One Night Standoff

chapter Fifteen



Lenora barely had time to catch her breath before Clayton moved off her. She immediately felt the loss of his body heat.

And his touch.

She nearly pulled him right back on her, but then realized he’d likely moved for her own comfort and for the sake of the baby. But it hadn’t been uncomfortable. Just the opposite. Every part of her was still humming and slack from the pleasure of the climax.

Clayton turned onto his side, facing her, and eased toward her so that the top of her head was tucked under his chin. It was definitely intimate, since they were butt naked and recovering from the aftermath of incredible sex.

Well, it had been incredible for her, anyway.

She’d wanted Clayton since the first time she’d laid eyes on him, and their other time together had been clouded with grief. This time there were clouds, too, but she’d had a hard time remembering them when he was inside her.

But the clouds returned.

So did the mental list of what they were facing. And no, another round of sex wasn’t on that list. Or at least it shouldn’t have been. Too bad there wasn’t a cure for Clayton Caldwell so she could concentrate on what had to be done.

Yes, definitely clouds.

They had to continue the investigation and also had to work out something on a personal level that didn’t involve a marriage of convenience. She wanted Clayton in their baby’s life. She was certain now that he wanted it, too, but Lenora was also afraid that once he fully recovered from his injuries, he might feel differently, that he might even resent being tied to a woman he didn’t love.

And there had been no talk of love.

Not even a hint, and despite the craziness going on, there had been a time or two when he could have said he was falling for her. Or maybe just that one day he might be able to fall for her.

But nothing, other than that milquetoast proposal.

“I remember,” he said.

Even though he’d whispered it, his voice seemed to echo through the otherwise silent room. Lenora froze for a moment, processing that, and then she pulled back so she could meet his gaze.

“How much do you remember?” she asked.

Lenora didn’t know why she was afraid of the answer, but she was. Maybe because Clayton had realized that it had been nothing more than a one-night stand between them.

And that’s what it had been.

Two people in shock and filled with grief over a woman’s murder. Except Lenora had the sinking feeling that it had been more than that for her.

A lot more.

Despite her not seeing Clayton for two months after that, she hadn’t been able to forget him, and she was reasonably sure that the pregnancy was only a part of that. Even if she hadn’t become pregnant, she doubted she would have just been able to walk away and forget him. Even if that’s exactly what she should have done.

“I remember you,” he said, as if choosing his words carefully. He slid his hand between them and over her stomach. “I remember that night.”

She waited, but he didn’t add more. Certainly nothing about what he’d been feeling when they’d dragged each other off to bed.

And nothing about what he was feeling now.

“You should get some rest,” he said, kissing the top of her head. He would have gotten up from the bed if she hadn’t caught him by the arm.

“Okay, what’s wrong? What did you remember?” Lenora demanded.

He looked down at her, his gaze skirting over her naked body. “That you were anxious to get out of there afterward.”

That was true. But it hadn’t been because she wanted to leave Clayton, but rather because she hadn’t wanted to fall apart in front of him. Hard to explain that to a man when they’d just had sex.

“Leaving wasn’t about you,” Lenora settled for saying.

He stared at her. Apparently it was her turn to add more, but she must have waited too long because Clayton made a slight sound of frustration, broke out of her grip and started getting dressed.

“I have to relieve Cutter soon,” he said with his back to her. He pulled on his boxers and jeans.

Enough of this. It was nearly two hours until he had to pull relief duty, and she wasn’t going to let him get away until she’d had a chance to explain.

Lenora got to her feet, too, and whirled him around to face her. “I’m not used to relying on anyone, okay? And I left your bed that night because I was afraid of what I might say to you.”

There. She’d bared her soul, but Lenora knew this wasn’t finished. No. Clayton wanted her to say the words that she’d been afraid she might blurt out that night. However, he didn’t have time to press her, because something else snagged his attention.

A shout.

It sent Clayton scrambling, first to turn off the lights, and then to the window. Since Lenora was still naked, she didn’t immediately follow him, but she did gather up her clothes so she could dress.

“What’s happening?” she asked.

“I’m not sure, but some of the horses are loose. I think it was Cutter who shouted something.”

Relief washed over her body. After everything else they’d been through, loose horses didn’t seem like much of an issue.

Unless...

“Do you see anyone out there?” Lenora quickly put on her clothes. “Someone who could have let them out?”

He shook his head just as his phone buzzed. With his attention still fastened outside the window, he pulled his cell from his pocket and answered it.

