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for conception; information that her new doctor chuckled at.

  Thankfully, the morning sickness passed quickly. Bay decided that other than the smell of bacon making her nauseous, she actually felt great. She’d made adjustments to her work outs, but kept as active as she possibly could. Her biggest concern remained over how to explain becoming pregnant when she wasn’t even dating anyone.

  She’d had several amusing ideas on the matter, but even knowing time was running out and a response was going to be required, she had yet to come up with anything. One day, Joby had brought news of Tuck and Clarice from Little Rock and Bay felt a sharp twinge of remorse. While the man deserved to know about the baby, it sounded like Clarice wasn’t doing so well and the last thing Bay wanted to do was take his attention away from her.

  Luckily for her, she managed to make it over five months before the growing belly was undeniable. Surprisingly, there weren’t many who questioned her on it. Not like she had expected. When talking to Joby about it, she found Flossie was the reason. The old grump had spread the word that Sheriff Lopez was pregnant and if anyone wanted the details to come ask her about it. Not surprisingly, no one was willing to ask Flossie about Bay’s pregnancy.

  Late one afternoon, Bay was in her office working through a mound of paperwork when Roy shouted for her. Roy never shouted and he never got excited, so after a momentary shock, Bay bolted for the front desk. The big man was hovered over the radio mic, scratching furiously on his dispatch log.

  “Joby’s at the Moore place. Vernon’s gone crazy. He’s got his gun out and he’s shooting up the place. Melody’s on the phone hiding in the pantry.” Roy looked up at her, his eyes worried. “He’s gonna’ find her Bay. He’s gonna’ kill her.”

  She clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Not if I can help it. Call Dave in. It’s his day off and he should be awake. Don’t bother with Cory, we’ll need him to work later. Then call the State. The chances of them having anyone in the area are slim but try anyway.” Turning to the map on the wall behind Roy’s desk she pointed to it. “Tell me where the Moore’s are.”

  Two minutes later, Bay was running out of the building. Sliding into her SUV, she flipped on the emergency lights and sirens and peeled out of the lot. She kept an eagle eye out for the rubberneckers and gawkers to make sure no one stopped or slowed in front of her. It was just so unusual for any of the officers to run code that instead of people moving out of the way, they would stop and stare instead.

  The Moore place was about as far from any of the towns as a person could get. It was going to take her a solid twenty minutes to get there. Joby had taken refuge behind a barn, not daring to try to enter the house alone. Praying softly under her breath, she asked God to keep the deer and other wildlife away from the roads while she drove like a maniac and to keep a young girl from being found by her psycho father.

  Bay hadn’t had a lot of dealings with the Moore’s. The old man, Vernon lived way out in the woods with only his daughter. Bay wasn’t even sure how old the girl was. He didn’t allow her to go to school, instead claiming her to be home schooled. Joby had said the man had been in one of the wars and come back “messed up.” His wife had run off, but for some reason, left the girl behind.

  She made the trip in sixteen minutes. After some serious bouncing along the old rutted back roads, she promised her old SUV an alignment if it would just hold together and get her there. Shutting down the siren and lights before turning into the drive, she pulled in and parked, blocking the drive from anyone leaving.

  Getting out of the vehicle, she opened the back and pulled out a bullet proof vest. She was strapping it on, struggling to fit it over her round belly when Joby appeared. She could hear the gunshots and a man yelling from inside the house. “Which are you more comfortable with, duty weapon or shotgun?”

  Joby stuttered before answering. “Shotgun I guess.”

  Jerking her head to the case secured inside the vehicle she said, “Grab it.” It was early winter and a little cool, but Bay could clearly see the man sweating. While he fumbled with the case to pull out the weapon and load it, Bay took out her service weapon and flipped off the safety. She paused and got Joby’s attention. “Are you going to be able to do this? Tell me now. Can I trust you to follow me in there?”

  Joby swallowed hard, but nodded. “I’m with you, Sheriff.”

  Bay stepped to the side and surveyed the yard. It was overgrown and littered with trash, but for the most part, wide open. There would be no shelter as soon as they stepped from behind the vehicle. Reaching in for the radio mic, she set it for speaker.

