When they’d found Mia and whatever had happened to Jenny’s baby, would he see Autumn again? Probably not.
Unless…
This wasn’t the time to think about his lack of a personal life. Shiloh had made it clear how much she would hate living in isolation at the ranch. And when he’d flat-out refused to sell, she left without looking back.
And that had been fine with him. Until now.
Now, he couldn’t help but wonder if he’d be given a second chance with Jenny’s daughter if—no, when—the task force found the stolen babies. He trusted that they would. And if he was given that opportunity, he would take it with both hands and make his family a priority.
No matter what.
For now, he needed to make dinner. When Autumn closed the laptop with a loud click, he turned to glance at her.
“I need to take Bear out again, and I need to get more dog food from the SUV.” She drew on her coat. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
He was oddly nervous about her going out alone. Which was ridiculous, as she was an armed and well-trained cop.
Autumn had only been gone two minutes when he heard Durango neighing loudly. Hoping Bear hadn’t accidentally spooked the horse, he ordered Cutie to stay, grabbed his jacket and ran outside.
“Easy, Durango, easy,” he shouted. Then frowned when he realized Autumn and Bear were nowhere near the corral.
“What’s wrong?” Autumn hurried toward him from the SUV she’d left in his driveway.
“I’m not sure.” He raked his gaze over the area. “Durango can be temperamental, but I’m wondering if something caught his attention.”
Autumn rested her hand on her weapon as she turned to look around. “I don’t see anything.”
He frowned again, because he didn’t see anything either. After a long moment, he forced himself to relax. “Okay, it’s probably nothing.”
Autumn nodded and hurried back to the SUV to get the container of dog food. Bear had his nose in the air, sniffing intently.
Then the bloodhound turned and trotted toward the corral, his nose sniffing the ground, his long ears dragging along as he went. Jordan quickly followed, worried Durango would rear up and possibly trample the dog.
“Bear?” Autumn sounded annoyed.
Bear ignored her as he followed along the fence line toward the side of the barn. When Jordan caught a glimpse of a shadow, he realized Bear had alerted them to the scent of an intruder.
“Hey! You’re trespassing on private property,” he shouted.
The shadow broke away from the side of the barn. Jordan bolted after the figure in black, determined not to let this guy get away again.
“Stop! Police!” Autumn shouted from behind him.
The figure lifted a gun and aimed toward Autumn. “No!” Jordan threw himself forward, the tips of his fingers tangling with the edge of the intruder’s black hoodie.
He caught a glimpse of pale skin from a wrist, and what appeared to be a dagger-style tattoo. Then the intruder yanked free, turned and fired the gun his direction.
Jordan hit the ground, rolled to the side while praying that he wouldn’t be struck by a bullet. Was God watching over him? He wasn’t sure. The gunshot was loud enough to make his ears ring, but there was another voice, too.
“Jordan! Are you okay?”
He pushed himself upright, dismayed to see the figure disappearing around the side of the house. “Hurry, we need to get him!”
Bear followed the scent at a slow-but-steady-wins-the-race pace. The dog never flinched at the sound of gunfire, and he admired the K-9’s single-minded focus. He and Autumn followed in pursuit, and spread out to trap the assailant.
He ducked again at another crack of gunfire. He glanced over at Autumn, who lifted her weapon to return fire.
“Police!” she shouted. “Throw down your weapon and put your hands where I can see them!”
