

      It took Theo a moment to realize Jameson meant the cut on Theo’s cheek. “I don’t want a medic,” Theo insisted. “But someone should check on Jodi and Nathan.”

      It wasn’t the first time he’d said his son’s name aloud, but for some reason, it hit him like a punch to the gut. Theo actually had to take a moment just to regather his breath.

      “Yeah,” Jameson mumbled. Whatever the heck that meant. “You both stay here, pull yourselves together, and I’ll go in and talk to Nathan and Jodi. Be ready to leave as soon as Gabriel has the cruisers in place.”

      Jameson stepped into the bathroom, shutting the door and leaving Ivy and him alone. Since Theo didn’t want to keep glaring at her, he turned his attention back to the window so he could watch for the cruisers.

      “Why would Gabriel want us to go to the sheriff’s office?” she asked, her voice shaky. “Wouldn’t it be safer to stay here rather than risk going outside?”

      “No. There could be other gunmen in the area. Plus, he probably wants to set up some security measures here.” He glanced at her and saw that didn’t do anything to ease the tension on her face. “Gabriel knows what he’s doing.”

      Theo hoped that was true, anyway. There was no love lost between Gabriel and him, but Ivy’s brother had been sheriff for nearly a decade now. Maybe that meant he knew how to handle an attempted murder investigation along with keeping Ivy and the others safe. Theo had no intentions, though, of just backing off and letting Gabriel run with this. Not when his son’s safety was at stake.

      “When I first saw Nathan, he asked who I was,” Theo reminded her. “He thinks your late husband is his dad?”

      She paused a long time, and it was so quiet that Theo could hear Jameson talking in the bathroom. He couldn’t hear what the Ranger was saying. Which was a good thing. Because it meant Nathan wouldn’t be able to hear what Theo and Ivy were talking about.

      “No. Nathan knows the truth,” Ivy finally answered. “Chad was a widower and a lot older than me. He had a college-age daughter, Lacey, when we got married. Lacey told Nathan when he was about six.” Her mouth tightened enough to let him know that was a sore subject. “My stepdaughter and I don’t get along that well,” she added.

      Theo made a mental note of the woman’s name. Right now, he needed to look at all the angles to figure out who was behind this, and a riled stepdaughter could definitely have motive for putting this together.

      Of course, so could Uncle August.

      Theo would be contacting him very, very soon.

      August had been a thorn in nearly everyone’s side since his brother’s arrest for the Beckett murders. For whatever reason, August had become Travis’s champion of so-called justice even though Travis had never asked him to do that. In fact, from everything Theo had heard, his father had accepted his fate and was willing to spend the rest of his life behind bars.

      His phone buzzed, and Theo answered it when he saw Wesley’s name on the screen. “I heard about the shooting at the ranch,” Wesley greeted. “I’m still in Blue River, so you want me to head out there?”

      “No need. The danger seems to be contained. For now, anyway.” Theo didn’t mention they’d all soon be going to the sheriff’s office since this wasn’t a whispered phone conversation. If there truly was a bug in the house, he didn’t want to tip off the gunmen’s boss about them leaving, since that would mean they’d be out in the open, at least for a little while.

      “The deputy here got an update from Gabriel,” Wesley went on. “The gunmen didn’t ID the person who hired them.”

      “No. But I’ve got a lead. I’ll tell you about it when I see you.”

      “A lead?” Wesley practically snapped. “Who?”

      “The house might be bugged,” Theo reminded him. “The info I got might not amount to anything, but it’s a start.”

      “Text me what you have,” Wesley added a moment later.

      Theo hadn’t thought it possible, but Wesley seemed even more on edge than Theo did. “I will.” Theo ended the call so he could do that, but the bathroom door opened before he could even get started on the text.

      And Nathan came out.

      Jameson was in front of him. Jodi, behind. Both still had their guns in hand. Nathan gave Theo a long look, and Theo wondered if the boy recognized their similar features. If so, he didn’t say anything. He just hurried to his mom, and Ivy looped her arms around him, pulling him close to her.

      “Gabriel wants us in the cruisers,” Jameson mouthed to Ivy and him. “Don’t take anything with you in case it’s bugged.”

      It was a good precaution, and while Theo wasn’t exactly eager to have Ivy or Nathan outside, he understood why they were in a hurry when they followed Jameson out of the room and to the stairs. There wasn’t exactly a peaceful, safe feeling in the house right now.

      Jodi paused long enough for their gazes to connect, and he saw the questions in her eyes. How was he handling this? It was too long of an answer and one that he couldn’t give her with just a mere glance.

      When they made it to the front of the house, Theo spotted the two cruisers that were now parked by the porch steps. There was a deputy behind the wheel of one of them and another deputy next to him, but Gabriel was driving the cruiser in front. “Ride with me so we can talk,” Gabriel insisted. He motioned for them to get in with him, and he threw open both the back door and the passenger’s side.

      “Hurry,” Jameson reminded them. “Jodi and I will ride in front. Theo, Ivy and Nathan in the back seat.”

      Jameson didn’t have to tell them twice to hurry. Jodi and he took off running, and Theo got Ivy and Nathan moving fast. Nathan ended up in the middle between Ivy and him, and the moment they were buckled up, Gabriel got them out of there. The deputies followed right behind them, no doubt as backup in case there was another attack.

      “Is everyone okay?” Gabriel asked.

      Gabriel brushed a kiss on Jodi’s forehead, and when his sister looked at her soon-to-be husband, Theo could practically see the love in her eyes. Not really a surprise, though. He had always suspected that Jodi was in love with Gabriel, and despite

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