Taking Aim at the Sheriff (2 page)

“A mistake,” she said under her breath. Not exactly an agreement, but Jericho couldn’t quite put his finger on the tone in her voice. And he certainly didn’t see a let’s-have-sex look in her eyes.

Not exactly, anyway. Of course, when it came to Laurel and him, there was always heat. Unwanted heat. But heat nonetheless.

“No. I’m not here for
that
,” she verified.

“Good.”

His body didn’t exactly agree with that. Never did when it came to Laurel, but after that last fiasco together, Jericho had learned his lesson. Play with fire. Get burned. Or in their case, get burned
bad
, because for a couple of hours, it had made him forget her scummy family.

And Jericho had paid for it.

Hell, he was still paying.

It was a good reminder because it made Jericho realize it was time for Laurel to leave. However, before he could even point to the door again, Laurel took his hand and put the rock in it.

“I do need a favor. A big one.” She swallowed hard. “Jericho, I need you to marry me.
Tonight.
”

Chapter Two

Laurel wished she’d been able to come up with a better way to do this. Hard to come up with anything, though, with the tornado of emotions going on in her head. Of course, Jericho now had some emotions, too.

Bad ones, obviously.

Because the look he gave her let Laurel know that he thought she’d lost her mind. Maybe she had. But she didn’t exactly have a lot of options here, and Jericho was still her best bet.

Even if he didn’t believe that right now.

“Marry you?” Jericho repeated.

He was no doubt remembering the bad history between them. And he probably included their last one-nighter in that heap of bad history.

“It’ll take more than a rock to make that happen.” He cursed, dropped it on the table. “What’s going on here?”

Laurel had figured that would be his first response—anger and demands. It was certainly hers when this idea had first come to her. Still, she was hoping the blue rock and the promise that had gone along with it would buy her enough time so she could explain things before Jericho kicked her out.

No such luck.

He turned as if he was about to show her to the door, but then stopped. And studied her with those cop’s eyes. The warm amber-brown color wasn’t so warm right now, but Laurel had firsthand knowledge that they could be.

Every part of Jericho could be
warm
.

Again, it was firsthand knowledge fed by years of experience of kissing him. Touching him, wanting him. And then having that warmth vanish and cool to iceberg temperatures like those outside right now.

Well, except for that night over two years ago.

Those two years seemed like a lifetime. For her, anyway. Jericho looked the same except for the slightly longer brown hair. In other words, he still looked like the hot cowboy he’d always been. Maybe it was his DNA, those eyes or the fit of his jeans, but when a woman saw Jericho Crockett, she noticed.

Laurel had been no different.

“I need an explanation,” he pressed. “Like right now.”

Where to start?

She doubted Jericho would want her to get into the little details. Not just yet, anyway. Judging from the impatient stare, he was looking for the condensed version of why she’d called in a very old marker that to him was probably worthless.

Laurel picked up the rock, slipped it into the front pocket of his jeans, careful not to touch too much of him.

“I had a baby,” she finally said. “A son named Maddox. And my father is challenging me for custody.”

It crushed her to say that.

Crushed her even more to think that her father might succeed.

The tears came again, and Laurel tried to blink them back. She’d already cried an ocean of tears, and they didn’t help. Now she had to focus on a fix for this. She had to do whatever it took to save her son.

“A baby?” His gaze skimmed over her body. “You don’t look like you’ve had a kid. And the gossips around town sure haven’t gotten hold of that tidbit.”

“I guess being several hundred miles away has kept the gossips from putting their noses in my business.” Added to that, she’d worked very hard to make sure the news stayed within her family and a very small circle of friends.

For all the good that’d done her.

Jericho huffed, and his hands went on his hips. “So, your father’s challenging you for custody, huh? Guess that means you two had some kind of falling-out. Or maybe you finally learned what a sack of dirt he really is.”

“I’ve always known.” She let that hang in the air for a few moments. “But I stayed for my mother’s sake. As sort of a buffer between him and her.”

