Protective Custody

by Lynette Eason

  Christopher gave a reluctant nod. The Jeffersons entered the room, and Nicholas shut the door.

  Carly looked at him. “What are you doing? Get in there.”

  He narrowed his eyes on her and pulled his gun from the back of his waistband. “Not a chance.”

  “This is what we’re here for, remember?” she protested.

  Mason motioned toward the front of the house. “No time to argue. Judge, you stay back and out of sight if you can. Use the gun if necessary.”

  “You’re not making this any easier.” Carly’s nose flared as she shot him a look mixed with anger and fear. Nicholas understood her anger, wondered at her fear.

  “This is my fight,” he insisted. “I won’t deny I might need help, but I refuse to sit on the sidelines while somebody else fights it.”

  Carly bit her lip and forced aside visions of him lying in a pool of blood.

  Her gut clenched and a protest hovered on her lips. Then a loud crash came from just ahead. Carly stepped in front of Nicholas and pointed her gun in the direction of the sound. “Freeze!”

  Running footsteps sounded. The flash of a large shadow darted around a corner. Nicholas brushed past her and took off in pursuit. Mason ran the other way, and Carly knew he was looking to cut off the intruder.

  She counted one person inside the house.

  But how many were outside?

  Sirens sounded in the distance. Help was on the way. She hoped the approaching authorities would scare off whoever was on the property. The dogs were barking like crazy. How had the intruders gotten past them?

  Carly followed Nicholas, determined to back up whatever he was doing. She’d hold on to the tongue-lashing she wanted to give him until after everyone was safe.

  Rounding the corner, she pulled up short. Nicholas had his back up against the side of the house, his gun held steady, aiming into the dark. “What is it?”

  “Two of them ran toward the woods.”

  Carly radioed it in. A police helicopter would head their way. They’d also notify the authorities to be on the lookout for cars coming from this direction.

  “Carly!”

  Mason. She motioned for Nicholas to follow her back into the house. Police now swarmed the property. Mason stood in the den area talking to several officers and barking out orders.

  “What is it, Mason?”

  Her partner looked up as she walked in. “He—or they—got away, but one of the dogs snagged this.”

  With a gloved hand, he held up a piece of fabric. Carly wrinkled her nose. “What is it?”

  “A piece of a shirt, I think.” In his other latex-covered hand, he held up wire cutters. “We’ll have the lab test this for prints, but I don’t think they’ll get anything. Whoever is after Nick is smart and they’d have had gloves on. It’s a no-brainer.”

  “Still, we’ve got to try. We might get pleasantly surprised and catch a break.”

  Mason grunted his disagreement as he set the two pieces of evidence aside to be taken to the lab, but didn’t argue. She knew he secretly hoped she was right.

  Nicholas ran his fingers through his already tousled hair and sighed. “Why didn’t the generator kick in when they cut the power? And how did they get past the dogs?”

  “The dogs were maced,” Mason informed them. “They came prepared to take the dogs out. As for the generator, I checked on that. It’s been dismantled.” Mason paced from one end of the den back to them.

  “How?” Nicholas snapped. “It’s in a closed area that blends in with the house. How would they know where to find it?”

  Carly drew in a deep breath and shared a glance with Mason, who said, “Our intruders did their homework. They’ve probably been doing it ever since they found out you were going to be sitting on the case. These guys are good, professional killers.” He sighed and rubbed his chin. “But why strike here? Professional killers prefer to work from a distance. Why didn’t they shoot you instead of Harrison Frasier?”

  Carly sighed. “Good point. Unless,” she pondered, “they don’t really care if you’re dead or not. They just want you off the case. If they can scare you off, why bother to kill you?” She threw her hands into the air. “Who knows? I do know this—we’ve got our work cut out for us.”

  Nicholas shot her a ferocious frown. A hand reached up to rub the back of his neck, and Carly’s palms actually itched with the sudden impulse to massage the tension from his shoulders.

  Get a grip, she ordered herself and curled her traitorous hands into fists. She stepped forward and placed a hand on Nicholas’s arm almost before she thought about what she was doing.