“Cutter,” he said. “What’s going on with the horses?”

Lenora couldn’t hear what the ranch hand said, but she also didn’t see anything too extreme in Clayton’s reaction. Just the same concern that had been there since this entire ordeal started.

“I’ll have a look,” Clayton told Cutter, and he ended the call.

Now, that immediately upped Lenora’s concern. “You’re going out there?”

He nodded, finished dressing. “Cutter and the other ranch hands haven’t seen anyone, but I need to find out why the horses have broken the fence. It might be nothing,” he quickly added. Probably because he saw the fear in her eyes.

“It could be Johnny Lomax,” she reminded him just as quickly. “He could have come here to try to kill us.”

Clayton brushed a kiss on her cheek. “If it’s Lomax, I need to find him.”

He strapped on his holster and took another gun from the nightstand drawer. He handed it to her. “I want you to stay inside this room, away from the window. I’ll lock the downstairs door behind me and have one of my brothers rearm the security system. It’s not monitored by a company, but the alarm will alert us if anyone tries to break in.”

Lenora was already shaking her head before he even finished. “You need to have one of your brothers go outside with you.”

“I will,” he mumbled.

But she wasn’t sure he was telling the truth. Still, she couldn’t stop him. Besides, if it was Lomax or some other hired gun, then he needed to be stopped before he could shoot into the house.

“If I need to talk to you, I’ll call the landline.” He tipped his head to the phone on the nightstand. “Remember, stay put.”

And with that warning, he was gone.

Lenora shut the bedroom door and locked it, but pressed her ear against it, listening to the sound of Clayton’s footsteps. When she could no longer hear him, she went back across the room. Not in front of the window just in case someone did fire a shot, but off to the side so she could look out.

There were at least a dozen horses on the driveway in front of the house and in the side yard. The animals weren’t just milling around, either. They were moving as if they’d been spooked, not really going anywhere, just running. Still, she held out hope that this would all turn out to be nothing. After all, horses probably got out on occasion, and maybe this was one of those benign occasions.

She spotted Clayton in the backyard, and he wasn’t alone, thank God. Declan was with him. That meant Wyatt was no doubt inside and had rearmed the security. She guessed that he would stay with Kirby, Stella and the nurse. The housekeeper had already gone home, so that was one fewer person to be concerned about, if this did turn out to be something.

Lenora had to remind herself to breathe when her lungs started to ache, and as if protesting at her suddenly tight muscles, the baby kicked hard. She slid her left hand over her stomach to try to soothe him or her, but she kept the gun ready in her right.

Thanks to the security lights, she watched as Clayton and Declan made their way across the backyard and toward the fence that stretched out behind the barn. She remembered seeing horses in that part of the pasture when she and Clayton talked to Quentin, but she couldn’t see any back there now. Only the ones that were running free.

Her breath stalled again when she saw Clayton and Declan pivot toward the front of the house. Both took aim. But then just as quickly, they lowered their guns when Cutter came into view.

Good.

Not only wasn’t it the threat that her body anticipated, but now Clayton had two people with him. She wished he had an entire army, because she had a very uneasy feeling about this.

Was Johnny Lomax out there?

The three men kept moving toward the back pasture. All stayed vigilant, with their gazes firing around them and their guns ready. It wasn’t long, however, before they disappeared from view. What little peace of mind she had disappeared, as well. It sent her heart racing to know that Clayton could have to face down a killer out there in the darkness.

Lenora considered hurrying to another room with a rear-facing window so she could keep watch, but Clayton had told her to stay put, and that’s what she would do. Besides, her movements might alarm Wyatt, and she didn’t want to distract him, since he was likely keeping watch, too.

Since she couldn’t see Clayton and the others, she tried to steady the heartbeat in her ears so she could hear what was going on. There were certainly no voices. No more shouts. Only the sound of the horses’ hooves chopping into the ground below her. The quiet didn’t lull her into a sense of safety, but she started to relax just a little.

When the sound pierced through the room.

But not just the room.

The shrill noise blasted through the entire house. And it was a sound she definitely hadn’t wanted to hear. Not a shot. In some ways, this could be worse.

Because someone had set off the security alarm.

God, was the killer inside the house?

* * *

CLAYTON CURSED the moment he heard the alarm. The only way for it to be clanging like that was for someone to have opened a door or window. And since he’d warned all of them—Lenora, Kirby, Stella and Wyatt—not to leave, that meant one of them hadn’t listened.

