Aiden felt certain his brother Brady had been the source of the gunfire, but he stayed inside the motel, weapon in hand. Thank goodness Gary had installed those cameras. The former firefighter had called Aiden to let him know someone was lurking in the woods, using night-vision binoculars to watch their motel room door. And the perp had been armed. Hearing this, he’d contacted Brady, knowing his brother was keeping watch nearby.
Clearly, Brady had found and flushed the shooter from his position.
After what seemed like an incredibly long minute, he heard a shout. “Aiden, you’re clear!”
He let out a soundless sigh and reached for the motel room door.
“Wait!” Shelby gripped his arm. “Are you sure it’s safe?”
“Brady has secured the area.” He tried to smile reassuringly. “Stay close.”
The darkness made it difficult to gauge the expression in her eyes as she gave a jerky nod. He opened the door, poked his head out, then crossed the threshold. Shelby followed, murmuring words of comfort to Eva.
Or maybe she was talking to herself.
He caught sight of Brady standing near Shelby’s Jeep. His FBI brother’s expression was serious. “I didn’t hit the perp. Unfortunately, he took off. I didn’t want to leave you and Shelby alone, so I let him go.”
He squashed a flash of disappointment at hearing the perp had gotten away. Although he appreciated the backup. “Thanks for sticking around.”
“I’m glad I was here to help,” Brady agreed. “Although I wonder how this guy found you in the first place. You mentioned ditching Shelby’s phone, so he must have somehow tracked her Jeep. We’re going to leave that vehicle sitting in the parking lot for now. Follow me, I’ll drive you both to the homestead so we can arrange for another ride.”
“Wait, what?” Shelby scowled. “I can’t just leave my car here.”
“Yeah, you can.” Aiden swallowed a wave of impatience. “I’ll pay to have it towed back to your place. Which reminds me, I need to have my truck towed from the cemetery too. But later. Right now, we need to get out of here.”
“That’s ridiculous, it will cost a fortune.” Shelby sighed, then relented. “Fine. But grab Eva’s car seat.”
“Will do.” Brady waited for her to unlock the door so he could grab the car seat. “My vehicle is a half mile down the road.”
“Would you like me to carry Eva?” He eyed Shelby as she hitched the toddler higher in her arms. The little girl was still sleeping and had to be like carrying deadweight.
“I’m okay.” Her stubborn expression made him want to sigh. He took the canvas bag from her hand, realizing she’d packed Eva’s clothes and toys.
“Please follow Brady. I’ll walk behind you.” As they set out down the road, he swept his gaze over the area, wondering exactly where the shooter had been standing. He needed to ask Gary to send him a copy of the video. Maybe there would be some way of identifying the gunman.
Brady unlocked his SUV, then took a minute to remove Caleb’s booster seat to make room for Eva’s car seat. When it was time to buckle Eva in, the little girl began to cry.
“Shh, it’s okay. We’re going for a ride. Here, would you like your dolly?” Shelby buckled the straps, then turned toward him. He quickly pulled out the cheap doll he’d purchased for Eva at the gas station, ridiculously pleased the little girl found comfort in the toy. “Here you go.”
Eva clutched the doll close, then rested her cheek on the fake blond hair. Her eyes drifted shut.
Shelby crawled into the back seat on the other side, leaving him to sit up front with Brady. As they left the motel, he texted Gary about the video, then turned to Brady. “I don’t feel right going to the homestead knowing Devon is still on bedrest. We’re better off finding another motel.”
Brady frowned. “Rhy wants you to stay until morning. It’s not like you can get a rental at two in the morning. Even if the shooter tracked Shelby’s Jeep, we should be safe enough at the homestead for a few hours.”
He still didn’t like bringing danger to his brother and his very pregnant wife, but he reluctantly nodded. No question he needed his siblings’ help on this. Especially now that the shooter had found them at the American Lodge. “Okay. But only until morning. We’d appreciate a ride to the rental car agency.”
