CHAPTER
SEVENTEEN

Asher hurried through the busted front door, passing Gavin, who fell in behind him. “Miranda! It’s Asher James! Are you okay?”

The kid was still screaming and Asher’s gut twisted. The black van parked out front two houses down had set off every danger alarm in his system, and he’d had Brooke call 911 the moment he saw it. He turned to Brooke. “Stay put.”

She pressed her phone to her ear. “They’re on the way.”

Asher caught Gavin’s gaze and pointed to the hallway where the cries still echoed. They crossed the living area, dodging toys and discarded sippy cups, and came to the hallway entrance. Light poured from the last bedroom on the right. Asher took one step forward only to halt when a figure dressed in black emerged from that room.

Asher lifted his weapon. “Stop right there!”

Another man pushed in front of his partner, a little girl swinging from his grasp. Erin. The man hefted her in front of his head.

Adrenaline ramping into overload, Asher held still, noting the defensive move. He couldn’t make a head shot without hitting the little girl. “I don’t know what you want here, but this is the end of the line. Cops are on the way. Put the girl down.”

“Lower your weapon and let us pass.” The voice sounded familiar and Asher scrambled to place it, while the child’s tear-streaked face flushed a deeper red as her cries intensified.

“Put her down!” Miranda cried. “Give her to me!”

The woman rushed toward the masked man who held the little girl. The one in back turned and punched her in the face. She went down and the three-year-old’s screeches rose another octave.

“Mama! Mama! Get me! Get me!”

“Back off,” the man in front growled at Asher. He held the weapon at Erin’s temple. “Back off or it’ll be your fault she dies.”

Asher glanced at Gavin, who’d scooted in to his line of sight on the left and nodded. Biting back a growl of frustration, Asher opened his hand and let his Glock spin on his index finger so it pointed to the ceiling. Gavin did the same.

“Just let the kid go,” Asher said.

His words landed on deaf ears.

“Get out of the way,” Erin’s captor said. His hand didn’t waver, the crying child didn’t seem to faze him. He walked forward, confident no one would stop him.

Well, he was right about that. Asher wouldn’t do anything while he held a weapon against the girl’s head. The man’s partner, also dressed in black with a matching ski mask, walked behind him, hand on his shoulder, his own weapon alternating between them and Miranda.

The last time the man in back turned away from her, Miranda rose from the floor, hand pressed against her mouth. Her frantic eyes met Asher’s and he waved her back, silently pleading with her not to do anything to draw more attention to herself. She paused, obviously torn between wanting to go after her child and trusting Asher to rescue her. Thankfully, she stayed put and Asher walked backward while the men walked forward. He kept his body between them and Brooke and didn’t think they’d spotted her yet.

“Open the door,” the one in front said. The child had stopped crying and was now hiccuping, coughing—then gagged and spewed, emptying her stomach. The man holding her cursed but didn’t loosen his grip.

Asher threw the door open. “Give me the girl and we won’t stop you from leaving. You don’t want to take her with you, she’ll just slow you down.” There was no way Asher planned to let them leave with the child. If she disappeared into the car with them, he had a feeling that would be the last time anyone would see her alive.

The man’s partner exited behind him. Sirens screamed in the distance and the two froze for a second.

“Go, go, go,” the one holding Erin yelled as he stood at the front door. He aimed his weapon away from the three-year-old and pointed it at Asher. “We get caught, she dies.”

“No!” Brooke launched herself at the man, grabbing the arm that trapped Erin against him and pulling him sideways, unbalancing him for a fraction of a second. The distraction was enough for Asher and Gavin.

“Get the gun!” Asher yelled the order at Gavin and went for the man holding Erin. Asher’s fist landed on the cloth-covered cheek. The man hollered, jerked back, and lost his grip on the girl. Erin tumbled to the floor, and Asher thought Miranda may have grabbed her, but his full concentration was on not letting the man kill him—or Brooke—as he grabbed the man’s gun arm.

A pistol cracked and Gavin jerked. Another shot fired and the bullet whizzed past Asher’s head, missing by millimeters. The intruder yanked out of his grasp and stumbled down the steps. More bullets slammed the outside of the house and Asher had no choice but to duck and kick the door shut.

Seconds later, an engine roared and tires squealed against the concrete drive. Asher rolled to see Brooke crouched on the floor, ducked against the flying bullets. Her body shook, but no sound came from her. He looked back over his shoulder to see Gavin hunched over the mother and her daughter. Blood dripped from Gavin’s shoulder. “You hit?”

