Guardian

by Terri Reed

  Leo stopped a few feet away and squeezed Alicia’s hand. “Stay here.”

  She’d gone pale. “Did he find Sue Ellen?”

  “I don’t know yet,” he told her. He wouldn’t know until the diver could get in the water.

  She clutched his arm. “Did you hear that?”

  Leo stilled, listening. He heard the rush of the river, the wind in the trees. “What?”

  Her nose scrunched up. “I’m not sure. It sounded like a whine.”

  “It could have been True,” he said. “He wants to go into the water.”

  She nodded and released her hold on him. Leo carefully made his way to the river’s edge, noting footprints in the moist earth along with grooves in the dirt as if something had been dragged into the water. A bad feeling churned in his gut. He didn’t believe things were going to turn out well for Sue Ellen Bishop. Please, let me be wrong, Lord.

  He gestured to one of the officers. “Call for a forensic team. Give them our location and tell them we need a diver ASAP.”

  “Yes, sir,” the young officer said, taking his cell phone from his pocket.

  The other officer took out a small digital camera from his utility belt and took pictures of the footprints and drag marks.

  Leo moved slowly, conscientious not to damage the evidence, and joined True on the debris. He peered into the murky river and sucked in a sharp breath. Tangled in the branches and sticks he could discern the unmistakable outline of a female body, weighted down below the surface, where the water wasn’t as deep as in the middle of the canyon.

  Sickened to have found another dead woman, Leo turned away. He wanted to be mad at God but this wasn’t His fault. A human man made the choice to kill. He was responsible, and Leo would make sure he spent many years in prison for his crimes.

  Grateful that Alicia’s view of the corpse was blocked by the debris, he glanced toward where she’d been standing to find her gone.

  His heart stalled out. Panic rushed in, the blood draining from his face. His heart cramped with dread. He’d only turned his back on her for a second. But he knew that was all it took. A moment of inattention and a life could end.

  No! He wouldn’t let that happen to Alicia. He couldn’t let another person he cared about die on his watch. He had to find her.

  “Alicia!”

  * * *

  Hearing Leo’s frantic call, Alicia yelled, “Here! I’m over here.”

  She knelt down and peered into the thick bushes. A young, yellow Labrador stared back at her with dark, frightened eyes. She’d known she’d heard a whining noise and had feared she’d find a child. She hadn’t been able to ignore the sound of distress, so she’d gone searching for the source. At the sound of Leo’s panic she realized she’d acted impulsively, rashly. Shame washed over her. She’d been careless and upset him needlessly.

  Behind her, Leo crashed through the underbrush with True at his heels and both skidded to a halt. “Are you hurt? What happened? Why did you disappear?”

  Glancing over her shoulder, she grimaced at how visibly shaken he was. Guilt knotted her stomach. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have left. I heard that noise again and followed it to this bush.” She pointed. “There’s a puppy in here.”

  Leo scrubbed a hand over his face and growled, “You nearly gave me a heart attack. Don’t ever do that again.”

  Instead of becoming defensive at his words, as she normally would, she strove to soothe his ire. She deserved his anger and for some reason it made her feel cared for. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I truly am sorry.”

  He blew out a breath and seemed to gather his composure before he nodded then knelt down beside her to look at the pup. True sat perfectly still, his intelligent eyes observing them. “Hey there, little fellow.”

  The puppy shrank back even more.

  “What should we do?” Alicia hated the idea of the puppy out in the woods all alone.

  Leo dug out a handful of treats from a pocket in his pants. He laid one down on the ground just out of the pup’s reach. “It looks like he’s wearing a collar. Hopefully we can contact his owner.”

  The pup sniffed the air, then put his nose to the ground and scuttled forward an inch, then another until he could stretch his mouth to gobble up the treat. Leo laid down another treat a little farther from the bush and backed up, giving the puppy space. True rose but made no move toward the younger dog or the treat.

