“Phoenix? ETA two minutes. SITREP?”
Hawk didn’t waste a single second. “Dakota and Adrienne are inside our house. I got Jessie and the baby out, but we’re in our SUV driving across the property. At least one of them has a gun.” Jessie hissed in the back as they went over a bump. Fuck. Hawk was never going to be able to make this ride up to her. It had to be torture with how sore she was after having Bee. “Colt, Beau, and Hayes are on site. A vehicle is following us, I can’t decipher anything about it in the dark.”
“Did you say Adrienne? From the diner?” Stone’s voice came over the line.
“Correct.”
“Copy that,” Gunner replied. “Which way are you headed? We’ll cut the vehicle off.”
“West. Towards the main house. I’d like to get Jessie secured inside with her parents if I can.”
“Thirty seconds out, Phoenix. We can see your headlights.”
The next few minutes were a blur. Hawk watched as Gunner’s truck tore across the field in front of Dolly and Danny’s place. He didn’t stop driving towards the house. He trusted his team to have complete control over the situation. And from what he could hear over the still connected comms, they did.
He drove around the back of the main house, parking so Jessie’s side of the SUV was closest to the back porch. As soon as the vehicle stopped, he was out the door, running to scoop her and Bee up. The back porch light went on, blinding him for a moment, before Danny came rushing out.
“What’s going on?” he barked as Hawk walked up onto the porch, Jessie’s tears soaking his shirt. Another gunshot filled the air. “What fucking danger have you brought here?”
“It wasn’t him, Dad! Dakota and Lach… they—” She groaned as Hawk set her down.
“Can you let your dad hold Bee for a second? I want to make sure you’re okay,” he asked, hating the way her pain was written all over her face.
Jessie nodded, and his heart rate tripled, knowing she really wouldn’t have agreed to that if she was actually okay.
“Here, I’ll take the baby upstairs to your mom.” Danny scooped Bee out of Jessie’s arms. “And I’ll bring down a shirt for you.”
Hawk had completely forgotten he wasn’t wearing one.
“Have her bring him back down in five minutes,” Jessie directed. “I don’t… I can’t be away from him for long. I need him back in my arms.”
Danny nodded before he disappeared up the stairs.
“Hawk…” Jessie’s lower lip trembled as he wrapped his arms around her.
“Shh, I’ve got you.” Her face pressed into his chest, and he instantly felt her tears trickle down his skin. “Jessie? Are you in pain?”
Her head shook back and forth, but he didn’t believe it for a second. “I need you to tell me the truth here, Pretty Girl.”
“I-It’s just the a-adrenaline. I’m s-sore, but o-okay.”
“Alright. You just take your time letting it out and I’ll be here.” Hawk pressed a kiss into her hair, his own emotions constricting his throat. Fuck. All the ways the night could have ended, all the things that could have happened to Jess and the baby, all the ways they could have been taken from him if their friends and family hadn’t jumped into action…
Boots fell heavy against the front porch, and Hawk rolled to position his body in front of Jess. But he knew it had to be a Ford the second he heard a key slipping into the lock.
And he was right. Beau walked in with Stone, both looking grim.
“What happened?”
Stone held up his hand. “Gunner and I took down the driver of the vehicle that was coming after you two. Nash and Gage almost missed the fun, but got there just in time to take down the idiot riding in the passenger seat.”
“What about Adrienne? Dakota?” Jessie asked, lifting her face off his chest and wiping at her eyes.
“Jess.” Beau took a step closer. Fuck. Whatever he was about to say wasn’t good news. His hand slipped off Jessie’s back and his fingers wrapped around hers. “Adrienne hada gun.”
“We heard it go off,” she whispered. “Was Dakota hurt?”
“No.” Beau shook his head. “But that fucking closet door we spent two days restoring has a hole in it that’s gonna need to be patched.”
