Gunfire On The Ranch

“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 their painful pasts, it appeared that Gabriel felt the same way about her.

Each of them, including Theo, answered or made some kind of sound to indicate they were okay.

“He’s not all right,” Nathan said, and he motioned toward Theo. “He’s bleeding.”

Theo didn’t exactly thank him for pointing that out, because Nathan seemed to be alarmed by the blood. Theo hated to add to the boy’s anxiety, but he also didn’t want anyone to make a fuss about a small cut. At least he thought it was small. He hadn’t really had a chance to look at it, but he did know that his cheek was stinging.

Jameson opened the glove compartment, located a small first-aid kit and passed it not to Theo but to Ivy. “Since Theo said he won’t see a medic, you make sure he doesn’t need stitches.”

That request seemed to add to Ivy’s anxiety level, but she opened the kit and took out some gauze and antiseptic cream. She reached over Nathan and blotted the gauze against Theo’s cut. It wasn’t a very manly reaction, but he grunted from the pain.

“When Mom’s fixing up my cuts,” Nathan said, “I just think about a computer game or my horse, Willow. You have a horse?” he asked Theo.

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