Settling an Old Score - Delores Fossen Page 0,4

with motion detectors, but no alarms had gone off when the men had broken in.

She groaned. “They jammed it.” Eli didn’t verify that, didn’t need to. It was the only thing that made sense. Actually, it was one of the few things that actually made sense. They’d jammed it so they could get to her before she could grab a weapon or try to defend herself. But why had they set her up to go after Eli?

If that’s what had actually happened.

“The men aren’t coming closer,” Eli told her. “They’re behind the trees across the road from your car. As soon as Kellan gets here, I’ll go out there and confront them.”

She was shaking her head before he even finished. “If you go out there, they could gun you down.”

“Maybe. But they would have had a chance to do that when I stepped on the porch and found the baby. And they could have killed you when they broke into your house or even after you arrived here.”

That robbed Ashlyn of what little breath she’d managed to gather. Mercy, he was right. They could have shot her instead of using the stun gun. Once they’d overpowered her, they could have done whatever they’d wanted.

“What’s going on?” she mumbled.

“The hell if I know, but trust me when I say this, I will find out.”

Eli glanced back at her again, and even though the lights in the room were off, she could see his intense expression. Of course, plenty of things were intense about Eli. He was the tough Slater brother, the hard-nosed Texas Ranger who could intimidate with a single look.

Like now.

Of course, the intimidation was lessened some by the fact he was bare to the waist and his jeans weren’t even zipped. For just a split second, before she could push it away, Ashlyn saw the hot cowboy that she’d once crushed on way back in high school.

“You’d better not be lying to me about any of this,” he snarled.

And just like that, he caused the “crush” thoughts to vanish in a flash. “Everything that I’ve told you is the truth.”

It was. But with their history, she couldn’t blame him for asking. However, she could perhaps blame him for what’d gone on.

“If these men wanted me to kill you, then maybe it’s because of a case you’re working on. Maybe it’s because of Marta,” she added.

Ashlyn waited for the glare that she was certain he would send her way, but there wasn’t one. Maybe because he got an interruption when his phone rang. He put the call on speaker while he continued to keep watch, and it didn’t take long before she heard the familiar voice.

Sheriff Kellan Slater.

“I’m just up the road, and I have the two men in sight,” Kellan explained. “You’re right. They’re armed. From what I can see both have handguns, and one has a rifle with a scope.”

Eli’s scowl deepened, and she thought she knew why. The handguns might not be much of a threat to them if the men stayed across the road because of the range of the bullets, but they could use the rifle to fire into the house. If that’s what they planned, that is. But as Eli had pointed out, they hadn’t shot at either him or her when they’d had a chance.

“Gunnar’s on the way,” Kellan added a moment later. “I’d like to hold off doing anything until he gets here, and he can block the road from the other end.”

Gunnar was Deputy Gunnar Pullam, whom Ashlyn had known most of her life. Like Kellan, he didn’t live too far away, which hopefully meant he’d be there soon. That way, if they could pen in the men, they might be able to catch and then question them.

“You have IDs on these two?” Kellan asked Eli.

“No. But I believe they might have brought Ashlyn’s adopted baby to my house and left her on my doorstep.”

“What?” Kellan sounded just as stunned as Eli had been when she’d first shown up.

“Yeah,” was all Eli said. “I need to grab my boots from my bedroom,” he added to Kellan. “If we have to chase these guys, I don’t want to be barefoot. Ashlyn is on the floor, and she’ll stay down.”

“I’ll keep watch,” Kellan assured him. “Hurry.”

The urgency in Kellan’s voice came through loud and clear, and it gave Ashlyn another jolt of adrenaline that she didn’t need. At least Cora had stopped fussing and had fallen back asleep. That hopefully meant the baby