He studied her. With some obvious skepticism in his gaze. There was a reason for that. Laurel had indeed defended her father over the years. Had believed his lies when he’d told her that his businesses would all be legitimate. Most of his lies, anyway.

And even that little shred of belief had cost her, big-time.

It’d cost Laurel her freedom. Her safety. It’d also cost her Jericho. What she needed to tell him wouldn’t help, either.

“My mother had cancer and passed away,” Laurel said. “She died two weeks ago.”

“I’m sorry. Losing a parent is hard.” The look of sympathy that he gave her was genuine, but it didn’t last. “I’m guessing after her death was when things fell apart with your father?”

“More or less.” Mainly
less
, but she’d save that for another time. “I don’t think it’ll come as a surprise to you that my father has influence over several judges. Doctors and psychiatrists, too. He’s trying to declare me mentally and morally incompetent to raise my son. There’s no truth to it,” she added, just in case Jericho doubted it.

Which he probably did.

But he also no doubt believed that her father wasn’t competent to raise Maddox, either.

Jericho stayed quiet a moment. “And you think if you’re married,
to me
, that your father will...what? Step back from this fight he has with you? Herschel’s never backed off from anything, period.”

Her father wouldn’t do that this time, either. Unless he had no choice. She had to make sure he didn’t get that choice.

Because she needed it, Laurel took a moment, too. “If we’re married, I’d sign over custody to you. Immediately. My father might have enough dirt on me to declare me incompetent, but he can’t do the same to you.”

She hoped.

After all, Jericho had been the sheriff of Appaloosa Pass for well over a decade. He was respected by some. Feared by others. It would be next to impossible to fabricate enough to smear his reputation, and Laurel was hoping a corrupt judge would back down from trying to go after Jericho.

“What kind of dirt does Herschel have on you?” he asked. Of course, Jericho wasn’t going to let that slide.

“My father manufactured some of it. Some of it was my own stupidity in handling one of his business accounts.”

And again, that was an explanation best saved for another day. She hadn’t done anything knowingly, but she had known her father. Had known what he was capable of doing. Now that her father knew the whole truth, he would use anything to hurt her where it hurt the most.

By going after Maddox.

Jericho’s stare got worse. So did his profanity. “Surely there’s somebody other than me who can do this for you. Like your ex-fiancé?”

“He can’t help,” she settled for saying. And, in fact, he was a big part of the problem.

“Really? You’d think the kid’s father would have something to say about you asking another man to marry you.” A muscle flickered in his jaw. “What’s your ex’s name, anyway? Leo-something-or-other.”

“Theo James,” she supplied.

Jericho lifted his right eyebrow. “Oh, I get it now. Theo doesn’t have a clean record, either, and your father will use that to get custody of his only grandson.” His eyebrow went higher. “You probably should have picked a different guy to hook up with, Laurel.”

She had. And Laurel would have told Jericho that, too, if the sound hadn’t shot through the room. Since her nerves were already right there at the surface, she gasped, her body readying itself to fight yet another battle.

But it was just Jericho’s phone.

“It’s Jax,” he said, and quickly answered it.

Even though Jericho didn’t put the call on speaker, Laurel was close enough to hear what Jax told him. “We caught the guy in the SUV. He was on the side of the road trying to switch out the bogus plates. I’m bringing him in now.”

The news caused Jericho’s shoulders to relax a little, but that quickly ended when his gaze snapped back to her. “Good,” he said to his brother. “Has he said anything about why he did it?”

“Not a word. He’s already lawyered up, but I’ll see if I can get anything from him.”

“I want to talk to him,” Jericho insisted. “I won’t be long. Laurel Tate’s here, and I need to finish up some things with her.”

Jax paused. For a long time. “Laurel,” he repeated, the venom clearly in his voice. “Why the heck is she at your place?”

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

No, he wouldn’t. Nor would Jax approve. Because like the rest of the Crocketts, Jax blamed her in part for his father’s death. They’d never forgive her for that.

