LITMIR.BIZ

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She wasn’t crying, and if Josh hadn’t noticed her bleached-out color and jerky movements, he would have thought this was routine for her. But she also had one of her hands on her stomach.

      Protecting her unborn child.

      No, this wasn’t routine.

      She was scared spitless. And so was Josh—scared that he wouldn’t get them safely out of there. He’d already faced death and made peace with it and his maker, but there’d be no peace if any of the women and their babies were hurt.

      He glanced around at the position of the cars. There was a road and a heavily treed area on the backside of the hill.

      “Have you ever seen guards in the surrounding woods?” Josh asked Jaycee.

      “No. But sometimes replacement guards come in from the pasture on all-terrain vehicles. It’s not time for the shift change, and I don’t know where the replacement guards stay when they aren’t here.”

      Later, that would need to be investigated, but they were a heck of a long way from the later point. For now, he just watched and made sure one of those ATVs didn’t come barreling up on them from behind.

      “Stay close and let’s move,” Josh ordered.

      They ran the ten yards to the first vehicle so they could use it for cover.

      But not for long.

      If the kidnappers had indeed rigged it with explosives, then they might have a remote detonator. Josh hurried them to the next vehicle, a truck. And then the third, the only one left that would give them any protection if the gunmen in the house started firing.

      “Move fast and don’t look back,” Josh told them, and he did exactly that.

      Grayson would keep watch behind them. Dade and Mason would do the same to the right side. Josh would need to cover anything else, and that included those woods ahead.

      Lots of places for gunmen to hide in there.

      One of the women stumbled, but Jaycee latched on to her and kept her moving without missing a step.

      He hated that he had to put them through this—a blasted footrace. This kind of stress couldn’t be good for the pregnancies. But then the women had no doubt been through hell and back while in captivity. There was plenty of stress associated with that.

      When they maneuvered away from the truck, Josh took a deep breath before he moved out into the open. He picked up the pace, jogging now, and they made it to the side of the hill.

      Before he heard the shot.

      It hadn’t come at them. But it had come from inside the house.

      Hell.

      He prayed that none of the hostages had been hurt. His cousins must have feared the same thing because the shot sent Mason and Dade scrambling down the hill. They ran toward the same vehicles that Josh and the others had just used for cover. He knew the deputies couldn’t wait any longer for backup. They had to move in and hope for the best.

      “Go help them,” Jaycee said to Grayson.

      Josh met his cousin’s gaze. It was a split-second glance, and he gave Grayson the nod. According to what Jaycee had told him, there were four women inside, and they were in grave danger. Mason and Dade would need all the help they could get.

      Grayson tossed Josh his truck keys. “If you don’t see me in ten minutes, go ahead and get them out of here and back to town. More backup should be here soon.”

      Josh didn’t waste a second. It wasn’t easy jogging with two sobbing pregnant women, but Jaycee helped. She pushed them from behind while she kept watch around him. When they made it to the road near the wooded area, Josh shifted positions, putting himself closer to the trees.

      “If something goes wrong, get them in the ditch,” he told Jaycee. Even though it was filled with several inches of water from the spring rains, it would still act like a bunker against flying bullets.

      Each step seemed to take an eternity, but Josh finally spotted Grayson’s truck ahead. He’d parked it just off the road, partially hidden beneath some towering oaks.

      They had to run some more.

      That put his heart higher in his throat, and the blasted wound on his chest started to throb again. But there was no way he’d give in to the pain and let it slow him down. Josh took one of the women by the arm and practically dragged her along those last yards.

      Once he reached the truck, he used the keypad to unlock it, and even though it’d be a tight fit, he threw open the door and pushed them inside and onto the floor of the truck. The women stayed there, still sobbing, still praying in Spanish.

      But Jaycee didn’t stay down. She immediately threw open the glove compartment and pulled out a Colt .45 and some extra ammunition.

      “Was that man your brother?” she asked, tipping her head toward the house.

      “Cousin. His brothers were on the hill.”

      She rolled down the window and got the Colt ready in case she had to fire. “Please tell me they all know what they’re doing.”

      Josh did the same with his own weapon. “They do.”

      Grayson might have been sheriff of a small town, but Josh knew that he and his brothers had dealt with plenty of trouble over the past couple years.

      Unfortunately, this was trouble of a different kind.

      They waited, their attention pinned to the road ahead, their breaths bursting in and out. Josh hadn’t checked the time when Grayson had given him that ten-minute rule, but he knew the minutes were ticking away.

      “I don’t want to leave them here,” Josh said, more to himself than to Jaycee.

      “Agreed. We have to get those other women out.” Her gaze met his, and he saw her bottom lip tremble. “I think they kill the birth mothers once they’re finished with them.”

      Oh, man. That did not help. Because there was no way he could drive back to safety when others were in danger.

      Except Jaycee and these women were in danger, too.

      And so were their babies.

      Even though he didn’t want his thoughts to go there, Josh couldn’t stop them this time. “Why didn’t you tell me about the baby?”

      “I would have, but I didn’t get the chance. I was kidnapped immediately after the doctor confirmed that I was pregnant.” She had such a fierce grip on the Colt that her knuckles were turning white. “Are you going to ask me if the baby’s really yours?”

      “Don’t have to.” Josh looked away from her and put his attention back where it belonged—watching the area for any sign of one of those guards. “The baby’s mine. You have a lot of faults, but lying’s not one of them.”

      Any response she might have had to that was cut off when they saw Mason. He was flat-out running, and he was carrying a woman with a huge pregnant belly.

      “I don’t know her name,” Jaycee said, “but I’m pretty sure she’s the one in labor.”

      Josh looked for any signs of injury or blood. Didn’t see any. Thank God. He jumped out of the truck and hurried over to his cousin.

      “Take her,” Mason growled and dumped her into Josh’s arms. He turned as if to run back and help his brothers, but his phone vibrated, and cursing, Mason yanked it from his pocket.

      Josh heard the footsteps behind him and reeled around as best he could, but it was only Jaycee.

      “Here, I can help,” she said, and she eased the moaning woman from Josh’s arms to a standing position. Jaycee looped her arm around her waist and got her moving to the truck.

      Josh was about to head there, too, but Mason’s profanity stopped him. It wasn’t unusual for Mason to curse. He

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