Free The Baby's Guardian by Delores Fossen

lifted his gun, something small and sleek and rigged with a silencer. “Come with me,” he ordered. “Or I’ll shoot.”
    The terror inside her went up a significant notch. Sabrina recognized that voice. It was the same peppermint-popping man who’d taken her hostage at the hospital. And he’d obviously come back for her.
    The fear had her on the verge of panic, but Sabrina forced herself to think. Shaw’s Glock was on the nightstand, and she glanced at it.
    “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” the man snarled. He calmly aimed his gun. Not at her.
    But at the bathroom door that Shaw was battering himself against.
    And he fired.
    It wasn’t a deafening blast, the silencer had muffled the sound to a swish, but it was a deadly sound for Sabrina.
    Because the bullet could have hit Shaw.
    Her heart was pounding now, and it was so loud in her ears that she couldn’t tell what was going on behind that bathroom door. Shaw was still struggling, that much she could tell, but she had no idea if he was injured.
    The gunman took aim at the door again. “Come here now, or I keep firing until he dies.”
    “Don’t shoot,” Sabrina practically shouted. Maybe if she was loud enough, someone would come to help. Her scream had certainly alerted the other guests. Maybe they’d already called nine-one-one. “I’ll come with you.”
    “To hell you will,” she heard Shaw yell.
    Shaw rammed against the door again. The gunman aimed his weapon, no doubt with plans to shoot a second bullet at Shaw, but this time he didn’t get the chance.
    With a sound that was more animal than human tearing from his throat, Shaw kicked the door with a fierce jolt. The gunman flew backward and slammed into the wall.
    Shaw came out after him.
    The gunman had managed to keep hold of his weapon, and he tried to aim, but Shaw’s fist connected with his jaw. The blow didn’t disarm him, but it prevented him from firing another shot.
    Shaw got off another punch, but the gunman fought back. He certainly wasn’t trying to run. He bashed his gun against the side of Shaw’s head.
    Sabrina grabbed Shaw’s Glock from the nightstand and pointed it. Not that she could fire. She didn’t want to risk hitting Shaw instead.
    “Captain Tolbert?” someone called out.
    A moment later, the cop she’d seen at headquarters appeared in the doorway. It was Officer Newell. And he had his weapon drawn.
    “Get down, Sabrina!” Shaw yelled.
    Somehow, she managed to drop to her knees, and then she ducked behind the bed.
    The shot blasted through the room.
    “Oh, God,” she prayed.
    But before the last syllable had left her mouth, she heard the heavy thud of someone falling hard onto the floor.
    Because it could endanger the baby, she didn’t dare lift her head and see what had happened, though that’s what she wanted to do. She needed to make sure Shaw hadn’t been hurt.
    “Are you okay?” she asked with her voice trembling.
    No one answered for several long moments.
    “Yeah,” Shaw finally said.
    That got her to her feet, and she saw the officer with his gun still aimed. He had it pointing at the masked gunman who was now sprawled out in front of the bathroom door.
    Shaw leaned down and put his fingers against the man’s neck and then shook his head. The officer mumbled something under his breath and slowly lowered his gun.
    “He’s dead?” Sabrina asked.
    Shaw nodded.
    The relief was instant. Yes, there was a dead man only a few yards away from her, but the alternative could have been much worse.
    But then Sabrina saw the blood trickling down the side of Shaw’s head.
    She hurried to him, even though he motioned for her to stay back.
    “You’re hurt,” she let him know, and she pointed to the wound just above his left eye. No doubt where the gunman had pistol-whipped him.
    “It’s just a scratch.” Shaw reached out, took his Glock from her and then moved her away from the body.
    Behind them, Officer Newell pulled out his phone and called for