Page 57 of Nanny for the Single Dad Cowboy
My flashlight beam cuts across the room just in time to see a masked man yank her toward the window. She’s fighting like hell—kicking, clawing, her hair wild around her face.
“Get your hands off her!”
I tackle him from behind. We crash hard into the dresser, wood splintering beneath the impact. He swings an elbow into my ribs, landing a solid hit, but adrenaline’s already taken over. I grab his arm and twist until I hear the pop of his shoulder giving out, then drive my fist into his jaw. He goes limp.
Another one rushes me from the side, but Beck’s faster—with a single, clean shot. The man drops before he can reach us.
Dad grabs Ella, pulling her behind him. “You okay?”
She nods, shaky. “Y-yeah.”
The third man lunges from the shadows. I spin just as he brings a knife down. It catches my sleeve, grazes skin—it’s shallow, but enough to piss me off. I slam him back against the wall, the drywall cracking under the force. He swings again, desperate, but I duck, pin him, and drive my forearm into his throat. His breath gurgles out, then he goes still.
For a moment, the only sounds are Ella’s ragged breathing and the rain hammering the roof.
“Clear?” Beck asks, voice low.
“Clear,” Dad answers, sweeping his weapon toward the window.
I check pulses, but there’s nothing. All three intruders are down.
Ella’s shaking so hard she can barely stand. I pull her into my chest, holding her there until her breathing evens out. “You’re safe. You hear me? You’re safe now.”
Her fingers clutch the fabric of my shirt, and when she finally looks up, her eyes are wide, terrified. “They said—they said they were here for her.”
My stomach turns cold. “Who?”
“Tessa,” she whispers.
The name hits like a punch.
Dad swears under his breath. Beck’s already moving, grabbing one of the dead men’s phones. He taps the screen, the glow cutting through the dark. “Encrypted messages. Look—“
For half a second, a name flashes on the lock screen before the phone shuts itself off.
Richard Kane.
I freeze. My hand tightens around the flashlight until my knuckles ache. It’s him. Tessa’s former boss. I don’t need proof to know he’s the man she’s been running from, and he’s finallyfound her. And if he’s bold enough to send men here, then my whole family is in danger.
But if Kane thinks he can touch what’s mine, if he thinks he can use my family to get to her, he’s got no idea who he’s dealing with.
I step toward the balcony, just as Zane rushes in, shotgun in hand. “I heard gunshots!”
Beck points to one of the men, bleeding all over the floor from where he shot him.
“I can’t believe y’all didn’t invite me to the party,” Zane remarks when he realizes we have everything handled.
He pulls Ella in for a hug as she explains what has happened.
“What now? Who is this Richard guy, and what does he want with Tessa?” Beck asks.
“That’s what I’d like to know,” I reply as my thoughts go to Tessa. “But he’s made a big mistake coming after her. He wanted a war, and now he’s got one.”
23
TESSA
The bus ride back to Wrangler Creek is loud, messy, and absolutely perfect. Daisy’s sitting beside me, hair still damp from swimming at the river just before we left, a lollipop sticking out of her mouth as she animatedly recounts how her team won the scavenger hunt. Her laugh is infectious, that bright, high-pitched sound that always makes my heart feel like it’s folding in on itself—too much warmth for one small space.
