She paced Slade’s living room, wishing that she could grab Brady, get in her old, battered station wagon and drive until they reached a place where no one knew them.
The problem was, she didn’t know how far she’d have to go to outrun the danger that seemed to be stalking her son. A hundred miles? A thousand?
“Eva, why don’t you sit down? Pacing isn’t going to change things.” The police captain set a large plastic bin filled with cars in front of Brady. “These are Caleb’s. I’m sure that he won’t mind if you play with them.”
“Thank you,” Brady said, his eyes wide with surprise and awe. He had toys, but not large bins full. Eva didn’t have the money for them. Most days that didn’t bother her. Today, watching Brady dig through the toy cars, Slade’s retired K-9 partner lying beside him, his head on Brady’s leg, it made her heart ache.
“No problem. Now, if you two will excuse me. I’ve got to get back to your place. Officer Lawrence will stay with you until I get back.”
“What about Austin? Can’t he stay with us?” Brady asked, looking up from a car he was rolling along the floor.
“Austin should be arriving shortly. I’ll ask him to stop in when he has time.” If Slade was surprised by Brady’s request, it didn’t show. He just grabbed his coat and nodded to the taciturn officer who stood near his front door. Average height and build with flashing black eyes and a fierce scowl, he looked about as happy to be standing guard as Eva was to be pacing Slade’s living room.
Someone tapped on the front door, and it swung open. Crisp air tinged with rain drifted in as Austin stepped into the room with Justice.
Austin.
Eva hadn’t known that she’d been waiting for him until he appeared. Hadn’t known how much she’d craved having him near until he walked toward her.
“Austin! Justice!” Brady jumped up, flung himself at Austin’s knees.
“Brady, don’t.” She tried to dislodge him, but Austin brushed her hands away.
“It’s okay. We’re buddies, right, sport?”
“Yes. Guess what?”
“What?”
“There’s a bomb at my house.” Brady sounded fascinated and terrified, and Austin must have heard both in his voice. He crouched so they were eye to eye.
“I heard about that. There are people over at your place taking care of it. When you go home, you don’t have to worry about it anymore.”
“Maybe someone is going to send me another one.”
“If someone does, your mom will call for help again. Just like she did this time.” He straightened, his attention on Slade. “The bomb squad just arrived.”
“Good. I’m heading back over. You want to come with me or stay here?”
“I’ll stay.”
“Put yourself to good use and interview the witnesses, will you? I’m leaving Officer Lawrence as extra insurance. We can’t afford to lose our primary witness.”
Primary witness?
Brady was more than that, and Eva wanted to say it. Wanted to tell Slade what he could do with his extra insurance and his house and his son’s bucket of cars.
She kept her silence as he walked outside. Kept it as he closed the door. Kept it because it wasn’t his fault that her life had fallen to pieces.
“Get any hotter and steam is going to start pouring out of your ears,” Austin murmured, his lips brushing her hair as he steered her to the sofa. “Sit. You’re pale as paper.”
“I’m naturally fair.” But her migraine was back and her stomach was sick, and every time she thought about the package that she’d almost opened, her knees went weak.
She collapsed onto a nicely cushioned sofa. So much better than the Goodwill store special that she’d bought the day she’d signed the mortgage on her little house. She tamped down envy, reminded herself that she was working toward her goals. That before she knew it, she’d have her degree and the job she wanted somewhere far away from Sagebrush and all its horrible memories.
“Are you doing okay?” Austin sat beside her, his scent wrapping her up in warmth and comfort and familiarity. Although she’d only known him for a few days, it felt like she’d known him for a lifetime.
Terrifying.
So was the look in his eyes, the depth of his gaze. The way looking at him felt like looking at every dream she’d ever had.
“I’m fine.”
“You don’t look fine,” he said quietly.
“How is someone supposed to look after a bomb is mailed to her son?” She focused her attention on Brady, on Officer Lawrence, on the floor. On everything and anything but Austin.
“Probably a whole lot like you. About ready to fall over,” he responded, and she couldn’t help smiling, couldn’t stop herself from looking right into his handsome face.
Big mistake.
Her heart throbbed, her breath caught.
Pull yourself together. He’s just a man.
Right. Just a man.
One who’d acted like a hero and who treated her son like he mattered and who Eva could almost believe in.
Almost.
“Don’t worry. I’m not planning to collapse.”
“Glad to hear it. Much as I’d like to sweep you off your feet, I’m not sure either of us would want me to have to sweep you up off the floor.”
“Neither of those things is going to happen.”
“We’ll see. Do you mind if I ask Brady a few questions?” He changed the subject, and she let him, because trying to continue it would make it seem as if she cared one way or another.
She didn’t.
Shouldn’t.
But maybe the thought of being swept off her feet wasn’t quite as awful as it had been a week ago. Especially if the person doing the sweeping was Austin.
“He’s really shaken. It might be better for him if you waited.” And better for her if Austin left.
“Then I guess we can get started on your interview. How about we go in the kitchen?” He pulled her to her feet, and a million butterflies took flight in her stomach.
“I’d rather not leave Brady alone.”
