Guardian of Justice

by Carol Steward

  Dallas turned away, rolling his head from side to side.

  “Let me talk to him again, Dallas, please.”

  “You’re staying right where you are. You refused to step back, and now you’re hurt. Surely you don’t expect me to ignore that, do you?” he asked.

  Kira crossed her free arm over the one that was tied to her body, and let out a gasp at the pain. She took a deep breath and glanced at her brother. “Nick?”

  “Don’t look at me,” he exclaimed, holding his hands up. “From what I’ve heard in the last few weeks, you’ve probably given the kid more rope than he deserves. This case isn’t one I wanted you involved with in the first place, Kira. I agree with Dallas.”

  She let her head fall back against the pillow, and took a deep breath. She was wearing herself out. “I still have a job to do, and so do you. I guess we’re not going to be able to agree on this one,” she argued, focusing on her brother, then turning to Dallas.

  “I’m not backing away from my job,” Dallas insisted. He took hold of her hand. “I’m not letting Cody know where you are, Kira. And you’d better not, either. He could make this a lot simpler if he’d open up. He’s putting everyone around him at risk. Most of all you, because you’re thinking with your heart and not your head.” He looked at her brother. “Could I have a few minutes to talk to your sister alone, Nick?”

  “Sure, talk some sense into her, would you?”

  When Nick had left, Dallas paced the room like a caged animal, trying to decide what to say. “Kira…” He had no doubts about his feelings for her, but he didn’t want her to think he was putting his emotions before his job. He didn’t need to scare her to death. “I’m worried about you.”

  “I didn’t ask you to…” She turned away.

  “Unless you’re changing your mind about my proposal, worrying about you goes with the commitment.” He hesitated, surprised by her reaction. “I’m afraid of losing the chance to get to know you better, Kira. I realized you weren’t interested in having another cop in your life, and I ignored that. I was selfish and only thinking of how much I adore you. I won’t hold you to my proposal—”

  “Whoa, wait just a minute,” Kira said weakly. She gazed up at him. “That’s not true.” She smiled tentatively. “I never said anything about not wanting to date a cop. My brothers were trying to scare you away.”

  She continued to confuse him. “Yeah, that’s clear, too. I don’t want to see you hurt again,” Dallas admitted.

  “Hurt? By who? Cody?” Kira shook her head. “Dallas, this case has hit a soft spot for me. It reminds me of when my little brother, Jimmie, was taken away from me. I had no way to protect him. I’ve spent the last six months trying to find him, and for twenty years before that I’ve lived with the guilt of letting him down.” Tears streamed from her eyes, and Dallas searched for a box of tissues.

  Finally, Kira just wiped her face with the corner of her bedsheet. “I don’t want Cody to go through that. I don’t want Betsy to grow up feeling as if everyone abandoned her. Their dad ran off before Betsy was born, her mom is incapable of being a real mother to her, and her brother is the only one she has left. If I put Cody in a detention center…” She shook her head. “That will just reinforce the negative. He’s trying to protect his sister, and I’m not going to let him down.”

  Dallas took a deep breath and let it out, praying that she would take what he had to say the right way. “I know that, Kira, but he’s a kid. And he doesn’t care about hurting you or anyone else. No, he obviously cares about Betsy. But if he would only realize that he’s making matters worse by not trusting us, we could get to the bottom of this.” He leaned against the rail of her bed and looked into her tired eyes.

  Kira gazed back, and he could feel her love as she said, “God tells us to administer justice and take care of the poor and needy. It’s clear that Cody is trying to get away from the trouble that his mother has been involved in. Being a teenager isn’t a crime. He needs to have good examples to follow, not be punished for trying to take care of those less capable.”

  She was right. “As much as you want to help him, Kira, he doesn’t seem willing to accept help.”

  “He’s afraid. He doesn’t know who he can trust,” she stated.

  “No, he probably doesn’t. We’ve tried, and as difficult as it may be to accept it, sometimes we have to know when it’s time to let go. We can’t help him if he won’t open up to us. I want the chance to worry about you, Kira. I need your promise that you won’t take any more risks to try to help Cody.”