Laurel wouldn’t forgive herself, either.

She wouldn’t forgive herself for a lot of things.

Jax cursed, and she had no trouble hearing it. “Please tell me you’re not getting mixed up with Laurel again,” he said to Jericho.

“No.” Jericho didn’t hesitate. Of course, Laurel had known he wouldn’t simply agree to marry her. But hopefully he would when he understood the big picture.

She could practically see Jax’s puzzled expression, but he didn’t press things. “I’ll see you when you get here.”

And at that time, Jax would no doubt want a full explanation as to why their enemy’s daughter was in his brother’s house.

Jericho pushed the end call button and walked right past her. First to the kitchen so he could retrieve his badge from the counter. Then, toward his bathroom, she quickly realized, when she followed him.

“Look, I sympathize with this problem you’re having with your father,” he said, taking a bandage from the medicine cabinet. “Herschel shouldn’t be raising any kid. But I can’t help you.” Jericho slapped the bandage on his shoulder and then went into his bedroom.

She followed him there, too.

Even though there were dozens of things on her mind, important things, Laurel still felt the punch from the old memories here. The room hadn’t changed much in the twenty-two years since she’d been here for the first time.

Since she’d landed in that bed with Jericho.

Laurel made the mistake of looking at him before she could rein in the heat that trickled through her. A big mistake. Because Jericho saw that heat, and he scowled at her.

“My answer’s not going to change,” he insisted, taking a gray shirt from the closet. Once he had it on, he clipped on his badge. “It doesn’t matter what happened between us on that bed. Or what happened over two years ago.”

Laurel was about to tell him that it did indeed matter, but this time it was her phone that rang. She took it from her pocket, and when she saw her father’s name on the screen, she let it go to voice mail—along with the other dozen messages he’d left her in the past couple of hours. She didn’t have to listen to the message to know what he was demanding again.

That she hand Maddox over to him.

Or else agree to every detail of his sick plan.

She didn’t intend to do either one of those.

“I can’t let him get his hands on my son,” she whispered.

“Good luck with that.” It sounded like a dismissal, but she thought she saw some concern in Jericho’s eyes. “I take it you’ve hidden the baby so that Herschel can’t find him?”

She nodded. “He’s with a friend I trust.”

“A friend,” he repeated, that cop’s stare coming at her again. “But I’m guessing this is a friend who can’t help you with your marriage problem.”

“No.”

He huffed, scrubbed his hand over his face. “I can’t do this. What I can do is make some calls and arrange a safe house where you can stay until you work things out with Herschel. For now, I need to get to the station to question this dirt-for-brains suspect.”

Yes, Jericho had made it crystal clear that he had more important things to do and no intention of helping her. So, Laurel pulled out the big guns. Or rather, the picture. It was the screen saver on her phone, and she held it up for him to see.

“That’s my son, Maddox,” she said.

Laurel didn’t need to see the picture to be able to describe it in complete detail. The precious little boy with the blondish-brown hair, amber eyes and a melt-your-heart kind of smile.

Not a newborn baby.

As Jericho had likely been expecting.

Since Laurel was watching him so closely, she saw the change in his expression when he began to connect the dots. It wasn’t a huge change. Just the muscles in his face going tight for a moment. Followed by a head shake, and then that lethal stare came back to her.

“How old is he?” Jericho asked. Except it wasn’t just a question. It was a demand spoken through clenched teeth, and he practically ripped the phone from her hand for a closer look at the picture.

Laurel tried to steel herself for what was no doubt about to be a fierce storm. “He’s eighteen months.”

There. That was the last bit of information that Jericho needed so he could finally understand why she’d had come to him. Why their marriage had to happen and happen fast.

Why she couldn’t turn to anyone else.

“Yes,” Laurel verified. Her voice cracked, and she had to clear her throat before she could continue. “Maddox is your son.”

Chapter Three

The blood rushed to Jericho’s head.

It happened too fast for him to get hold of himself before it felt as if someone had slugged him with a hammer.

