The Texas Lawman's Last Stand

by Delores Fossen

  Bo didn’t answer.

  “I mean, why else would she have gone to you?” Ian added. Maybe he was faking it, but there didn’t seem to be any smugness in that remark. “I also had some of the other hostages and the nurses from the hospital followed. I figured it was one of the nurses who’d taken Mattie’s baby.”

  Interesting theory, especially since that had happened with one of the other hostages. But did Ian believe that had also happened with Mattie’s newborn, or was Ian’s explanation designed to try to put Mattie more at ease?

  Bo didn’t care right now. He only wanted this man away from his home.

  “Marshal Larry Tolivar also helped me find Mattie,” Ian commented.

  That grabbed Bo’s attention. “Helped how?”

  “Inadvertently.” Ian’s smiled returned. “The marshal was pressing any- and everyone who knew Mattie to give up her whereabouts, so I figured he’d find her. So, I had him followed, as well.”

  That was a lot of time and manpower to locate Mattie.

  “How can you save my life?” Mattie asked. She glanced over her shoulder when she heard Holly start to fuss. Bo knew that whine. Rosalie was likely wiping the baby’s face. But it obviously spiked Mattie’s nerves.

  “I’ll tell you that when I can actually see you,” Ian insisted.

  Bo was tired of this game and decided to put an end to it. “Mattie and I will meet you at police headquarters. You can tell her there.”

  He saw the flash of surprise in Ian’s expression, and he expected the lawyer to turn him down flat. But Ian checked his watch. “How soon?” Ian pressed.

  “An hour.” Bo looked at Mattie, and she agreed with a nod.

  “I’ll be there.” Ian turned as if to get back into his vehicle but then stopped. “Mattie, don’t go on the run again. It’s not necessary. I’ve worked out a deal for you. A deal that will keep you safe.” Ian handed the phone back to the officer, got in his car and drove away.

  “A deal,” Mattie repeated. She looked both hopeful and frightened. After all the attempts that had been made to get to her, Bo understood the reaction.

  He also understood what he had to do. He ended the call and called his captain. Yes, it was early, but this was too important to wait.

  “Tell Rosalie to get the kids dressed and ready to leave,” he instructed Mattie.

  Mattie must have wholeheartedly agreed with that request because she hurried away. Or maybe she was just anxious to get back in the room with Holly.

  “One of the officers at your house just gave me an update,” the captain greeted him.

  “Yeah. Ian Kaplan was here. Mattie and I are meeting with him at headquarters in one hour. But I want to move the kids before we go.”

  Bo walked back to the kitchen, where Mattie was trying to coax Holly from Rosalie’s arms. Holly would have no part of it, so Mattie ended up taking Jacob from the high chair instead. His son gave Mattie a tiss and wound his arms around her neck.

  “I thought you’d want the twins away from there,” Shaw answered. “So, here’s what I need you to do. The two officers at your house will take your nanny, Jacob and Holly to my house. I’m here and I’ll stay here for at least the next two hours. Then, Mattie and you can meet with Ian Kaplan. If nothing is resolved in that meeting, then we can work out a protective custody arrangement for Mattie and the kids if necessary.”

  Oh, it would unfortunately be necessary.

  “My advice?” Shaw continued. “Get the kids and Rosalie out of there quickly. If we’re really dealing with Kendall Collier, then it’s best to start putting up some buffers.”

  Bo couldn’t agree more.

  “One more thing,” Shaw said before Bo could hang up. “Those DNA test results should be done soon.”

  Great. Something else to deal with, and the results could be as potentially dangerous as an assassin after Mattie.

  Bo ended the call and hurried to the garage so he could open it for the officers. He tossed one of them the keys to the white SUV that Rosalie used. “You’ll need to move the infant seats into your patrol car,” he instructed. There was a set of seats in both his and Rosalie’s vehicles, but the ones in the white SUV were easier to remove.