  Alicia scooted back alongside of Leo, marveling at his ingenuity and his canine partner’s restraint. But then again, he was a trained K-9 handler with a highly trained K-9 officer.

  When the pup ventured farther out to grab the next treat, Leo put out his hand with a treat in the center of his palm.

  Nervous he’d be bitten, she asked, “Should you do that?”

  He shrugged. “He’ll either take my offer or he’ll back away.”

  The little Lab went down onto his belly and shuffled forward to extend his muzzle as far as he could to take the treat from Leo’s hand.

  “Good boy,” Leo cooed. From another pocket he brought out a shorter leash and swiftly hooked it to the puppy’s collar. Then he gave him another treat.

  “Wow, that was fast,” she said. She doubted she’d have been able to coax the dog out from beneath the bushes so easily, even if she’d had treats in her pocket.

  One of the officers approached. “Sir, the forensic team is here. They came by boat.”

  Leo nodded. “We’ll be right there.”

  Alicia’s stomach dropped. “True found her, didn’t he?”

  His expression turned grim. “He found someone. We won’t know if it’s Sue Ellen Bishop until we can get a positive ID.”

  He handed Alicia a handful of treats and the leash. “Here, you take him while I talk to the forensic team.”

  Stunned, she shook her head. “I don’t know anything about dogs.”

  “He’s a puppy.” Leo smiled at the young dog sitting so patiently watching them. “He’s been well trained. I’d say he’s at least four months old.”

  “Okay, great, but what do I do?”

  “Hold the treats like this in your hand.” He demonstrated cupping several treats in his palm and holding them in place with his thumb. “That way he has to use his nose to find them and then his tongue to get them rather than his teeth. Keeps the fingers safe.”

  She did as he instructed.

  “Good. Start walking. If he follows, give him a treat. If he doesn’t want to follow, coax him with a treat,” Leo told her briskly. He was clearly anxious to get back to the river.

  Determined to get through this, she took a step and said, “Come.”

  The puppy immediately obeyed. Pleasantly surprised, she offered him a treat. He gladly accepted from her cupped hand. Holding the leash, she and the pup followed Leo and True back to the river, where a Settler’s Valley police boat had come ashore several feet away from where True still stood atop the pile of broken tree stumps and branches. Alicia couldn’t see what had True so agitated and she was thankful.

  She squatted down next to the puppy. Gingerly, so as not to frighten him more, she reached out to stroke his chest. He leaned into her, obviously enjoying the rub. She glanced at the little blue bone-shaped dog tag hanging from his collar. His name was River and he belonged to Sue Ellen Bishop. Her heart sank. Poor baby had lost his owner.

  An hour later, they pulled the latest victim from the river. Unwilling to have the visual in her head, she turned away, just as she had when they’d pulled Virginia Carter’s body from the water. It was bad enough living with the killer’s face imprinted on her brain. Seeing his lifeless victims would be too much.

  The crack of a gun firing split the air. Something passed close to Alicia’s head. Less than a second later, Leo wrapped his arms around her and took her to the gro
und, covering her with his big body. For a shocked second, her mind refused to process what was happening.

  Leo’s weight pressing her down made it difficult to breathe. His aftershave competed with the pungent smell of the earth beneath her. His body shielded her from the flying bullets. A comfort, yet a stark reminder of the danger they were in.

  “Keep your head down.” His urgent whisper penetrated through the stunned haze clouding her thoughts.

  Someone had shot at her. Again.

  True’s barking filled her ears.

  “Down!” Leo commanded.

  True flattened onto his belly, though his ears remained up and a snarl bared his teeth, showing his upset at the threat.

  The puppy whined and strained at the leash attached to his collar, clearly frightened by the sound and the humans’ actions.

  The two police officers withdrew their sidearms and took positions behind trees. The forensic team scattered, finding places to hide.

  “We’re going to find cover,” Leo told her. “On three, we belly-crawl to that cottonwood.”