So many emotions went through him. The shock. The anger. The feeling that his life had just turned on a dime.

Because it had.

Everything had just turned.

Laurel and he had been together two years and three months ago, the perfect timing for them to have an eighteen month old son.

“Why?” he managed to say, though it would be the first of many questions. Questions that Laurel had darn sure better be able to answer.

Laurel didn’t exactly jump to answer, but then she didn’t back away from him, either. Even though he had to be giving her his worst glare, she held her ground.

“You should probably sit down,” she suggested.

No way would sitting help. Nothing could at this point. His entire body was a tangle of nerves and fresh adrenaline—all caused by that picture of the little smiling face on Laurel’s phone.

Everything about that face was familiar.

Because it was practically identical to pictures he’d seen of himself when he was a baby.

“Why?” he repeated, his jaw so tight now that he was hurting.

“I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want my father to find out. I was afraid he would kill you.”

“He would have tried,” Jericho conceded. Now the profanity came, and he couldn’t stop himself from cursing Laurel. “You still should have told me.”

Her chin dropped a little, and while she still held her ground, the tears shimmered in her eyes again. He wasn’t immune to those tears, but right now he had no intention of giving Laurel one ounce of comfort.

How dare she do this.

“I already had your father’s death on my conscience,” she said. “I didn’t want your death there, too.”

“That’s no excuse.” He jabbed his index finger at her and considered punching the wall just to release some of this dangerous energy revving up inside him. Hardly a mature reaction, but this had shaken him to the core.

A baby!

Except he wasn’t exactly a baby now. He was eighteen months old. Born nine months after Laurel and he had ended up in bed. And she’d kept it from him this entire time.

“You had no right,” he warned her.

“Maybe not, but what’s done is done. I’m sorry I can’t give you more time to come to terms with this. I’m sorry about a lot of things. But right now, we have to stop my father from taking him.”

Jericho got a new surge of anger, too. Except this was more rage, and it was aimed at Herschel. “That won’t happen. No way will I let that snake take custody of...” But the words wouldn’t come so he could finish that.

My son.

However, it was exactly what Jericho meant. It wasn’t happening. It already sickened him to realize that Herschel had been part of the little boy’s life this entire time.

And that Jericho hadn’t been.

Later, he’d
address
that with Laurel.

“Why is Herschel trying to take custody?” Jericho asked. “
How
is he trying to do it?” he amended.

“My father has two fake psychiatric reports on me,” Laurel explained. Not easily. The words seemed to stick in her throat. “Both claiming that I’m mentally unstable.”

“You could counteract those with your own real psychiatric reports.” Because Laurel had been careless and irresponsible when it came to her father, but she wasn’t crazy.

“I could, but I don’t own the judge that’ll be presiding over the hearing. Plus, my father has a document I signed that’s connected to some illegal funds that were transferred from an offshore account. I did sign it, but I had no idea it was a part of a money laundering scheme.”

So, Herschel was coming at her from two angles, but it did surprise Jericho there was only one document with her signature on it that could have criminal ties. After all, Laurel had worked for her father for nearly a dozen years, and she’d no doubt come in contact with plenty of his dirty businesses and schemes.

“I want the names of every person involved in that deal,” Jericho insisted.

Laurel nodded, but there was plenty of hesitation in her expression. “My father said if I came to you for help, that he’d only make things worse for both of us.”

Yeah, that sounded like Herschel. A man of threats. Though he didn’t know how much harder her father could make things, considering he was trying to take Laurel’s child.

Jericho’s child, too.

The reminder didn’t settle easily in his mind. Of course, nothing about this would.

“You don’t doubt he’s yours?” she asked.

“No.” How could he? The proof was right there in front of him. “How much does Herschel know about Maddox’s paternity?”

“Everything.
Now
,” she added in a whisper. “At first, I’d told him Theo was Maddox’s father, and Theo went along with it. But when I broke off the engagement, Theo told him the truth. That’s why Herschel wants custody right away. You know how much he hates you, and he hates me even more now that he knows I kept the truth about Maddox from him.”

