Guardian Ranger (16 page)

Jasper shook his head. “Get away from the car.”

Logan’s jaw clenched. But he jumped back.

Jasper raced away from that burning ranch house. He couldn’t think of anything, anyone else just now...only Veronica.

* * *

“H
E
’
S
GOING
AFTER
her?” Sydney asked softly as she watched the car rush down the narrow highway. The flames burned behind them, the heat seeming to scorch her flesh.

“Wyatt called him. I’m betting the SOB told him that if he brought backup, the girl would die.”

Wasn’t that always the way it was.

Sydney pulled out her phone. Scrolled through the carefully designed apps she had in her system—applications that she’d designed herself. “How long of a head start do you think Jasper wants?”

Because Jasper would know that the EOD would be able to follow him. As long as his phone was still on, they could track him.

Maybe Jasper was worried that Wyatt had a partner—that missing deputy—who might be watching them right now. So he wanted to make it look as if he were going in alone. Or maybe he just was thinking with his heart and not his head. Either way, the EOD never left a teammate on his own.

Never.

“Ten minutes,” Logan said with a nod. His gaze was still on Jasper’s fleeing vehicle. “That’ll give him time to get to his destination, go in and take out the sheriff.”

Ten minutes. Plenty of time for an EOD agent to complete a mission. Only...

It was also plenty of time for a man to die.

“The sheriff got the drop on three other agents,” she reminded Logan, trying to keep her voice calm. “He’s not your average killer.” That fact should have turned up in her search. Where had the guy gotten all of his training?

“Make it five minutes,” Logan said, and she could see the tension that had tightened his face. “Make sure Gunner’s on the move with the same intel, too. We want to give Jasper as much cover as we can.”

In the distance, she could finally hear the scream of a fire truck’s siren. Volunteers, had to be for a town this size, but with one phone call, Logan had gotten them mobilized. The EOD had some pretty powerful strings.

Would the EOD be strong enough to save one of its own? “Five minutes,” she repeated, and punched in the button for Gunner. They
would
save Jasper and Veronica. They hadn’t lost one of the Shadow Agents yet, and they weren’t about to start now.

* * *

T
HE
OLD
RANCH
on Derby Road was just as Veronica remembered it. Sagging roof, busted windows, a wooden gate that was barely standing. The place had been in disrepair for over ten years.

Since before Jimmy’s mother had left the kid alone there.

The patrol car braked to a stop. Veronica had been yelling when Wyatt was on the phone. She’d tried to tell Jasper to stay away.

Because it’s a trap.

As soon as Wyatt saw him, she knew the sheriff would take aim at Jasper, just as the man had taken aim at her brother.

Her fingers curled over the wire caging that separated her from the front seat. “Is Jimmy dead?”

Wyatt jumped, then whirled toward her. “Why would you think that?” He shook his head. “I’ve always taken care of Jimmy.”

The way you’ve taken care of me?
“Where is he?”

Wyatt’s breath eased out on a low sigh. “Don’t worry, you’ll be seeing Jimmy soon enough.”

The words sounded like a threat. Probably because they were. “You shot my brother.”

Wyatt’s eyes bored into hers. “Your brother’s a killer, Veronica. Cold-blooded. Soulless.”

No, Wyatt was the cold-blooded one. “I—I heard what you said to Jasper—”

“Don’t worry, I’m not killing you...yet.”

But he would. As soon as he was finished using her as bait.

She licked lips that had gone desert dry. Veronica knew she had to get away from him. Had to stop him, before he hurt someone else that she cared about. Or before he just killed her.

But then Wyatt was climbing out of the driver’s seat, coming back toward her and opening her door. “If you fight me, I’ll shoot you. Jasper won’t be able to tell if you’re alive or dead from a distance.”

She couldn’t even speak in response to the brutal words.
This
was the real Wyatt? He’d had weekly dinners at the ranch. Spent Christmas with her and Cale.

Now he’s going to kill me.

“Don’t fight, Veronica,” he warned her as he reached inside the car and locked his hands around her wrists.

She didn’t fight him. But she started to plan.

Then she was in front of him. She tipped back her head to stare up at his face. A monster shouldn’t have such a normal face. You should be able to see the evil. It shouldn’t have hid so easily behind kind eyes.

