In Need of Protection

by Jill Elizabeth Nelson

  * * *

  At the head of his fellow deputies, Ethan hurried forward, gun extended. His team had left their vehicles on the county road and crept up on the site as quietly as possible. When the shooting started without them, they rushed in. Isabelle Drayton showing up a step ahead of them had been a total stunner. Now she might be wounded or even dead. Men were converging on her vehicle. Terry and another deputy grabbed Vincent, who had reached the car Lara had driven and was yanking at the door handle.

  “I want my granddaughter,” he kept hollering over and over, even as the cuffs went on.

  Ethan’s gaze focused on the knot of thugs. As Drayton’s crew dropped their weapons and raised their hands, Ronnie remained motionless on the ground. But where was Lara? There! Another figure was on the ground, but this one was moving.

  Lara. Was she hurt?

  His pulse hammered in his ears as he dropped down beside Lara, letting the others apprehend the hirelings. She was crying. He didn’t blame her.

  “Oh, Ethan!” She flung herself into his arms and buried her face in his chest.

  He wrapped her close, murmuring comforting words. His body began to shake. Until this moment, he hadn’t allowed himself to acknowledge how terrified he’d been since she’d gone missing. What did that say about how deeply he felt for this woman?

  “Are you wounded?” he asked, stroking her hair.

  “No.” She pulled back slightly. “Just so relieved. All my emotions are gushing out.” She lifted her head and gazed at him, eyes and cheeks moist. “You followed me. You found me.”

  “How could I do anything else?”

  And he wasn’t talking about doing his duty. Duty didn’t cut it. Not now and not ever with Lara. But did she feel the same way? Now was not an honorable time to make a declaration of love or press her for one. Like she’d said, emotions were running so high.

  Now that the Draytons had been apprehended, would the time for declarations ever come? After all, she was free to resume her life. Would she even want him in it as a reminder of all she’d been through?

  If this was the only opportunity he had to express himself, he was going to do this one thing. As she gazed up at him with shimmering eyes, he lowered his mouth to hers. She went very still and then wrapped her arms around his neck.

  Could his fellow deputies handle the arrests without him? Yes, they could. Would they see him kissing the woman they’d just rescued? Yes, they would. Did he care? Not at all.

  SIXTEEN

  “How did you find me at that burned-out ranch?” Lara asked Izzy the question that had been knotting her brain for days now.

  She stood by her friend’s hospital bed, looking down at the woman’s drawn face. Izzy’s head was still wrapped in bandages from a bullet that had raked across her skull, but she’d been brought out of her weeklong induced coma yesterday. Lara had taken Maisy right away to see her mother and hadn’t quizzed Izzy at all that day. But this morning, Lara’s mother, who had flown in from Chicago, was looking after the baby so Lara could visit her friend and get some answers.

  “That’s an excellent question,” said a familiar voice from the doorway.

  “Ethan!” Lara pivoted to find the man moving toward her as panther-like as ever.

  Her breathing hitched. She’d hardly seen him since the night the Draytons were finally taken down—the night he’d kissed her as if his life depended on it. What had he meant by the kiss? Was he interested in a relationship with her now that the danger was over? Did she return the interest? Yes! Oh, yes!

  Of course, Ethan’s absence was understandable just maddening since questions lay unresolved between them. His occasional phone calls hadn’t been optimal for getting answers about personal matters. He’d been shuttling between his office in Casper and state headquarters in Cheyenne—even flying to Chicago once—keeping his hand in the ongoing process of this major takedown of two of America’s most-wanted fugitives. The arrest of Vincent and the death of Ronald were causing national and international reverberations. The entire Drayton network was being dismantled by multiple law enforcement agencies in the US and around the globe.

  Ethan had told her that since Vincent’s granddaughter was lost to him and his son was no longer among the living, the ruthless weapons dealer had morphed overnight into a broken man. He was no longer a threat to anyone, not even those who were slated to testify against him. Honestly? Lara would be delighted when the trial was over and the entire matter was in her rearview mirror. She was just getting used to feeling safe again.