“Not a problem.” Brady turned and headed in the opposite direction. Aiden swiveled in his seat to look behind them.
“A tail?”
“Nope. Just making sure.” Brady smiled. “It’s become second nature to take the long route home.”
“Yeah.” Their family had been in many difficult situations over the past year. It was still difficult to comprehend that he’d been sucked into danger too. He hadn’t gotten much sleep at the motel; his brain had worked overtime, ruminating over the shooting at Shelby’s father’s funeral, all the way back to Emmitt’s death two years ago.
One or both of those situations had to be the root cause of this. Although he still couldn’t quite understand why anything related to her husband and father would cause someone to target Emmitt’s young widow and her daughter now.
After a solid twenty minutes, Brady pulled into the driveway of the homestead. The redbrick house with white trim and black shutters looked big from the outside. Not so much when they’d been younger and sharing bedrooms. There was only one low light on in the kitchen, and he knew Rhy and Devon always kept it on, as many of the siblings worked different shifts.
He and Elly were the only ones still living there. He’d saved up enough money to buy a house but hadn’t taken the plunge. Mostly because he was at a crossroads with his career. Unsure which path to take.
“You grew up here?” Shelby asked, speaking for the first time during the drive. “It’s an impressive home.”
“Yeah.” He pushed his door open. “There’s plenty of spare bedrooms for us to use now that most of the siblings are married and living on their own. You won’t feel crowded.”
“That wasn’t my concern.” She yawned and began to unbuckle Eva’s car seat. “It’s just so different from what I’m used to.”
Shelby grunted as she gathered Eva into her arms. He led the way up to the front door and entered the code to disarm the alarm system. He opened the door, then stepped back to let Shelby go inside first.
Brady followed him in, taking a moment to reset the alarm. Aiden shouldn’t have been surprised to find Rhy sitting at the kitchen table, nursing a cup of coffee.
“Keep that up and you won’t be able to sleep,” Brady said.
“I’m not sleeping much anyway.” Rhy raked his hand through his hair. “Devon needs her rest more than I do.”
“These sleepless nights are practice for when the baby is born,” Shelby said with a lopsided smile.
Rhy sighed. “I’m not sure if that’s reassuring or frightening.”
“Both,” Aiden said. “Any preference as to which room Shelby and Eva use?”
“Take guest room closest to the bathroom.” Rhy’s expression softened when he eyed the toddler. “It’s probably the most convenient.”
“Understood. Shelby? This way . . .”
He thought she uttered a low groan upon seeing the curved staircase, but she carried Eva up one step at a time. Hovering in the doorway, he watched as she carefully placed her daughter in the bed.
The way she kissed Eva made his heart ache. Despite the way his siblings were all getting married and starting families, he hadn’t spent much time thinking of having a family of his own. Well, until he’d gotten his paperwork to re-up for another tour in the National Guard.
Giving himself a mental shake, he turned away. He needed to talk through the plan with his brothers.
“Aiden? Wait.” Shelby tucked Eva in, then hurried over. “Are you going back downstairs?”
“Yes. But you should try to get more rest.”
“I’m coming with you.” She brushed past him, to walk toward the curved staircase. “I want to hear what your brothers have to say.”
“Let’s go, then.” He followed her down to the main level. Shelby was the one in danger; she deserved to have a say in their next move.
To a point.
“You really think Shelby’s Jeep was tracked to the American Lodge?” Rhy was saying when they came in.
“Yes.” Brady glanced at Shelby, then reluctantly added, “I didn’t get a chance to check the vehicle for a GPS tracker. I’ll do that tomorrow.”
“A tracker?” Shelby looked alarmed. “Seriously?”
Brady shrugged. “You have a better idea on how you were found?”
Aiden mentally kicked himself for not considering that possibility before now. “Shelby’s Jeep was at the cemetery. Easy enough for the shooter to have planted a tracking device while we were all at the grave site.”
“But if there was a tracker, there was no reason to follow us on the interstate to my house.”