“I always liked you, Veronica.” Wyatt’s words were soft, tinged with a hint of regret. “Cale should have made certain you stayed out of this mess.”

“C-Cale didn’t bring me into it. I went looking for him.”

“Because you’re loyal.” He was too close. She wanted to swing at him, but she had a really crummy punch. Cale had said that was her weakness, but...

“Everybody has a strength. Everybody has a weakness. Your strength, Ronnie, is that you look weak. Use that. Never let ’em see your real strength, not until it’s time to attack.”

“I admire loyalty.” He stepped away from her. A faint breeze stirred the hair at her nape. “Do you think you ever could’ve been loyal to me?”

She didn’t know what to say. The man was crazy, and at any moment, she expected him to snap and just shoot her. Her gaze darted to the left and tension had her body stiffening.

The long, black car. The one that had run her off the road.

“Jimmy’s car.” Now Wyatt sounded sad. “You and Jasper got the description right.”

“You were driving. Not Jimmy.”

“You had the flash drive.” Just that fast, anger whipped in his words. “The files should have been gone, but you
had
them.”

She wouldn’t let him see her fear. “I gave the flash drive to Sydney. She has the evidence that can clear my brother.”

He growled. “It wasn’t just the damn drive. It was all those pictures you kept talking about. Pictures from Cale’s time in the military.”

Her breath caught. The pictures had linked Cale to Reed, but they hadn’t been much help for anything else.

“Was I in those pictures, Veronica?” Wyatt asked her softly.

She’d known that Wyatt had served in the army, but Veronica shook her head.

“You wouldn’t be lying now, would you? Because those pictures...I won’t let them ruin things for me. Cale served with me when we had demolitions training.”

Demolitions...the bomb at the sheriff’s station...

“Reed was with us then. That’s how I knew he was in the business. With all those agents still circling town, I can’t have those pictures turning up.”

“Y-you weren’t in the pictures,” she whispered, and it was the truth. He wasn’t.

He exhaled slowly. “Well, then, I guess I just blew your house to hell for no reason. But, hey...” Now he flashed her a smile that held the edge of insanity. “Better safe than sorry, right?”

How had he hid his darkness?
“Why?”

“For money, of course. Isn’t that why people do most of the things in this world?” He rolled his shoulders. “But when the smoke clears, it won’t be me who gets blamed for the crimes.” His smile had dimmed. “Folks will say Jimmy blew up your house. Just like he destroyed my station. Then, torn up by what he’d done, Jimmy came back here and shot himself.”

Her knees buckled. Wyatt grabbed her, held her steady.

Her lashes had lowered. She put her hands on his stomach, acting as if she needed balance.

Don’t show him your strength.

“You said you took care of him.”

“And I did.” A pause. “Pity that kid never appreciated the lessons I taught him.”

She shoved against his chest, and because he hadn’t been expecting the move, it was easy for her to grab the gun he’d had holstered at his waist. Her hand snapped up, fingers locked around the weapon.
“Get away from me!”

Wyatt blinked at her in surprise, and then his gaze dipped down to the gun that was inches away from him. “You shouldn’t have done that.”

“And you shouldn’t have been a cold-blooded killer, so I guess we’ve both screwed up, huh?”

Wyatt flashed his smile once more. The sight chilled her. “Veronica, you’ve got more steel in your spine than I thought.”

She’d show him steel, or rather, lead, when she shot a bullet into his chest. “Why do you want Jasper out here? Is he next on your hit list?” she whispered. “Another EOD agent that you’ve been paid to take out, one that you were supposed to link back to Cale?”

“Give me the gun, Veronica.”

She couldn’t back up because the patrol car was behind her. She couldn’t move forward because Wyatt was blocking her path. “Get
back!
”
she yelled.

He didn’t get back. “You won’t shoot me.” So confident.

“Yes. I will.” She was just as confident. “You were the one on the side of that road, shooting at me. Not Jimmy.
You.
”

He still had that slight smile on his lips. “How are you gonna prove that?”

“When Jasper gets h-here, he’ll take you into custody. We’ll find Jimmy. We’ll get proof that you were behind everything and not—”

“Your Jasper’s gonna die today. Cale’s gonna die. They’ll both go out in a gun battle as they try to save you.” He gave a slow shake of his head. “But they aren’t gonna save you, either.”

Her heartbeat thundered in her ears. “I can save myself.”

