Lenora Worth - Lone Star Protector

“Will you let me do that? Will you keep me informed and let me train Warrior to help?” She lifted her chin. “Don’t shut me out, Slade. This is too important and I’m way too involved for you to go all stoic and righteous on me now.”

A frown deepened his laugh lines. “Stoic and righteous? Is that how you see me?”

Kaitlin didn’t want to pull any punches. “You’re kind of single-minded and intense when it comes to this case. And I get that. Your partner went missing, your dad almost died and now your son might be a target.” She held back a shudder. “You have every right to be on alert, Slade, but you need me. I want to help. If I don’t, this fear will overcome me and I can’t handle that.”

He stood, silent and brooding, doubt flickering in his eyes. “You’re right. I have a lot riding on this. My entire unit, for one thing. My job, my son. And you.”

And you.

Awareness flashed through Kaitlin, a spine-tingling feeling that she couldn’t deny. Did he feel it, too? This thing they had going? She wondered if she was just fixating on the one man who’d taken the time to get to know her over the years and had now possibly saved her life. Or maybe because Caleb was so adorable, she considered his daddy to be the same? No, this was about more than that.

They’d worked around each other for a couple of years now, but they’d both been professional and polite but standoffish. Then he’d approached her about using dog therapy to help Caleb out of his shell. And she’d readily agreed because she did empathize with the little guy since she’d been through something similar. And now they’d been thrown together in an intense brush with death. Being aware of Slade McNeal had gone up a notch or two from admiring him to admitting she was attracted to him.

Did he feel the same way? She decided that didn’t matter right now. She only wanted Slade and his family to be safe. Caleb didn’t need yet another trauma to deal with.

Slade McNeal was as strong as steel and as solid as an oak tree. The strands of silver near his temples matched that steely ice blue of his eyes. He was the kind of man she should run from, and fast. She needed to remember that, no matter the tension between them.

He must have realized what he’d said. “You are a part of this, Kaitlin. I can’t let anything bad happen to one of our best trainers.”

She’d take that, for now.

“Then let me help you. I’m trained to teach K-9 dogs on how to be the best. I know all the rules and I know all the procedures and precautions. And even though I quit the force, I’m experienced in all kinds of self-defense courses.”

He nodded, a curt, quick movement. “We’ll need to put surveillance on your house and the training yard. You can’t be alone. You’ll need someone at work with you at all times and you might need to stay with someone for a while. I can put Melody on this. She’s as caught up in this case as the rest of us.”

“Melody Zachary?” Kaitlin knew Melody. She was a good cop and a great friend who’d recently helped solve her nephew Daniel’s murder. “But she’s engaged now. She’s busy planning her wedding to Parker.”

“Yep, that seems to be going around a lot these days, but she still has a job to do. You can help her with the wedding stuff. You women seem to love that kind of thing.”

Figuring he wasn’t the marrying type, she said, “We all have a job to do.” Then her smile broke. “But it would be fun to help plan a wedding.”

Slade nodded. “I guess that’s a win-win.” He took another breath. “Look, it’s late. We’ve got a lot to contend with. Think you can get some sleep?”

“I don’t know. I’m exhausted but wired. I’ll try.”

He motioned to Warrior. “Take him and go back to bed.”

“What about you?”

“I don’t sleep.”

* * *

The next morning, Slade was back in his office bright and early. He’d dropped Kaitlin by her house to get a few things, then they’d driven in together. The other trainers had been briefed on what happened yesterday, so they knew to stay on high alert. Slade had reported to the chief and now he was about to brief his unit and bring everyone up-to-date. They’d have to retrace their steps yet again to see what they’d been missing.

But when he turned to stare at the big white board where he’d placed all the clues and details they’d managed to collect over the past few months, he couldn’t help but scan the pieces of the puzzle one more time.

His father had been attacked and Rio had been kidnapped. Eva Billow’s son Brady had then been taken because the kid had witnessed the attack. Austin Black and his bloodhound Justice had found the child. And Austin had found love with the boy’s pretty mother Eva. At least they’d gotten one arrest out of that part of the case. Only that lowlife Don Frist wasn’t talking. Nobody wanted to talk, not even Charles Ritter, the high-powered lawyer Don Frist had ratted out. Ritter was sitting in jail. Which meant The Boss was a very powerful and dangerous man.

Then two more thugs had been murdered, and two middle management members of the crime syndicate were also dead. He stared at the mug shots of Andrew Garry, aka Blood, and Adrianna Munson, aka Serpent. They were all snakes in the grass in Slade’s mind. Next up, Gunther Lamont—the Businessman—allegedly the second in command, now dead. Shot by Ski Mask Man. And last but certainly not least, dirty cop Jim Wheaton—who’d been on the syndicate’s payroll—had been taken down by the cops during a hostage crisis.

They were getting closer and closer to The Boss. Slade should thank the man for culling his own criminals to the point of having no one to trust. That made a man desperate and dangerous. The Boss would slip up and when he did, Slade planned to be there to catch him. Trying to kidnap Kaitlin in the training yard and sending a thug to his house last night made this even more personal for Slade. The Boss kept toying with all of them, but he would slip up soon and Slade would be ready and waiting.

As he stood there going over everything in his head, he realized this had always been personal. They’d taken Rio out of his yard and tried to kill his father. And come to think of it, each of his team members had come dangerously close to getting killed, too. But all roads always came back to Slade and his family. Starting with Angie dying in that car bomb two years ago.

As the entire Special Operations K-9 Unit filed in, one by one, Slade nodded and spoke to each. Austin Black and Lee Calloway talked to each other as they headed to the coffeepot.

Valerie Salgado, a rookie who’d more than earned her stripes, laughed at something Jackson Worth said. And one of Slade’s best friends, Parker Adams, nodded to Slade.

“What’s up?” Slade asked when Parker came up to him.

“Can we talk later?” Parker asked. “I need to run something by you.”

“Sure,” Slade replied, curious. “Lunch after the meeting?”

“That’ll work,” Parker said. “Melody might be able to make lunch.” He nodded and took a seat.

Wondering what that was all about, Slade started the meeting. “I know you’ve all been briefed on what transpired yesterday behind the training yard. Trainer Kaitlin Mathers’s attempted kidnapping is now considered part of this case. Ski Mask Man has struck again.”

Everyone started mumbling and talking. Slade held up a hand. “We’re gonna go over every inch of evidence we have and we’re going to pursue every lead. We want Rio back, but more than that, we want our town back. So let’s start at the beginning.”

The team had interviewed a low-level snitch named Pauly Keevers and all he’d told them was that there was something buried in the Lost Woods, a heavily wooded forest on the edge of town that hid a multitude of crime and evil. Pauly was dead now, too, taken out by the syndicate. Then informant Ned Adams was found buried in the woods.