  She followed the line of his finger to a large tree about four feet away. Belly-crawl. The words reverberated through her head. Images of war and soldiers crawling beneath barbed wire flickered through her mind, giving her courage and strength. She was in a war for her life. She had to survive for her son’s sake. “One.”

  “That’s it,” Leo murmured, approval and reassurance oozing from his tone. “Two.” He took a breath. “Three.”

  Leo scrambled off of her, allowing her to move by. She stayed low, digging her elbows into the ground and pushing forward with her knees. She tugged the puppy with her. Another bullet hit the ground near her hip. Bits of dirt peppered her side. Flinching, she sped up her crawl until she was safe behind the tree, then gathered the puppy into her arms. Leo and True were quick to follow. In sync with each other, man and dog crawled at a fast clip. When Leo reached her side, he positioned her behind him then motioned to one of the officers to join them.

  When the lawman made it to their side, Leo told him, “I need you to keep her safe. I’m going after the creep.” He grabbed the leash dangling from True’s collar and veered to the left to disappear into the woods.

  Alicia’s heart slammed against her breastbone. She wanted to yank Leo back to her side, to keep him from pursuing the lunatic bent on killing her. Fear tightened a noose around her neck. What if Leo ended up hurt? Or worse?

  * * *

  Leo led True in a semicircle so that they’d end up behind the shooter. He caught a glimpse of a man through the branches. It was the killer Alicia had seen. Determined to end the guy’s reign of terror over Alicia, Leo crept closer. Suddenly the man whipped around and aimed his weapon in their direction.

  Grabbing True by the collar, Leo yanked him behind a fallen tree trunk just as the thug fired. The dull thud of the bullet hitting the log reverberated through Leo. He clenched his jaw, unwilling to return fire in case his bullet missed. He wouldn’t risk hitting Alicia or any of the cops working the crime scene.

  Taking a chance he could talk the guy down, Leo called out, “Put down your weapon. You’ve nowhere to go.”

  Leo heard a snort and then the sound of the guy running away as he crashed through the trees and underbrush away from where Alicia was hidden. Leo dropped his head back against the log. “Thank You, Lord, for Your protection.” He needed to get back to Alicia.

  After a heartbeat, he and True rapidly made their way back to the water’s edge. “He escaped into the woods,” he announced.

  Alicia and the two uniformed officers came out from behind the cottonwood tree and went in search of the gunman’s trail. The forensic team emerged from their hiding places.

  Leo spoke to the forensic lead investigator. “Can we take the boat back to the marina? I need to get Ms. Duncan out of here. I’ll send back more officers.”

  “That’s fine,” the gray-haired tech said. “We’ll be here awhile. Just return the boat as soon as possible.”

  “Will do.” Leo hurried to Alicia. “We’re getting out of here.”

  She held the puppy to her chest. The poor dog’s body was racked with tremors. “The puppy belonged to Sue Ellen.”

  His heart squeezed tight. “We’ll see if her family will take him.”

  She nodded and set River on the ground. True came over to sniff the younger Lab. “And if not?”

  He helped her into the boat, careful to keep his body a barrier between her line of sight and the body in the water. “Would you want to adopt him?”

  “I’m not sure I’m ready for a young dog,” she said as she took a seat. River lay down at her feet next to True. “I’m just now getting used to the idea of having dogs around.”

  Leo started the boat engine. Soon they were zipping along the water toward the marina. Leo sat so that Alicia was blocked from view by anyone on shore.

  He appreciated her honesty. Caring for a canine took time and commitment. It wasn’t something anyone should venture into lightly. “I could take him to Billings to be trained as an officer in honor of Jake,” he said as guilt once again pinched him.

  She laid a hand on his arm. “What happened to Jake?”

  “I failed him,” he admitted. “I was supposed to have his back.”

  “Julianne said you could have been the one abducted instead.”

  “I wish it had been me,” he stated flatly.

  “Don’t say that,” she chided. “If you’d been the one taken, you wouldn’t be here to protect me.”