Jericho was betting there was a whole other story to go along with that one. Theo had probably squealed to get back at Laurel. He didn’t know this Theo idiot, but he’d settle things with him later.

With Herschel, too.

Not just for this stunt he was trying to pull with getting custody, but because it was possible that Herschel had indeed been behind the hit-and-run idiot that Jax now had in the holding cell. Jericho didn’t know exactly what Laurel’s father would hope to gain by that, but anything was possible when it came to Herschel.

Especially anything illegal.

“Your father must have seen the resemblance between Maddox and me,” Jericho said, handing her back the phone.

“He did,” Laurel readily admitted. “He didn’t know about that night we were together. I’d managed to keep that from him, but he asked me point-blank if I’d been with you. I denied it, and I falsified the results of Maddox’s paternity test so I could try to get him off your trail.”

Jericho hadn’t wanted Herschel off his trail. Especially not for something like this, something that would keep Maddox from him. The best way to deal with a snake was to confront it.

“Where’s Maddox now?” Jericho asked.

“With a friend, Sandy Singer. She’s a former cop, and she took him to her parents’ house in Sweetwater Springs. Her parents are out of town so the place was empty.”

So, Maddox was about thirty miles away. Close. But any distance wouldn’t have mattered.

“I want to see him.” And the glare Jericho gave Laurel dared her not to refuse him.

She didn’t refuse him, though. She gave a shaky nod. “We’ll just have to make sure we aren’t followed.”

He would make certain of that because he wouldn’t put it past Herschel to take the boy, all in the name of keeping him safe from Laurel. Later, Jericho would have to do something about those false reports, but for now he had a more immediate problem on his hands.

“I have to call Jax and tell him I won’t be able to question the man in custody until, well, until later,” he settled for saying. Because Jericho had no idea how much time he’d need to start fixing this mess Herschel had created.

That Laurel had created, too.

“I’m sorry,” she repeated, no doubt after she saw the latest round of anger go through his eyes.

Not in the mood for an apology that wouldn’t help one bit, Jericho waved her off and took out his phone to call his brother. However, he stopped when he heard the sound.

A vehicle was approaching the house.

“Oh, God,” Laurel whispered, her fingertips going to her mouth.

“It might be nothing,” he assured her.

After all, his family’s ranch was huge, and people came and went all the time. It could be one of the ranch hands, his mother or maybe even his sister, Addie, and her fiancé, Weston. Since Addie was pregnant, they were often making night runs to get whatever she was craving.

Heck, it could even be one of his other brothers, Levi or Chase. Both had houses on the grounds of the ranch.

“Wait here,” Jericho told her, and he headed to the living room window to look out. He braced himself for the worst.

And the worst was exactly what he got.

The moment he pulled back the curtain, he spotted the man who’d stepped from the black car now stopped in front of Jericho’s house. It was dark enough that Jericho couldn’t make out the guy’s face, but he had no trouble seeing his gun.

Or hearing it.

The bullet slammed into the windowsill just a couple of inches from where Jericho was standing.

“Get down!” he shouted to Laurel.

But he did something to make sure that happened. Jericho hurried to her, hooked his arm around her waist and pulled her to the floor behind the couch. It wouldn’t be much protection against bullets, but it was safer than her standing in a room with windows on the front and side.

“Call Jax for me,” he said, tossing Laurel his phone. “I need backup and everyone in the main house warned that we’re under attack.”

Despite Laurel yelling for him to stay down, Jericho headed back to one of the windows so he could figure out who this idiot was and how to stop him.

From what Jericho could tell, the guy was alone. At least he was the only one out of the car. Of course, someone could be inside, waiting, so that’s why he went to the window on the other side of the room. He wanted as much of an element of surprise as he could manage when he fired at this nut job. Maybe the guy wouldn’t see him before Jericho got off the finishing shot.

