The Marshal's Justice (Appaloosa Pass Ranch 4) by Delores Fossen Read Free Book Online

right behind us and he’ll have a prisoner with him, as well.”
    Mack nodded. “What do you need me to do?”
    “We need baby supplies. Formula, bottles, clothes and a blanket. Have one of the clerks from the drugstore bring whatever they have. Also, the car outside and everything in it should be processed. I doubt there’ll be anything inside to link it to Crossman, but we might get lucky.”
    “Crossman?” Mack’s concern went up yet another notch. He belted out some profanity under his breath, then blushed when he glanced at the baby. “Sorry.”
    She waved off the apology because it wasn’t necessary. Crossman was a killer. Worse, a cop killer.
    And it was that murder that had put some blood on April’s hands.
    Mack stepped away, undoubtedly to take care of getting the CSIs out to examine the car and arrange for those supplies. Leaving Chase and her alone with the baby. The first moments they’d been together alone with Bailey.
    Chase walked closer, staring down at her, and he touched his finger to Bailey’s cheek. Bailey was half-asleep, but that got her attention, and she turned her head, studying Chase as hard as he was studying her.
    The corner of Bailey’s mouth lifted, and even though April figured it wasn’t a real smile, it still had a powerful effect. Chase groaned, the impact of fatherhood no doubt hitting him hard. And hitting him in the exact same way it’d hit April. Because he smiled, too.
    A rarity.
    Chase Crockett wasn’t exactly the smiling type—especially since things had fallen apart between them. Too bad because that smile stirred the too familiar heat inside April.
    Heat she pushed aside again.
    That was something she always had to do around Chase. Because he’d spent the past two years trying to put her brother behind bars, April and Chase had never dated. But that hadn’t stopped them from landing in bed together. For one glorious night, Chase had been hers for the taking, but then his friend had been murdered. Crossman—and Quentin—had been implicated in that. And anything she’d ever hoped to have with Chase had vanished in the blink of an eye.
    Well, everything except Bailey.
    That would give them a connection that she was certain Chase would rather have with someone else. Anyone else.
    “Check her for tracking devices,” Chase prompted.
    April hurried to do that, causing Bailey to fuss, but thankfully she didn’t see anything on her gown, blanket or diaper. That was something at least.
    She heard the front door open, and Chase stepped back into the hall. Even though she couldn’t see who’d come in, she did notice the alarm on Chase’s face.
    “What’s wrong?” Chase immediately asked.
    April hurried to the door and looked out to see Jericho. He had the gunman in cuffs and handed him off to Mack, but his attention stayed on Chase.
    “We’ve got trouble,” Jericho answered. “Jax was attacked on the road. He’s okay, but the woman he was bringing in just escaped.”

Chapter Five
    Chase so didn’t want to have to deal with anything else right now. What he wanted to do was hold his daughter and get to know her. Instead, he was neck deep in making sure Crossman, or whoever was behind the kidnapping and attacks, didn’t get to Bailey and April again.
    That meant going to a safe house. Something he was still working on, but for now, his baby was stuck sleeping on the cot in the break room at the sheriff’s office. Hardly premium accommodations, but Bailey didn’t seem to mind. She was sacked out, not a care in the world. Unlike April.
    Chase saw plenty of those cares in her eyes.
    “Anything?” she asked the moment Chase stepped into the doorway of the break room. She moved away from the cot and came closer to him.
    Chase figured that one-word question encompassed a lot because there were plenty of cogs moving in the investigation. What wasn’t moving was a solution to put an end to this.
    “Renée’s still missing.” Thanks to the help from a gunman