  Ethan came up beside her and offered a smile. Lara returned it, drinking in his presence for however long it might last.

  “I was watching the courthouse.” Izzy’s words broke their eye contact, and Lara looked down at her friend.

  “You were what?”

  “That cop car and helicopter escort you received from the national forest to the US Marshals Service headquarters got media attention, so I knew where you were. And I knew Ronnie and Vinnie would find a way to get at you there. So I watched and I waited. Then when you left the courthouse with that Maisy-look-alike doll, I followed you.”

  “You knew I wasn’t carrying Maisy?”

  “Puh-lease.” The word was a verbal eye roll. “I had binoculars on you and was close enough when you walked under a streetlight to see the hair on that supposed baby in the infant sling. Don’t you think I know better than anybody my daughter’s particular shade of red?”

  Lara smiled. “Like nobody but a mother would. And you still followed me, knowing Maisy was safe?”

  Izzy scowled. “Yeah. You weren’t safe, and I got you into this mess, so I needed to get you out.”

  “You’re a brave woman,” Ethan said.

  “And a good friend,” Lara added.

  “Between your actions and Lara’s stalling tricks,” Ethan continued, “you two bought me and my team necessary seconds we needed to get in place.”

  Izzy wrinkled her nose. “I have no recollection of any gunfight. The last thing I remember was turning off onto the gravel road near the ranch.”

  Lara glanced up at Ethan. “The doctor says the memory loss isn’t unusual with a head injury.”

  He nodded. “What I would like to know, Mrs. Drayton—”

  “Izzy. And I’ll be officially taking my maiden name back again as soon as possible. I had no idea who that man was when I married him. Please believe me.”

  Lara’s heart throbbed. She could absolutely empathize with a woman fooled in a relationship.

  “We do believe that, Izzy” Ethan said. “You’re not in any trouble, but we are going to need a comprehensive statement from you as soon as you’re up to giving it. But what I’m curious about is why you decided to bring Maisy to Lara? I understand you hadn’t seen each other in a decade.”

  “Good question.” Lara echoed Ethan’s earlier comment.

  “Your mother.” Izzy offered a small smile. “The day before Ronnie escaped from prison and came after Maisy, I ran into your mom at a beauty shop in Chicago. We recognized each other right away. She told me what a splash you’re making in the art world—winning photography awards and everything. When Ronnie ambushed me in my apartment and I clobbered him with a lamp, I was frantic to think of a safe place to run with my baby. Then I thought of you and remembered where your mother said you lived.”

  Lara spurted a laugh. “So I have my mother to thank for this adventure?”

  “I’m very sorry my actions caused you so much trouble. I thought I was being clever picking someone neither Ronnie nor his father would suspect.” Izzy pecked at a bit of imaginary lint on her blanket.

  “You had no way of knowing Ronnie had placed a tracker in the baby’s diaper bag in case you ran.” Lara reached over and squeezed her friend’s hand. “It was my privilege to help keep Maisy safe.”

  Izzy looked up at Lara. “And I appreciat
e it more than you can possibly know.”

  “I can see you’re still very tired,” Ethan said. “Why don’t I borrow your friend here for a while, and an officer will be in later to take your full statement?”

  “Sounds like a plan.” Izzy’s eyelids were already drifting closed.

  Ethan’s touch on her shoulder drew Lara’s attention.

  “Come walk with me outside,” he said.

  Lara’s core tensed. Was this going to be goodbye? Could she bear another parting on top of the prospect of saying farewell to Maisy?

  Sure, she could return to her contented solitary life, but things had changed in these couple of weeks. She had changed. The prospect of entering a serious relationship with someone again had ceased to terrify her quite so much, but was Ethan interested in her in the same way? A single kiss in the heat of a fraught moment was hardly enough proof to go on. But there was only one way to find out.

