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Well, he wasn’t.
Of course, right now he wasn’t pleased about much of anything except that Kendall and he were still breathing.
Aiden glanced out at the two men again. They were still in place where he couldn’t blow off any of their body parts. Then he glanced at Kendall.
But not at her face.
Too much emotion there for him to deal with, but he needed to see how her arm was holding up. The bleeding had stopped. That was something at least. But that gash was deep, and it had to be throbbing like a bad toothache.
“How does your arm feel?” Aiden asked, and he fired a shot at the men just so they wouldn’t try to move closer.
“I’m okay.”
A lie, for sure, but Aiden would take it for now. He’d already asked Leland to bring out an ambulance, but the medics wouldn’t get close to the place with shots being fired. That was yet another reason for Aiden to put an end to this.
“I need you to get to the ground,” Aiden said. “Stay behind me and stay down. Crawl to the gully.” He tipped his head in that direction.
Kendall glanced over at the gully. Then at him. “But what about you?”
“I won’t be far behind.”
Possibly a lie as well, but Kendall had enough fear running through her without his spelling out that there’d be no one to cover him if he tried to move from the tree to the gully. No, it was best for him to make his stand for as long as he could behind the tree.
She finally gave a shaky nod and inched herself lower to the ground. It wasn’t easy. They were plastered against each other—her backside sliding against a part of him that needed no such touching. Especially from her. He got a split-second jolt of the blasted heat that’d always been there between them.
Thankfully, the fresh round of bullets slugged that heat aside.
He pushed Kendall all the way down until she was practically on her belly and then crouched by his side. “Move slowly if you have to.” Because of her injured arm and the pregnancy. But Aiden was really hoping that she could do this fast.
Aiden leaned out, took aim at the front of the SUV and fired a shot just as Kendall started crawling.
She stayed down just as he’d ordered, and she moved through the wildflowers and other underbrush. Thankfully, fast. Still, Aiden fired another shot at the gunmen just to keep their attention on him. He breathed a little easier once he saw Kendall slide down and into the gully.
She was safe.
Well, maybe.
He’d parked just on the other side of the gully. Off the road and behind some trees. Aiden hadn’t seen any other hired guns lurking around, but that didn’t mean there couldn’t have been some hiding.
The big talkative guy lifted his head, fired a couple of shots. Not the nonstop barrage like before. And in between the shots, Aiden heard the men talking. Or rather arguing.
Clearly, their plan had gone to Hades in a big ol’ handbasket by losing their hostage and what with one of them being on the business end of Kendall and her scissors. Now they were no doubt trying to figure out a way to salvage this, and it was possible the injured one needed some medical attention, too.
In the distance Aiden heard a welcome sound.
Sirens.
That got the men chattering even more, and Aiden braced himself for whatever they were going to try to throw at him next.
What they threw were bullets.
And lots of them.
The men fired into the tree. A volley of gunfire. All of it aimed at Aiden.
He ducked down, trying to shelter his body as best he could, but he was getting pelted with flying pieces of wood from the tree and other debris that the bullets were kicking up from the ground. There was no way he could lean out and try to get off a shot of his own. It’d be suicide, so he stayed put and prayed that he got a break soon.
He got it.
But it wasn’t the break he had in mind. The shots slowed to a trickle, but even over the sound of the blasts, he heard another one.
The SUV.
One of them had started up the engine.
No. It was too soon for this to happen. Judging from the sirens, Leland was still a quarter of a mile out. Maybe more. These guys could get away before Leland even arrived.
Aiden moved to the other side of the tree, leaned out just a fraction and saw the two men already in the SUV. Only one, the injured one on the passenger’s side, was firing through the open door, and even though his aim seemed wobbly, he still hit the dang tree.
Aiden had to dive back behind it for cover.
“Stay down!” Kendall yelled.
He wanted to curse when he saw her lift her head. “You stay down,” Aiden snarled right back at her.
