Lenora Worth - Lone Star Protector

He’d have to do this on his own. “Drop the weapon!” Slade shouted. “Now!”

* * *

Kaitlin gulped a breath of relief. Slade was here. She kept telling herself that over and over. She also kept telling herself that she could handle this because she’d been trained as a police officer. She might be a little rusty since becoming a full-time trainer, but she’d find a way out of this. Somehow. She wouldn’t end up like her mother.

Surprised at Slade’s command, the man holding her pivoted toward Slade, his gun still aimed at Kaitlin. She pulled away, but he held her tight against him, his low whisper a warning. “Do you want to live?”

She did want to live, but Kaitlin wasn’t going without a fight. She’d rather take her chances right here in the training yard with Slade McNeal than go anywhere with this man. Captain McNeal knew his job, and he was good at that job. He’d get them both out of this, and she’d find a way to help him.

Slade advanced a few steps. “Drop the weapon and let her go.”

The man tightened his hold, but Kaitlin could feel the apprehension and indecision in his actions. Did he know the captain? She used the brief distraction to dig in her heels, kicking and hitting and screaming. Taking a chance, she elbowed the man in his side, then wrapped her leg behind his to trip him, causing him to lose the grip on his weapon. The gun slipped out of his grasp and hit the hot pavement. He cursed and grabbed Kaitlin again, holding her like a shield in front of him, his strong grip twisting her shoulders back so hard she cried out in pain.

“I’m taking her with me,” the man shouted.

Behind Slade, Warrior was going wild against the confines of his big wire-front cage, his barks frantic and snarling. Kaitlin watched, afraid for Slade. The K-9 captain held his gun on her attacker and kept advancing, inch by inch.

“Let her go,” Slade shouted again over the barking dog, his finger on the trigger of his Glock 22 service revolver. “Don’t make me shoot you!”

The man stopped tugging and glared at Slade. Holding Kaitlin with one hand, he tried to reach down and scoop up his gun with the other. He seemed to know Slade wouldn’t take the shot with her shielding him.

Kaitlin glanced at Slade, then using all of her strength, kicked the weapon out of her abductor’s reach and, with a grunt, yanked herself away. She fell, the concrete scraping through her khaki pants to tear at her knee. But she scrambled to her feet and did a quick run toward some shrubbery near the building. That left the culprit in full view and diving for his gun. Slade could take the shot and kill the man right where he stood. Kaitlin went on her knees behind the shrubbery, watching as Slade pulled off a round, hitting near where the gun lay, causing the perp to jump and roll.

“Don’t move,” Slade shouted as he starting walking. “I will hit the mark next time.”

Kaitlin held her breath, praying Slade wouldn’t get shot. She should have picked up the gun. But the attacker took his own chances. He grabbed for his weapon, then pivoted and rolled into a ragged hunched-over zigzag toward the van, firing behind himself as he ran.

Helpless, Kaitlin watched from the bushes, her heart caught in her throat. But while she watched, she tried to memorize everything she could about her attacker.

She held a hand to her mouth, watching as Slade dived to the ground to avoid being hit, but got off a couple of rounds before the man returned fire. One of Slade’s shots hit the side of the van, but missed the moving target. The suspect did a nosedive into the open vehicle and the van spun around in Reverse and took off. Two of them. He’d had a getaway driver.

Slade took one more shot, but the van swerved and skidded out onto the side street, then the driver gunned it and disappeared into the burnt dusk. Slade squinted into the sunset, trying to see the tag numbers. All he saw was a temporary tag with smeared letters and numbers. He couldn’t get a read on it.

Nothing to do there. He got on the radio and alerted the switchboard operator. “McNeal, K-9 Unit 601, 207-A averted, back parking lot behind the training yard. Suspect got away. All clear.”

Holstering his weapon, he hurried to where Kaitlin still sat pressing her entire body in between the prickly shrubbery and the building bricks, her eyes bright with fear and relief. This whole event had lasted a couple of minutes, but it sure felt like a lifetime.

“Hey, you okay?” he asked, placing a hand on one of her arms. With a gentle tug, he pulled her out of the shrubbery.

She jerked away, then looked up at him. “Slade?”

“Yeah, it’s me. They’re gone. You’re safe now.”

She nodded and then plowed into his arms and held on for dear life. “Thank you.” Her voice was shaky but getting stronger with each inhale of breath. “Thank you.”

Slade allowed her to hug him close, his fingers hovering in the air before he put his arms around her shoulders and patted her on the back. “You’re all right now. It’s over.”

The woman in his arms clung to him for a while longer.

Slade didn’t try to pry her away. Her whole body seemed to tremble against him. His own heart echoed that trembling, but maybe for an entirely different reason. It had been a long time since he’d held a woman so close. But it hadn’t been so long that he could get past the image of his wife walking out the door and getting in that car.

He wanted to hold Kaitlin and comfort her, but bitter memories tinged with regret pulled him back.

Besides, he knew if anyone saw this, they’d both have some explaining to do. And with a K-9 dog barking and shots fired in the back of police headquarters, the entire department would be rushing around the building any moment now.

He backed up, took her by her arms and set her a few inches away. “Kaitlin, listen to me. You’re okay. I need to ask you a few questions.”

Her shock changed to embarrassment, her face blushing pink against the pale white of her skin. Shimmying out from under his grip, she bobbed her head. “Before I give a statement, I have to check on Warrior.”

Slade stopped her from bolting by standing between her and the fussy dog. “Warrior will be fine for a few more minutes. Listen to me, okay?”

She exhaled, called a command to the animal, then glanced back at Slade. “You need a description?”

“Yes, but first what happened?” He scanned the perimeter of the practice yard and the parking lot. Nobody. But he heard doors opening in the distance and voices echoing out over the headquarters’ parking lot. Maybe someone else had seen something.

Kaitlin glanced toward the sound of running feet. “I heard Warrior barking. He alerted me.”

“I heard him, too,” Slade said as he grasped her wrist. “Let’s move toward the kennels so we don’t get shot by one of our own.”

She let him guide her until they were a few feet from Warrior’s kennel. Then she pulled away and ran to the dog, her key ring jingling as she quickly opened the mesh-wire door.

Warrior bounded out, his frustrated whimpers echoing over the yard. The dog paced toward where Kaitlin had been snatched, then glanced up at his trainer.

“Sit. Stay.”

The order wasn’t as commanding as in the practice yard, but the dog did as Kaitlin said.

Slade saw two uniformed officers push around the building, guns drawn. He held up his hands. “Hey, over here. We had an intruder but...it’s okay now.”

As the officers gathered around, Slade explained what had gone down. “I exited my office and heard a K-9 officer barking. Someone tried to abduct Miss Mathers. He held a gun to her head, but she managed to get away. I pursued the attacker and called for him to halt. He refused and fired back. We both shot off a few rounds, but he managed to make it to the getaway car. Black, late-model van, old with a dent in the front passenger-side door. Temporary tag, smudged and unreadable. Vehicle headed west on Trapper Street. I got off a shot that hit the right back side of the van.”