Or someone had broken in.

Hell, Lenora and the others could be in danger.

Clayton took out his cell and called the house phone, as he’d promised Lenora he would do. She answered on the first ring.

“What’s going on?” Lenora immediately asked.

She was alive, thank God, and from the sound of it, terrified. That wasn’t good, but he’d take terrified over wounded any day.

“I’m not sure what set off the alarm,” Clayton answered. Or more like who set it off. “Are you okay?”

“Yes. Are you?”

“Fine.” For now. He wasn’t about to say that to her, though. “Keep the bedroom door locked and stay away from the window,” he repeated. “I’ll get there as fast as I can.”

He hung up, but not before he heard Lenora say, “Be careful.”

Clayton motioned for Declan and Cutter to follow him when he started for the house. He ran, trying to keep watch around him. After all, there was a possibility that the alarm had been tripped to draw them into an ambush, but that was an outside chance. There’d been opportunity for someone to shoot at them the minute Declan and he had stepped outside.

But how had someone gotten past the ranch hands and into the house?

With that question burning in his mind, Clayton ran to the back porch. No one was in sight, and he couldn’t hear anything over the alarm. He tested the knob.

Locked.

Just as he’d left it.

He fished out his key from his pocket, opened the door and peered inside the kitchen. The room was practically pitch-black, also as he’d left it, and he couldn’t see anyone lurking in the shadows. He reached inside and glanced at the security panel.

Clayton cursed again.

The tiny blinking red light stabbed through the darkness, an indication of which sensor had been tripped, and it was the sensor for a window in the den. The bottom floor of the house. He wasn’t sure how an intruder had gotten past the ranch hands, but maybe the person had used the horses for a distraction. If so, it had worked.

“You think he’s still outside the window?” Declan whispered, looking in at the light, as well.

Clayton shook his head. “He’s inside.” No way would a trained killer loiter around out there when the ranch hands were patrolling. He’d likely come with some kind of tool to break in and had gotten in fast.

Despite that horrible realization, Clayton didn’t go barreling in. Too risky. He couldn’t allow himself to be shot, because then he couldn’t protect the others. But he didn’t dawdle, either. It might have been a relief if someone had immediately shot at them. To have it over and done. And it would also mean the person wasn’t anywhere near Lenora on the second floor. But that didn’t happen, and it meant that someone was in another part of the house.

Maybe near Kirby, Stella and Wyatt.

Maybe headed upstairs.

Since it was on the way to the stairs, Clayton went to Kirby’s room first and listened for any sounds to indicate where the intruder was. Nothing. In fact, no sounds at all. He tested the knob, which should have been locked.

It wasn’t.

Hell, there was no way Wyatt would have unlocked the door unless there’d been some kind of emergency.

Even in the darkness, Clayton saw the alarm in Declan’s eyes. “Keep watch,” Clayton instructed Cutter, and he opened the door.

At first Clayton didn’t see anything, until he looked at the floor. His heart went to his knees when he saw Wyatt, Stella and Kirby. Not moving. All in crumpled heaps.

Declan rushed in, and he immediately touched his fingers to Wyatt’s neck. “He’s alive. He’s been stunned or something.”

Definitely not good. It meant someone had gotten close enough to do that. But at least Wyatt was alive. Maybe Kirby and Stella, too.

While Clayton wanted to help Declan check the others, his first priority was Lenora and the baby. If the intruder had done this to Wyatt, Stella and Kirby, then he could have done it to Lenora.

Or worse.

He didn’t let himself think of the or worse, but God knew what a stun gun would do to an unborn child. As a minimum, it could cause Lenora to miscarry.

Praying that he wasn’t too late, Clayton hurried toward the stairs. He hadn’t even made it to the first step when he saw something. A blur of motion. Someone dressed in dark clothes. He took aim but didn’t fire, because he couldn’t take the chance that it was Lenora trying to escape.

“Lenora?” he risked calling out to her.

“There’s someone in the house,” she shouted.

She was alive. He thanked God for that, too, but then he heard more movement. Not from the guest room where he’d left Lenora. No. This was much closer. Somewhere at the top of the stairs.

Clayton adjusted his aim and moved closer to the railing before he started up the steps. Shooting would be a huge risk, because bullets could go through the walls and hit Lenora.

That thought had no sooner crossed his mind when the shadowy figure darted out, and Clayton had only a split second to react. He dove to the side.

Just as the shot flew past him.