Her son was in danger.
Both her sons.
Because Isaac might be hers by blood, but Patrick was also hers in every way that mattered. Now the babies were at huge risk, and she didn’t even know why. That was what cut away at her right now. That, and the bullets that continued to tear into the house.
She thought of what Cameron had said earlier. About Trace’s mother, Evelyn, pulling a gun on him. And Lauren wondered if she was behind this. But she couldn’t be. For one thing, the woman was in jail, and for another, she wanted custody of her grandson and almost certainly wouldn’t put him at risk like this.
But Julia or Duane were capable of that.
They wouldn’t have nearly the level of concern for Patrick or any other child that Evelyn likely would. In fact, it would make things easier for Julia or Duane if Lauren and her son were out of the way.
That certainly didn’t help her raw nerves.
However, there was a third player in all of this. The idiot who was sending those threatening messages to her and her family. If so, they didn’t have a clue who they were dealing with, and that person might not care if everyone inside the house died in a gunfight.
Cameron fired another shot, and he followed it with some profanity. “He’s ducked back behind the barn.”
Probably because Cameron’s shots were getting too close to him. Lauren doubted, though, that the man was retreating. No. He was probably regrouping or else contacting his comrade so he could come at them from a different angle.
Cameron ran to the side of the room where Lauren had been earlier, but the moment he made it to that window, the gunman sent more bullets their way. That created yet another spray of glass over the room and caused Cameron to scramble back. Thankfully, he didn’t get cut this time, and the bleeding on his arm seemed to be slowing down. Still, he needed medical attention. That wasn’t going to happen, though, until those gunmen were stopped. No way could an ambulance risk coming to the house, since they would drive right into gunfire.
Cameron’s phone rang, the sound somehow making it through the deafening blasts. He glanced at the screen and tossed it to her. “It’s Gabriel. Let him know what’s going on and find out his location.”
Lauren cursed her trembling hands because it took her precious seconds to hit the answer button, and she put it on speaker so that Cameron could hear.
“Is everyone okay?” Gabriel asked right off.
“No. Cameron’s hurt. His arm is bleeding—”
“I’m fine,” Cameron snarled. “I’ve got a shooter by the barn and another out by the road.”
That sped up her heartbeat even more because her brothers would be coming up that road to get to them. She prayed they didn’t get hurt, or worse.
“Yeah, I’ve already spotted the one on the road,” Gabriel answered. “That’s why Jameson and I stopped. The guy’s in the ditch. If he lifts his head enough, Jameson can take him out.”
Good. Except that would mean Jameson would have to take a huge risk to do that. Lauren had no idea if that guy was firing at her brothers or not. It was hard to tell with all the bullets flying.
“What about you?” Gabriel continued. “Can you shoot the one by the barn?”
“Haven’t managed it so far, but I can’t keep letting him fire bullets into the house.”
No, they couldn’t. Each one was a huge risk to the babies. And that meant she needed to push aside her fears and do something. She was the daughter and sister of a sheriff and had had firearms training. While she certainly didn’t have experience in finishing off hired guns, she had plenty of motivation to put an end to this.
“Are there only two of them?” Gabriel asked a moment later.
Good question, and she could tell from Cameron’s frustrated sigh that he didn’t know the answer. “Two men attacked your sister last night and shot her in the arm so I’m guessing it’s the same pair.”
Gabriel cursed again, and Lauren recognized that tone after all these years. He was furious, and that fury wasn’t limited to only these men, either. As her brother and the sheriff, he would have expected her to come to him with this. Later, she’d need to explain why she hadn’t done that. But that would have to wait.
“I can try to distract the shooter by firing out the kitchen window,” Lauren offered. “That way Cameron can try to get him from the front of the house.”
That offer didn’t please Cameron. It earned her a scowl, but she gave him one right back. “As you said, we can’t let him keep firing shots.”
She could see the debate Cameron was having with himself about that, but before he could say anything, his phone beeped, indicating he had another call coming in.
“It’s from an unknown number,” she relayed to him.
“Answer your phone, Deputy,” the gunman shouted from outside. The shots also stopped. “We gotta talk.”
“The thug by the barn is calling me,” Cameron told Gabriel. “While I see what he wants, try to do something about the guy in the ditch. I don’t want him getting any closer to the house.”
“We’ll do what we can,” Gabriel assured him.
Lauren pressed the button to take the second call, and she crawled even closer to Cameron so he wouldn’t miss a word of what this snake had to say.
“Are you ready to put an end to this?” the gunman asked without any hesitation. “Because I’ve got a solution that’ll make sure your nephew and that other little boy don’t get hurt.”
“Who are you?” Cameron snapped.
“You don’t need to know my name to listen to what I got to say.”
“No, but I do need to know who hired you so I can put his or her butt in jail for multiple accounts of attempted murder.”
The guy chuckled. “Let’s just say that’s not gonna happen and move on. You want me to stop shooting up your house, then here’s what you have to do. Put Lauren on the phone so the two of us can talk this out.”
A chill slid through her. Of course the goon knew she was there, but it was still stomach-twisting to hear him say her name. She opened her mouth to tell him she was listening, but Cameron shook his head and shot her a warning glance.
“Anything you think you need to say to Lauren, you can say to me,” Cameron told the gunman.
“I don’t think so. Something tells me you’re not gonna be nearly as easy to reason with as she’ll be.” Considering his casual tone, he could have been discussing the weather, but Lauren knew there was nothing casual about any of this.
“You want money, is that it?” she asked.
That didn’t please Cameron. No surprise there. He mumbled some profanity and hurried to the other side of the window—probably hoping he could get off a shot while the gunman was talking.
“Money?” the gunman repeated as if it was a joke. “No, sugar. Money ain’t gonna fix this.”
She hated his flippant attitude and wished she could be the one to silence him. But Lauren wanted that silence only after they’d learned who had hired this monster. Then him, his partner and his boss could be arrested.
“What, then?” she demanded, and Lauren hoped she sounded less shaky than she felt.
“I want you, sugar.”
For just a handful of words, they packed a punch along with making her skin crawl. She wasn’t sure if he’d meant for it to sound sexual or not.
“All you have to do is walk out