Susan Sleeman - Taken In Texas

No. No. You have to stay up.

A karate chop hit her arm, and her gun skittered away.

She was helpless now. Unarmed, with an intruder standing over her.

No, God, please no.

She crashed to the floor.

Get your gun. Now, before he does. Find it. Protect yourself.

She tried to lift her arm but a black curtain closed over her eyes. She was in extreme danger, and she could do nothing to stave off the darkness.

Her world faded to black.

Detective Cord Goodwin didn’t like what he was seeing.

A deputy was at his aunt’s house. Fine. Good, even. He’d been trying to get ahold of Eve, and she didn’t answer her phone. That was unlike her, so he’d asked the sheriff’s department to do a welfare check and they didn’t find her at home. They’d promised to come back out that night. He’d just been too worried not to come in person, so the minute he could get away from his job as a homicide detective to make the drive from Houston, he did. He’d expected to find Eve home. Hoped to find her, at least. But the house was black as the night, a patrol vehicle running in the drive and no sign of the deputy. That he didn’t expect.

There was only one thing to do about it—check it out.

He removed his off-duty weapon from his ankle holster and made an entry plan. He was facing a touchy situation. He had to announce himself or the deputy might mistake him for a prowler, but if he did call out, he would distract the deputy.

Still, it was better to announce himself than to take a bullet from some rookie who might panic. Of course, it might not be a rookie. Might be someone he’d worked with when he’d been employed by the Lake County Sheriff’s Department. He could hardly believe six years had passed since then, but with very little turnover on the force, he might very well know the responding deputy.

Could even be Kendall. Wouldn’t that be something, seeing her again after all these years?

They’d dated for a month or so. Had even gotten serious. At least for him. But she was a strong, independent woman and thought he was too controlling. She was right. He’d controlled his life with an iron fist. He’d tried to change back then, many times, but he couldn’t let go of his past and couldn’t manage it. So they’d simply broken up. Maybe they could have made a go of it if they hadn’t worked in the same department. But they had and the breakup was ugly, and they couldn’t continue to see each other. With her father serving as county sheriff, Cord was the logical one to leave the department.

He landed a job as a police officer in Houston, worked his way up to detective and hadn’t seen Kendall since. Now here he was.

Could he handle running into her again? Did it matter?

If this was her cruiser, he had no choice. Something was up with Aunt Eve, and he was going to get some answers tonight, even if those answers came from Kendall.

He went to the door, keeping his head on a swivel as he walked. He’d been in law enforcement far too long to let his worry for his aunt overtake his safety training. He inserted his key in the lock and pushed the door open. It swung in with a creak that was swallowed up by chirps from the loud cicadas, which were always prevalent in August.

“Hey, anybody here?” he yelled. “It’s Cord Goodwin. Eve’s nephew and Houston police officer.”

Through the living room and down the hallway, he saw a flashlight lying on the floor, the beam pointing his way. Next to it, a body lay, unmoving.

No. No.

Eve? The deputy?

Cord’s heart constricted, and his gut knotted. He almost didn’t want to know who it was, but he had to find out.

He slipped effortlessly into his officer persona, raised his gun and eased into the house, clearing each room on the way. He wanted to move faster, but he couldn’t risk someone charging out and ending his life.

He reached the hallway. The person on the floor wore a deputy’s uniform. A woman. He squinted to make out the face.

Pain pierced his heart.

Kendall. It was Kendall lying on the floor, her eyes closed.

Please, God. Please don’t let her have sustained a life-threatening injury.

Cord grabbed the flashlight and ran the beam over her body. No bloody wounds.

Good. Good. A large bump the size of a goose egg bulged on her forehead, and his aunt’s big rolling pin lay on the floor beside her.

Kendall had been blindsided. Took a blow to the head. Better than a gunshot, he supposed.

Keeping his gun fixed forward with one hand, he squatted to check her pulse. Her skin was soft and warm, bringing back memories he’d buried deep. He shook them off and moved his fingers until he located her pulse. Strong and sure.

His heart rate slowed, and he reached for her radio. “This is off-duty Detective Cord Goodwin from Houston. You have a deputy down.” He relayed his aunt’s address.

He heard movement in the kitchen. Looked up to see a man in the shadows looking back at them. The guy suddenly bolted toward the back door.

“Stop! Police!” Cord shot to his feet.

The guy kept running. Cord charged to the door and shone the flashlight over the yard. The fleeing suspect disappeared into the woods. Cord chased after him, but once he reached the wooded area, a motorcycle roared to life.

Cord stopped. No way could he catch the suspect on a bike. Better to find Eve and help Kendall. Eve first, as he had no idea if she’d been injured, and Kendall appeared stable. Panic rioting within him, he forced it down to go back inside and search Eve’s bedroom.

He took a quick swing of the flashlight over the kitchen, coming to rest on a rusty red spot on the linoleum floor. Blood? Was that blood?

He swallowed hard and hurried across the room. Squatted. Yeah, it was, all right. As much as he didn’t want it to be, he’d seen blood far too many times in his job to question it.

He shot up and rushed out of the room. Kendall still lay on the floor. As he passed her, the urge to help her almost overpowered his concern for his aunt. Almost.

Holding his breath, he pushed into Eve’s room and flipped on the light. The room was undisturbed, the bed made, but she wasn’t there or in the spare room, either.

He sighed out a breath of relief before a bead of worry took its place. He hadn’t found Eve’s body. That was good. Really good. But Eve was still missing, there was blood in the kitchen and an intruder who was willing to kill a deputy with a rolling pin had fled the home.

Something was wrong here. Terribly wrong.

Kendall’s head swam, and a murky black pool covered her eyes. Where was she, and what had happened? She had to climb to the surface and figure it out.

She raised herself up on her elbow. The room spun, and she lowered herself down. She slowly turned her head, saw a rolling pin on the floor next to her.

Right. The intruder had hit her. Hard. So hard. She’d dropped her gun and flashlight before she tumbled to the floor. Her flashlight must have turned off when it landed, leaving the hallway dark.

Her gun .

Where was it? She had to find it.

She dug deeper for the strength to move and eased up on an elbow again. The room whirled, and her stomach heaved. She swallowed and pushed harder. Backup was on the way, but her life might depend on retrieving that gun, if the intruder hadn’t already taken it.

She got on her knees. The front door stood open and headlights beamed into the front room. Maybe the intruder fled the property through that door. She could only hope he was gone.

She swept her hands over the floor, moving sideways so she could keep an eye on both doors. In a dark corner, she hit something metal and reached out.