Remorse gathered inside her. Should she have tried to warn Deacon? If Rick Garrison had found the cabin, the authorities were probably on their way, too. He must have contacted them, right?
She pictured metal handcuffs being snapped around Deacon’s strong wrists and fought a wave of panic. How would she ever explain to her family that the father of her child was a kidnapper? How would she tell her child that his father was in jail? Or dead. Lord, Deacon could already be dead, if he’d been one of the men Rick “took out.”
Worry about that later. Right now, run!
She kept moving, determined to make it to those darn rocks, but she and Rick were five yards short of their destination when the entire clearing was illuminated by bright light.
Lana blinked from the sudden flash, horror spiraling up her chest as she heard angry male voices boom from behind them. Enormous security lights had been installed in the trees. She and Rick were completely visible now, like two prisoners caught in a spotlight while attempting a prison break.
“Don’t move!” someone roared.
She froze. Rick’s hand was still on her arm, pulling her forward, but then the crack of a rifle exploded in the night air, and he finally came to a reluctant halt, mumbling a stream of curses under his breath.
“Turn around!”
Le Clair’s voice this time, and Lana felt like a disobedient child as she slowly turned to face her captors. Next to her, Rick had raised his rifle. She followed his lead, lifting the handgun and aiming it at Le Clair, but her hand shook wildly.
There were about twenty yards separating them from her kidnappers. Rick stood protectively by her side. Across the clearing, Le Clair, Echo and Tango had their weapons trained on the duo. Kilo was off to the left, a rifle perched on his enormous shoulder. Oscar, the silent one who’d bought her all those things from town, was a few feet from Kilo, also holding a rifle. But where was Deacon?
Her breathing quickened, then relaxed when she spotted Deacon at Le Clair’s right side, the sleek metal of his gun glimmering in the lights bathing the yard. He was alive. Relief coursed through her, then faded abruptly when she realized just how volatile this situation had become.
It was like a Wild West standoff. Next to her, Rick didn’t even blink. Across from them, the five men were equally still.
“Hand the girl over,” Le Clair ordered, his weapon trained on Garrison. “Hand her over, and we won’t kill you.”
“What do we do?” Lana whispered in desperation.
“Shhh.” Rick didn’t even look at her. Holding his rifle with steady hands, he tossed out his own suggestion. “Let us walk away, and I won’t kill you.”
Le Clair’s laugh reverberated in the clearing, bouncing off the massive trunks of the redwood trees. “My, my, aren’t we confident. Five against one, and still so sure of yourself.”
“I’m a trained sharpshooter,” Rick called back carelessly. “I can take all five of you out in less than ten seconds.”
“Yeah, but then you’d have a dead princess on your hands,” Le Clair replied. “Because the second one of us goes down, the others have orders to shoot the hostage. Standard operating procedure, my friend.”
“Is that actually standard procedure?” Lana hissed.
Rick shook his head. “In this psycho’s world, maybe.” He went quiet, his brows knitting together in thought. “I can take them out. If you hit the deck before I take the first shot, I can get ’em all.”
His confidence did nothing to soothe her. He’d said so himself—these men were pros. What if she didn’t go down fast enough? What if she got hit?
What if she lost the baby?
“No,” she choked out.
Garrison had already raised his rifle. “When I say the word—”
“No. It’s too risky!”
“I don’t have all night,” Le Clair shouted. “Give us the girl and you’re free to go.”
Rick had Le Clair in his sights. “Not going to happen, my friend.”
“Rick, please,” she pleaded. “Don’t shoot at them.”
“On the count of three, hit the ground, Miss Kelley.”
“They’ll let you go if you give me up,” she burst out. “If you do this, we’ll both get killed.”
“One.”
“Hand her over,” Le Clair demanded, sounding increasingly annoyed.
Her heart was beating so fast she was surprised it didn’t rip through her chest. “Rick, please.”
“Two.”
Her kidnappers shifted their weapons. Trained them on her.
Oh, God. She and Rick would both be killed if he went ahead with this suicidal plan. If it was just her, she might be willing to take her chances, but no way was she going to be responsible for Rick’s death. And no way in hell was she putting her unborn child at risk.
She glanced at Rick, saw his mouth open, saw his lips begin to form the number three.
Without pausing to analyze her actions, Lana threw herself in front of Garrison’s rifle and shouted, “Stop! I’ll come back!”