  “I can’t give it to you.” She closed her eyes and tears welled in the corners. “I assured him that I would keep him and Betsy together. I can’t break my word to him, and I can’t make a promise to you that I can’t keep. I promised him first, Dallas.”

  Dallas sat on the hospital bed next to her. He brushed the dusty curls out of her eyes and wrapped his arms around her. “Oh, Kira,” he said, realizing that it was too late. He should have gotten her out of his heart long before now. This is why I didn’t want to fall in love again. Someone always gets hurt.

  He couldn’t expect her to stop trying to heal others, any more than he could walk away from law enforcement.

  Kira looked up into his eyes as he cautiously lowered his lips to hers. She tried to calm her racing heart, but it was pointless. The sweetness of his kiss mesmerized her. It was impossible that she’d fallen so hopelessly in love. They’d known each other such a short time. It had only been a few weeks ago that she’d gone on that ride-along.

  She tightened her hug and realized suddenly that he was wearing his Kevlar vest. Kira pushed herself out of his embrace. “You’re off duty. Why…” Her hand skimmed over his chest. “Why are you wearing your vest?”

  He seemed puzzled. “What’s wrong with me wearing my bulletproof vest?”

  “Do you always wear it off duty?”

  Dallas’s hands fell away from her shoulders and he stepped back, crossing his arms over his chest. “No,” he said with annoyance. “But you cancelled going to church.” He ran his hand over his chin, his agony clear in his eyes. “I put it on because we were going to look for Cody. I wear it any time I suspect there could be trouble. And with anything connected to Cody, I expect trouble. I’m sorry if that sounds paranoid, but considering what happened the other night I didn’t want to let them slip through her fingers again. We don’t know who we’re dealing with, I’d rather be prepared than dead.”

  Kira felt a shiver tickle her spine. “I guess you don’t plan to be shot at any day, even when you go to work….”

  “If it makes a difference, I didn’t expect to propose to you today, either, but I’m a man of my word. You can still say no, but I don’t regret letting you know my intentions.”

  His eyes challenged hers, and then settled on her lips as he pulled her close again.

  Kira pushed him away, laughing this time. “Not when you’re wearing a bulletproof vest!”

  “So?”

  “Next time you kiss me, there’d better not be any hint of guns or reminders of bulletproof vests.”

  “You must be willing to wait awhile, then, huh?”

  “Not especially,” she said seriously, “But I don’t want this image of you shielding your heart from me when I’m totally vulnerable to letting you in.” She tapped her own heart. “I expect open access.” She watched as Dallas backed away. “And just to make myself perfectly clear, Dallas, the only cop I’m interested in dating or marrying is you.”

  Their conversation was interrupted by a sharp knock, followed by Nick clearing his throat as he walked through the door. “The deputy sheriff found the pickup a few miles away from the Woods house. From the skid marks, looks like he was going too fast when he hit the gravel road. There’s some blood, but no sign of the driver yet.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  NINETEEN

  “Why don’t you go ahead and take a look, Nick. I’m not leaving until someone else arrives to stay with Kira
. We’re not that far from the Woodses’ farm. If the guy is on foot, he may come to the hospital for treatment. I’ll send a warning to the E.R. nurses about him, and to keep quiet about Kira’s presence here.” Dallas held her hand as the IV machine buzzed, dispensing Kira’s next dose of pain medication.

  “I’ve called to ask for police protection here.”

  “Nick…” Kira started to argue, then shook her head instead. “Never mind. It’s two against one.”

  Dallas squeezed her hand gently and turned back to her brother. “I can call you before I make arrangements to talk to Cody, if you’d like to go with me. Besides, I think it’s time I talk to your dad.”

  “Good luck with that, and by the way, both of you, congratulations. I’m really happy for you two.” Nick shook Dallas’s hand. “I’d say don’t rush into anything, but then again, you could end up like me, a chronic bachelor. When you find the right one, you can’t take love for granted.” He bent down and gave Kira a kiss. “You better behave in here, sis, or you’re not going to have any energy to plan a wedding.”

