Guardian

by Terri Reed

  Two paramedics hurried over. “Did you sustain any injuries?” one of them asked Leo.

  “No, no. I’m fine,” he assured the guy, trying to wave him off. “Just check Ms. Duncan out.”

  “You have some burns,” the paramedic insisted. Leo let the man look at his singed arms as he kept his gaze trained on Alicia. The other paramedic listened to her lungs and shone a light in her eyes. Leo never would have forgiven himself if she’d been seriously hurt.

  “Mommy!” Charlie’s exuberant cry carried over the noise of the fire hoses and the dying blaze that had destroyed the barn. Harmon hung on to the boy as Alicia broke away from the paramedic to be reunited with her child.

  Leo addressed the paramedic who had examined her. “Is she okay?”

  “Yes,” he said. “No sign of burns or smoke inhalation.”

  Relief flooded through him.

  True let out a loud, joyous bark and jumped from the porch, landing on all fours at a run. Leo went down on one knee to catch True as the dog leaped into his arms and licked his face. “I’m glad to see you, too,” Leo told the dog.

  After a moment, Leo rose, got an okay from the paramedic and headed toward where Chief Jarrett stood talking to his officers.

  “Chief,” Leo said as he came to a stop.

  “Agent Gallagher, it’s good to see you unharmed. I understand you saved the horses,” Jarrett stated. He was dressed in civilian clothes. Wranglers, snakeskin boots and a plaid button-down. His silver hair was hidden beneath a Stetson. Apparently he’d been off-duty when he’d received the call about the fire.

  “Wasn’t all me,” Leo replied, his gaze going to Alicia. She held Charlie tight to her chest. Her clothes were sooty and her face was smeared with specks of black ash, but he was awestruck by her beauty. A warrior princess willing to risk her life for her animals and her family. A woman to admire and respect. A woman who would love with the same intensity.

  Something Leo would never experience. The thought left him hollow inside.

  Jarrett followed his gaze. “She’s quite special. I’d hate to see her hurt.”

  Leo’s gaze snapped back to the police chief. Sensing the older man wasn’t just referring to the physical danger threatening Alicia’s life, he stated firmly, “You don’t have to worry. I will do everything in my power to protect her.”

  Even from himself.

  * * *

  Alicia tiptoed out of Charlie’s room. He’d finally fallen back to sleep. It had taken a great deal of coaxing to get him to settle down after the chaos of the barn fire. Her own heart still beat too fast with adrenaline and fear. She didn’t explain to him the true nature of the blaze. Her three-year-old son didn’t need to know that Leo had shot down a drone armed with explosives that was intent on eliminating her as a witness to a horrible crime.

  Dad and Leo were still outside assessing the damage to the barn. True stayed close to his handler. She hurried to the downstairs front window. The last of the firefighters drove away, but Chief Jarrett had left a patrol car with two officers to keep watch.

  She sent up a prayer of gratitude for the presence of Leo and True. Without the agent and his dog, she and her family would be toast. Literally.

  She left the house to join the men. Leo kept his gaze on the dark horizon, no doubt assessing for any sort of threat. True sniffed the air, his nose twitching.

  Dad put his hand on her shoulder. The wrinkles in his face were deeper and his eyes troubled. He’d misbuttoned his shirt, attesting to the fact he’d dressed in a hurry to see what was going on outside. “Thank the good Lord above you brought Leo home with you.”

  Alicia smiled, remembering how Dad had greeted the agent earlier in the day. A shotgun welcome. “I agree. He and True are a blessing.” She was aware of Leo’s quick glance.

  “I’ll say good-night now,” Dad said. “Hopefully there won’t be any more excitement tonight...er, this morning.”

  For a moment she and Leo were silent as they watched her dad stride slowly back to the house.

  Once he was inside, she asked, “What if the guy has another drone?”

