The Texas Lawman's Last Stand. Delores Fossen

Ian?”

      She nodded. “We worked together a lot when I did some P.I. jobs for my uncle. He’s very loyal to Kendall. And Kendall was no doubt sending another message by having him represent the man who was probably sent here to kill me.”

      “You’re a P.I.?” Bo questioned.

      “I was. Am,” she corrected, since she still had her license. “Much to the disgust of my family. The Colliers aren’t big on family members with careers in law enforcement.” That was a massive understatement.

      “Yet your uncle hired you.”

      “He did. After my parents died in a car accident five years ago, Kendall sort of took me under his wing. He hired me to do background checks on potential business associates. When I learned one of those associates was an illegal arms dealer, I told Kendall, but he didn’t believe me. That’s when I contacted the authorities.”

      “A Collier with a conscience.” And it was obvious he didn’t bother to tone down the sarcasm.

      Mattie couldn’t blame him for his attitude. He was right. Her parents had owned several investment businesses that were barely legal. She had known from an early age that they had questionable ethics, but only after she’d become a P.I. and had dug into their backgrounds had she realized just how corrupt they were.

      “As you know, I testified against Kendall,” she continued, “but he was acquitted.”

      “Because the FBI didn’t have the proper search warrant when they found the incriminating documents.”

      She nodded, swallowed hard. “And I think because of that, Holly’s father, my fiancé, was gunned down when I was six weeks pregnant. The police weren’t able to find any proof of who killed him.”

      Bo blinked, probably because that had struck a still-raw nerve. He’d lost Nadine, the love of his life, and Mattie had lost Brody, the love of hers.

      Sometimes, life just plain sucked.

      “After someone tried to kidnap me,” she continued, “I was placed in so-called Witness Protection. Turns out I didn’t get much protection there.”

      Mattie took a deep breath to regain her composure, and she glanced toward the nursery. “Look, I know you have questions, but honestly they should wait.”

      The glare turned sharp again. “For what? For you to try to tell me again that Holly is your daughter?”

      Obviously, Bo wasn’t going to take her word on that, and she didn’t blame him. She had walked into his ideal family life and had essentially ripped it apart.

      Mattie reached into her shoulder bag. Bo reached, too, lightning fast, and he snagged her wrist.

      “You already have my gun,” she reminded him. Mattie waited until his grip eased a little, and she extracted the two DNA swabs that she’d bought online.

      She saw the argument she and Bo were about to have, but his phone rang, cutting off the angry words that he was no doubt about to fire at her.

      Bo let go of her wrist, but he stayed close, still violating her personal space. Normally, Mattie would have put some distance between them, but she wanted to hear his phone conversation, especially when she glanced at the caller ID screen and noticed that it was Sergeant O’Malley again.

      “Mattie Collier,” she heard the sergeant say. “She’s in Witness Protection, but someone hacked into her file. Her identity was compromised.”

      That didn’t soften Bo’s glare. “Someone tried to kill her?”

      “Well, at minimum someone tried to kidnap her several times, and it’s highly likely the culprit had intentions to murder her. The FBI thinks the attempts are connected to her uncle, Kendall Collier. And that brings me to the computer in the coffee shop. You wanted to know what other searches Kendall made …”

      Mattie automatically moved closer, so close that her cheek brushed against the back of Bo’s hand. He jerked away from her and went to the center of the room where she couldn’t hear a word the sergeant was saying.

      “Yeah,” Bo said to the sergeant a moment later. Then the seconds crawled by. She certainly couldn’t tell from Bo’s expression what exactly he was being told, but she doubted it would be good news.

      While he finished his conversation, Mattie glanced out the window to make sure all was well. There were cars parked in the pristine driveways. Her own vehicle was still in front of Bo’s house. Someone was walking a dog. But there were no menacing black vans or possible assassins lurking in the shadows.

      Not now, anyway.

      But they would come. She was certain of it.

      Bo ended the call and closed his phone, but he just stood there, staring at the cell.

      “You were right,” he finally said. He came back across the room toward her. “Kendall used the computer to search for babies born on Holly’s birthday.”

      Mattie wasn’t exactly relieved, because it meant Kendall was closing in fast, but at least now Bo might realize that they both wanted the same thing.

      To protect Holly.

      “You need to know the truth about her DNA,” Mattie pressed. She opened one of the kits and swabbed the inside of her mouth. She put the swab back into the plastic bag and handed it to Bo along with an unused one.

      More seconds crawled by, and Mattie could feel her heart in her throat. Everything hinged on this.

      Bo snatched the kits from her. “I’ll have the tests done, but I’m not giving up my daughter. Got that?”

      No. She didn’t get that. But now wasn’t the time to argue with a father on the verge of losing a child he loved. Even if arguing was exactly what Mattie wanted to do. She wanted her baby in her arms, right here, right now. But her need for her baby would have to wait. Holly’s safety had to come first, and since that safety depended on Bo’s help, she had to keep this as non-hostile as possible.

      “I probably don’t have to remind you to keep those results a secret,” she said. “Kendall has probably already bribed labs all over the city to alert him to something like this.”

      “I’ll use the police lab,” he mumbled. “And I’ll make sure the results come only to me.”

      Well, it wasn’t foolproof, especially considering how someone had hacked into her Witness Protection files, but Bo needed these test results so they could move on to the next stage. Plus, he was aware now of the danger and would hopefully be taking massive precautions.

      Mattie used the pen and notepad near the house phone to jot down her number. “I obviously use a prepaid cell these days. No way to trace it. But when you find out who the man in the black van is, I’d like to know.”

      Bo glanced at the paper but gave her no assurance that he would do that. Mattie would give him until noon the following day. If she could wait that long. And if she hadn’t heard from him, then she would call him.

      “I want you to move Holly and your son to a safe house,” she added. “If you can’t arrange that for tonight, then ask for officers to patrol the neighborhood.” She’d already noticed that he had a security system.

      “Don’t tell me how to protect my kids,” Bo snapped. “I’ve done all right so far.”

      “Yes, but you haven’t run up against the likes of my uncle.”

      He looked at her phone number and then the DNA kits before his gaze came back to hers. “The authorities want to talk to you.”

      “It’ll have to wait until I can figure out a way to neutralize my uncle and his hired guns.”

      “Neutralize?” he repeated, sounding very much like a cop again. “What are you planning to do?”

      “After I’m sure Holly is safe, I’ll call