The Texas Lawman's Last Stand

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“I probably don’t have to remind you to keep those results a secret,” she said. “Kendall has probably already bribed labs all over the city to alert him to something like this.”

“I’ll use the police lab,” he mumbled. “And I’ll make sure the results come only to me.”

Well, it wasn’t foolproof, especially considering how someone had hacked into her Witness Protection files, but Bo needed these test results so they could move on to the next stage. Plus, he was aware now of the danger and would hopefully be taking massive precautions.

Mattie used the pen and notepad near the house phone to jot down her number. “I obviously use a prepaid cell these days. No way to trace it. But when you find out who the man in the black van is, I’d like to know.”

Bo glanced at the paper but gave her no assurance that he would do that. Mattie would give him until noon the following day. If she could wait that long. And if she hadn’t heard from him, then she would call him.

“I want you to move Holly and your son to a safe house,” she added. “If you can’t arrange that for tonight, then ask for officers to patrol the neighborhood.” She’d already noticed that he had a security system.

“Don’t tell me how to protect my kids,” Bo snapped. “I’ve done all right so far.”

“Yes, but you haven’t run up against the likes of my uncle.”

He looked at her phone number and then the DNA kits before his gaze came back to hers. “The authorities want to talk to you.”

“It’ll have to wait until I can figure out a way to neutralize my uncle and his hired guns.”

“Neutralize?” he repeated, sounding very much like a cop again. “What are you planning to do?”

“After I’m sure Holly is safe, I’ll call Kendall and see if I can negotiate a deal with him. I’ll tell him I won’t testify against him if there’s a new trial.”

It cut her to the core to make that kind of compromise. After watching her family’s dirty dealings, the one thing that Mattie had always sworn was that she wouldn’t be like them. But her child was at stake. If she had any hopes of being a mother to her baby, she had to bring things to a peaceful end with Kendall.

“You believe your uncle would adhere to a truce?” Bo pressed.

“No. Not voluntarily, anyway. I plan to appeal to his new fiancеe, Cicely Carr. We’re old friends, and I think I can reason with her.”

“And if you can’t?”

Mattie met his gaze head-on. “Then I’ll make arrangements to live a new life in hiding.” She paused. “And then I’ll petition the courts for custody of my daughter.”

There. That was the gauntlet she hadn’t intended to throw tonight, but a lie wouldn’t have worked. Bo would have instantly spotted it and called her on it. At least this way he knew her intentions were, well, motherly.

“You’re leaving now,” he insisted. And to make sure that happened, he took her arm and began to haul her toward the front door.

Mattie dug in her heels and stopped, whirling around to face him. She landed against him again, body to body. They’d already touched from head to toe, so this was familiar to her now. It was almost like being in his arms.

Almost.

The seemingly permanent glare on his face didn’t give her any warm and fuzzy feelings. Neither did his body for that matter. But he did stir something deep within her, and it was a stirring she preferred to ignore.

Mattie stepped back. “Please let me say good-night to Holly.”

“Not a chance.” He didn’t roll his eyes exactly, but it was close.

It was the answer she’d expected, but it still felt like someone had clamped a fist around her heart. “You know I’m telling the truth about being her mother.” Mattie didn’t try to keep the emotion out of her voice, but she did try to blink back the tears.

Mattie had known she couldn’t take the baby with her tonight. Well, her head had known that, anyway. The rest of her was having a hard time walking out that door even though there was no alternative. There wasn’t a chance in Hades that Bo would let her leave with Holly. Not now. Probably not without a court order, which she would get.

“If you don’t do the DNA test, I’ll get a judge to force you to do it,” she managed to say.

But there was something new in his eyes. Something beneath the shock and the pain. Something that made her believe the test would be done. Bo was, after all, a cop, and he no doubt had a need for the truth, even if that truth was too painful to bear.

She needed the truth, too.

Mattie turned, stopped and then eased back around. This time she made sure she didn’t run into him. No more touching. It was creating a warmth that shouldn’t be there.

“What did Nadine say to you before she died?” Mattie asked.

The muscle in his jaw flexed again, and he glanced at the DNA baggies that he had practically crushed in his hand. “I’ll call you with the test results.”

Her heart suddenly felt a little lighter. It wasn’t nearly as good of a concession as holding her baby would be, but it was a start.

“Your gun,” he said when she started to leave. He took it from the waist of his pants and handed it to her. “You have a permit for it? ”

She nodded. “Thank you—”

“Don’t,” he warned. “I don’t want you to thank me for anything. I just want the test results to prove Holly is mine, and then I want you out of our lives forever.”