“That’s true. The shooter was waiting for us outside your home.” He hated to admit the puzzle pieces didn’t quite fit together. “Maybe they planned to make another attempt to shoot while we were driving.”
“That’s a risk,” Rhy pointed out. “Shooting at a moving vehicle from another moving vehicle isn’t as easy as it sounds.”
“The shooter has missed twice now,” Aiden agreed. “At the cemetery and at Shelby’s house. If they had a tracker, why not wait until we were in the driveway and getting out of the vehicle?”
“Maybe they needed time to get away from the scene,” Brady suggested.
“Maybe.” Aiden wasn’t convinced. “But anyone who’d been trained in the armed forces wouldn’t botch their mission this badly.”
“So maybe it’s not a military guy,” Rhy said.
“Or he hasn’t served recently and has gotten rusty,” Brady added. “The guy keeping an eye on the motel used military grade gear from what I could tell.”
“That reminds me, Gary was going to send me the video.” Aiden scrolled through his phone. The video wasn’t as clear as he’d have liked, but a big part of that was the way the perp had stayed in the shadows of the trees. He played the short video but couldn’t see anything remotely helpful.
“It’s not much help.” He quickly sent the video to his brothers, then catching Shelby’s pointed look, handed his phone to her so she could see it too. “Do you recognize him?”
She stared intently at the screen. “No.” She handed the phone back. “The goggles or binoculars cover most of his face.”
“I’ll send it to Ian, my tech guy,” Brady said. “He might be able to clean it up a bit.”
“We need a plan. Other than just getting a rental car.” Aiden looked at his brothers expectantly.
“You mentioned your buddy in army intelligence,” Rhy said. “Once you have a clean ride and a new place to stay, you should call him. Brady and I can do our best to keep digging for information too.”
He couldn’t come up with anything better, so he nodded. “Okay. That works. For now, we should get some sleep. Ready, Shelby?”
“Yes. Good night,” Shelby said as she turned away.
“Good night,” his brothers echoed.
He followed her upstairs, then gestured to the door to his room. “If you need anything, I’ll be in here.”
She nodded, then stared up at him. “I’m scared. It was one thing to have a gunman try to shoot me at the cemetery and my house, but to track me to the American Lodge? That seems so much more sinister.”
He looped a friendly arm across her shoulders, giving her a brief hug. “We’re safe here. And I promise I will always protect you and Eva.”
“I know.” She leaned against him for a moment. He would have liked to pull her closer still, but she abruptly broke away. “Good night.”
“Good night.” He stood in the hallway for a long moment after the door closed behind her. Shelby and Eva were safe here. But they couldn’t run like this forever.
They needed to understand why Shelby had been targeted. And fast. Before another shooter managed to find them.
Shelby didn’t think she’d fall asleep, but when Eva patted her cheek, she lifted her gritty eyelids, surprised to realize it was morning.
“I hav’ta go to the bathroom.”
“Okay.” She quickly slid out of the bed, hoping to get the little girl to the bathroom in time to avoid an accident. “This way.”
“Where’s the TV?” Eva looked around in confusion as Shelby hustled her daughter into the bathroom. “I wanna watch cartoons.”
“We’re visiting Mr. Aiden’s house. I’m not sure where their TV is located.” It wasn’t that difficult to act as if nothing was wrong. She’d done the same thing after Emmitt’s funeral. The fact that Eva hadn’t even asked about her daddy had been telling. Then again, Eva had only been one year old when Emmitt had died. And it wasn’t as if he’d been home a lot during the little girl’s first year of life.
If Shelby was completely honest with herself, she had become so accustomed to Emmitt’s long absences that she hadn’t always missed him either. The silent acknowledgment brought a flash of guilt.
Why was she dredging all of this up now? There were bigger issues to be concerned about. Like the man with night-vision goggles who’d lurked outside her motel room. The one who may have placed a GPS tracker on her car.