  Footsteps sounded and Carly jumped back, but not before Nick’s frown softened and his eyes glinted with something she wasn’t able to put a label on.

  Lindsey rushed into the room and wrapped her arms around her uncle’s waist. Christopher grabbed a leg and held on. His breathing seemed much better, Carly noticed.

  Nicholas placed a hand on each of the children’s shoulders and reassured them with pats and hugs. “Everything’s fine, kids. Go on up and get in your beds. I know it’s going to be almost impossible to sleep, but you try for now.” He shot a pleading look at Debbie. “I know you’re not on duty at night, but do you think…”

  “I’ll take care of them.” Debbie stepped forward and held out her hands. “Come on, Chris, let’s go make sure Pepper’s all right and give him a big hug.” Christopher eyes brightened, but he still gave one last lingering glance at his uncle before following Debbie to the stairs. “Can I jump on the bed, Debbie?”

  The woman gave a low chuckle. “Maybe just a few bounces.”

  Lindsey seemed to have found her attitude again and glared at him. “Why don’t you just drop the stupid case so we can have our lives back?”

  With that parting shot, she turned on her heel, shoving past Debbie and Christopher.

  “Lindsey…” Nick’s voice trailed off when he realized his niece had no intention of heeding his call. With a sigh, he shut his eyes and stood without moving for several seconds. Carly knew he was wondering if he should go after her or not, and her heart ached for him.

  She offered him her unsolicited advice, keeping her voice low and trying to offer encouragement. “Give her some space. She’ll be all right.”

  Although why she wanted to make him feel better was beyond her. How many hours had she lain awake thinking about her mentor, Hank, who had been cut down coming out of his granddaughter’s ballet recital? How many times had she railed at the heavens for placing a judge on the bench who didn’t care that he was releasing a monster back into the world?

  And yet…she felt something for him. Her traitorous heart kept wondering if maybe she had things skewed. Maybe she didn’t know all the facts about that case.

  “I know,” Nick finally said. “She’s just had it so rough for so long—and now this.”

  A loud thump sounded from upstairs, and Carly started, her hand on her gun. Mason took up guard next to Nick.

  “It’s just Christopher,” Nick said, holding up a hand to stop her progress.

  She paused. “What do you mean?”

  A guilty flush started appeared on his face. “Um…he likes to jump on the bed, and I let him…sometimes.”

  “That was a pretty loud thump.”

  “Yeah, he likes to put his beanbags on the floor and…” Another thump sounded, and Carly flinched.

  “…jump from the bed to the beanbags,” she finished for him.

  He shrugged. “Yep.”

  “Okay. That’s good information to have. However—” she looked at Mason “—why don’t you go check to make sure?” He nodded and left. Carly paced to the kitchen and back then shot a glance at Nick. “That’s sweet of you to let him do something most parents would yell about.”

  Another guilty flush appeared, and he looked away. Inspiration hit her. “You do it, too, don’t you?”

  He raised a brow, going for the innocent look. “What do you mean?”


  “Oh, no, you don’t, Nicholas Floyd, you don’t fool me.” She shook a finger at him. “Not only do you do it, too, I bet you taught him!”

  Nick shoved his hands into his pockets, and Carly swore he was hiding a grin. “Well, I…”

  Carly crossed her arms and put on her stern look. “Come on, Judge, how do you plead?”

  He let out a sigh and the little-boy look on his face tugged at her heartstrings. “Guilty as charged, ma’am.”

  Carly felt her heart thaw about ten degrees. She sobered and looked into his eyes, thought about asking him about the murderer he’d let go. No not now, she decided.

  Nicholas placed a hand on her arm, and she felt the touch clear to her toes. She turned a questioning look at him, as he said, “Thank you.”

  “For what?”

  “For everything. For not giving me a hard time about not hiding out and leaving the bad guys to you.”

  Crossing her arms over her middle, Carly zeroed in on his eyes. “Yeah, about that. We’re going to have to have a little heart-to-heart about some of those rules we kind of skipped over earlier.”