  Leo turned toward her. His face was streaked with black soot and there were singe marks on his clothes and red, irritated skin on his exposed arms. “True will alert us again.” He gestured to the officers in their car. “We have reinforcements now.”

  Touching a gentle hand to his sleeve, she said, “Did the paramedics look at your burns?”

  He glanced down at her hand then back to her face. “They’re superficial heat burns, Alicia. Thankfully, I never made contact with a flame. The medic gave me some antibiotic ointment to use.”

  “We should get you inside and tend to your wounds,” she insisted. He’d suffered the burns saving her horses. The least she could do was dress his injuries.

  “I’ll deal with them later,” Leo replied gruffly. “You should get some rest. Tomorrow the forensic artist will be here to work with you. And my boss and another agent are coming to town.”

  “They are welcome to stay here as well,” she told him. “We have one more guest room and Charlie can bunk with me so one of them can use his room.”

  A soft smiled touched his lips. “That’s very generous of you. I’ll let my boss know. That would mean two more dogs in your house. Are you up for that?”

  Having True in the house gave her an added measure of comfort. Two more highly trained canines would only increase the level of security. “Of course.” She captured his hand, liking the feel of his calloused palm against hers and his strong fingers linking through her own. “I won’t be able to rest until I know you’ve taken care of your burns.”

  He stared at her for a long moment. She held his gaze, afraid he’d withdraw his hand the way he had earlier. She wasn’t sure what had made him retreat from her. And she shouldn’t want to comfort him, shouldn’t want to be so close to him, but everything inside of her demanded that she take care of him. After all, he’d risked his life to save her family and had saved her horses.

  He was simply doing his job, she reminded herself. He wasn’t here because he cared about her. Mistaking his bravery and courage for something more, something personal, would be foolish. She couldn’t allow herself to form a false attachment. Her heart was battered and bruised enough. Her gaze dropped to her boots.

  Fatigue drained the last of her energy and she slipped her hand from his. “You’re right—I need to rest,” she said but couldn’t help adding, “Please promise me you’ll take care of your arms.”

  He inclined his head. “I promise.”

  Suspecting he was the sort of man who kept his promises, her heart folded in on itself.

  * * *

  The next morning arrived far too early for Alicia. She watched the smoke-stained sky pinken with the dawn, not having slept much at all. Yesterday had been overwhelming. First the man dumping the woman’s body in the river, then being shot at, then the fire.

  She forced herself to rise and start the day. She needed to be awake and ready to give a detailed description of the killer to the forensic artist. She knew she’d have no trouble recalling the man’s face. His image haunted her mind.

  After a quick shower, she put on her favorite jeans and a floral-print top that she knew looked good on her—not that she was dressing to impress.

  Okay, well, maybe a bit. She wanted Leo to think she was pretty, especially after how awful she’d looked once they’d dealt with the horses last night.

  Wanting him to find her attractive was totally ridiculous. Deep down she knew that. Especially considering how she usually didn’t have an issue with vanity.

  During her marriage, Jeff had preferred she wear dresses and makeup. He’d liked to joke she was his arm candy. Little had she known he had more sweets to choose from than Willy Wonka.

  When she’d moved h
ome, she’d overhauled her closet and thrown out every last dress she’d owned and all but a few essential items of makeup.

  Never again would she be defined by her wrapper.

  It didn’t matter what she looked like. Her son loved her whether she had on fancy clothes or barn duds. Charlie’s opinion of her was the only one that mattered. Not the ruggedly handsome agent’s.

  Still, there was a part of her that wanted to apply a touch of mascara and lip gloss.

  Irritated with herself, she refrained from opening her makeup bag and headed out of her room. Leo and Charlie sat at the dining-room table with Dad and the remnants of a pancake breakfast pushed aside to make room for the game I Spy. True sat nearby, with tail wagging.

  Charlie chatted away merrily and Leo’s focus was totally on him. Alicia’s heart exalted to see their two heads bent close together as they worked on connecting the pictures on the large puzzle-like pieces in the matching game.