“Here, let’s wash our hands.” She held Eva up to the sink to perform the task. When they emerged from the bathroom, she heard muted voices coming from the main level.
Noticing Aiden’s door was open, she figured he was down there, likely with Brady and Rhy. Taking Eva’s hand, she helped her daughter downstairs. The enticing scent of bacon and eggs wafted toward her.
She was surprised to find a pretty redhead cooking breakfast while Brady and Aiden sipped coffee. The woman’s facial features resembled Aiden’s, and she wasn’t pregnant, so clearly this wasn’t Devon.
“Oh, hi! You must be Shelby. And Eva too!” The redhead grinned widely. “I’m Elly. It’s nice to meet you.”
It took a moment for her to place the name. “You’re the EMT, right?”
“That’s right.” Elly turned her attention to the stove. “Help yourself to some coffee. Breakfast will ready soon.”
Shelby scowled at Aiden. “Shouldn’t you be helping to make breakfast?”
Elly laughed. “He made the bacon. Don’t worry, we all pitch in here.”
“I’ll get you some coffee,” Aiden offered.
“Does Eva want milk?” Brady asked. He rose and went to the fridge. “Caleb is always hungry in the morning.”
“Yes, thanks.” She wasn’t used to so many people crowding around so early in the morning. Sometimes even Eva’s chattering was too much to handle before she’d had her morning hit of caffeine. She gratefully took the steaming mug from Aiden, watching with bemusement as Brady filled a small sippy cup with milk, then pulled a plastic booster seat from the pantry.
“Here you go, Eva.” Brady lifted the little girl into the seat.
Her daughter reached for the sippy cup. “What do you say, Eva?”
“Thank you,” Eva obediently responded.
“Rhy and Devon have already left for their early morning doctor’s appointment.” Aiden took the seat next to her. “Brady is going to take us to get a rental car after breakfast.”
“Do you have to leave so soon?” Elly asked with a frown. “I miss having the siblings around.”
“Don’t worry, sis.” Brady put his arm around Elly’s shoulders. “Soon you’ll have a new baby to help care for.”
“I know, I really can’t wait.” Elly turned back to the stove. “Breakfast is ready.”
Shelby sat beside her daughter while Aiden helped Elly bring the food to the table. Once they were seated, the Finnegans all clasped their hands and bowed their heads. Brady led the prayer.
“Thank You for this food, Lord. And we also ask that You continue to keep Shelby and Eva safe in Your care. Amen.”
“Amen,” they all echoed.
“I’ve left a message for Tom Mitchell, my buddy who works in the Army Intelligence Office,” Aiden said. “I’m hoping he’ll call back soon.”
“There are a few motels you can use to hide out,” Brady said. “I asked Tarin about the safe house, but it’s currently in use, although he’s thinking it should be available in a day or two.”
“A motel will be fine,” Aiden said quickly.
Glancing at her daughter, she wished the safe house was an option, but she held her tongue. She trusted Aiden to keep them safe, regardless of where they stayed. “How is it that you know a guy in army intelligence?”
“I, uh”—Aiden looked flustered by the question—“I worked with him on a case once.”
She sensed there was more to that story, but Aiden quickly stood and went to get the coffee carafe, refilling their cups. Then he went to work making another pot.
“I’m working through official channels for access to your father’s military files,” Brady said. “Your concern about a soldier who may have been dishonorably discharged is valid.”
“Sounds good.” She really did appreciate the Finnegan family chipping in to help.
Eva ate her scrambled eggs and bacon without complaint. When the little girl began to squirm in her seat, she lifted her out of the chair.
“Cartoons!” Eva said loudly.
“Here, I’ll show you where they are.” Brady jumped up to take her daughter into the living room.
“You can tell he’s a father,” she said, more to herself than anything.
“Yes, and a very good one.” Elly smiled. “We were sad to have missed the early years with Caleb, but we’re blessed to have him with us now.”
“Why did you miss Caleb’s early years?” Shelby asked.