“I’m not alone, Momma. Justice is with me,” Brady said as he rolled a police car in front of the bloodhound’s nose. The dog sniffed it, licked Brady’s cheek and settled into a heap of fur beside him.
“I know, sweetie, but—”
“He’ll be fine, ma’am. I’m here to keep an eye on him,” Officer Lawrence said, speaking up for the first time since he’d arrived.
Not the best timing, in Eva’s opinion.
“Right. I guess it’s fine, then.”
“Great. This shouldn’t take more than a few minutes.” Austin pressed a hand to her lower back, his palm burning through her T-shirt, the heat seeping through her skin and into her blood, burning her cheeks and her heart.
She felt like a schoolgirl with her first crush. Only she wasn’t a girl, and she knew exactly where crushes could lead.
“Go ahead and have a seat.” Austin gestured to the dinette set that sat in a corner of the room, and she perched on the edge of a chair.
“You’ve got a little color back in your cheeks. Feeling better?” Austin dropped into the chair across from Eva, studying her face as she quickly braided her hair and unbraided it again, the silky gold strands sliding through her fingers.
She seemed fidgety and tense, her gaze skittering away from his, her foot tapping on the tile floor. “I’m not sure there’s much that I can tell you, Austin. The box was delivered by our regular mail carrier, and I know that he’d never hurt Brady.”
“It was postmarked San Antonio, so we’ve got no reason to believe it didn’t come from there. I’m curious as to what made you suspicious of it, though.”
“I already told Officer Lawrence—the bottom of the box was seeping something. That seemed odd. Plus, I don’t know anyone in San Antonio.” She drummed the table with her fingertips, still not meeting his eyes.
“You don’t have to be nervous around me, Eva.” He covered her hand
, and she stilled, her gaze finally settling on him.
“I’m not.”
He quirked a brow. “Then why all the fidgeting?”
“I have a lot of energy?”
“Nice try, but I’m not buying it. Want to try the truth, instead?”
“Sure. Why not? Here’s the thing, Austin. I’ve been swept off my feet before, and I don’t want to be again.” She sighed, pressing her fingers to the bridge of her nose and closing her eyes briefly. When she opened them, he was struck again by their beauty, the soft green mistiness of them, the quiet stillness in their depths.
“My comment about sweeping you off your feet was a joke, Eva.”
“Was it?” she asked, and he couldn’t give her anything but the truth.
“Yes, but there might have been a grain of truth in it.”
“Austin—”
“You’re a beautiful, intelligent woman and you’re a wonderful mother. That combination is hard to resist.”
“Yeah. I’ve been fighting men off for years.” She smiled, walked to the window that looked out over Slade’s backyard.
“Then you know that no one can sweep you off your feet unless you want to be swept.”
“I was kidding about fighting men off. It’s just been me and Brady since the day he was born. That’s the way I’ve wanted it.”
“Is it the way you still want it?” he asked softly.
“I...don’t want to get hurt again. That’s what I know. I don’t want Brady to be hurt. He’s a little boy with big dreams and a wide-open heart. I want him to stay that way for as long as he can.”
“You can’t protect him from hurt, Eva. It’s part of life. You can’t make your childhood better by making his perfect, either.”
“I’m not trying to. I’m just trying to give him the best possible life he can have. I’m trying to make sure he has the kind of love and security I didn’t. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“I never said that there was. I’m just saying that you can’t give up your possibilities because you’re afraid of what will happen to Brady if you go after them. As long as he has your love, he’ll be just fine.” He urged her around so they were facing each other. Tears glittered in her eyes, but they didn’t fall, and he wondered if she ever cried, ever allowed herself to feel whatever it was that simmered in the depth of her gaze.
“I thought you needed to ask me some questions.” She moved away, sat at the table again, her face pinched and hollow.
“Has Brady been talking about the kidnapping?” If she wanted to change the subject, he’d comply, but they weren’t finished with the conversation. Not by a long shot.
There was something about Eva that called to him, some part of her heart that seemed made for his. He couldn’t deny that any more than he could allow himself to push for something she didn’t seem to want.
“No. I think he’s been trying to forget it. Maybe even pretend it didn’t happen. Then the package came, and he’s right back where he was a couple of days ago—terrified.”
“I’m sorry for that, Eva. I wish I could make it all go away, but I can’t.”
“You’re a hero, but not a superhero, huh?” she said, and blushed.
“I don’t have a cape tucked away in my backpack that I can take out and use when I need to swoop in and rescue my friends, that’s for sure.”
“Too bad. If you did, you could break out the cape, and Brady and I could hitch a ride out of town.”
He met her eyes. “You’re thinking of leaving?”
“Just thinking that it might be safer to go than to stay.”
“Go where?”
“I don’t know. I could drive east or head north. I’m sure that we could find a nice quiet little town to hole up in.”
“You know that won’t protect Brady, Eva,” he reminded her. “It’ll just take you both away from the people who want to help you.”
“Maybe, but I just want so badly for him to be safe.”
“He will be. I promise you that.”
A shadow crossed her face. “Don’t make me promises, okay, Austin? Everyone who ever has just ended up disappointing me.”
