The Texas Lawman's Last Stand

Chapter Four

Mattie wanted to give Bo the truth he was demanding, but she had no idea what that truth was. That would change. She had to figure out what was going on so she could try to keep her daughter safe.

Her daughter.

That nearly took her breath away. She was so close to her baby. Holly was just up the hall. Mattie wanted to run to her, take her and get as far away from this place as possible. But there were some big reasons why she couldn’t do that.

The biggest reason now had her pressed hard against the wall.

Bo was right there, in her face, his gaze drilling into her.

“Your uncle used a computer in a coffee shop to dig into my background,” Bo told her, though she didn’t know how he managed to speak with his jaw that tight. “I know it was him because we found his prints on the keyboard.”

It felt as if someone had punched her. “Oh, God. Kendall’s closer to learning the truth than I thought. I’d hoped we’d have at least a day or two.”

Bo got even closer. His chest pushed against her so that it was hard to breathe. “A day or two for what?”

“To get Holly to some place safe.” Mattie mentally cursed, as well. “If Kendall used a public computer and left his fingerprints, then he wanted you to know he was searching for information on you. Have the computer checked again, because I’ll bet he also used it to do searches on babies born the same day as Holly.”

His eyes narrowed, his stare became even more intense, but he finally backed away from her. “Why would Kendall want me to know he’s doing these things?”

“Maybe because he wants to use you to find me. So he can kill me. Of course, Kendall would never confess to something like that. According to him, he loves me and forgives me for testifying against him.”

He stepped back even farther, apparently giving her theory some thought. Finally, Bo groaned and pulled out his phone again.

“Whoever you talk to,” she warned, “be careful what you say.”

Not that it would matter much at this point. If Kendall didn’t know she was at Bo’s house, then it was just a matter of time before he did. That’s why she had to hurry up this conversation.

Bo dismissed her warning with an ice-cold glance with those intense brown eyes. But Mattie knew he wasn’t really dismissing everything she’d just told him. No. Bo was too sensible for that. And while this had to be ripping his heart apart, he would need to get to the truth.

She was counting heavily on that.

Mattie wasn’t sure who Bo reached with his call. Maybe Sergeant O’Malley again. But whoever it was, Bo requested information about her, about her Witness Protection file, and he also asked for the browsing history on the computer Kendall had used. Each request seemed to make him angrier, so Bo was in full stewing mode when he ended the call. However, she couldn’t give him the time he no doubt needed to work through his anger and the bombshell she’d just delivered about being Holly’s mom. They had too much to do.

“You mentioned Ian Kaplan earlier,” she reminded him. “Why?”

He glared at her so long that for several moments Mattie didn’t think he would answer. “He’s the attorney for the guy in the black van.”

Mattie’s nerves had already been right at the surface, but that caused the blood to rush to her head. “Then the man in the van is connected to Kendall, because Ian is one of my uncle’s lawyers.”

Bo studied her. “You know this Ian?”

She nodded. “We worked together a lot when I did some P.I. jobs for my uncle. He’s very loyal to Kendall. And Kendall was no doubt sending another message by having him represent the man who was probably sent here to kill me.”

“You’re a P.I.?” Bo questioned.

“I was. Am,” she corrected, since she still had her license. “Much to the disgust of my family. The Colliers aren’t big on family members with careers in law enforcement.” That was a massive understatement.

“Yet your uncle hired you.”

“He did. After my parents died in a car accident five years ago, Kendall sort of took me under his wing. He hired me to do background checks on potential business associates. When I learned one of those associates was an illegal arms dealer, I told Kendall, but he didn’t believe me. That’s when I contacted the authorities.”

“A Collier with a conscience.” And it was obvious he didn’t bother to tone down the sarcasm.

Mattie couldn’t blame him for his attitude. He was right. Her parents had owned several investment businesses that were barely legal. She had known from an early age that they had questionable ethics, but only after she’d become a P.I. and had dug into their backgrounds had she realized just how corrupt they were.