  She couldn’t begin to express how grateful she was to Leo for keeping his promise to play the game with her son. The unexpected burn of tears pricked the backs of her eyes and she quickly blinked them away. She met her father’s gaze. He nodded with a smile as if sensing how choked up she was over this man’s kindness to her child.

  Leo glanced up and saw her. He gave her a lopsided grin that did funny things to her insides. “Good morning.”

  “Morning,” she said as she headed to the kitchen for a cup of coffee.

  “There’s a stack of pancakes in the oven,” her dad told her.

  “Thanks, Dad,” she said. “That’s a nice surprise.”

  Dad’s mouth quirked. “Don’t thank me. Agent Leo did the honors.”

  Her gaze darted to Leo. “You made breakfast?”

  His grin broadened. “I can cook. I figured it was the least I could do in return for putting me up.”

  She wrapped her hands around her mug. “You’re our guest. I should have been up earlier to feed you.”

  “You needed your rest,” he replied warmly. “Besides, this gave Charlie and me a chance to play. He’s beating me, by the way.” He winked.

  She chuckled, liking this playful side to him. There was something about this man that called to her in an elemental way she hadn’t experienced before. With Jeff, their romance had started in high school. She’d been the tomboy most of the guys thought of as a sister until the Duncans moved to town. Jeff had pursued her from the moment they met. She’d been blown away by the attention and his charm. He’d had such a big personality and had promised her the world. But what she’d ended up with were lies and betrayals.

  She turned away from the sight of her beautiful son and the handsome agent to fix a plate of pancakes and told herself not to get used to Leo being here. He would be leaving soon.

  Once the killer was caught and she was no longer in danger. Then life could go back to normal.

  She wanted a quiet, simple life. She wanted to raise her son and in time go back to teaching. She wasn’t looking for anything more.

  Especially with a man who kept his promises. A man who would be dangerous to her heart.

  EIGHT

  “Is this him?” Brian Ames, the forensic artist, held up the sketch of the man Alicia had spent the past hour describing.

  They were seated in an interrogation room at the Settler’s Valley police department. Brian had said the sterile, windowless room would be less distracting for her as she recalled the details of the killer. He was right.

  Alicia squirmed in the hard plastic chair. An involuntary shudder worked its way over her limbs. Fear swirled around her like a dark cloud and her mouth went dry. The sketch artist was good at his job, producing an amazingly realistic rendition of the man she’d seen in the boat who’d dumped the woman’s body into the river.

  She made herself take in the angular chin, the hawk-like nose, the piercing, close-set eyes and tightly cropped hair. She would know this man at a glance. She’d seen him on the river and then through the rearview mirror as he chased her in the stolen truck. She’d been right to think he would haunt her for a very long time. “Yes. That’s him.”

  Brian handed the photo to Leo. He and True had taken a position behind her by the door to quietly observe. Dad and Charlie were still at the ranch with four armed officers in place for protection while fire investigators combed through the debris left by the exploding drone.

  Leo’s big hand came to rest on her shoulder. His touch comforted and soothed. “You did good.”

  Pleased by his approval, she glanced up at him. “What happens now?”

  “We make copies of the sketch and put it into the hands of every officer and law-enforcement agency around the county. We’ll also run the image through facial recognition and pray we can identify him.”

  “Do you think he’s still in town?” After last night’s failed attempt to eliminate her with an exploding drone, she prayed the man had given up and fled. A pipe dream, she knew, but still...it couldn’t hurt to hope.

  “He seems pretty determined,” Leo replied, effectively dimming her fledgling optimism. “But with this...” He held up the drawing. “We’ll capture him.”

  Though she appreciated his confidence, a chill skated across her flesh. Averting her gaze from the image on the paper, she murmured, “From your lips to God’s ears.”

  A knock had Leo moving from her side to open the door. A young officer stood there.

