The Texas Lawman's Last Stand (7 page)

Nothing. Bo wanted to send Mattie on her way and pretend this night had never happened. But he couldn’t do that. Damn it. He couldn’t live his life with his head in the sand, even if that’s exactly what he wanted to do right now.

“Mattie just gave me a sample of her DNA,” Bo continued. “I can use the cheek swab on Holly. The samples need to be compared.”

Compared.
That was such a benign word for something that could change his and his family’s lives forever.

“I’ll have someone pick up the samples tonight,” Shaw concluded. “I can log them in under my name so that it won’t be connected to you or Mattie. The lab will put a rush on them, and you should know something by tomorrow.”

Bo didn’t thank his captain because the words would have stuck in his throat. He was already dreading that the tests had to be run, but what he was dreading more were the results.

He took a deep breath to try to steady his knotted stomach, and Bo forced his mind back on the next task at hand. Mattie was still by the front window, and she was volleying glances outside and at him.

What are you going to do?
she seemed to be asking.

Bo was wondering the same thing.

“If Tolivar is telling the truth, then there’s an assassin after Mattie,” Bo informed the captain.

“It’s possible. I’ve been checking her records while we’ve been talking, and while she was in Witness Protection, her identity was compromised.”

“How?” Bo wanted to know. “And who did it?”

“As for the how, someone hacked into the computer database. They don’t know who was responsible, but the department believes this goes back to Mattie’s uncle, Kendall Collier.”

Yeah. He certainly had the most to gain by finding her.

Revenge.

God knows what Collier would be prepared to do to find a niece who had, in his mind, betrayed him.

“Collier’s a rich, powerful man,” Bo pointed out. “Is it possible he has this Marshal Tolivar on his payroll?”

“It’s possible. It would have taken money and resources to hack into the Witness Protection database. Collier has the money, and Tolivar has the resources.” Shaw’s quick response meant he’d already thought of it. “Let me handle looking into that. In the meantime, we have this situation with Miss Collier.”

Yeah, it was a situation, all right. She was looking at him with those sad doe eyes again.

“Mattie needs to be in protective custody,” Shaw added.

Bo snapped back his shoulders. “You aren’t suggesting we turn her over to Witness Protection.”

“No. Besides, I doubt she’d be too eager to go with them.”

“You’re right about that.” It was stupid to feel even mildly relieved that she wouldn’t go back into a system that had nearly gotten her killed. “So, what do we do with her?”

“We protect her,” Shaw simply stated. “She did law enforcement a huge favor by testifying against her uncle, and it wasn’t her fault that the FBI screwed up the search warrant and got most of their evidence thrown out.”

No. It wasn’t her fault. And it wasn’t his that this mess had been brought right to his home.

“What are you suggesting?” Bo asked.

“Probably something you don’t want to do, but hear me out, Bo. Mattie Collier is already there, and until I can make other arrangements, that’s the safest place for her.”

There went another shot of adrenaline and anger. Because so many objections came to mind, it took Bo a moment to pick which one to verbalize first. “There’s an assassin after her and maybe even a corrupt federal marshal. My kids are here in the house.”

“Yeah. I know, and as a dad myself, I know your twins are your first priority. That includes Holly.”

That knot in his stomach twisted and tightened. Bo knew what the captain meant. If Collier, the assassin or anyone else after Mattie suspected that Holly was her daughter, they might try to take his little girl to get Mattie to cooperate.

Hell.

It wouldn’t even have to be true that Mattie was Holly’s biological mother. The SOBs would just have to think that it was.

When he looked at Mattie this time, he was sure his eyes were narrowed to slits. How dare she bring this danger right to his babies.

She shook her head, obviously not understanding the venom he was now aiming at her.

“What are you asking me to do?” Bo questioned the captain. And he held his breath, waiting for the other shoe to fall.

“I’ll get to work on a safe house, one under our jurisdiction. One where I can control the security until we can get this all figured out. I would move you now, but this is going to require a lot of work to make sure we’re not taking you from the frying pan and into the fire. I want to make the arrangements myself and keep it out of anyone else’s hands. Until I can work out everything, I’ll send a couple of officers to sit in front of your place in a patrol car. That should deter an assassin or anyone else.”