“A graze. Nothing serious.”

Asher registered another child crying and figured it was Zac. With Gavin caring for the mother and daughter, Asher hurried to Brooke’s side and placed a hand on her arm. “Brooke, it’s over.”

She looked up and shook her head as though to dislodge unpleasant memories. He knew how she felt. She sat up, her eyes searching behind him. “Miranda? Erin?”

“They’re okay.”

A breath whooshed from her and she pressed the heels of her palms against her temples. “What just happened?”

“We got here in time to prevent some really bad stuff, thanks to you.” The crying baby at the back of the house demanded attention. “I’m going to go get Zac before he has a stroke. Miranda doesn’t seem to be able to move at the moment.” The woman still sat on the floor holding the now quiet Erin, who gripped her mother’s pajama top in both hands. The three-year-old wasn’t about to let anyone separate her from Miranda.

“Thank you,” Miranda said to Brooke. “Thank you.”

Asher hurried down the hallway and found the baby standing in his crib, still hollering. As soon as he saw Asher, the cries stopped and he held up his hands. Asher lifted the tiny boy and settled him against his chest, then used the hem of his shirt to clean the tears and snot.

“Ew,” Brooke said from the door. “Why do guys think that’s okay?”

Asher’s muscles relaxed a fraction and he shot her a small smile. “It’s just a little water.”

“It’s snot. It’s gross.”

“Yeah, well, a little snot never hurt anyone.”

Zac’s eyes bounced between Asher and Brooke. “Mama.”

Asher smoothed the sleep-spiked dark hair. “Come on, let’s go see her. I’m sure she’s anxious to see you too.”

When he returned to the den area, officers were inside talking to Gavin and Miranda. Erin had fallen asleep on her mother’s shoulder, her small fist now tangled in the woman’s hair.

Miranda’s gaze met his and relieved tears filled her eyes when she spotted her son safely in his arms. Zac didn’t seem to mind Asher holding him, so Asher didn’t bother to hand him over. Miranda could see he was safe, and she had her hands full with the sleeping, but still clinging, three-year-old.

Asher stepped up to the officers and identified himself as Gavin’s coworker, then turned to Miranda. “Do you have someone you can stay the night with?”

“I . . . um . . . yes.” She swiped a tear from her cheek. “I can call my parents. They’ll come get us.”

“Get whatever you need packed and the officers can escort you there.” He eyed the nearest one. “You don’t mind, do you?”

“Of course not.” The man’s kind eyes assured Asher it was no trouble at all.

Miranda’s eyes cleared and she let her gaze linger on his. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to realize she wanted to speak with him in private.

He gave her a slight nod and helped her up. “Why don’t I help you put the kids back to bed so you can pack?”

“If I can get Erin to let go of me, that would be great.” She looked at Brooke. “You want to help?”

“Sure.” Brooke turned to the officers. “I’ll be back in just a bit.”

Asher caught Gavin’s eye and gave him the “keep them busy” look.

Gavin got the message. “You think one of the paramedics could take a look at this arm?”

“Yeah, that was a close one.”

Their voices faded as Asher followed Miranda and Brooke down the hallway.

Brooke’s hands wouldn’t stop shaking and she knew that was normal. Just like when she’d been caught in a cross fire outside the base on her way back from an afternoon out with her escort. It had been brief, and the insurgents hastily dispatched, but it had stayed with her in the form of the shakes for hours afterward.

This was apparently going to be no different.

“That was a brave thing you did,” Asher said softly to her as they walked down the hall.

“Brave or stupid?”

“Brave. Definitely brave. What would have been stupid would be letting them leave with the child. You did good, Brooke.”

“Thanks,” she whispered.

Once inside the master bedroom, Miranda shut the door. Asher still held Zac, and Erin continued to sleep on her mother’s shoulder. Miranda gestured to the pile of jewelry at the bottom of her bed. “I didn’t want to say anything in front of the cops in case I shouldn’t, but those guys were here for that bracelet you left me.”

“I’m so sorry,” Brooke said. “We didn’t figure it out until a short time ago—and then realized we could have inadvertently put you in danger.”

“Which is why you showed up on my doorstep at two o’clock in the morning?”

“Exactly,” Asher said, shifting the wiggling baby to his other arm.

“Well,” Brooke said, “you didn’t answer your phone.”

“I put it on ‘do not disturb’ at night.”

“Did they get the bracelet?” Brooke asked.