  Pasting a smile on her face, Lara nodded. “I’ll be back later,” she told Izzy and walked out of the room with Ethan close behind her.

  The hallway was busy and the elevator nearly full as they rode down to the first floor, so conversation was minimal. At last, they stepped outside into a manicured lawn-and-garden area. Few people were out and about here, and no one was nearby. A welcome cool breeze brushed Lara’s face and took the edge off the summer heat. Ethan strolled next to her, an unusual tightness in his gait.

  He glanced over his shoulder and then down at her. “I guess I forgot to ask Isabelle a question that particularly interests me.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Why she fled the hospital the first time when law enforcement was protecting her.”

  Is this why he’d asked her to take a walk with him? To question her about Izzy? Or was he stalling?

  She sent him a sidelong look. Were those tension lines bracketing his mouth? Something was up. But what?

  “I can answer that question,” she said, “because I asked her the same thing before you arrived. Evidently, she was too afraid of Ronald and his father to stay where her location was known. Izzy was all too familiar with their resources, and she didn’t trust your people to protect her. She bolted.”

  “I guess I can understand that.” Ethan nodded. “As everything turned out, it was probably a good thing your friend was on the loose.”

  Silence fell once more, and something like a spring wound tighter and tighter in Lara’s middle.

  “Why are you here, Ethan?” she finally burst out.

  A wry chuckle gusted from him. “I’m not very good at this, am I?”

  “Thus far, I’ve never noticed anything you’re not good at.”

  “Then you can count this as the first time, but hopefully not the last time... I mean, I hope we’ll be around each other enough for you to notice more of my faults.”

  Lara stopped and turned in front of him, bringing them to a near collision. She stared up into his face as they stood bare inches from one another. “You want me to find fault with you?”

  “No, that’s not it.” Ethan’s face flushed. “What I mean is, I want to spend time with you. Lots of it.”

  The coiled spring in Lara’s middle began to unwind. “I’ve never seen you flustered.” She let out a small laugh. “It’s...refreshing and endearing. Are you talking about us dating?”

  “If you’re open to the idea. I know you’ve been burned in the past, but I’d like to have the opportunity to prove to you I’m not like—”

  Lara pressed a finger to Ethan’s mouth. “You’ve proved over and over that you’re not like my ex-fiancé. Well, actually, you do have the same air of confidence and competence that drew me to him in the first place. But he was a fake and you’re the real deal.”

  Lara’s own words took her aback. Why hadn’t she realized this sooner? Ethan was everything she’d thought she’d found in Matt. He was all of that and more. Exactly the man she’d been looking for all along. A rush of warmth filled her. It might take some time to get used to the novel idea of letting someone in, but she could trust Ethan Ridgeway with her heart.

  Ethan’s gaze warmed, and Lara’s pulse beat faster.

  He grinned down at her. “Then you won’t hang up if I call you just to hear your voice?”

  She grinned back. “I think I could squeeze a conversation with you into my busy schedule. But aren’t you ever going to come around ringing my doorbell?”

  “As soon as I wrap up this case, you’re going to think I’ve taken up residence on your porch.”

  “You have to leave again?” Her smile faded. Of course, he had to go just when things were gaining momentum between them.

  “Terry’s waiting for me in the lobby.” He took her elbow and guided her back toward the hospital door. “There is another bad guy out there we need to apprehend.”

  “Who?”

  “We’ve discovered where Blaine Roberts is hiding out, and we’re going to arrest him.”

  Lara blinked up at him. “The martial arts expert who knocked me out in the locker room?”

  “The one and only.”

  “Be careful.” She couldn’t lose him now. “That man is lethal. I’m still amazed he didn’t outright kill me when he could.”

  “If he’d been ordered to kill you, he would have done it quickly, efficiently and silently.”

  She shuddered. Ethan wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and she leaned into his warmth and sturdiness.

  “But then,” she said softly, “if he’d killed me, I wouldn’t have been available to take Vincent Drayton’s call. Getting me to deliver the baby was the point of it all.”