“You’re sure about that?” Bo managed to say.

The captain paused. “I’ll make things as safe for your family as possible. But in the meantime, Mattie Collier stays there, with you, in
your
protective custody.”

Chapter Six

Protective custody.

To Mattie, this arrangement didn’t feel so protective, not with Bo’s obvious disapproval at her presence in his house. He had made her feel totally unwelcome, and it had started before the conversation with his captain had even ended.

After that call, Bo had grumbled that she would be staying at his house for the night, and then he’d promptly disappeared into the nursery, leaving Rosalie to show Mattie to the guest room. Rosalie had relayed Bo’s order for Mattie to stay put in the guest room until morning. In other words, he didn’t want her sneaking out to look at Holly.

Of course, she couldn’t blame Bo and Rosalie for the chilly reception. Mattie had made a massive mistake by coming to Bo’s.

But then, maybe not.

If Kendall had suspected that Holly was her baby, then it was just a matter of time before he would have used the child to get to her.

That didn’t make Mattie feel any better.

Her baby was still in danger, and even though she might be one step closer to proving that Holly was hers, what good would that do unless she could neutralize the danger?

As she’d done many times over the past year and a half, she wished Kendall were in jail where he couldn’t be as much of a threat. But since he wasn’t, that meant Mattie had to deal with the devil himself. She had to call Kendall and try to negotiate a deal with him.

Her life for Holly’s safety.

Of course, there were no guarantees that Kendall would agree or, even if he did, that he would abide by any agreement with her. Plus, Mattie didn’t want to die. She had been on the run for so long that fighting for her life was as natural as breathing. Still, if it came down to it, she would turn herself over to Kendall for a guaranteed assurance that Holly would be okay.

Mattie glanced at the clock on the nightstand next to the bed. It was 5:00 a.m. She’d gotten maybe an hour’s sleep, and with every sound she heard, she’d reached for her gun. Bo had no doubt done the same, especially since he’d spent the night in the nursery. She knew this because the guest room was next to the nursery, and before the babies had fallen asleep, she’d heard Bo playing with them. She hadn’t heard the door open or him walk out.

The sounds of Holly’s laughter had filled Mattie with more love than she could have ever imagined. It had also caused her heart to ache. She had missed so much already. Thirteen months was a lifetime when it came to a baby. And her little girl was no longer a newborn but a toddler learning to walk.

Mattie hated Kendall for taking that time away from her.

She glanced at the clock again and groaned softly. A whole two minutes had passed. She wanted the hour to fly by because the quicker the time passed, the sooner she might get to see Holly. Of course, Bo might continue to lock all three of them in the nursery. Or he might usher Mattie out of his house as soon as it was daylight. He wasn’t just going to hand over Holly without some kind of court order.

Mattie threw back the covers and got up, since it was obvious she wasn’t going to fall back asleep. She took off the loaner gown that Rosalie had given her so she could dress in the green pants and top she’d worn the day before. Since she didn’t have a change of clothes, she’d washed her underwear the night before and had hung it on the chair to dry. Her bra was still damp, but it would have to do. At least she had a toothbrush and some toiletries in her bag. Along with her gun.

Being on the run had taught her to be prepared.

Mattie didn’t really need to use the bathroom because she’d gotten up just about an hour earlier to do that, but she did need to brush her teeth and freshen up. She grabbed her purse and threw open the door so she could head to the bathroom just up the hall. She didn’t get far. She turned and smacked right into Bo.

Suddenly, she was smothered in his arms and against his chest. It didn’t take but a split second to register that those arms and chest were bare and that there was a warm, male, musky scent to go along with all those toned muscles.

“Oh,” she managed to say, and she stepped back. But it was already too late. That scent and touch had gotten to her and had seeped right into her body, warming her in places that shouldn’t be warm.

Not when it came to Bo, anyway.

Mattie soon realized that touching him was off-limits, but seeing him had the same effect on her. His hair was rumpled, as if he’d just climbed out of bed.