  FOUR

  Nick raised a brow. “Let me check on the kids, and then we can talk.” He didn’t really need to check on them. He knew Debbie would take good care of them; however, their frightened faces wouldn’t leave his mind, and he needed to spend a little time reassuring them.

  Carly nodded, and he headed upstairs to find Debbie sitting on the bed with Christopher in her lap. “I’ll take it from here.”

  Debbie smiled and kissed the top of the boy’s head then scooted out from under him. “’Night, Chris.”

  “’Night, Debbie.”

  Nick placed a hand on her arm and said, “I appreciate your help. But I think it might be best if you went home until all of this is resolved.”

  “But Nick…”

  “I mean it, Debbie. I don’t want you in danger. Tonight just proved that these guys don’t care who’s around when they come after me. It’s not safe.”

  She chewed her bottom lip, and her brows dipped in a hesitant frown. She glanced at Christopher then back at Nick. “All right, maybe you’re right. I guess—”

  “No! No, she can’t leave!”

  The cry came from the bed as Christopher shot straight up in protest.

  Running feet sounded on the steps from outside the room. Nick stepped out of the bedroom and saw Carly at the landing, gun drawn. He waved her down and turned back to Christopher.

  Grabbing the little boy up in his arms, he hugged him. Christopher snagged him around the neck and squeezed. “Please don’t make her leave, Uncle Nick, please.”

  Nick’s heart nearly ruptured with a love so intense he had to close his eyes to gain control of his voice. Finally he said, “It’s okay, Christopher. I’ve got you.”

  Still keeping his arms looped around his uncle’s neck, Christopher pulled back to look into Nick’s eyes. “I want Miss Debbie to stay. I need her. She makes me not be so scared.”

  “Nick…” Debbie laid a hand on his shoulder, and he glanced up into her beseeching eyes. She licked her lips and said, “Let me stay. The kids have had enough.” She looked at Carly standing in the door and taking in the scene. “We’ve got protection. The kids need me….”

  Nick pulled in a deep breath and shot a glance at Carly. She lifted a brow and gave a shrug as though to say it was up to him.

  Debbie said, “And anyway, if they knew enough to find the generator, they probably know that I’m the nanny. They probably know a lot more than we think. What if they’ve been watching…” She paused and drew in a deep breath, her eyes cutting to the children. “If I leave, will they come after me even though I wouldn’t technically be employed here anymore?”

  Carly rubbed her nose and looked at Nick. He blinked. “That’s a good question. What do you think, Carly?”

  “I think she’s probably right. Her safest place might just be right here.”

  Christopher relaxed against him. “Then she’s staying, right?”

  Nick kissed the freckled cheek. “Yeah, little man, it looks like she’s staying.”

  “Good. I can go to sleep now.”

  Nicholas tucked the child in and escorted the two ladies from the room. Once back downstairs, he looked at Carly and said, “The only way to stop these people is not to give in to them. If I hand this case over to Debbie’s father, I’m just going to be passing the danger on to him. Or anyone else who takes it.”

  “But it would take the danger off the kids, Nick. My dad isn’t afraid. He’d do it for your kids.” Debbie’s soft voice penetrated his muddled thoughts.

  “They’re not after the kids. They’re after me.”

  “What if the kids get caught in the crossfire?” Debbie persisted. Carly stayed quiet, and he couldn’t tell what she thought.

  Maybe Debbie was right. Even though the children hadn’t been openly threatened, who knew if that would change?

  “What if I sent them away? Somewhere safe?”

  Carly frowned at him. “Where would you send them?”

  Before he could answer, a low voice said, “No. I don’t want to be sent anywhere.”

  Nick closed his eyes then opened them and turned to see Lindsey standing on the top stair, staring down at them. Her attitude was gone. In its place was a scared little girl. Lower lip trembling, she begged, “Don’t send us away, Uncle Nick. We’ll be safe with you.”

  Nick bit back a groan and resisted the urge to grab his hair in both fists. What to do? Usually, decisions came easily to him. But this…the safety of the kids, the integrity of the case…

  What should he do?

