Page 57 of Disarming The Rancher

“We’ll find Hardy,” he said, knowing full well it was a promise he wasn’t sure he could keep. Adam, Prudence, and the baby had been out on a walk. They were safe at his mother’s place. Adam said he would await word from Brax before returning to the house.

“And what about Kenny and Jake?” she asked.

“We’ll find them too,” he reassured. It also occurred to him the two of them might not want to be out in the open right now where anyone could take a shot from the tree line. Granted, they’d have to be a good aim, plus account for wind at this distance. But he wasn’t in the mood to take chances. “Let’s head inside the barn until the sheriff arrives.”

The entire situation was surreal, the news getting worse with each passing minute. Something was niggling at the back of Raleigh’s mind, and yet she couldn’t quite put a finger on it.

As she rounded the corner outside of the barn, an image scorched her brain.

“Brax,” she whispered.

He stopped dead in his tracks. “Stay behind me.”

She felt him reach out for her and tuck her behind him, essentially blocking Kenny from seeing her.

“Don’t you dare hide,” Kenny said to her. His voice was dark and there was a desperate quality. “Come out and face the music or I pull the trigger.”

Kenny had the barrel of a handgun pointed at Jake’s right temple. A bead of sweat rolled down Jake’s forehead.

“Don’t do—”

Jake’s sentence was cut off by the butt of the gun being slammed into the back of his skull. The young guy grunted as his head jutted forward.

“Stop,” Raleigh shouted, trying to push past Brax, who was basically a steel door.

“No, you’re not going over here,” Brax whispered, his voice a study in calm, whereas she was running on pure emotions. He put his hands in the air. “Take me instead.”

“It’s too late,” Kenny stated. “I’m not getting out of this one alive unless I take her with me.”

“We can take off together like you asked before, Kenny. Go to Mexico where they’ll never find us,” Raleigh was desperate. She would promise anything right now if it meant getting Jake back safely.

“Not going to happen, Kenny,” Brax stated. “Let’s come up with another plan.”

Kenny jerked Jake around. The younger guy dropped to his knees. Raleigh lurched toward Kenny.

Brax caught her in midair.

“What do you think he’s going to do with you when you get over there?” he asked her out of the side of his mouth.

She jerked free from his grasp in one move.

“I can’t stand by and watch this happen when I can do something to stop it.” She bolted toward the fence.

Brax came after her. She could feel him right behind her but Kenny brought the weapon up, pointing it directly at her chest.

“Stop or I shoot her,” Kenny stated.

“We both know you won’t do that,” Brax countered, but he stopped anyway.

She might have acted on impulse, but Jake was young and her responsibility in many respects. No, it wasn’t ideal to play into Kenny’s hand, but what choice did she have? Stand by and let him kill Jake?

The minute the sheriff arrived, Kenny would bolt into the woods and take Jake with him. The second Kenny didn’t need the greenhorn, he’d shoot him and dispose of the body. The image of the sweet kid left in the woods for wild animals to destroy sent another cold chill racing down her spine. The image would stamp her thoughts for a very long time.

There was no way Raleigh could let that happen.

The word that had been niggling at the back of Raleigh’s mind surfaced…distraction.

Kenny had been trying to pressure her into dropping the rest of the band. When that didn’t work, he’d hit on her. And kept pressuring her all the while ripping her and the band off financially.