Colton's Cinderella Bride. Lisa Childs

flushed. “She’s yours.”

      He hadn’t shut the door yet, so he looked into the hall again. Empty. “Why didn’t you bring her?” he asked as he closed the door.

      He hadn’t chosen to be a father, but now that he was one, he wanted to know about his child. He wanted to see her, to talk to her, to hold her...especially when he remembered how upset she’d been at the police department. The tears, the fear...

      Juliette’s teeth sank into her bottom lip and she shook her head. And in her eyes were the same tears and fear that had been in her daughter’s.

      “What happened today?” he asked. “What crime did she witness?” He should have asked that earlier—should have demanded his answers then. But he’d been too stunned to think, to feel anything but shock.

      “Murder,” Juliette replied.

      And that shock struck him again. He shook his head. “No...” He’d known there had been some murders in Red Ridge, but those had involved grooms. “Were you two at a wedding?”

      Juliette shook her head. “We were at the park. She was sitting on top of the tall slide, and she saw a man and woman in the parking lot.” She shivered. “She told me and the detective later what happened—that the woman opened a suitcase full of bags of sand and the man pulled out a gun and shot her. Then he threw the suitcase in the car and came after us.” Her voice cracked with that fear.

      And Blake instinctively reached for her again. But this time she didn’t pull away. Instead she let him tug her into his arms and hold her as she trembled against him.

      “What happened then?” he asked.

      Obviously, she and the little girl had gotten away from the killer. But he wanted the details, needing to know how close he had come to losing them before he’d even known they were here.

      “I hid Pandora in the tunnel under the slide...”

      Pandora. That was the little girl’s name.

      “He didn’t find her?”

      “He found us,” Juliette said. “But before he could shoot us, I shot him.”

      He shuddered now. He hadn’t known her at all five years ago. She’d seemed so refined—so delicate—but she was much stronger than he’d known.

      “I just grazed his shoulder, and he got away before I could arrest him,” she said, her voice heavy with regret. “He told me that he’d get her, though. And I know that he will try. She saw him kill that woman.”

      That poor little girl. Nobody should have to witness something so horrific, let alone a child.

      He pulled Juliette’s trembling body even closer to his. But he wasn’t sure whom he was trying to comfort now—her or himself. “Where is she?”

      “The woman died.”

      “No,” he said. “Your—our—” His voice cracked as he corrected himself, and he felt a rush of his own fear. “Our daughter,” he continued. “Where is she?”

      Juliette’s breath shuddered out, brushing softly across his throat. Then she stepped back, out of his embrace, and wrapped her arms around herself. “I talked the chief into putting her in a safe house. The killer saw my uniform, so I’m sure he will be able to figure out who I am easily enough and where we live.”

      “You’re in danger, too, then,” he said, and he fought the urge to reach for her again, to hold her in his arms and keep her safe. “If he got close enough for you to shoot him, you saw him.”

      She nodded. “He was wearing sunglasses and a hood. But the hood blew back, and the glasses slipped down...” She shuddered again. “And I’ll never forget that face, those eyes...”

      He’d once said the same thing about her—that he would never forget her. And that had scared him, too, but no way near to the extent that she was afraid. She feared for her life. He’d feared only for his heart.

      “So you can identify him,” he said. Hopefully the Red Ridge Police Department could find the guy and put him behind bars for life for the life he’d taken.

      “I looked through all the mug shots and—” she shook her head “—nothing. I thought he looked familiar, but I couldn’t find any arrest or outstanding warrant for him.” Her brow furrowed with frustration.

      That same frustration coursed through him. Now there was more than one killer on the loose in Red Ridge. But this killer wasn’t after just grooms. He was after Juliette and Blake’s daughter.

      “I’m going to hire private guards to watch that safe house,” he said. He’d heard of a reputable security firm out of River City, Michigan. He would hire the Payne Protection Agency to guard his little girl. He hadn’t known he was a father until now—but now that he knew, he was going to do the best he could by his daughter.

      Juliette shook her head. “That’s not necessary. Red Ridge PD will protect her. She has an officer staying with her inside the house and another one patrolling outside it. She has police protection 24-7.”

      And what about Juliette? Who was protecting her? Nobody had been in the hall with her when she’d arrived. Was there anyone waiting outside to protect her? Or had she come alone?

      Blake shook his head. “The department is spread too thin right now. Surely you must realize that—with a serial killer on the loose and then this...murder involving drugs...”

      What the hell had happened to Red Ridge since he’d been gone? When he was growing up here, it used to feel like nothing ever happened—except for that one night. But now too much was happening in Red Ridge.

      Too damn much crime...

      Juliette’s face flushed again, and finally she nodded in agreement. “Our resources are limited right now...”

      And they were about to get more limited. That was another reason Patience had called him. If their father lost Colton Energy, Red Ridge would lose their funding for the K9 program, as well. His late first wife’s trust had originally funded the program, and he’d taken over when that had run out.

      If the program ended, then Juliette would probably lose her job—her way of supporting their daughter, which she’d been doing alone.

      Until now.

      “You’ll have to run it past the chief, though,” she cautioned him.

      That wasn’t all Blake intended to run past the chief. He intended to make sure Juliette had protection, as well. But he didn’t bring it up now because he didn’t want to argue with her while she was upset.

      “He doesn’t even want me going to visit Pandora at the safe house,” she remarked, and there was a little catch in her voice, as if she was choking down a sob.

      Blake reached for her again, pulling her against him. His body tensed as attraction overwhelmed him.

      “I’ve never been separated from her before,” Juliette said. “She’s never spent a night away from me...”

      And his attraction cooled as his anger returned. Now he stepped back, breaking the physical connection with her. And physical was all they would ever have—if that. She was a woman he would never be able to trust—not after how she’d misled him five years ago.

      Obviously she had not been the rich businesswoman he’d thought she was. And then to keep his daughter from him...

      “I can’t say the same,” he remarked resentfully. “All I’ve been is separated from her. You should have told me...”

      “I told you why,” she said, and she gestured at the door and that threshold. “I didn’t think you’d want to be part of her life.”

      He shook his head, rejecting her excuse. “I should have been given the chance to decide that for myself,” he said. “You should have told me.”