  Bo hurried back to the nursery so he could help Rosalie and Mattie. But the women already had it under control. Mattie was dressing Jacob in denim overalls and a shirt. For once, his son was actually cooperating with the dressing process and was babbling away to Mattie.

  Mattie looked up, snagged Bo’s gaze. “Where will you take them?”

  “The officers will take Rosalie and them to the captain’s house.”

  Rosalie did the snaps on Holly’s pink overalls. “I’m guessing this is necessary?” the nanny asked.

  “It is.” Bo put his phone in his pocket so he could take Jacob from Mattie.

  “Because of me,” Mattie mumbled. “Bo, I’m so sorry—”

  “Don’t.” And because he sounded so gruff, he toned it down a little. “I believe both Marshal Tolivar and Kendall Collier have been watching me. Eventually, this would have happened.”

  “Maybe not. If I hadn’t shown up…”

  Then, Collier might have used Holly to get to Mattie. Of course, that left Bo with a big question—why hadn’t Collier tried to use Holly sooner?

  Maybe the man hadn’t known about Holly’s possible connection to Mattie after all? And maybe there was no connection. Maybe the DNA test would prove it. If so, Bo could put an end to the danger and the custody threat in one fell swoop. Mattie could then be on her way to locate her own child.

  So why didn’t that feel as perfect a scenario as it should have?

  Maybe because of that pained look on Mattie’s face. She was obviously hurting, and Bo was hurting for her. He wasn’t cold and heartless, and with Mattie around, he was getting a constant reminder of the camaraderie that was starting between them.

  And of the attraction.

  It was there, simmering, creating all sorts of problems for him.

  Rosalie grabbed the diaper bag and looped it over her shoulder. Since there was no reason to delay things, Bo took a deep breath and headed for the garage.

  “Let’s make this quick,” he instructed while they were still in the cover of the garage. “I don’t want the kids out in the open any longer than necessary.”

  The officers pulled up into the driveway, directly behind the SUVs, and they opened the doors.

  Bo gave Jacob a kiss on the cheek. “Be a good boy,” Bo told him. And he pulled Holly into his other arm so he could kiss her, as well.

  “Da Da,” Holly said, and then poked out her bottom lip as if she might burst into tears. His baby girl did not like to have her routine broken, and she probably sensed that something wasn’t quite right.

  Bo handed Jacob over to Rosalie, giving him a moment to console Holly.

  “It’s okay,” he whispered to Holly, and he kissed her again. Bo pulled her closer for a hug, and her little arms coiled around his neck. “Daddy will be back soon.”

  When Bo glanced at Mattie, he saw the tears in her eyes. He mentally groaned. This goodbye was just as hard for her as it was for him.

  “Why don’t you say bye-bye to Mattie?” Bo prompted the little girl.

  Holly’s big green eyes were suddenly curious, and she even managed a slight smile as she waved. “Bye-bye, Ma.”

  That Ma was obviously Holly’s attempt to say Mattie’s name, but it caused the moment to freeze. Mattie reached for her as if she might yank her right out of Bo’s arms. But she didn’t. Mattie’s hands fell back to her side, and the smile she gave Holly would have melted a heart of stone.

  “They should go,” Mattie said, though there was little sound to her words.

  She turned and went back into the house before Bo could even attempt to comfort her. Which was just as well. He didn’t know what to say or do to make this better. Besides, he needed to get the kids out of there.

  He took the lead, heading to the passenger’s side of the ca
r with Holly. Rosalie went to the other side, and they strapped the twins into the car seats. Rosalie took the seat between them.

  “I’ll call you after the meeting at headquarters,” Bo assured the nanny, and then he kissed the babies one more time.

  This wasn’t an ordinary goodbye, but he prayed it wouldn’t be a long one. He needed the twins far more than they needed him.

  Bo stepped back into the garage and watched as they drove away. He waited until the patrol car was out of sight before he closed the garage door and went back inside, expecting to see Mattie.

  But he didn’t.