“No, you can’t.” Then he lunged for her.

She shot him. Didn’t so much as hesitate. The gun blasted and her ears rang and the bullet slammed into his stomach.

His eyes widened in surprise as he looked down at the blossoming red on his shirt. Wyatt stumbled back, and she took that opportunity to slam her shoulder into him and knock him to the ground. Then she ran as fast as she could—not toward the old highway, but toward that long, black car that sat near the side of the crumbling house. Jimmy’s car. Because she could just see the top of Jimmy’s head in the car.

She yanked open the passenger door. “Jimmy!” He was inside, his hands and feet tied. And his chest was bleeding. So much blood. She reached for him, yanking the ropes free that bound his wrists. He’d taken a shot straight to the chest.

“Ms. Ver...on...” He tried to speak, but the words just came out as a rasp.

“It’s okay. I’m going to help you, Jimmy.” He’d escaped this hellhole of a ranch once. She wasn’t letting him die there. She tried to slide him over to the passenger side. Wyatt had left the kid behind the steering wheel. She’d move him over and drive them both out of there. She rushed around to the driver’s side and—

“Veronica!”

Her head jerked to the left at that bellow. Wyatt was on his feet. He had reached into his patrol car. Pulled out— Oh, no, that was a shotgun in his hands. He’d gotten a shotgun, and he was pointing it at her.

She jumped into Jimmy’s car. The back window shattered behind her. Ducking, she searched under the seat for the keys. Nothing. Not there. Not...

“I’ve got the keys, Veronica!” Wyatt called out. “Why don’t you come and get them?”

She wasn’t coming for them...because she didn’t need them.

She grabbed the wires underneath the dash. Yanked down hard. Twisted them. Jerked the ends together and...

The motor sparked to life. During all of Cale’s car talks with her, he’d made sure to teach her a few tricks over the years.

“Hold on,” Veronica whispered to Jimmy. Then she slammed the vehicle into Reverse.

She glanced up, just in time to see Wyatt standing behind the car. Aiming his shotgun at her. She slammed her foot down harder on the accelerator.

The back bumper rammed into Wyatt even as he fired the gun. The blast had her jumping and yanking the wheel to the right. The car swerved, but beneath her sweat-slick hands, she managed to keep the vehicle steady. She glanced around wildly. Wyatt had disappeared or maybe—maybe she’d just taken him out and he was on the ground. Either way, she wasn’t about to get out of the car and check. She was just getting her and Jimmy the hell out of there.

She shifted, preparing to head straight out on that bumpy drive, when a shotgun was shoved into the open driver’s-side window. The shotgun pressed right against her head. “Get out or die right there,” Wyatt snarled.

She froze.

“Get. Out.”

Slowly, carefully, she eased from the car. Jimmy whimpered beside her. “No...Ms. Ver...on...”

The right side of Wyatt’s face was covered in blood. His stomach was soaked red. But the guy was standing strong. The second she cleared the car, he jerked her against him. “Guess what?” he whispered as he put the barrel of that shotgun under her chin.

She didn’t want to guess anything. She wanted to see Cale once more. She wanted to see Jasper.
Jasper.
She wanted him so much.

“It’s empty.”

It took a moment for the words to register. Then she heard Wyatt’s smug laugh. “You could’ve gotten away.”

She wasn’t looking at him. Barely felt the shotgun as it was yanked away and dropped in the dirt. Her gaze was on the driveway before her. A blue car was fishtailing as it swerved down that jagged road. And to the right, a motorcycle was coming right out of the overgrown brush.

Wyatt bent and pulled a small pistol from the holster on his ankle. “This is the moment,” he said in her ear, “the life-or-death moment that everyone talks about but so damn few get to experience. I’ll give this moment to you.”

Jasper had just jumped out of the blue car. He was closing in on her. He had a gun gripped in his hands. “Let her go!”

Cale was shoving away from the motorcycle. He was armed, too, with a small gun that he had pointed right at Wyatt. “There’s no way out for you, Wyatt! Get away from my sister!”

“Neither one of them will shoot,” Wyatt whispered in her ear. “Because they’re scared they’ll hit you.” He’d positioned the gun under her chin, holding it in exactly the same spot he’d put the shotgun. Only this time, she was betting this gun was loaded and ready to kill. “Or maybe they’re just afraid I’ll pull the trigger.”