  “I don’t think it would help to send them away,” Carly said. “There’s no guarantee they wouldn’t be followed or tracked down.” She shook her head. “No, it’s best they stay here where we can keep an eye on them. Besides—” she lowered her voice “—you and Debbie are their security right now. I don’t think it would be a good idea to take that away. Like you said, you’re the target, not them.”

  Nick breathed a sigh of relief, and Lindsey shot Carly a grateful look.

  He hated to admit he hadn’t wanted to be the one to make the decision. Uproot them and send them away and disrupt their young lives once more—even more so than having two U.S. Marshals move in—and have danger track them down. Or keep them here where danger might be just around the corner.

  No, not a decision he was comfortable with either way.

  He said, “If you can keep them safe, I’d prefer they stay here.”

  She looked him in the eye. “Whoever is after you will have to go through me to get to them.”

  Nicholas wasn’t surprised at Carly’s calm declaration. No, he was startled by his own reaction—that if it came down to her being in the line of fire, he’d make sure he was around to get her out of the way.

  That settled, Carly swept past everyone and into the nearest bathroom off the kitchen. She fought the swirl of nausea in the pit of her stomach and gripped the sides of the sink.

  She’d just promised to keep Lindsey and Christopher safe, and she had no idea who had just breached their defenses. Who? How? And what was she going to do about it?

  She wanted to pray, ask for guidance, strength and protection, and yet she no longer felt that God was a resource for her. After Hank, her partner, mentor and friend, had been killed so senselessly, she’d thrown her hands up and told God she was done with Him because He never seemed to intervene when it was most needed. So why bother with Him?

  “Why bother?” she whispered.

  Turning on the cold water, she cupped her hands and splashed her face. Using the lightly scented hand towel, she dried off and stared at herself in the mirror. “You can do this,” she whispered. “You don’t need God or anyone else. This is your job. You’re good at it. So do it.” She narrowed her eyes. “And no romantic feelings for the judge, got it?”

  Unfortunately, she didn’t think her heart was listening.

&nbs
p; The knock on the door startled her, and she called, “Be right there.”

  With one more look in the mirror, she decided she was presentable. She opened the door to find her partner on the phone. He hung up and asked, “Are you all right?”

  “Yeah.”

  Curiosity lit his eyes, and for a moment she thought he was going to ask more questions, but he didn’t, just shrugged and motioned her out of the bathroom.

  “Is everything okay?” Nick asked from the doorway of the kitchen.

  Carly forced a smile. “Everything’s fine. Are you ready to go over some of those rules?”

  “Sure.” He gestured to one of the chairs at the kitchen table.

  Mason said, “While you two do that, I’m going to patrol the grounds one more time.”

  He left, and Carly sat on the cushioned seat. She leaned back into the wood slats that made up the back of the chair. “First of all, are the kids asleep?”

  “Yes, from what I can tell. Debbie said she’d keep an eye on them for the next hour or so.”

  “Okay, I’m thinking it might be a good idea to keep them home from school until all this is over.”

  Nick frowned. “Don’t you have two other marshals on them?”

  “Yes, Maria and Grady.”

  He shook his head and reached up to rub a hand across his lips as he thought. “No, as long as it’s safe, they need the consistency. I’ll drive them to school tomorrow, and Maria and Grady can stay on them like flypaper.”

  “Uh, I hate to tell you this, but you won’t be driving anyone anywhere.”

  “Fine, you can, but I’m going with them.”

  “Nick, stop and think a minute….”

  He lasered her with an unwavering stare. “I mean it. They’d go nuts around here with nothing to do but worry about whether or not someone is going to kill me. They’re not the targets—I am.” He thought for a moment. “If they’re separate from me, they may be safe, right?”

  “Yes. That’s why sending them away would be a good thing in that sense. Yet Lindsey’s reaction to that suggestion was very strong. Until it becomes a matter of us feeling unable to keep them safe in your presence, then…”

  He blew out a sigh and looked at the ceiling. “All right. I’ll agree to riding behind in a separate car, but I want to see them safely delivered. Plus, I need to have a few words with their teachers.”