Aiden leaned out again. Took aim at the guy who was firing. And he pulled the trigger.
His bullet smacked right into the man’s chest, and just like that, the guy tumbled out of the SUV and onto the ground. If he wasn’t dead, he soon would be. But that wasn’t Aiden’s concern now.
It was the driver.
The chatterbox gunman hit the accelerator and flew out onto the gravel road that fronted Aiden’s property. He fishtailed, the tires bobbling over the uneven surface, but that didn’t slow him down nearly enough.
Aiden raced out from cover, bracketing his shooting wrist with his left hand, and he kicked the injured gunman’s weapon aside. In the same motion, Aiden took aim at the SUV.
The bullet Aiden fired slammed into the back window, shattering the glass into a million little pieces.
But the driver kept going.
Aiden ran after him, took another shot. He missed. Then another. That one hit the SUV. At the right angle to have injured the driver, but Aiden couldn’t be certain of that.
Because the SUV sped away.
Chapter Four (#ulink_3b844d37-64a8-5be2-8388-9350db3af499)
Kendall watched while the medic dabbed the wound on her arm with antiseptic and gave her a shot. The throbbing pain quickly turned to fire, but she clamped her teeth over her bottom lip so that Aiden wouldn’t hear the groan bubbling up in her throat. He already had enough to handle without adding more concerns about her injury.
Not that Kendall expected him to be overly concerned about her, but at this point, anything and everything would feel like more weight on his shoulders.
The gunman who’d gotten away.
The dead one Aiden had been forced to kill in a shoot-out.
And then, of course, the bombshell about the pregnancy.
Aiden wasn’t dealing with that—yet. He was still on the phone with his deputy who had a team out searching for the man who’d shot her. It was his fifth call since they’d arrived at the Clay Ridge Hospital. She suspected there’d be plenty more before the night was over.
“I’ll just do a couple of stitches,” the medic said to her while he numbed the area around the wound with another shot. “Then I’ll get you to the tech for an ultrasound.”
A few stiches didn’t sound serious at all, but the second thing he said captured both Aiden’s and her attention. Until his gaze snapped to hers, Kendall hadn’t even been sure Aiden was listening to what the medic was saying, but he issued a quick “I’ll call you right back” to his deputy and stared at the medic.
“An ultrasound?” Aiden questioned. “Is something wrong?”
The medic shook his head and got busy doing the stitches. “It’s just a precaution, something Dr. Kreppner ordered because of the trauma Miss O’Neal’s been through.”
Kendall’s breath rushed out. The emotions, too, and she was no longer able to choke back that groan. Sweet heaven, there had indeed been trauma—both physically and mentally—and the baby could have been hurt.
Aiden shifted his attention from the medic to her, and even though she couldn’t fight back the tears, Kendall had no trouble seeing the conflict going on inside him. There was concern in his eyes, and the muscles in his jaw had turned to iron. Maybe because of the possible danger to the baby. Maybe because of her tears.
Or perhaps both.
“Don’t borrow trouble,” Aiden said to her, his voice a low growl. “You heard what he told you, that it’s just a precaution.”
Kendall nodded, but she wouldn’t breathe easier until she knew that all was well. She was only twelve weeks pregnant, and she wasn’t even sure what an ultrasound could tell them exactly. Hopefully, it would be plenty enough to rid her of this overwhelming fear.
Her tears continued, clearly something that didn’t please Aiden, because he huffed and handed her some tissues that he grabbed from the examining table.
“Thanks.” She blotted her eyes and cheeks, looked up at him. “And for what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”
That apology covered a multitude of things, including his learning about the baby and this attack that could have gotten them all killed.
Her I’m sorry didn’t cause his jaw to relax, though. “We’ll talk about the baby later. For now, I want to know anything you haven’t told me about what those men said to you. And no, I’m not accusing you of being a part of it. I just need to know anything that’ll help us find that dirtbag who drove away in the SUV.”
