Julie Anne Lindsey - Marked By The Marshal

Except for this guy, contentedly pursuing a conversation, despite the fact that she’d barely looked in his direction. “I’m sorry,” she said, looking pointedly at her wrist. “I really should get going. It’s time for her bottle, and I want to get her out of this heat.” She stood on tired noodle legs and set her hand firmly on the stroller handle. Kara leaned forward, but the carriage didn’t budge.

The man had moved his hand to the stroller’s opposite side, curling meaty fingers over the edge and effectively holding it in place. “Must you go so soon?” He hitched one side of his mouth into a sinister half smile.

“Yes.”

Something dark flashed in his eyes. “May I hold her before you go? Just for a moment?”

“No.” The word leapt off Kara’s tongue with venomous warning. Adrenaline rushed through her veins, stiffening her posture and renewing her strength. “Please remove your hand from my baby’s stroller,” she seethed. Her stance widened on instinct and her muscles tensed to fight. It was a new and semi-frightening sensation, but in that moment she was sure she could flatten this man if needed. If he attempted to lay a finger on her daughter, they’d soon find out if she was right.

He stared, unmoving.

“Now,” she ground out the word.

Slowly, his fingers pulled away from the stroller. He slid the offending hand into his pocket. The other hung limply at his side. The oily smile she longed to knock off his face had morphed into something like disappointment or distaste. A silver lighter appeared in his hand, pulled swiftly from his pocket. He flicked it to life and watched with the same menacing expression he’d just given her. The flame sputtered, then died with a closing snap of the lid. He tugged the brim of his hat and lifted his gaze back to Kara. “Watch yourself,” he warned. “I hear it’s going to be an inferno.”

With that, he strode away, angling deftly through throngs of parents and caregivers gathered at the little water park nearby. The musical sounds of children’s laughter sent a shiver down her spine. The contrast of their happiness to her own fear was unnerving. She watched raptly until he was out of sight, just in case he decided he’d like to hold one of those splashing children the way he’d wanted to hold Casey.

Kara’s lungs filled suddenly on a deep intake of air. “Time to go, baby doll.”

Casey squirmed at the sound of her mama’s voice. A small complaint fell from her tiny rosebud lips. Eyes still pinched shut, she flailed her arms before going limp once more. Someone was due for a feeding.

Kara whirled the stroller away from the fountain, thankful to have left her car parked in the opposite direction from the water park where the man was last seen. If she never saw him again, it would be too soon. In fact, the way her skin was crawling right now, never returning to Memorial Park would be fine by her. Matter of fact, she wouldn’t be able to live with herself if that guy harassed anyone else today because she hadn’t spoken up. Heaven forbid he lay a hand on any child. The minute they were safely locked inside her car, Kara would call the local sheriff and file a report.

* * *

US MARSHAL RYDER GARRETT listened with slow burning fury as his brother West, the Cade County sheriff, relayed a report made by Kara Noble about a strange man at Memorial Park. The fact that someone had upset Ryder’s former fiancée was enough to tighten his jaw. The fact that her description of the man in question matched fugitive Timothy Sand had Ryder packing his bags. Even the remote possibility that Sand was anywhere near Kara was enough to send Ryder back to Shadow Point. He hadn’t been home in three years, but he was already making plans to obliterate the speed limit on his way.

“She said that?” Ryder asked for the third time, shoving clothes haphazardly into a duffel. “She told you the man said it was going to be an inferno?”

“Yep,” West answered. “I remember you saying something like that once when you still lived in town. Your fugitive liked to say it. Any chance he’s free again?”

Ryder recognized the leaden weight of failure cooling on his shoulders. “Yes.” The word was a knife to his chest. Sand was never put away for what he’d done, and now Kara was in danger because of it.

“I didn’t mention it to her,” West said. “Didn’t want to upset her any more than she already was, but I figured it was worth a phone call to see what you thought.”

“To see what I thought?” Ryder snapped. “I think a damn fugitive threatened my—” He stopped short. His what? She was nothing to him anymore, and he’d allowed it to be that way. Caused it to be . “Kara.”

“All right. So, what happened with Sand? I thought he was arrested.”

“He was. Another marshal took over my cases while I relocated a family for witness protection. He caught Sand on a lark. A call to the tip line actually paid off, but the marshal was new and overzealous. He didn’t have the right evidence to make his case, and Sand’s weasel of a lawyer got the whole thing whittled down to parole and time served.” Ryder had been sick when he came back to town and heard they’d had Sand and didn’t lock him up. He couldn’t eat. Couldn’t sleep. Ryder got busy preparing a watertight case against Sand for the murder of Sand’s first wife. The crime that started it all. He was darn close to having everything he needed to make sure Sand never saw sunlight. Then Sand’s parole had ended, the ankle bracelet had come off and Sand had gone MIA. Until now. “I won’t let him get away this time,” Ryder promised.

“Well, let’s hope that’s true. Meanwhile, I can’t ignore the possibility there’s a murdering arsonist in my county. I put Cole on patrol in Kara’s neighborhood and added a deputy to Memorial Park. What are you going to do?”

A low swear slid off Ryder’s tongue. He gave his forehead a rough scrub. Kara had unequivocally expelled him from her life. She’d packed his bags and set them on the porch with a note telling him he had to go. Her heart couldn’t take watching him waste away any longer in pursuit of one fugitive. It wasn’t worth it to her. Was it worth it to him?

Sadly, yes. It had been. Putting Sand behind bars had become symbolic of Ryder’s ability to be a marshal, to protect his family, fiancée and anyone else in his charge. He’d bound his self-worth to the apprehension of this man, and he couldn’t catch him.

Ryder yanked the zipper on his duffel and slung it over one shoulder. Now he had to go back and protect Kara from a danger he’d inadvertently caused her. West wanted to know what he was going to do? There was only one answer. “I’m coming home, brother.”

“Good,” West agreed. “For what it’s worth, and at the risk of sounding like Mom, it’s long past time for the two of you to talk. I hate that Sand is the reason you finally will, but I’m glad anyway. Kara will be, too.”

Ryder barked a humorless laugh. Yeah. Kara would be thrilled to see him. He’d stewed in his losses every day, but she’d gone on to find love with someone else, apparently. “Did you say she has a baby?”

West didn’t respond. They both knew that was exactly what he’d said.

Did he have to protect the new man in her life as well? His gut fisted at the thought. “How old’s the kid?”

“Only a few months. A girl.”

Ryder let his eyes drift shut, momentarily frozen in remorse. “She’s married, then?”

“Nope. Rumor is that the guy left her when he found out about the pregnancy. That was just over a year ago. Only guy she’s dated since you, I believe, assuming the gossip mill’s still working fine.”

Ryder clenched his teeth. “Best oiled machine in town.”