Lone Star Protector. Lenora Worth

forward then stopped. “Because this case has me by the throat and...I’m almost certain your attempted kidnapping has something to do with this crime syndicate. I couldn’t live with myself if...something happened to you.” He inhaled, rubbed a hand down his face. “And...because you mean a lot to my son. He feels comfortable with you since you’ve babysat him a few times and allowed the trainee dogs to befriend him. Truth is, he’s been through too much tragedy already...and he’d be devastated if something happened to you.”

      Kaitlin couldn’t catch her next breath after that comment. “I can’t stay at your house forever...”

      “No, but I can keep you alive if you’ll listen to me.”

      She couldn’t argue with that. He’d scared her with his bold words and all this talk of a crime syndicate and a masked criminal. He’d scared her with that tormented need she’d seen hooding his eyes, too. He didn’t want his little boy to suffer anymore.

      However, going with Slade would be like stepping across that forbidden line she’d put up between them. She didn’t like mixing emotions and business together. Things could get really messy.

      But when she thought about that man’s eyes, she got the shivers. And given the choice of staying here alone or being with Slade and his family...well, there wasn’t a choice.

      “I’ll pack a bag,” she said finally. Then she turned and hurried out of the room before she changed her mind.

      * * *

      Well, now he could add stupid to the list of traits he needed to refine. He had a feeling he’d regret bringing a woman home, kind of like sailors used to avoid having a female on their ship. Nothing good could come of it.

      Slade looked around the big living room of the house he shared with his father and his son and a retired K-9 named Chief. The rambling craftsman home had plenty of room for one or two more. But it had been a long time since a woman, other than his father’s team of home health care nurses and Caleb’s after-school nanny, had stayed in this house for more than a few uncomfortable minutes—for what his daddy called a “casserole” visit. Single women and widows loved to bring them casseroles. The women all expected something in return, of course. A couple of them had even asked Slade to the monthly church social.

      Slade couldn’t oblige them. It made for awkward visits.

      But hey, the food was good.

      “She’s pretty and nice,” Patrick McNeal said. “Kind of different from most of the casserole girls.”

      Old Chief, retired and getting fat and sassy, lifted his head and sniffed the perfume in the air. Even the dog had noticed this feminine intrusion.

      Slade turned from where he was making sandwiches and nodded at his father. “Pretty, nice and now...on some thug’s hit list.” He slapped ham between two slices of white bread. “Why would anyone go after Kaitlin Mathers?”

      Papa, as Caleb liked to call him, ran a hand down his white-whiskered face. Still recovering from the injuries that had left him in a coma, he said, “Maybe they need a dog trainer.”

      Slade stopped the knife he’d aimed at the mayo jar. “Good point.”

      “You think this attack is connected to all the others? Whoever took Rio might need a qualified trainer, too.”

      “I’m betting it’s related, for that reason and maybe something more. I haven’t come up with anything else, though.”

      Patrick held tight to his walker and turned to go back through the arched opening to his favorite chair in the den. Chief automatically followed him. “You’ll figure it out, son.”

      Slade wondered about that. He and his dad didn’t do much chitchatting here in the house. Caleb seemed to get agitated whenever they talked police business. But Patrick had made a connection that shouted at Slade. Someone might need Kaitlin’s expertise. Or any of the trainers’ expertise, for that matter. That someone obviously had taken Rio right out of the backyard. He’d have to beef up security around the training center. Not to mention keep a close watch on his son and his daddy. And he’d need to protect Kaitlin, whether she liked it or not.

      Rubbing his hand on the back of his neck, he grunted at the twisted knots tightening his head and shoulders. Maybe he needed to hit the gym a little more to work out some of these kinks.

      No, he just needed to catch The Boss. The mysterious leader of the local crime syndicate kept slipping through their fingers, but one way or another he vowed to bring this criminal to justice. Since the day his dog Rio had been taken right out of his yard and his father had been injured, he’d made this case a top priority. And his entire unit felt the same way.

      He wanted his frail father to understand what he was trying to do.

      He wanted his best K-9 partner back. Rio was part of his family.

      He wanted his son to be strong and well and happy.

      Then why don’t you spend more time with the boy?

      That question hit him hard in his gut. Patrick asked him that at least twice a week. When he’d turned to Kaitlin in desperation after Rio’s kidnapping, the dog trainer and his sometime-babysitter had hinted that it might help for him to take more time with Caleb. Maybe that was why he always got so befuddled and tongue-tied around the woman. Maybe that was why bringing her here wasn’t such a good idea, after all. He didn’t want the woman judging him.

      She wasn’t married and didn’t have kids. But she sure had a way with animals and children. She was all honey and sweetness when she wasn’t barking commands at K-9 dogs. Today, after things had settled down, her hair had shimmered like burnished gold in the light of early dusk, but her hazel eyes had remained cool and questioning each time her gaze landed on Slade. Except for that little bit of sympathy he’d seen there in shades of green and brown. The woman had been attacked and yet, she still felt sorry for him?

      He didn’t need anyone’s pity.

      Slade needed to be a better father, but...it was so hard to relate to his quiet, sad little boy. The boy missed his mother. And Slade felt the weight of guilt pressing like a two-ton chain on his shoulders. He and Angie had been fighting the day she’d died in that car bomb. His wife had been leaving him, probably for good, when she’d cranked the engine.

      Slade endured the torment of causing her death each and every day. His daddy told him he should pray about his feelings, but Slade didn’t think he was worthy of asking God to release him of this burden. That bomb had been meant for him. He shouldn’t even be standing here. He couldn’t look his own son in the eye.

      And...he had the nagging suspicion that the bomb that had killed Angie was related to this current case. Especially since similar bomb threats had been found at Nicolette Johnson’s former rental. Detective Jackson Worth and his K-9 partner, Titan, had found one bomb in the nick of time to save Nicolette. Her house had been damaged, but that only reinforced how much danger she’d been in to begin with.

      Then Jackson had also been threatened with a bomb under his car. Titan, trained to detect explosives, had saved the day again.

      They might not be so lucky next time. Too many killings and too many kidnapping attempts had everyone on edge. And after today’s bold attempt, Slade was sure there would be a next time. His bones told him that something else was coming. He only wished he could figure out what.

      THREE

      Kaitlin had thrown her duffel bag in the spare bedroom, then immediately asked Slade if she and Warrior could go visit with Caleb. The little boy was in his room playing with his trains and trucks, according to Papa McNeal. Slade had nodded curtly, then returned to making some sort of dinner.

      Now Kaitlin was watching closely while Warrior and Caleb got reacquainted.

      “He’s dif-fer-ent from Rio,” Caleb said, the big word twisting up in his mind but sounding cute when he squinted through it. “And he’s skinnier