“Jax is on the way,” Laurel relayed to him. “He’s bringing one of the deputies with him. Dexter Conway. He’ll also call your mother and the rest of your family on the drive over.”

Good. It’d take at least twenty minutes for Jax and Dexter to arrive, but maybe the attack was confined to just here. He didn’t want Herschel’s brand of violence spreading to the rest of his family.

“Now, please get down,” Laurel added. “I’m calling Sandy to make sure everything is okay with Maddox.”

Even though what Laurel was saying was important, Jericho shut her out, knocked out the pane of glass with his gun and took aim. He pulled the trigger, and though he couldn’t be sure, he thought he might have hit the shooter in the shoulder. The guy ducked down and jumped into the car. Just in case he intended to get back out, Jericho sent another shot his way.

“Do you know for sure who’s doing this?” Jericho asked Laurel.

“No. My father hates me now, but I can’t believe he’d try to kill me.”

“Believe it,” Jericho said just as he got another surprise of the night.

Another bullet came right at him. Not from the idiot in the car this time. This shot had come from somewhere across the road. The land was level pasture there, and it would have been easy for a gunman to stand out, which meant the guy was likely hiding in the ditch.

Had he come with his partner in the car?

Probably.

Herschel no doubt wanted some kind of backup to make sure this attack was a success. After all, if Herschel got rid of both of Maddox’s parents, then there’d be no fight for custody. However, that only led Jericho to yet another set of questions.

Did Herschel really want Maddox enough to kill for him?

And why?

Because Jericho wasn’t sure a man like Herschel was capable of loving a child this much.

Jericho didn’t have time to dwell on that because another shot came crashing through the window, and it spewed broken glass all over the room. Some of it even flew behind the couch.

Worse, it didn’t stay a single shot.

The bullets began to rip through what was left of the window. Tear through the walls, too. It was an old house with a wood frame, and if the shooters were using the right kind of bullets, they could do some serious damage before Jax and backup could even arrive.

“Crawl to my bathroom,” Jericho told Laurel. “Get in the tub.”

“You can’t stay out here, either,” she insisted.

“I’ll be right behind you.”

Maybe. But he immediately had to rethink that
maybe
when he finally spotted the shooter in the ditch. Jax would be there soon, and this guy was right next to the road. Jericho didn’t want his brother getting hurt. Losing one family member to Herschel’s schemes was more than enough.

Jericho moved to the side of a bookcase. Like the couch, it wasn’t ideal coverage, but it would do. Hopefully. Since there wasn’t any glass remaining in the window, he leaned out and fired right at the shooter in the ditch.

The guy dropped back down. But Jericho didn’t think he’d managed to hit him.

Still, if he could keep both of these idiots pinned down, that would keep Laurel and the rest of the ranch safe. That thought had barely crossed his mind, however, when he heard a sound he definitely didn’t want to hear.

More shots.

Coming from the car.

Shooter number one was back at it again, and this time the bullets weren’t coming at Jericho. They seemed to be going on the other side of the house. Right in the direction of the bathroom where he’d just sent Laurel. And right in the direction of where there were sounds of yet more broken glass.

It didn’t help when he heard her scream.

“You can’t do this!” Laurel shouted. “Please. No!”

Hell.

Jericho raced from the living room, praying that one of those bullets hadn’t hit her or that a third gunman hadn’t managed to get into the house. Either was possible. He didn’t have a security system and rarely even locked the windows or doors. Anyone could have gotten in.

Jericho kept as low as he could when he approached the bathroom. The light wasn’t on, but there was a small window near the ceiling, and it gave him just enough illumination to see Laurel in the tub.

She had her left hand covering her head, and there were shards of glass on her from the broken window.

“Are you hit?” Jericho asked.

Her breath was gusting, and when she turned to look at him, that’s when he saw that she had her phone against her ear. Despite the fact the bullets were coming at them nonstop, she still got out of the bathtub and would have bolted out the door if Jericho hadn’t caught her.