After a long night of sex.

His five-o’clock shadow was now more outlaw stubble. Dark and dangerous. Like the man himself. He wore loose jeans that were slung low on his hips, and it gave her a nice view of the abs to go along with the rest of his nearly perfect body.

Perfect except for the scar on his right shoulder.

It looked like a gunshot wound. And that snapped her out of the hot-body fantasy she was weaving around him.

“What are you doing up?” he growled.

His tone further dampened her fantasy, even though being near him had a unique way of renewing that fantasy.

“I couldn’t sleep,” she whispered and glanced over his shoulder. The nursery door was closed. “Thank God we had a quiet night.” Quiet as in no one had attempted to kill them.

Bo made a sound that was minimally agreeable. “They’re still in bed,” he grumbled, obviously following her gaze.

Hopefully he hadn’t followed her gaze when she’d given his body the once-over. But he obviously had. Mattie realized that when their eyes met. She didn’t have a ton of experience with men, but she saw the glimmer of heat.

Involuntary heat, that is.

Bo’s mouth turned to a snarl, but even that didn’t make him less hot.

“Sorry,” he mumbled at the exact moment that Mattie said the same.

They stared at each other, apparently waiting to see which would be the first to put a foot in their mouth.

Mattie decided to go first. “Don’t worry. Even if we didn’t have some huge obstacles between us, you’re not my type.”

The corner of his mouth lifted, but it was just as much a snarl as a smile. “Yeah. I’m a cop, and you’re from a family of criminals.”

She winced before she could hide her reaction. It stung. Always did when people linked her to her scummy family.

“Sorry,” he mumbled again.

She tried to shrug. “I did voluntarily go to work for my uncle,” Mattie admitted. “So, I deserve that.”

He shook his head and mumbled something under his breath. “No. You didn’t.” Bo motioned toward the kitchen. “Want some coffee?”

She did, desperately. Her brain was screaming for a caffeine fix. But her gaze wandered back to the nursery.

“They won’t be up for another half hour or so,” Bo let her know. “Rosalie’s in there with them now.”

Good. So the babies weren’t alone. Even though Rosalie had assured her the windows were wired to the security system, Mattie still didn’t want to take any chances. If someone tried to break into the nursery, Rosalie would be there to get the children out.

Mattie followed him into the kitchen, placed her purse on the counter and sat at the table while Bo started the coffee. He then disappeared into the adjoining laundry room and a few seconds later came out wearing a snug black T-shirt. End of the peep show, which was just as well.

“So, why did you go to work for your uncle?” he asked. He opened the fridge and took out the makings for breakfast. Eggs, bacon and orange juice.

Mattie’s stomach growled, and she realized it’d been noon the day before since she’d eaten. Would Bo let her stay for breakfast, or would he have her out of there before the kids woke up? It wasn’t even 5:30 yet, but she had no idea how long Holly and Jacob would stay asleep.

When he glanced back at her, Mattie realized he was waiting for an answer to his question.

“Kendall talked me into coming to work for him, after he’d assured me that he was nothing like my father. He offered me a great salary with medical insurance. Since my fiancé and I were planning on having a child, I thought it was a good idea.” She paused. “I obviously thought wrong. My father was a saint compared to Kendall.”

Bo made another of those sounds, a cross between agreement and a male grunt, and he poured her a cup of coffee, sliding it across the table toward her.

Since this was the most civil he had been to her, Mattie hated to ruin the moment, but they had things to discuss.

“Did you send the DNA tests to the lab?” she asked.

He froze a moment, turned his back to her and started to make the bacon and eggs. “Captain Shaw had an officer pick up the samples last night.”

And that was apparently all Bo intended to volunteer.

“Holly’s DNA will be a match to mine,” Mattie continued, knowing she was wading into deep, dangerous waters.

He didn’t issue one of those grunts this time, but he did aim a glare at her from over his shoulder.

“We’ve identified the man who was in the black van,” he said, obviously ignoring her assertion that the DNA tests would match. “His name is Terrance Arturo. You know him?”