  “Exactly. Just like I’ve known from the start, you’re smart as well as gorgeous.” Ethan halted short of the door and took both of her hands in his. “This rush of activity will be over soon. Then I want to begin courting you in earnest.”

  “Courting?” She wrinkled her nose and quirked a teasing smile at him. “Such an old-fashioned word for a contemporary guy.”

  He chuckled. “Sometimes old-school is good. You’re worthy of every honor and respect I can show you. Let me begin with this.”

  Ethan lifted one of her hands and brushed her knuckles with his lips. Lara’s entire arm tingled at the feathery touch. If this was romantic Ethan, she could hardly wait for more of this courting business. She gaped at him with wide eyes and open mouth, words escaping her.

  “Until later.” He grinned. “There’s no doubt about it. You are extra beautiful wearing a blush.”

  * * *

  Three days later, Lara jerked awake in her Jackson home and sat up in bed. Maisy was crying. Lara glanced at the clock on her nightstand. Six, right on the nose. Smiling, she stuck her feet into a pair of mule slippers at the side of her bed. Then the crying abruptly stopped.

  Lara crept to her door, opened it and leaned her head out. A murmuring voice from the other bedroom let her know that Izzy had felt up to rising and caring for her own child. A heaviness took up residence in the pit of Lara’s stomach. Maisy’s care was already transitioning from her to her friend, the child’s mother. That the transition was right and good did nothing to ease Lara’s sense of loss. At least the final separation had been postponed.

  The doctor had advised against Izzy returning to her apartment in Chicago to care for her child alone. The woman had suffered a major head trauma and shouldn’t be on her own yet, particularly not with an infant depending on her. Lara had stepped forward eagerly with an offer for her friend and Maisy to stay at her house until Izzy was fully recovered.

  “Anything to get out of this hospital,” Izzy had said with a wink in Lara’s direction.

  So Lara had brought Izzy to her house to stay until Izzy was fully recovered. It was just the three of them at Lara’s home in Jackson. Her mother had headed back to Chicago, where planning a charity event desperately needed her attentio
n. But Mom had promised to visit soon. Lara had no doubt her mother would arrange for the visit to happen while Maisy was still in residence. Should she feel slighted that an infant was the main attraction rather than her? Maybe, but she didn’t. Lara totally got it. She and her mother were on the same page about precious Maisy.

  Ethan had been MIA since that day he’d stopped briefly to visit at the hospital, and Lara missed him like a necessary appendage. Reliving that wonderful conversation about them dating occupied her mind while she showered and dressed for the day.

  On her way to the kitchen to start breakfast, the doorbell rang, and Lara gasped and jumped a little. With measured steps, she headed for the door and put her eye to the peephole. Last time she’d opened without checking to see who was on her porch, she’d wound up with a gun in her face.

  Ethan!

  Lara pulled the door wide. The man stood there, tall and broad shouldered and so handsome her heart expanded enough to hurt her ribs. He wore civilian jeans and a casual polo shirt, so he must be off duty. Finally. Smiling, he held out a colorful bouquet of daisies, wildflowers and greens, exactly the kind of flowers she’d told him were her favorites during their time together in Bridger-Teton National Forest.

  “You remembered! They’re gorgeous.” She accepted the bouquet and buried her nose in the fragrant blooms.

  “I remember everything about those days at the cabin.” The tenderness in his gaze drew Lara’s heart like the warmth of the sun on a tender blade of grass. “Thinking about seeing you again has kept me working like a madman to wrap up my part of the case so I could be here instead of everywhere else.”

  Lara laughed. When was the last time her laughter had been so carefree? She couldn’t honestly remember.

  “Come on in.” She stood aside. “You’re just in time to join us for breakfast and then help me play with Maisy.”

  “I think I can handle that assignment.” He chuckled as he stepped over her threshold. “But first, if you don’t mind.” He moved closer and gently put his arm around her waist.

  She gazed up into his eyes. “I don’t mind.”