Lenora Worth - Lone Star Protector

He couldn’t move. He didn’t know how to begin to flirt with a woman. He was old and bitter and washed up.

“What are you doing?” she asked. Then she drained the glass of water.

“Well, I was sitting here at my desk in my house, minding my own business.”

“Then I’ll leave you to it.”

He stood up and caught her before she shot back up the hall. “Hey, are you all right?”

She looked down at his hand holding her wrist. “I thought I was. But...I keep seeing that man’s eyes. I keep remembering that gun at my head.”

Slade didn’t stop to think. He tugged her close. “You’ve been through a bad experience. It’s just nerves. You know you can talk to a counselor, right?”

She backed up and stared at him. “Yes, I know that. And that’s very good advice.”

He let her go. “You mean for myself, too, right?”

“And for Caleb. It might help.”

“We’ve been that route,” he said. “But when he’s with you, he seems better.” He didn’t dare move any closer. “I’ve always wondered how you two bonded so fast, but I think I understand now. You lost your mother, too. What happened?”

A deep sigh shuddered through her. “She was a veterinarian and she was working late one night, sitting with a sick animal. A drug addict managed to talk his way in the back door. He attacked her with a surgical instrument after she didn’t give him the kind of drugs he wanted. She bled to death right there on the floor.”

Slade let out his own wobbly sigh. “Goodness. I had no idea.”

“I don’t talk about it much.”

And Slade had specifically asked her to help his son. “I would have found someone else if I’d known—to talk to Caleb. I mean, it has to be hard for you—”

She backed up, shook her head. “I like being around him, letting him get to know the animals. I don’t mind at all. Talking to him makes me feel better, and I just want to help.”

“I know you do. And you’re very persistent about such things.”

She pushed at her hair, tugged at her robe. “I should just mind my own business.”

He didn’t agree with her, but he didn’t encourage her, either. She was right. But he was glad she pushed at him. Somebody needed to hold him accountable. “I don’t mind you helping Caleb. It’s not that—”

“I’m going back to bed now.”

Slade felt the rush of air as she moved away from him.

“Hey, wait a minute.”

“You seem to want to be alone,” she said, her voice a sweet whisper.

“Not tonight,” he replied. “C’mon and sit with me awhile.”

She stood there, hesitating. He could almost feel the conflicting thoughts rushing through her head. He felt the same kind of warning each time he was around the woman.

But she moved, finally. She went to the kitchen and put the glass in the sink and stood there for a minute staring out the window. Then she let out a gasp. “Slade?”

“What?”

“I—I think there’s someone out there.”

FOUR

Slade leaped into action.

Grabbing Kaitlin, he shoved her away from the window. “Stay inside.”

He had his weapon drawn and was out the front door before Kaitlin could inhale. She stood in the shadows, fear and uncertainty clouding her mind until she took a deep breath. Hurrying down the hall, she called out to Warrior. “Come.”

The dog trotted to her side, his tail wagging and his ears lifting. “C’mon, boy,” she said, heading to the front door. She was about to open it and let the dog take the lead when the handle turned.

Backing up, Kaitlin held Warrior by his fur and quieted him. If the kidnapper had come back, she’d let Warrior deal with him this time. The canine sensed her apprehension. He let out a long, low growl.

The door opened and Slade walked in.

Kaitlin let out a sigh of relief and commanded Warrior to stay. “You’re okay?”

“Yes.” He gave Warrior a quick pat. “Someone ran away when I came out the door.”

“Maybe I just imagined I saw someone. Warrior didn’t alert.”

“You didn’t imagine anything. I heard them running and I found footprints in the dirt by the back fence. I think whoever it was hopped the fence and came right into the yard. You probably saw them before Warrior had time to pick up a scent.”

“They know I’m here, then.”

Slade moved closer. “Look, it could have been a kid out for thrills.”

“Or it could have been that man again.”

She shuddered in spite of the warm night. “I can’t live like this. I won’t live like this.”

He reached for her, but she moved away, everything she’d held in check since being attacked pouring through her. “I had to live without a father. Don’t even know where he is. And then I had to live without my mother. After hearing all the details of how she was murdered, I was afraid but I got over my fears.” Her eyes brimmed with emotion. “I made myself get over all of it when I decided to become a police officer. I might not be a patrol officer anymore, but I learned how to protect myself...and I can still protect myself now. I won’t let them win. I won’t be afraid.”

But she was afraid. Her worst nightmare had always been a fear of ending up just like her mother. She hated the fresh terror coursing through her. How could she control this? What should she do now? Would her prayers save her?

Slade pulled her toward him, his hands on her elbows. “It’s gonna be all right. You don’t need to worry. I’ll put an officer on your house 24/7, I promise.”

She backed away again. She couldn’t depend on this man. She’d been independent for a long time now. “I have Warrior. I’m training him as an all-purpose so he can help you find Rio. And we’ll find the man behind this, too.”

Slade shook his head. “No, Kaitlin. There is no ‘we’ in this. You can’t get involved. It’s too dangerous.”

“I’m already involved,” she said, anger taking over her apprehension. “They’re after me. I don’t know why, but they want something from me.”

“They need your expertise,” Slade explained. “You know how to make Rio do his job. They don’t. That means they want something or someone that they can’t get to, and they need you and Rio to help them.”

“So they’ll just kidnap trainers and animals until they get what they want?”

She saw something there in his eyes, a flicker of uneasiness that surpassed the concern she’d already seen. “What are you thinking, Slade?”

“They’re coming after you for a reason.”

“You said because of my expertise.”

“It’s more than that, I think.” He put his hands on his hips and exhaled slowly. “They must know that you and I are—that we’re close. I mean, I came to you almost two years ago and asked you to help me with Caleb. You’ve been to our house before and you’ve had Caleb at your place when I needed a sitter. They’ve seen us together at the yard and...they’ve probably been watching you with Caleb at the park, walking down the block—”

Kaitlin gasped and put a hand to her mouth. “They wouldn’t hurt him, would they? Slade?”

He hit his hand on the door frame. “I don’t know. We have to consider every possibility.”

A cold calm came over Kaitlin. She refused to give in to the dread that shadowed her like tattered black threads. And she surely wouldn’t allow anything to happen to Caleb. “We have to consider that. If I’m around you and Caleb, then you both could be in danger.”

He looked over at her. “You can’t avoid us. You can’t isolate yourself. We have to work through this together.”

“But you just said I shouldn’t get involved. You can’t have it both ways.”

“You’re right, I can’t. You’re in danger and I need to come up with a way to protect you. But you’re also good at your job. I need you to go about your normal routine. If you keep working with Warrior, we might be able to do something about this.”