“As you know, I testified against Kendall,” she continued, “but he was acquitted.”

“Because the FBI didn’t have the proper search warrant when they found the incriminating documents.”

She nodded, swallowed hard. “And I think because of that, Holly’s father, my fiancé, was gunned down when I was six weeks pregnant. The police weren’t able to find any proof of who killed him.”

Bo blinked, probably because that had struck a still-raw nerve. He’d lost Nadine, the love of his life, and Mattie had lost Brody, the love of hers.

Sometimes, life just plain sucked.

“After someone tried to kidnap me,” she continued, “I was placed in so-called Witness Protection. Turns out I didn’t get much protection there.”

Mattie took a deep breath to regain her composure, and she glanced toward the nursery. “Look, I know you have questions, but honestly they should wait.”

The glare turned sharp again. “For what? For you to try to tell me again that Holly is your daughter?”

Obviously, Bo wasn’t going to take her word on that, and she didn’t blame him. She had walked into his ideal family life and had essentially ripped it apart.

Mattie reached into her shoulder bag. Bo reached, too, lightning fast, and he snagged her wrist.

“You already have my gun,” she reminded him. Mattie waited until his grip eased a little, and she extracted the two DNA swabs that she’d bought online.

She saw the argument she and Bo were about to have, but his phone rang, cutting off the angry words that he was no doubt about to fire at her.

Bo let go of her wrist, but he stayed close, still violating her personal space. Normally, Mattie would have put some distance between them, but she wanted to hear his phone conversation, especially when she glanced at the caller ID screen and noticed that it was Sergeant O’Malley again.

“Mattie Collier,” she heard the sergeant say. “She’s in Witness Protection, but someone hacked into her file. Her identity was compromised.”

That didn’t soften Bo’s glare. “Someone tried to kill her?”

“Well, at minimum someone tried to kidnap her several times, and it’s highly likely the culprit had intentions to murder her. The FBI thinks the attempts are connected to her uncle, Kendall Collier. And that brings me to the computer in the coffee shop. You wanted to know what other searches Kendall made …”

Mattie automatically moved closer, so close that her cheek brushed against the back of Bo’s hand. He jerked away from her and went to the center of the room where she couldn’t hear a word the sergeant was saying.

“Yeah,” Bo said to the sergeant a moment later. Then the seconds crawled by. She certainly couldn’t tell from Bo’s expression what exactly he was being told, but she doubted it would be good news.

While he finished his conversation, Mattie glanced out the window to make sure all was well. There were cars parked in the pristine driveways. Her own vehicle was still in front of Bo’s house. Someone was walking a dog. But there were no menacing black vans or possible assassins lurking in the shadows.

Not now, anyway.

But they would come. She was certain of it.

Bo ended the call and closed his phone, but he just stood there, staring at the cell.

“You were right,” he finally said. He came back across the room toward her. “Kendall used the computer to search for babies born on Holly’s birthday.”

Mattie wasn’t exactly relieved, because it meant Kendall was closing in fast, but at least now Bo might realize that they both wanted the same thing.

To protect Holly.

“You need to know the truth about her DNA,” Mattie pressed. She opened one of the kits and swabbed the inside of her mouth. She put the swab back into the plastic bag and handed it to Bo along with an unused one.

More seconds crawled by, and Mattie could feel her heart in her throat. Everything hinged on this.

Bo snatched the kits from her. “I’ll have the tests done, but I’m not giving up my daughter. Got that?”

No. She didn’t get that. But now wasn’t the time to argue with a father on the verge of losing a child he loved. Even if arguing was exactly what Mattie wanted to do. She wanted her baby in her arms, right here, right now. But her need for her baby would have to wait. Holly’s safety had to come first, and since that safety depended on Bo’s help, she had to keep this as non-hostile as possible.

“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 fiancée, 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.

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