  “Mr. Moore this is the Hill County Sheriff. I need you to lay down your weapon and come out of the house.” Her voice projected loudly across the yard. She saw the ragged curtain over a front window twitch.

  A shadow behind the curtain spewed obscenities before the window exploded outward from a blast of rifle.

  Pursing her lips, she looked at Joby. “That went well, don’t you think?” He snorted out a laugh and they heard the distant sound of siren. “That’s either the State boys or Dave.”

  “Better hope its State. Dave can’t shoot the side of a barn.”

  “Thanks for that, Joby. That was just what I needed to hear.” Bay glared at him. “Any idea where this pantry is that Melody is supposed to be hiding in?”

  Joby shook his head. “No one I know of has ever been in that house.”

  Turning back, Bay tried to talk to Mr. Moore again. She got the same result, only this time he shot the front door, blowing it wide open. She decided that was actually handy as now she had a line of sight into the house. The approaching siren abruptly cut off and she turned to see Dave turning in the drive, but was happier to see the State car right behind him.

  She directed Dave to park to the side and let the State guy do his thing. Dave wasn’t in uniform and she didn’t care, he just got out of his car and pulled out his shotgun without even asking. The State man introduced himself as Trooper Foster, a young lean man who never blinked at seeing a pregnant Sheriff teamed with two older deputies.

  After a quick discussion, it was obvious to Bay that Trooper Foster considered himself the one in charge. She let him. She also let him take on Mr. Moore with Joby and Dave as back up while she circled the house looking for a back door with the hope of finding the girl.

  Trooper Foster took her radio mic and she headed around the barn. Circling the yard was going to take her a few minutes as she had to go wide in order to stay behind cover. The house wasn’t big and she thanked the stars when she saw there was a rickety back porch with a back door. There was more shooting at the front of the house and she hoped like hell the Trooper and her boys were okay and keeping the man occupied.

  Staying low had new meaning with her new belly, but Bay managed to get to the back door. A volley of shots sounded in the front so she took her chance. Opening the door she found a kitchen. There was an archway into the front of the house, but a door that she hoped was the pantry to the side.

  Moving as quickly and quietly as possible, she moved to the door and knocked very softly. “Melody,” she whispered.

  There was a quiet cry from inside.

  “Come on, let me get you out of here.”

  The door slowly opened and Bay found an older teen girl peeking out. Not saying anything, as it had suddenly become quiet in the house, she gestured to her, slowly moving back to give her room. The two had just started across the kitchen when Vernon appeared in the archway.

  “What the..? Who are you? Get away from her?” He raised his rifle and Bay didn’t think. Two shots later, Vernon lay in a pool of spreading blood, two small holes in his forehead, her service gun warm in her hand.

  The Trooper, now much paler than he had been, raced through the house. He came to a sudden halt at seeing the dead man, Bay and the crying girl standing in the kitchen. She quickly and efficiently removed the clip from her gun, secured it, and handed it to the Trooper. He looked confused.

  Bay
sighed. “Trooper Foster, I have discharged my weapon, killing this armed individual. You are the State’s man on scene. I turn in my weapon to you until a full inquiry is complete.”

  “You’d think a fancy State guy would know that.” The ever quiet Dave grumbled before leaving the house.

  A quiet sob brought Bay’s attention back to Melody. Grabbing her hand she pulled the girl from the house out on to the back porch. Bay knew she couldn’t leave, not for a while yet, but she could get Melody out of the house and away from the man on the floor.

  They sat on the steps looking out into the trees beyond the house. Bay let the girl cry for a bit before speaking. “So. Talk to me. Tell me what happened.”

  Melody sniffled. “He just went crazy.”

  “Why? What set him off?” Bay kept her voice calm and quiet.

  The girl shuddered hard. “The baby died,” she whispered.

  An uneasy feeling started to make its way up Bay’s back. “Who’s baby?”

  Melody stared at the distant tree line. “Mine. He made me bury her out there.”

  Reaching for Melody’s hand,