  “Agent Gallagher, Chief Jarrett wanted me to let you know your boss has arrived.”

  “Thank you, Officer,” Leo said then turned back to her and held out his hand. “Come on—I’d like to introduce you to Special Agent West.”

  She rose and slipped her hand into his and was startled by how natural and right it felt to have their palms fitting together so perfectly, as if they’d had this connection between them forever. It was a strange sensation to realize how much she’d come to admire and respect this man so quickly.

  Was she crazy? Were her feelings born from the trauma of the past twenty-four hours? Had to be. She knew very little about Agent Gallagher. Though she wished she knew more. She thought back to their time in the barn and about how uncomfortable he’d seemed when she’d asked him about his life and if he’d ever come close to marriage. She’d sensed something bad had happened to him. Had he lost a loved one?

  She expected Leo to let go of her hand once they were in the hallway, but instead, his strong and capable fingers curled around hers, keeping her tethered to him as they headed for the chief’s office. True, nails clicking rhythmically on the linoleum floor, walked on Leo’s other side.

  Disconcerted by the pleasant glow infusing her, she wanted to deny how nice it was to hold Leo’s much larger hand, to have someone want to touch her and be with her. Not that she would make the mistake of thinking he had feelings for her beyond the constraints of his job. He didn’t. He’d already been clear that his job was to protect her and her family, nothing more.

  Still, it had been so long since the yearning for companionship, except for that of her son and father, had gripped her in its tenacious hold. She’d thought she was doing okay without a man in her life. But now she wondered if the restlessness she’d been battling lately stemmed from loneliness.

  Two people stood with the chief outside his office door. The chief, dressed in his light beige police uniform, looked relaxed as he talked to a man and a woman, both of whom wore dark uniforms similar to the one Leo wore with the FBI logo splashed across their backs. The woman carried a laptop case draped across her body.

  Two very different dogs sat at attention next to their handlers. As they approached, both dogs turned to stare at them, alerting their handlers to her and Leo’s presence.

  “Ah, here they are,” Chief Jarrett said with a smile.

  The woman’s gaze dropped to Alicia and Leo�
�s joined hands and she arched an eyebrow. Suddenly self-conscious and feeling a bit embarrassed by the contact, Alicia flexed her fingers and Leo slipped his hand from hers.

  Addressing the male agent, Leo said, “Max, this is Alicia Duncan.” He touched a hand to the small of her back, the pressure warm and pleasant. “Alicia, this is special agent in charge Max West and his K-9 partner, Opal.”

  The tall, muscular man smiled, though his eyes assessed her with intense scrutiny. A scar ran down one side of his face, making her think of a pirate. “Ms. Duncan, it’s nice to meet you.” He held out his hand.

  “Likewise, Agent West,” she said and briefly shook his hand. Gesturing to the dog sitting beside him, she asked, “Is she a boxer?”

  The dog’s ears perked up. Max touched Opal’s head. She had a brown coat with a white chest and paws. “Yes. Her specialty is explosives detection.”

  They could have used her last night. But True had done his job and alerted them to the threat. Leo had done the rest. Together, the K-9 team had saved the lives of her and her family. She’d be forever grateful.

  “This is Agent Julianne Martinez and her K-9 partner, Thunder,” Leo said, indicating the attractive woman standing next to his boss. She had dark hair pulled back into a low ponytail and clear, olive skin. The brown, black and white foxhound lifted a paw as if wanting to shake Alicia’s hand.

  Unsure if she should touch the dog, Alicia kept her hands at her sides. “Hello, Agent Martinez and Thunder.”

  Julianne’s smile was warm as she reached out to clasp Alicia’s hand. “How are you holding up?”

  Slightly taken aback by the other woman’s compassion, Alicia answered honestly, “I’m not sure.”

  “She’s doing great,” Leo interjected. “She’s handling all of this in stride.”