  Kira reached out and took Dallas’s hand. “I don’t ever plan to take this man for granted. Thanks, Nick. I told Dallas you’re all just trying to scare away the wrong guy. I think he passed your test with flying colors.”

  “And here we thought we were so sly.”

  After her brother left, Kira dozed off, leaving Dallas waiting for her mom and dad to arrive. When they did, he realized this was his last chance to back out. “Afternoon, Mr. and Mrs. Matthews.”

  “Hello, Officer Brooks,” Ted said gruffly as he shook Dallas’s clammy hand. “Care to explain what happened to my little girl?”

  Dallas understood now why Nick had been all too happy to leave him here with Kira. “Sure, but first, please call me Dallas. Did Nick explain what the doctor said?”

  “Nah, he was off after someone fleeing the scene. I’m a little confused why you’re here with Kira, and not out looking for this yahoo who shot at you.”

  Dallas wondered if Nick had told them about the engagement. “I’ll explain that, too. Mainly…” The words wouldn’t come.

  “She’s a mess! What happened?” Grace asked as she tucked unruly curls away from her daughter’s face.

  Dallas offered Kira’s mother the chair, but she refused. “I want to be right here when she wakes up. You go ahead and tell us what happened, Dallas.” She stood next to the hospital bed, where Dallas had spent the last two hours.

  “Well,” he said, taking a deep breath, “Kira’s doctor thinks she cracked her scapula. She has a deep bruise from a fall, and they’re hoping the break will heal without having to brace it. As you can see, they’ve immobilized her arm to keep her from moving it. They have ice packs under the wrap to help the swelling go down. She’s in quite a bit of pain, so they are giving her regularly timed doses of medicine so she can rest and stay still.”

  “Good, she never would stay still when she was sick. They figured her out quickly, didn’t they?” her mother said.

  “I suppose she was after that kid again, wasn’t she?” her father admonished. “I knew this case was going to hit home for her. She has such a stubborn streak.”

  Dallas nodded. “She got a call from the foster mother, so we went out to look for Cody.” He finished the story about the chase and how she’d fallen onto the broken concrete.

  “I hope you had the sense to wear your vest out here,” her father commented.

  “Much to Kira’s displeasure, yes, I did.” After she’d yelled at him, he’d taken it off, and it now rested on the floor, behind the recliner.

  Her dad glanced at it, then back at Dallas. “So she’s going to have to stay here a few days?”

  Dallas nodded. “Yes, sir.”

  “You going to be here with her the whole time?” Her dad must have been a great cop, too.

  “I plan on being here as much as possible, sir. I couldn’t live with myself if something else happened to her. Which brings me to why I’m here instead of Nick.” He took a deep breath. “Kira is a very special woman.”

  As if she heard them talking, Kira moaned.

  They all turned toward the bed, waiting. But she didn’t wake up. “Falling in love was about the last thing I intended, especially in the middle of a case we’re both tied up in,” Dallas said, staring at Kira. “While we’ve been working the case, we’ve discovered we have a lot in common. But today, as we were trying to keep each other safe, I realized I want to spend every day with Kira.” He turned his attention to Grace, then Ted. “I’d like to ask your permission to court your daughter, with the full intention of marrying her.”

  They were both silent.

  “Does she know about this?” her father asked bluntly.

  Dallas laughed. “Yes, she does. I probably should have chosen a better time to tell her how I feel, because she started yelling at me.”

  Her parents laughed, too. Grace had tears streaming down her face. “That’s my daughter,” she said.

  “The hospital wasn’t going to let me in to see her. She told them we’re engaged, so they’d let me be here.”

  Ted shook his hand. “I’m guessing that’s why the vest is now sitting on the floor?”

  “Yes, sir. I’m learning the rules,” he said with a smile. “I expect when she’s off these medications, she may come up with a few more. That’s okay, I’m a quick study.”

  “As long as you’re learning the rules, I think you’d better drop the ‘sir’ and learn to call me Dad.”