“Then they were all too foolish to know what they’d be losing out on when you walked away.”
“And you’re not?”
“I guess that will be up to you to decide,” he responded, lifting her hand, his thumb trailing over her red and cracked knuckles.
For a moment, Eva went perfectly still, her eyes wide with surprise.
“I—” She stood, nearly toppling the chair in her haste. “If we’re done, I think I’d better go check on Brady,” she said, and then she ran from the room.
Eva figured that she could run from the room, the house, the town, the country, but there was no way she could run from the way Austin made her feel. His words were still echoing in her head as she plopped down beside Brady, scratched Justice’s silky ears and tried her best to quiet her rioting heart.
“Are you okay, Momma? Your cheeks are all red,” Brady said, his big, blue eyes shadowed with anxiety. With everything else that had happened, he didn’t need anything more to worry about, and she hugged him close, pressed a gentle kiss to his bruised forehead.
“I’m fine.”
“Then why are your cheeks red?”
“Because—”
The front door opened, and Slade walked into the house, his dark hair mussed, his expression grim. “The bomb squad is finished. An evidence team is over at your place, but I think it’s safe for you and Brady to go home.”
“Did they detonate the explosives?” Austin asked as he strode out of the kitchen. The question was for Slade, but his gaze was on Eva.
“Yes. The bomb was rudimentary at best. Probably put together by someone who downloaded instructions off the internet.”
“Then it wouldn’t have done much damage?” It’s what Eva wanted to believe, but Slade shook his head.
“It might have been rudimentary, but it still would have done plenty of damage. Come on...I’ll walk you two home. What time does your shift end, Officer Lawrence?”
“Another hour.”
“You want to accompany us, then?”
“Sure. I’ll wait outside until you’re ready.” The officer stepped outside, the door closing softly behind him.
“Why don’t you let me escort them, Slade? I’m parked over there, anyway,” Austin offered.
“Sounds good. When you’re done, I’d like you to come to the station. I’m calling a meeting of the K-9 Unit. We need to discuss what you found out from West and Keevers, and we may as well do it as a group,” Slade said.
Too bad, because spending more time with Austin wasn’t something Eva should be doing. Not if she wanted to guard her heart.
“Let’s get those cars cleaned up, Brady,” she said, tossing a handful of cars into the bin, her cheeks still too hot, her heart still beating wildly.
“I’ll give you a hand.”
Austin. Of course.
His shoulder brushed hers as they worked, his scent masculine and compelling.
“Done!” She threw the last car in the bin, grabbed Brady’s hand. “Let’s go.”
“Are we in a hurry?” Austin asked, opening the door and letting her step out ahead of him.
“I’m just anxious to get home.”
“Tired?”
She sighed. “It’s been a rough couple of days.”
“Things will get better.” He shortened Justice’s leash. “Hey, sport, you want to help me walk Justice back to your house?”
“Really? Sure!” Brady’s smile looked like Christmas morning and birthday presents all rolled into one.
“Put your hand here.” He helped Brady slide his hand through the loop in the leash, and Eva’s heart melted into a puddle of longing so deep she thought she might drown in it.
This was what Brady had been missing.
What he probably hadn’t even known he’d wanted until Austin had walked into their lives.
> What would happen when he walked out?
“I wish you wouldn’t—” she started to say, but couldn’t finish. Couldn’t deny Brady a few minutes of excitement because of her own insecurities and fears.
“What?”
“Nothing important.”
“Good.” Austin grinned, urging her up the street.
She could feel the weight of a dozen eyes. Her neighbors, watching as the good-looking police detective escorted her home. No matter that another officer was a few feet ahead of them, never mind that a bomb had been discovered in a package addressed to Brady. In their minds, they’d have her married off to Austin by the next morning, and there wasn’t a whole lot she could do about it.
“Keep frowning like that and you’ll have wrinkles before you’re thirty,” Austin chided as they walked up her porch stairs. Crime-scene tape dangled from the railing and flapped in the cold breeze.
“A gentleman wouldn’t mention such a thing.”
“Who said that I’m a gentleman?” He took the leash from Brady’s hand, ruffled his hair. “Thanks for the help, sport. I’ll see you later.”
Don’t tell him that, she wanted to say. Don’t lead him on and disappoint him.
But Austin touched her cheek, his fingers gentle as a butterfly’s kiss. “See you later, too.”
She heard the promise in his voice, saw it in his eyes, and she couldn’t find it in herself to say anything at all.
FOURTEEN
Austin had never been big on meetings. He preferred action to words and would rather be out following a scent trail with Justice than sitting in a conference room sipping coffee and listening to the team discuss the details of a case. A necessary evil, that’s how he thought of them. Today, though, he was hoping that the meeting would turn out to be way more than that.
Things were escalating, the bomb an indication that the person who’d kidnapped Brady was getting desperate. That desperation could only lead to more aggressive attempts on Brady’s life. The Special Operations K-9 Unit needed to shut the guy down and lock him up before that could happen.
Guy?
Guys.
The brown-haired kidnapper and The Boss.
Tracking Justice (Texas K-9 Unit) Page 12
