The Marshal's Justice. Delores Fossen
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She volleyed glances at the .38, Chase and April. When Renée lifted her hand, Chase was certain that she was about to surrender.
He was wrong.
Renée made a feral sound that came deep from within her throat. Definitely not the sound of a woman who’d just realized she’d made a huge mistake. This was more the sound a trapped animal would make.
She turned, racing around the back of the car. Chase still wasn’t sure what she had in mind, but he didn’t want to risk firing a warning shot. He cursed and went after her.
Renée didn’t stop at the back of the car. She kept running. She jumped the narrow ditch and headed for the woods. For a pregnant woman, she ran pretty darn fast.
“Don’t hurt your baby,” April shouted out to her.
It was a good thing to say. It should have gotten a concerned, expectant mother to slow down.
But Renée definitely didn’t slow down.
“She can’t get away,” April said, following right along behind Chase and the woman.
“Go after her,” Jax insisted. “I’ll stay and search the car to make sure there’s no other gunman inside.”
Good plan. Too bad Chase didn’t have time to talk April into staying with Jax because she, too, went after Renée. Thankfully, it didn’t take them long to catch up with the woman, and when they did, Chase latched on to her shoulder and dragged her to a stop.
Renée didn’t exactly cooperate.
“Let me go,” she shouted, and she started to fight. Clawing and scratching at Chase while she tried to kick him.
Chase did something about that .38. He knocked it from her hand and April snatched it up before Renée could grab it.
That still didn’t stop Renée.
She rammed into Chase and she didn’t hold back. Renée off-balanced them, and Chase knew he couldn’t stop them from falling to the ground. However, he did try to take the brunt of the fall so that Renée’s unborn baby wouldn’t be hurt.
But when he heard April gasp, Chase figured he hadn’t succeeded in doing that.
Until he saw what’d captured April’s attention.
Renée’s dress had been shoved up during the scuffle. Way up. Chase saw a wire, but he also saw something strapped to her stomach.
A fake baby bump.
“She’s not even pregnant,” April mumbled.
That caused Renée to make another of those feral sounds, and she started fighting again. Not just scratching and shoving this time, but she punched Chase hard in the face.
Enough of this.
Since he was no longer dealing with a pregnant woman, Chase rammed her against the ground and pinned her in place.
“Tell Jax I need a pair of plastic cuffs,” Chase told April.
April turned, no doubt to call out to Jax. But his brother responded before she could even get out a word.
“Get up here now,” Jax shouted. “I found a baby.”
April ran as fast as she could, the horrible thoughts running right along with her. Jax had said he’d found a baby, but that didn’t mean it was Bailey, and it didn’t mean her precious daughter was safe.
After all, the men who’d taken Bailey were the same ones who’d murdered Deanne.
Chase ran, too, dragging Renée along with him. But Renée still wasn’t cooperating, and that slowed Chase down.
April finally reached the road, but her heart sank when she didn’t see Jax. She soon spotted him, though. He was sitting in the backseat of the car next to an infant seat.
And Bailey was in that seat.
“She’s okay,” Jax insisted. “Someone’s obviously been taking good care of her.”
April’s breath whooshed out, and she practically crawled over Jax to get to the baby. He stepped out, hurrying toward Chase so he could take hold of Renée. But Jax did more than that. He clamped his hand over Renée’s mouth.
“I don’t want her calling out for help if she’s got any other comrades in the area,” Jax said.
Yes, and it was something that April should have thought about already. Renée could still be dangerous, but before April could deal with her, she had to see to Bailey first.
Bailey didn’t appear to have any injuries, but April had to check for herself. She took her from the seat, peeling back the blanket so she could check for any scrapes or bruises. None.
Jax had been right. Someone had been taking care of her. Bailey had on a fresh diaper, a clean pink gown, and judging from the bottles in the diaper bag next to the infant seat, she’d been well fed. Thank God. She was okay.
But Chase wasn’t.
April had been so caught up in making sure Bailey was unharmed that she hadn’t noticed Chase was right there by the door, and he had his attention fixed on the baby. He looked as if someone had slugged him, but the shock lasted for only a couple of seconds. Then, April saw something else she instantly recognized.
Love.
One look at his daughter and Chase was as smitten as April was.
“They didn’t hurt her,” Chase said, gulping in a long breath.
The love was mixed with a hefty dose of relief. Again, that love and relief didn’t extend to April. Chase’s gaze was practically icy when it landed on her.
“You should have told me when she was born,” Chase snarled and likely would have said a whole lot more if Jax hadn’t cleared his throat to get their attention.
“I hate to break up this family reunion, but it’s not a good idea for us to be hanging around out here. There could be other gunmen.”
Jax was right. Plus, he was still dealing with Renée. He kept his hand clamped over her mouth so she couldn’t yell, but she was struggling to break free.
Chase glanced around, probably trying to keep watch and figure out a solution to this. “Don’t say anything about where we’re going,” April reminded him. “Renée’s wearing that wire.”
“I disconnected it, but it’s still taped to her fake baby bump.”
Good. Because April didn’t want any more info relayed back to whoever had hired the woman or any other of those thugs.
“Where are you parked?” Chase asked Jax.
Jax tipped his head toward the road. “I left the cruiser about a quarter of a mile from here.”
Not that far, but he would have to fight Renée every step of the way. Chase obviously figured that out right away because he opened the driver’s side door of the black car and got in.
“I’ll drive you to the cruiser, and I can come back later and get my own car,” he told Jax. “You and Renée get in the front. April can ride with Bailey in the back.”
Good, because April didn’t want Bailey next to the woman. At best, Renée seemed unstable, but she could also be a hired killer. How the heck had Quentin gotten involved with her?
Or maybe he hadn’t.
April wasn’t sure anything coming out of Renée’s mouth had been the truth, but maybe they could sort it all out at the sheriff’s office. It was possible they’d also get some info from the wire she was wearing. First, though, April needed to try to sort out things