LITMIR.BIZ

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his phone again, but it buzzed before he could make a call and have someone go to the hospital.

      “You’ve got more than two problems, little brother,” Wyatt immediately greeted him. “In addition to the rifle guy out front, there’s another one on the west side of the house, right by the road that leads off the ranch.”

      Oh, man. One gunman and a P.I. that he maybe couldn’t trust were bad enough, but now there was a third piece in this dangerous puzzle.

      “Clayton’s on the way,” Wyatt added.

      Declan didn’t want that, even if he might need the extra backup. “Send him to the hospital to guard Kirby.”

      “You think he’s in danger?”

      “Could be.” And it sickened Declan to even think that.

      “My sisters need protection, too,” Eden blurted out. “Trish and Alice Gray. They’re both students at the University of Texas. I have a bodyguard watching them, but it might not be enough.”

      Her plea certainly sounded convincing, but Declan wasn’t about to give her blanket trust just yet.

      He heard Wyatt make a call and request the protection for all three—Kirby and the Gray sisters. Declan was hoping it was overkill, but he had a sickening feeling that this situation had already gotten out of hand.

      “Try to neutralize the guy on the road,” Declan instructed his brother. “I’ll deal with the one out front.” He didn’t wait for his brother to agree. Wyatt would.

      Declan shoved his phone into his pocket. “Wait here.”

      Eden was shaking her head before he even finished. “I can give you some backup.”

      “No. You’ll stay here.” Declan didn’t leave much room for argument, though he briefly considered returning her gun just in case the guy managed to get in the front door. However, there was that part about him not trusting her.

      He took her by the arm and practically shoved her behind his sofa. “Stay put, and that’s not a suggestion.”

      Whether she would or not was anyone’s guess, but Declan couldn’t worry about that now. He had to take care of this situation and then check on Kirby.

      Declan locked the front door, though it wouldn’t stop a gunman from shooting through the wood and getting inside.

      With Eden.

      And that was what Declan couldn’t let happen, especially if it turned out that she was just a pawn in all of this. Even if she wasn’t a pawn, she could still have the answers he needed to figure out what the heck was going on.

      He grabbed some extra ammo for his Colt from the top of his fridge, crammed it in his coat pocket and headed to the back door. He looked out to make sure there wasn’t another gunman lying in wait.

      The backyard appeared to be empty, so Declan eased open the door and stepped onto the porch. He took a moment, listening, but didn’t hear any unusual sounds.

      He hurried down the steps and to the side of the house. Using it for cover, he looked out and spotted the tree with the small camera mounted on the branch. The rifleman was there, beneath that camera, and he still had both his gun and attention fastened to the front of the house. Declan had a clear look at his face, but it wasn’t familiar. Maybe they’d get lucky with the recognition software or the interrogation he planned to do once he had these dirtbags in custody.

      Declan froze when he heard something. Footsteps. But not from outside. They were coming from inside the house, and he cursed Eden for not listening to him. Maybe, just maybe, she wouldn’t do something stupid like walk outside.

      The thought had no sooner crossed his mind than he heard the back door open, and he saw Eden step out onto the porch. She had a gun. A little Smith & Wesson that she’d probably had concealed somewhere on her body. He cursed again. Damn. He should have taken the time to frisk her.

      Too late for that now, though.

      Declan caught the movement from the corner of his eye. From the guy with the rifle. The man stood. Not slow and easy, either. He flew to a standing position, and with that same lightning speed, he pivoted directly toward Declan.

      And took aim.

      “Get down!” Declan yelled to Eden.

      He dived back behind the house, toward the porch and Eden, just as she dropped to the weathered wooden planks. She hadn’t even gotten fully down when the sound blasted through the air.

      A shot.

      And it hadn’t come from the direction of the rifleman but rather the west side of his property.

      Where his brother had spotted the other gunman.

      A jolt of fear went through Declan. Not for himself but for Wyatt. Maybe his brother had been ambushed, because that wasn’t a shot fired from the Colt that Wyatt would almost certainly be carrying.

      Declan turned and tried to pick through the woods to see if he could spot the shooter. But there came another blast. And another. Not from the west this time.

      The shots slammed into the side of his house and porch.

      Hell.

      Eden and he were caught in the crossfire of a gunfight.

      Chapter Four

      Eden’s heart slammed against her chest. The blasts from those shots roared through her entire body. And she wasn’t sure what she should do to get herself out of the line of fire.

      Declan made the decision for her.

      He took hold of her arm and dragged her off the porch and onto the steps, just inches from where he was trying to watch both the back and side of the house. Eden kept a firm grip on her backup weapon, and even though she landed in a sprawl, she levered herself up enough so that she could take aim.

      “Don’t shoot,” Declan snarled, snagging her hand again. “My brother’s out there.”

      Yes, but out there where? Eden’s gaze fired all around them, but she couldn’t see his brother or the shooters, only the bullets as they pelted into the frozen ground and porch.

      “How soon before your brother can move closer and help us get out of this?” she asked.

      “Maybe not soon enough.” Declan turned slightly and fired a shot in the direction of the gunman in the tree. “Why the hell did you come out here anyway?”

      Her heart was pounding in her ears, and it took her a few seconds to actually hear that question. “Because I don’t trust you.”

      The glance he gave her could have frozen fire. “The feeling’s mutual, darlin’.”

      That wasn’t exactly a surprise—and darlin’ wasn’t a term of endearment—but Eden had had no choice about what she’d done. If she hadn’t come here, the man behind this would have no doubt just sent someone else. Someone who would have gone through with the job, leaving her in danger with the militia groups.

      “And I came out here because I thought I could help,” she added. “I didn’t think it was fair for me to be tucked away inside while you fought this fight for me.”

      He made another of those sarcastic sounds. “I’m not doing it for you. Might not have noticed, but they’re shooting at me, too. And my brother. That makes this my fight.” And he fired another shot.

      The gunman retaliated. His next shot smacked into the corner of the house, causing Declan to curse and haul her closer to him. He practically climbed on top of her, shielding her with his body. It was his training that’d kicked in, no doubt, because after everything that’d just gone on inside his house, there’s no way he’d truly want to protect her.

      Unless it was just so he could interrogate her.

      Yes, that had to be it.

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