“She’s…not my baby. But… I’m the nanny. The housekeeper.”
“Ok,” Carrie said quietly. “Can you tell us what happened? Is Clint around?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know. He was…we were waiting for him to get home. He called and said he’d be coming home soon. For lunch. On his way somewhere. I needed to talk to him. To tell him…and then the car came. The WSP.”
Miranda stepped into Maggie’s path, tucking her weapon back in her holster—but not fastening the strap. “Maggie, look at me. Right now.”
Blue eyes met hers.
Miranda used to babysit for Maggie when she’d been fourteen and Maggie five years younger. Maggie had been in and out of her home for years, always tagging along with Dusty. “Mags, you are safe. You’re safe. Carrie and I—we’re not going to let anyone hurt you.”
Tears flooded Maggie’s eyes. “I…Randi, I…Clint told me not to trust the WSP. It’s corrupted. He’s trying to find out who, but I think…it was the WSP!”
Miranda wrapped her arms around the baby and pulled Violet out of Maggie’s arms. The baby was crying, no doubt sensing the fear that surrounded Maggie. “You’re safe. You are both safe now.”
Miranda passed the baby to Carrie. Carrie had two children of her own back in St. Louis. She was far better equipped to handle a baby Violet’s age than Miranda was at the moment.
“Miranda…they…I saw him. He was in the yard. In a WSP squad car.” Maggie started crying even heavier. “I…thought it was Clint home early when I heard him pull in, and I didn’t want to talk to him yet. So I took Violet out back to see the horse. I took her to see the horse. And then the man started shooting. He shot Clint’s house, and I don’t know if he shot the dog. The dog…Kody…Is Kody ok?”
Miranda hustled Maggie to the car. She looked at Carrie, who was rocking Violet and trying to soothe her.
Clint’s house was just over the next rise. In a WSP car, they wouldn’t know friend from foe. But she suspected the shooter was long gone now—and Carrie had a partial license plate. They could work with that. Easily. “We need to get them out of here. Now.”
“We all need to move,” Carrie said, already opening the rear of the vehicle. “She’s a witness. She needs to be protected.”
“If he’d shoot a house with an infant inside, he wouldn’t have any qualms about any of us.” Miranda reached for the rear door. She guided Maggie inside. Her hand came away covered with blood. Fresh blood, at that. “Maggie’s bleeding. Maggie, were you hit?”
“One of the bullets went through the windows of the living room and kitchen. It struck the barn. I think it hit me, too.”
Maggie was in full-blown shock, adrenaline putting her on autopilot. Miranda swore. Maggie needed medical attention—fast.
“Miranda, drive. Just drive,” Carrie ordered. Technically, as a department supervisor, she was higher on the hierarchy than Miranda. She was in charge. Miranda climbed behind the wheel and did just that. “Get us to the airport. Now.”
Miranda put the truck into drive. The airport was less than two miles away. “Why?”
“Lacy Deane’s at the airport now, with her husband. Lacy works in the ER. She delivered my son. She’s at the airport. Go.”
That sounded like a plan to her, considering the nearest hospital was eighty miles away, and far too small for them to get Maggie inside securely.
Miranda would admit it, strategy like this was not her strong suit.
“There are side roads up here. They go by Phil Tyler’s place—and his brother, Ben’s—and then circle back to the main highway. If we can get there…” Miranda’s mind was driving as fast as the car. “If they were WSP, then we can’t keep Maggie anywhere in this state. Not where she’ll be safe. Until we identify the shooter one hundred percent positively.”
“The sheriff of Masterson County’s office?” Carrie asked. Then she shook her head. “No. Too small. Every room has an entry point. It would be a nightmare.”
Miranda agreed. “And there just aren’t enough of us to do a protective detail—without tapping the WSP directly. Which would completely defeat the purpose.”
Carrie leaned forward. She’d placed the baby in Maggie’s arms and wrapped the seatbelt around the two of them. It wasn’t safe, exactly. But it was better than an armed gunman in police clothing. “We need to get her out of town.”
“Before anyone realizes Maggie was there today.” Miranda nodded slowly. That was the safest option. Put Maggie somewhere safe, quick. Even if it was just for a night or two, until they could speak with Clint and Joel and make certain there wasn’t more going than they knew. Clint had told her once he was IA. She knew exactly what that could mean. “How far are we by road to St. Louis?”
“At least nineteen hours. And we have no car seat, diapers, or formula. In a truck that has Masterson Vet written on it. We wouldn’t be too hard to find.”
“No, we wouldn’t. That leaves that option out.”
“We need to find a safe place to hide her.” That left very little options.
Except…there were plenty of Tyler ranches out past the airport. They could hide her with her family and get Max and one of Joel’s deputies on protective duty.
“First, let’s find Lacy Deane. Get her arm checked out. There’s a hospital eighty miles northwest of here, if we have to head that way.” It wasn’t ideal, but Masterson was an all around bad option right now.
“That baby isn’t safe here. Neither is that woman. I want to help her. Let’s get her out of Wyoming as fast as we can. We can deal with the consequences later.”
“I gotcha. Then…let’s make this happen. That’s my goddaughter back there, and my cousin’s best friend. I want to make certain they are as safe as I possibly can.”
Carrie nodded, determination in her hazel eyes. “Then