  “No, Jake would. He’s a better man than me.”

  “I don’t know this Jake person, obviously. But you’re a good man, Agent Leo Gallagher. Don’t doubt that.”

  “You don’t know me,” he said hoarsely. “You don’t know what I’ve done.”

  “Certainly nothing worth condemning yourself for.”

  He stared into her pale, beautiful, trusting eyes. “I let my little sister die.”

  TEN

  I let my little sister die.

  Leo’s words bounced through Alicia’s head. She’d had to strain to hear him over the roar of the powerboat’s engine and the sound of the wind rushing past as they raced toward the marina. She couldn’t have heard him right.

  He’d let his little sister die? What happened? When? How? The questions formed but all she could do was stare into his bleak green eyes. It seemed her voice had deserted her. Out of shock or dread?

  They docked and debarked to an awaiting police escort. She coaxed the puppy out of the boat and then onto the floor of the front passenger seat of Leo’s SUV, and then she slid in herself, the whole while aching with the need to...what?

  She wasn’t sure. Comfort Leo?

  She tightened her hold on the leash secured to River’s collar. She didn’t know the story. Maybe he wasn’t the good guy she’d believed him to be. Yet she had a hard time reconciling that thought with the kind, honorable man she was coming to know.

  But then again, she’d learned the hard way people could easily hide their true selves.

  After Leo secured True in his special compartment, he jumped in the driver’s seat and drove them back to the ranch. The puppy curled at her feet and fell asleep. She watched the town of Settler’s Valley pass by. There’d been a time when she’d been so eager to leave this town and the valley, but now she couldn’t imagine a prettier place to live.

  They hit the two-lane highway leading east through flat pastureland that stretched for miles and eventually ran into the Blackthorn Mountains. She turned her gaze to the man sitting behind the wheel of the black SUV. Did she dare ask him about his sister? Did she want to know?

  The debate within herself raged on, keeping her from speaking. On the one hand, she wanted to get to the truth. Was he really responsible for his sister�
�s death or were his words overly dramatic? What good would come from knowing what had happened in his past? Would it make her trust him less? Or more? Would knowing the burdens he carried make him more real, more accessible? Did she want him to be?

  No. She wanted to keep him at a safe distance from her heart. If she were to ever risk falling in love again, it would have to be with someone who wouldn’t put his career first. Someone who wouldn’t put his own selfish desires ahead of her and Charlie.

  Though Leo hadn’t shown any signs of selfishness, he was a dedicated lawman. She couldn’t compete with the job again. She’d had enough of that with Jeff.

  When they reached the ranch, she hopped out before Leo even turned off the engine. She gathered the puppy in her arms. River licked her face and she grimaced as she realized she’d made a huge mistake bringing the dog into their lives. Charlie was going to go nuts for him.

  And if she wasn’t careful, she’d lose her heart to the puppy as well. Leo released True before coming around to where she stood on the other side of the vehicle.

  “Everything okay?” he asked.

  His shuttered expression made her wince inwardly. He probably thought she was judging him, condemning him the way he seemed to be condemning himself. “Yes. I was just thinking that bringing home this pup might confuse Charlie.”

  Leo’s eyes softened. “We’ll have to be clear that he’s a guest and will be leaving. Like me.”

  Her heart dropped a beat at the reminder. Confusion swirled around her like a tornado. Hadn’t she just told herself she wanted distance from him? It was dumb for her to feel dejected. Wasn’t it? “Right. Leaving.”

  “Let me take him.” Leo held out his arms.

  As sweet and cute as she found the puppy, she knew giving him to Leo was for the best. She didn’t want to let herself become too attached to the dog or to the man standing beside her. She released the puppy into Leo’s waiting arms. He held the squirming dog with firm but gentle hands. For a moment she imagined him holding a newborn child and her heart sighed with longing. Having grown up alone, without siblings or even cousins, she’d always hoped to have a large family.