Vow To Protect. Ann Voss Peterson

she’d had her life just the way she’d wanted. A great job at the lab. A secure home for her son. A sane and safe neighborhood in which he could grow up and thrive.

      And then Cord had walked back into her life and brought all her worst nightmares with him.

      She looked down at the top of her son’s head. Ethan had no idea Cord was his father, but that didn’t prevent him from watching Cord’s arrest with wide eyes, soaking in every detail. She had to get him out of here. She’d spent her life making sure he didn’t have to witness this kind of thing, that he didn’t have to grow up in the world she did. She turned to the police officer who had shunted them out of the line of fire.

      “Can I take my son inside?”

      “In just a moment, ma’am. Detective McCaskey will want to talk to you first.” He nodded his head in the direction of a tall, dark-haired man wearing a police department polo shirt.

      The detective wound his way through officers and cars and stopped in front of her. “Do you know this man?”

      “Yes. I mean, I did. A long time ago.”

      “Was he threatening you?”

      “No, of course not.”

      “You can answer honestly. We can keep you safe from him.”

      “No, he wasn’t threatening. He was warning me.”

      “Warning you? About what?”

      She glanced down at Ethan. “Can we talk about this another time?”

      The detective followed her gaze. His eyes narrowed on Ethan. Then, as almost a reflex, he glanced back at Cord. “I think I understand.”

      A tremor lodged in Melanie’s chest. She should have known he’d figure it out. Ethan looked so much like Cord, it was frightening. The resemblance had stolen her breath on more than one occasion. And now, seeing the two of them together, McCaskey would have to be blind not to see that they were father and son.

      And that that fact meant Ethan was Dryden Kane’s grandson.

      The thought squeezed the breath from her lungs. She couldn’t accept that Ethan shared that monster’s blood. She couldn’t even start to wrap her mind around it. She could only pray the detective wouldn’t comment. “We were just leaving when the police arrived.”

      “Why don’t you pack some things and we’ll see what we can do as far as protection is concerned? We can talk more after you’re settled.”

      She nodded. She could do that. She would pack some of their things and take Ethan away.

      She forced her feet to move up the sidewalk and steps to the front door of the house. She couldn’t stop shuddering. Gritting her teeth, she opened the storm door and held it wide for Ethan and the detective, trying not to look back as the officers escorted Cord into the backseat of one of the police cars.

      A sob thickened deep in her throat, but she refused to let it loose. She’d been through bad things in her life, and she’d get through this, too. For Ethan she could get through anything.

      Leaving Reed McCaskey in the great room, she steered Ethan through the hall and into his bedroom. She pulled a duffel bag out of his closet and spread it open on his bed. “Pick out some clothes, games and books and stuff, too. Okay?”

      “How long are we going to be gone?”

      “I don’t know, sweetheart. A few days. It shouldn’t be any more than that.” At least she hoped not. “What do you say we go to a place with a pool? Just you and me? It will be fun. Like a vacation.”

      “What about school?”

      Ethan always pretended he didn’t care about school. But she’d always suspected he enjoyed seeing his friends and working on school projects more than he let on. “Tomorrow is Friday. You’ll only miss a day. You’ll be back in school next week.”

      “And your work?”

      She couldn’t imagine her supervisor at the lab would be thrilled with the short notice, but it couldn’t be helped. “I could use a day off with my favorite guy.” She slipped an arm around him and squeezed him close, bending down to kiss him on the forehead.

      “Mo-om.” He rolled his eyes.

      Her lips relaxed into a smile. That was the Ethan she knew. “Make sure you pack your swimming suit.”

      “Can we stay up in the Dells? At one of the water parks?”

      “Maybe.” At least Ethan was focusing on the bright side. She only wished she could do the same. But dread gathered inside her like clouds of an approaching thunderstorm.

      A storm she couldn’t escape.

      CORD LEANED BACK in the hard chair in the interrogation room and glanced up at the camera positioned in the corner. It stared down at him, its lens an accusing eye waiting to capture his confession. The only problem was he had nothing to confess.

      The only thing drumming through his mind right now was concern for Melanie and thoughts of the son he never knew he had.

      The son he would never know.

      The door to the interrogation room burst open, and a sour-looking cop with jowls that drooped like laundry hung to dry stepped into the room. He closed the door behind him and ran his gaze over the tats on Cord’s arms. His upper lip curled in disgust.

      Cord was used to the contempt of cops. Long before he’d gone to prison, he’d been the wrong kind of kid, not a hardcore gang banger but close enough. At least in most cops’ eyes. He returned the cop’s glare with a Murder One stare of his own.

      The cop was the first to break the silence. “Time to talk, dawg.”

      Cord hadn’t been called dawg since he was behind bars. A memory this cop obviously wanted him to relive. “And you are?”

      “Detective Stan Perreth.” He glanced down at his watch. “You have five minutes to come clean, or I’m calling your parole officer. I hear your friends are throwing a par-tay in your cell and everyone’s coming. You understand what I’m saying?”

      This guy was a riot. A regular prison jargon stand-up show, albeit a little cleaner than the language flying around the joint. “How about you call my lawyer first?”

      “Why? You got something to hide?” Perreth plunked into a chair and leaned close. Table shoved to the side of the room, there was nothing between him and the cop. The odor of cigarette smoke emanating from Perreth’s clothing and breath was enough to make Cord crave a rollie of his own, though he’d kicked the habit when he’d been paroled. “It’s in your best interest to talk,” Perreth said.

      Right. “I don’t see how it’s in my best interest to have anything to do with you.”

      “You should want to talk to me, punk. I can see to it that Melanie Frist and her boy are safe. Or should I say, your boy?”

      Cord’s gut clenched. He wasn’t surprised Perreth noticed the resemblance. One look and anyone could guess Ethan was his son. But Cord didn’t like the implication that Mel and Ethan’s safety hinged on him confessing to something he didn’t know about and didn’t do. “Is that some kind of threat?”

      “I’m just saying if you help me, I’ll be more inclined to help you. That’s how the world works.”

      That might be true. But it still didn’t tell Cord what he was supposed to be confessing to in order to earn Perreth’s favors.

      A sharp knock sounded, and the door opened.

      Cord never thought he’d be happy to see his brother-in-law. He sure as hell didn’t have a stash of good feelings for Reed McCaskey, but after chatting with Perreth, McCaskey seemed like a long-lost friend. At least he didn’t think McCaskey would resort to using Mel and Ethan to get what he wanted.

      A