  He heard the sound of water running and followed it until he found her. She was in the bathroom, door open, and she was brushing her teeth. Her movements were frantic, probably because her hands were shaking.

  “I’ll do whatever it takes in this meeting to get this all resolved,” she promised. She grabbed a brush from her purse and assaulted her hair with it.

  Bo went to her, took the brush from her hand. Or rather tried to. She fought him, struggling to hang on to it, all the while tears pooling in her eyes. He could feel the nervous energy radiating from her.

  He gave up on the brush and hauled her into his arms.

  Mattie put up a token resistance. And then fell apart. The sobs racked through her, consuming her, and Bo knew there was nothing he could say or do except stand there and let her cry it out.

  He wasn’t sure how long the worst of it lasted, minutes probably, but each minute drilled home that this situation with Mattie was not going to be resolved easily. Somehow, in this already dangerous mix, Bo had started to be concerned about her. Not her situation.

  But her.

  Maybe that had something to do with the way Jacob had taken to her. Or maybe it was this stupid attraction.

  As if she’d read his mind, Mattie lifted her head and looked into his eyes. They were too close, of course, because she was in his arms. Her breath met his, and he drew her scent and taste into his mouth.

  Oh, man.

  He didn’t want this.

  But apparently the warning wasn’t enough, because he lowered his head and kissed her. Bo instantly changed his mind.

  He wanted this.

  Her mouth was damp from her tears, and he could taste the salt and her mint toothpaste. That should have been a turnoff, a big red flag that the timing sucked for kissing, but it didn’t turn off anything for him. Bo kissed her, keeping it soft and gentle, so he could take in everything her mouth was telling him.

  And what her mouth was saying was that she wanted this, too.

  Mattie made a soft sound deep within her throat. Part surprise, part pleasure. Almost hesitantly, she put her hands on his chest. First one, then the other. She leaned into him, closer and closer, increasing the pressure of the kiss with each fraction of distance that she erased between them.

  The pressure erased the soft and gentle approach, too, and Bo found himself taking rather than consoling. Her taste hit him like a ton of bricks. It had been so long since he’d kissed a woman and had one in his arms that his body was suddenly greedy for more.

  He took more.

  Bo deepened the kiss, touching his tongue to hers.

  The jolt hit him even harder. Man, this was not a good place to go with a very vulnerable woman who had more emotional baggage than he did.

  Mattie obviously realized that, too, because she jerked back, an “oh” rushing from her mouth as she took her lips from his. She blinked, stared up at him and repeated the “oh.”

  Bo repeated it, too. “Sorry,” he said, because he didn’t have a clue what else to say. Kissing Mattie was wrong on too many levels to count. He pushed aside the part about how right it’d felt, though.

  She fluttered her fingers in the direction of the bathroom. “We should, uh, finish dressing so we can leave for the meeting with Ian.”

  Yeah, they should. And they would once he could walk. That kiss had aroused him beyond belief.

  “What do you think Ian is going to say to you?” Bo asked, hoping a real conversation would get his mind off that kiss and the hard ache in his body.

  She shook her head. “I’m not sure. I’ve had a mixed experience with Ian. After Brody was killed, Ian offered to have me move in with him so he could help me raise the baby I was carrying. I obviously turned him down.”

  “How did he take that?”

  “With cool anger,” she readily answered. “I mean, I knew he was upset, but he stayed polite. Why?”

  “Just trying to get a handle on what we’re dealing with here.” And since his thoughts were more sexual than business, Bo moved away from her. “I’ll get dressed.”

  Bo moved but then stopped. “Do we need to talk about what just happened?”

  “No.” She answered so quickly that it left no room for argument.

  Which was a good thing in his mind. Because the kiss shouldn’t have happened in the first place. And it wouldn’t happen again.

  Bo cursed.

  He wasn’t a man who lied to himself, and he wondered why he’d started it now. If Mattie and he were alone, it would happen again, so that meant he had to work on the alone part. If this meeting didn’t pan out, then he would see about placing her in someone else’s protective custody.