Mattie nodded again. “If she’s not mine, you’ll never see me again.” But Mattie knew the little girl was hers. Bo would soon know it, too.

She reached for the door and at the same time looked out the window. Old habits. And this time, the old habit had her hand freezing on the doorknob.

“What?” Bo snarled. But he didn’t wait for her to tell him what she’d spotted. He muscled her aside and had his own look out the window.

“The dark green car,” she whispered. “It’s parked up the street, about fifteen feet from mine.” Mattie was surprised at how calm her voice sounded when inside there was a hurricane of emotions and fear.

Especially fear.

My God. Had Kendall sent someone after her here?

“Does the car belong to one of your neighbors?” She prayed the answer would be yes, but Bo shook his head.

“Could you run the license plate?” she asked Bo, but he was already dropping the DNA bags onto the foyer table and taking out his phone.

He called someone and a moment later rattled off the plate numbers. He also drew his gun. And they stood there together while they kept watch. There was a streetlight, but because the car windows were tinted, Mattie couldn’t tell if there was anyone inside. She did know the vehicle hadn’t been there earlier.

“You’re kidding,” Bo mumbled a moment later.

His answer surprised Mattie a little, but there was certainly no humor in that remark. Worse, she saw the car door swing open.

Mattie lifted her gun and waited with her breath frozen in her lungs. The stranger kept his head down, so that she couldn’t see his face. But the tall, thin man who stepped from the vehicle had dark hair.

He was also armed.

Even in the darkness she could see the familiar bulge beneath his coat.

He eased his car door shut, as if he didn’t want to alert anyone to his presence, and he fired glances all around him. Mattie stepped back from the window so she’d hopefully be concealed, but she didn’t take her eyes off him.

Finally, she saw his face.

And she gasped.

No. This couldn’t be happening.

But that thought barely had time to register when the man whipped out a handgun. He didn’t stop there.

He came straight toward the house.

Chapter Five

Bo pushed Mattie aside so he could see what had just caused her to gasp.

Hell.

A man was walking full speed ahead toward the house. Bo didn’t have to guess who he was or what he wanted.

He wanted Mattie.

Bo had been able to figure that out from what Sergeant O’Malley had just told him. Now the question was, would Bo just hand her over?

As a cop, he was duty bound to do just that, but he was positive Mattie wouldn’t go without a fight, and he didn’t want a fight in his house with his kids just a couple of rooms away.

This was turning into being one hell of a night.

Bo positioned Mattie behind him, and he opened the door. However, he had no intention of just letting the man barge in. “The car is registered to the federal marshals,” Bo let her know. “Witness Protection.”

No gasp this time. Mattie groaned and no doubt understood why he’d responded with “You’re kidding” when Sergeant O’Malley had told Bo about the license plates.

“I know,” she mumbled.

“Larry Tolivar. U.S. Marshal,” the man said, pulling back his coat so that Bo could see the badge attached to his belt.

Bo still didn’t fully open the door.

“You know him?” Bo asked Mattie.

“Yes. He was the man in charge of my case. And I don’t trust him.”

That went without saying. Bo wasn’t sure he trusted the guy either, but he didn’t know exactly why.

Looking all around as if he expected an ambush, Tolivar came to a stop on the porch and reached for the door. Bo held it in place so the marshal couldn’t open it any farther.

“Lieutenant Bo Duggan,” he said, identifying himself. “How can I help you?”

“You can let me talk to Mattie Collier.”

The guy had the attitude of a fed, all right. Some arrogance mixed with an air of authority. Well, Bo had his own damn air of authority, and he didn’t exactly want to examine why he felt this stupid need to protect Mattie.

He wanted her out of his house. Away from the kids, especially Holly. And here he had the opportunity to do just that, but he couldn’t forget that Mattie had nearly been kidnapped and killed while in protective custody.

“Why would you think Mattie Collier was here?” Bo demanded. It was a reasonable question, especially since he’d bet his paycheck that Mattie had taken some serious security precautions before coming to his house.

Well, he hoped she had anyway.

“She’s here,” Tolivar insisted. He fired another glance over his shoulder. “And you’re to release her to my custody immediately.”

“I’m not going with you,” Mattie insisted right back.

Bo couldn’t fault her for speaking up, but he would have preferred to take care of this himself. He could have sent Tolivar on his merry way and then five minutes later done the same for Mattie. Now he was in some kind of jurisdictional contest with a federal agent.