“There isn’t time to go through all the family stories,” Aiden protested. “I can fill you in on Grace and Brady’s path to finding each other later. We’ll help clean the kitchen, then need to take off.”
Elly looked disappointed but nodded. “I understand.”
“Hey, why don’t you pop in to visit Grace at her day care center?” Brady suggested upon returning to the kitchen. “She wouldn’t mind a helping hand if you’re off today. And that way you won’t be here all alone.”
“I will.” Elly smiled. “I like helping in the infant room, and I don’t work until this afternoon at three.”
“Good idea.” Aiden rose and carried his dishes to the sink. “I’ll wash; Brady can dry.”
“I’ll dry.” Shelby finished her last slice of bacon and went over to join him at the sink.
The camaraderie was nice. Maybe a bit overwhelming with so many people, but nice. Shelby was almost disappointed when it was time for them to go.
“I secured the rental for you under my name,” Brady said as they headed out to his SUV. “And I also made a reservation for you at the Timberland Suites.”
“Fancy,” Aiden teased. “Why the special treatment?”
“Because Shelby and Eva deserve it.” Brady grinned. “You’re just along for the ride.”
“Ha ha,” Aiden muttered.
She couldn’t help but smile. Once they were settled in the SUV, Brady backed out of the driveway. The neighborhood was nice, and from what she could tell, they were well outside the city limits.
She leaned forward. “How far to the car rental agency?”
“Ten minutes or so.” Brady met her gaze in the rearview. “I rented a newer model Jeep SUV, similar to yours.”
“Thanks.” She settled back in her seat. “I hope Elly goes to visit your wife. I don’t like thinking she might be in danger.”
“Yeah.” Aiden frowned. “Maybe she should have come with us.”
“She’ll be fine with Grace,” Brady said. His phone rang, so he answered using the hands-free function. “What’s up, Rhy?”
“Devon is being admitted to the hospital; they think she’s in labor.” Rhy’s voice sounded tense. “I’m not worried, she’s in good hands, but I tried to call Elly, she didn’t answer.”
“What?” Brady made a sharp right turn. “We’re heading back to the homestead. I’m sure she’s fine, but we’ll check on her.”
“Thanks. I’m probably overreacting,” Rhy said. “But I appreciate you going over to make sure.”
“It’s fine. Keep us updated on Devon’s progress,” Aiden said. “And congrats, bro. You’re going to be a father very soon.”
“Thanks. Let me know when you reach Elly, okay?”
“Will do.” Aiden and Brady exchanged concerned glances. “Later, Rhy.”
A shiver of apprehension slid down her spine. She didn’t want to believe the gunman had gone to the Finnegan homestead. But if he had? Elly was vulnerable there all alone.
Brady slowed a bit as they approached the Finnegan family home. The street was empty, and there were no cars on the driveway. She tried to relax but couldn’t.
Brady stopped the SUV on the road in front of the house and put the gearshift in park. He turned to Aiden. “Get behind the wheel. You stay here to protect Shelby and Eva. I’ll go inside to check Elly.”
“Got it.” Aiden pulled out his phone, then pushed his door open. “I’m calling for backup if I hear anything suspicious.”
“Works for me.” Brady slid out from behind the wheel and ran up to the front door of the house. Aiden climbed into the driver’s seat.
They both watched as Brady took a moment to disarm the security system. She met Aiden’s gaze in the rearview mirror and knew they shared the same thought. At least the system was still activated. If anyone had come here, they hadn’t forced their way inside.
Then again, Elly seemed very friendly. It wasn’t a stretch to believe Elly had invited the gunman inside.
The seconds ticked by so slowly she could hardly stand it. “What’s taking him so long?”
Before Aiden could answer, she noticed a black SUV turning onto the street. As if in slow motion, she saw the vehicle speed up, turning so that they were heading straight toward them.
“Aiden!” She threw herself over Eva, bracing herself for the impact.
The crack of gunfire followed by shattering glass filled the air.