  Bo was thankful he’d already showered, and he went to the master bedroom and dressed as quickly as he could in his usual dark work pants and white button-up shirt. He clipped his badge to his belt.

  Just as the doorbell rang.

  Bo checked his watch. It was a little after 6:00 a.m., hardly the time for visitors. Hell. He hoped Ian hadn’t returned. Just in case, he put on his shoulder holster and drew his gun. By the time he came out into the hall, Mattie was already there and looking very concerned. Unfortunately, that concern might be warranted now that the officers were no longer outside.

  “Wait here,” he instructed. Bo made his way to the front of the house, but instead of going to the door, he looked out the window of the dining room that was adjacent to the foyer.

  He saw a delivery truck pulling away.

  Then he spotted the package on the front step.

  “Who is it?” Mattie asked.

  Bo heard her footsteps and motioned for her to stay back. “A package.”

  “At this time of morning?”

  But Bo didn’t answer. He knew in his gut that there wasn’t time. He turned, barreling toward Mattie, and he pushed her to the floor. It wasn’t a second too soon.

  The blast roared through the house.

  Chapter Eight

  Everything seemed to happen at once. Bo dove at her, tossing her to the floor. Mattie didn’t have time to react or say anything.

  And then there was the deafening sound.

  Because she’d been on the run for so long, her first thought was that someone was trying to kill her. She fought to see what was going on, but Bo dragged her toward the laundry room.

  Mattie soon saw why.

  The front door had literally been blasted from its hinges, and there was smoke and debris whirling through the air.

  My God.

  She’d been right. Someone had tried to kill them.

  Almost immediately, the alarm sounded from the security system. It was a piercing shrill that clamored through the entire house.

  Bo pushed her into the laundry room, and he used the keypad on the wall next to the door that led to the garage so he could silence the alarms. Good. They needed to be able to hear what was going on.

  He peered out into the hall, probably to make sure no one was coming through the gaping hole and into the house. He already had his gun drawn, but he took out his phone and called for assistance, both from the cops and the fire department.

  “Who did this?” she asked the moment he hung up.

  “I don’t know, but I will find out.”

  It wasn’t fear she heard in his voice but rather anger. No, not just anger. Rage. Because this attack had happened in his home, where just minutes earlier the
babies had been. Mercy. They could have been hurt. Thank God Bo had insisted they go to the captain’s house with the officers. They were safe.

  She hoped.

  “The children,” she managed to say.

  “The captain is there, and he’ll make sure no one gets near them.”

  Mattie wanted desperately to believe that, but too many bad things had happened for her to be optimistic. Her purse with her gun was in the kitchen, and she wanted to run and grab it so she could hurry to the captain’s house.

  “We have to go,” she insisted.

  Bo shook his head. “It might not be safe to leave.”

  It hit her then. Yes, there had been damage to the door, only the door. There was no fire. No secondary explosion. No attack. And that meant this blast had gone off for only one reason: to get Bo and her running out of the house where an assassin could gun them down.

  “But we can’t stay here,” she whispered, listening for any indication that they were about to be attacked.

  “No. Not with that door wide open.” He kept watch and reached behind him to take a set of keys from a hook on the wall. “As soon as a patrol car arrives, I’m getting you out of here.”

  Good. She didn’t want to stay. Mattie wanted to go to the children.

  The children, she mentally repeated.

  Even though Jacob wasn’t her child, Mattie felt a connection with the little boy, and she was just as worried about him as she was Holly.

  The seconds crawled by, and they continued to wait. It had probably been only a couple of minutes, but it felt like an eternity.

  Mattie heard the autumn wind whistle through the opening created by the blast. She heard her own breathing. And Bo’s.

  But she also heard something else.

  Something rattled.

  It took her a moment to pick through the other sounds, and she realized it hadn’t come from the front of the house but rather the back.

  “Someone’s trying to get in the back door, into the kitchen,” Bo whispered.

  That sent her stomach to her knees. God. When was this going to end?