  “I’ll work on that…Dad.” It felt odd, saying it. His own father had died right before Dallas went into the academy, shot in the line of duty.

  Grace ran around the bed and threw her arms around Dallas. “I knew she had her heart twisted into a knot over someone. Welcome to the family, Dallas.”

  Kira woke, the pain in her right shoulder intense. “Hi,” she said to Dallas, who was beaming down at her. “What are you still doing here? I thought you’d be out catching the bad guys.”

  “I wanted one kiss before I left.” He leaned over the rail of her bed, and she put her hand up to stop him. As if he read her mind, he said, “No vest guarding my heart—so can I kiss my fiancée?”

  She smiled. “You’re learning how to woo me.” Kira’s one good arm circled around him and pulled him closer.

  Dallas’s kiss was the best pain reliever she could have asked for, and she didn’t want it to end. “That was definitely worth the wait. I can’t wait for more,” she whispered.

  He trailed little kisses along her jaw, to her ear. “You’ll have to. Your parents are here to stay with you while I’m gone.”

  Kira let go of his shirt, but he pressed her against the bed.

  “Don’t move so quickly,” he said softly. “Remember your shoulder blade is broken.” Then he backed away and put his hand on the button to raise the head of the bed. “Why don’t you call the nurse, see if the doctor is here to explain things to you and your parents?”

  “Uh…” she said to her folks, remembering the night she and Kent had made the joke about a shotgun wedding. “Sorry about that, I didn’t know you were here.”

  Her mother smiled. “We figured that out. But I guess it’s to be expected for an engaged woman to feel that way about her fiancé, isn’t it?”

  Kira beamed, feeling the blush deepen. “Yeah, but I really don’t want to discuss it with you and Dad here….”

  “Thank you,” Ted said with a smile.

  Dallas walked over to pick up his vest. “And I’d better get hold of the Woodses to talk to Cody. Where’d they put your cell phone when they checked you in?”

  “They put everything in a bag. Is it in the closet?”

  Her mother opened the door and looked. “It’s not here. Maybe Nick took it.”

  A quick call to Nick settled that. He hadn’t taken anything; the nurses had moved her upstairs.

  “I just called the Woodses’ house and left a message for them there,” she added. “I don’
t have a cell phone number for them.”

  “How were you going to reach them?” he asked.

  “They were going to call my cell phone when they decided where to go.”

  Dallas let out a deep breath. “Let’s hope we can hear your phone ringing. If nothing else, maybe one of the nurses will answer.” He waited a few minutes, then shook his head. “Nothing.”

  “Dad, would you mind checking with the desk, see if they can track down my belongings?” Kira asked.

  Dallas dialed another number. “Hi, this is Dallas Brooks. Would you send a car to the main entrance of the new hospital?” He turned to Kira. “I’m going to go out to the Woodses’ place and make sure things are okay there. Call if you hear from them. Otherwise, I’ll assume they’re in hiding, and I’ll talk to Cody in the morning at school.” He pulled his polo shirt off, and Kira was surprised to find he had a dark T-shirt underneath.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Putting my vest back on. It’s bad enough to wear it around off duty, but nothing sends panic through a hospital emergency room like a man carrying a Kevlar vest.”

  “Oh,” she said. “Well then, give me one more kiss before you put it back on.”

  Dallas moved across the floor quickly. Was he as eager as she to finally share their feelings openly? He kissed her warmly.

  He jotted his cell number on her tissue box, next to the phone. “Call anytime,” he said with a smile. He deftly put his vest on and fastened it over the T-shirt.

  “Huh,” she said, watching with amazement. “I never realized cops wear two shirts. Did you know that, Mom?”

  “Judging by the laundry your dad came home with, yes, I figured it out. Most men change at the station, so I never actually saw your father put his vest on. Interesting little details I never knew I was missing, even with four police officers in the family. Oops—make that five.”

  Dallas smiled. “I feel like I’m disclosing top secret information or something.”

  “Now you know why I want open access.” Kira grinned mischievously. “Be careful, Dallas.”