“They got the one Isaiah gave me, not the one you did.”

Brooke lifted a brow.

Miranda shot her a tight smile. “I hadn’t put it in my jewelry box yet. After you handed me the bracelet and walked out, Zac started screaming, so I had to fix him a bottle.” She eyed her son. “Which I probably should do now so he’ll go back to sleep.” She pulled Erin’s fingers out of her hair and laid her in the middle of the big king-size bed. They all held their breaths as the child stirred, then rolled over and settled back into a peaceful snooze.

In single file, they tiptoed out of the room and followed Miranda into the den. Gavin sat on the couch, missing his left sleeve, a white bandage covering the upper part of his bicep. The officers were gone. “They’re canvassing the neighbors,” Gavin said, “checking to see if they saw anything.”

“Good,” Asher said. “Are you okay?”

“Nothing a little healing won’t take care of. The bullet just took a chunk of skin and tissue, so I’ll be good as new in a couple of weeks.”

No doubt an exaggeration, but Brooke noted Asher didn’t seem to be too concerned either.

Miranda went to the mantel, took down a small wooden box, and opened it. She pulled out the charm bracelet and handed it to Brooke. “I think Isaiah meant for you to have this all along. You said that he told you to keep it safe.”

“I thought he meant keep it safe to give to you, though.”

“No, there’s something about this bracelet that must be different than mine. Obviously, I don’t have the other one so we can’t compare them, but I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”

Brooke passed the jewelry to Asher. “You’re the one with access to resources. Maybe you should keep it.”

Asher pocketed it. “We’ll work on this in the morning.”

Gavin yawned. “It is morning.”

“Okay, after a few hours of sleep.”

One of the officers stuck his head in the door. “Ma’am, your parents are here,” he said to Miranda.

Asher still held Zac, who’d fallen asleep without the bottle. Miranda thanked him, then sighed and raked a hand over her hair. “Will they come after me once they realize the bracelet isn’t what they wanted?”

“I doubt it,” Gavin told her. “I don’t see how they could know there are two bracelets, so once they find nothing on the one they took, they’ll probably figure they need to come back after Brooke since she’s the last one who saw Isaiah alive.” He grimaced at Brooke. “Sorry.”

“Better me than Miranda and her children.” She shuddered.

Asher was nodding. “I think you’re right. They’re going to figure even though they struck out with the bracelet, Isaiah passed information on to her about whatever it is they’re after.” His eyes locked on Gavin’s. “Did you notice the same thing I did?”

“I noticed a lot of things.”

“The way they left the house?”

“Yeah. They’re military or law enforcement.”

“I think I recognized one of their voices,” Asher said, thinking back, trying to place it.

“Same here, but I can’t put a face to it.”

“So it’s definitely someone we know,” Asher said. “Makes me sick to think it.”

The door opened once more and a couple in their late forties entered. The woman was strikingly beautiful, but anxiety pinched the lines around her mouth as she rushed in to wrap her arms around Miranda. “What in the world, honey?”

“I’m okay, Mom.”

The woman pulled back and her gaze flicked to Asher, who still held Zac. “Where’s Erin?”

“In my bed,” Miranda said. “You can get her.”

She darted down the hall.

Miranda’s father stepped over to hug her, then took the sleeping baby from Asher while Miranda made the introductions and explained that it was only due to the good timing of Brooke and the others that she and the kids were okay.

The man swallowed hard, obviously trying to control his emotions. “Thank you,” he finally said.

“Of course,” Asher said.

Miranda’s mother came back into the den carrying Erin, who’d snuggled down against her shoulder. “I told you we should have moved in here or you should have moved in with us.”

“Mom—”

“But I’m so thankful you’re all okay. Now let’s get home so we can get these kids in bed and you can get some rest.”

Once everyone was gone and Brooke, Asher, and Gavin were back in Gavin’s Hummer, they sat in silence for a good minute.

“Okay,” Asher said. “I vote we head back to the hotel and get a couple hours of sleep before we work on why this bracelet is worth killing for.”

“Sounds good to me,” Brooke murmured. She could feel a headache coming on, and the thought of closing her eyes for even an hour sounded blissful.

Asher insisted on driving since Gavin was a little loopy from the injection he’d been given. Everyone kept an eye on the mirrors, watching for a tail, but it seemed their pursuers were satisfied with their bracelet for the moment.

Brooke just hoped they could all get some rest before the attackers struck again. Because it wasn’t a matter of if, it was a matter of when.