Kendall didn’t especially want to relive the images of the attack or her kidnapping, but she also didn’t want to focus on the pain that the stitches were causing in her arm.
“I don’t know either of them,” she started. “At least I don’t think I do.”
Aiden latched right on to that. “You don’t think you do? Does that mean maybe there’s something you recognized?”
“Maybe,” she had to concede. “There was possibly something familiar about the one who did most of the talking, but I just don’t know what. The other, however...the dead one...he had an accent. Jamaican, perhaps, and he was black, because I saw his hands.” She paused. “I’m guessing he didn’t have an ID on him?”
“Nothing, but we’re running his prints now. Once we know who he is, we might be able to figure out who hired him.” Aiden stared at her, apparently waiting for her to suggest who that might have been.
“I don’t have a clue who hired them, but it wasn’t me or any of Jewell’s kids.”
“You’re sure?” he pressed.
She nodded. Prayed she was right about that. “Rosalie, Rayanne and Seth all love Jewell and want her cleared of the murder charges, but they wouldn’t put me at risk to do that.”
“They know about the baby?” he snapped.
Kendall shook her head. “Only your sister Laine knows. Like I said, she saw me coming out of the OB clinic. Since she’d also somehow heard rumors about us being together that night at the bar, she put one and one together.”
“And she didn’t tell me,” Aiden grumbled under his breath.
“Don’t blame Laine. I begged her not to tell you or anyone else.” Much to her surprise, it appeared that Laine had kept her secret.
That comment earned her a glare from Aiden. “She’s my sister, and she should have told me.”
Kendall was about to ask if he had actually even wanted to know, but the medic eased a bandage on her arm and stood.
“What you heard in this room stays in this room,” Aiden warned the medic. “Got that?”
Since Aiden could win an intimidation contest hands down, the guy was smart to nod. “Follow me to the ultrasound room.”
As she probably didn’t look too steady, Aiden took hold of her arm and helped her stand. Good thing, too, because the dizziness returned with a vengeance, and she had no choice but to lean against him. Judging from the way the muscles in his body stiffened, he wasn’t pleased about that. Still, he hooked his arm around her and led her up the hall.
“You were just going to leave town,” Aiden said, clearly not pleased about that, either. Of course, she hadn’t said anything yet that’d pleased him.
Kendall nodded. “I thought it was for the best.”
“Well, it wasn’t.” He probably said that a lot louder than he’d intended, because the medic glanced back at them. “I had a right to know that I made a baby with you that night,” Aiden added in a much lower voice.
He said that night as if it were profanity. Which to him it probably had been. Kendall had felt the same way, too, immediately afterward. Yes, Aiden and she had skirted around this attraction for years, but with their families at serious odds, a one-night stand had been a stupid thing to do.
“I won’t think of this baby as a mistake,” she clarified.
She figured he would disagree with that, but he didn’t. Kendall also figured he wouldn’t go into the ultrasound room, but once they reached it, Aiden waltzed right in.
“I’m staying,” he insisted before she could give him an out.
Again, the medic looked at them, his volleyed glances finally landing on Kendall. “The tech won’t be long, but I can wait here if you want.” There was concern in both his tone and expression. However, Kendall shook her head to assure him that it was all right for him to go.
“It’ll be okay.” Well, she’d be safe with Aiden at least, but Kendall could feel a mighty storm coming her way.
About the baby.
About her decision to leave him out of this.
“Okay, then.” The medic tipped his head to her arm. “If you need something for the pain, just let the ultrasound tech know, and I’ll have the doc write a script.”
Kendall thanked him, knowing that she wouldn’t be taking any painkillers even if she needed them. They’d be too risky for the baby.
The medic stepped out, finally, and Aiden didn’t wait long to get that storm started. “How long have you known you were pregnant?” he asked.
“For about two months.” She probably would have figured it out sooner if she hadn’t been in complete denial. Denial about a possible pregnancy anyway. The memories of that night had stayed with her.
Big-time.
