Page 14 of Lone Star Protector

Caroline had to force herself to focus. “Anytime in the past six hours. That’s when I went to blow glass in the workshop.” She motioned toward the building that was visible from the window.

“Did you lock the house and turn on a security system when you left?” Malley pressed.

She had to mentally go through her morning routine. “Yes to the lock. No to the system. I also locked my workshop door once I was in there. I do that because I don’t want anyone walking in and letting out the heat.”

As she heard her own words, Caroline wanted to kick herself. Hard. All that self-defense training, and she hadn’t taken the simple precaution of activating a security system, something she had for both buildings. Then again, she hadn’t known Bodie was going to escape from prison, sneak into her house, and leave a bloody scene for her to find.

If it was Bodie, that is.

“Maybe Eddie did this,” Caroline muttered.

“Or Jordana,” Nash supplied.

Caroline made a quick sound of agreement. Jordana was a definite possibility since she obviously knew the address of the place. Added to that, the woman could have been carrying out Bodie’s orders.

Her mother dived into the conversation. “But whoever did this had to have access to those photos. At least three that I saw were of you in your dorm room eighteen years ago. They’d been taken from the window. Nighttime shots.” She looked at Nash. “Was your brother into doing something like that?”

Because Nash’s arm was right next to hers, Caroline felt his muscles tense. That must have felt like a kick to the teeth for her mother to throw out that “your brother.” And to phrase it as if Nash had that genuine sibling connection that would allow him to be aware of such things.

“I’m not sure,” Nash said. “I hadn’t seen Bodie in years before he attacked Caroline.” He paused. “But I’ve read the police reports and know that he stalked her, so I’m guessing he could have taken the photos then. Maybe he’d had them stored all this time and accessed them after he escaped.”

The sound of an approaching vehicle stopped him from adding more, and Malley went to the front window to look out. “It’s the CSIs. Caroline, do you have any clothes, meds or such you can pack that aren’t in your bedroom? You shouldn’t be here when the CSIs are going through the place.”

“I’m sure there’s stuff in the laundry room and the kitchen cabinets,” she muttered.

“Good. Go ahead and pack some stuff, and we can work out where you can go,” Malley added. “If you need something from your bedroom, I can have one of the CSIs get it after they’ve recorded it.”

“You can stay with me,” her mother was quick to volunteer.

Caroline was equally quick to shake her head, and she looked at Nash. “Can I go to your place?”

She knew that put him in a difficult situation, but at that moment, she couldn’t think of another alternative. She definitely didn’t want to go to a hotel. Or to her mother’s. Just being around Ruby could cause other memories to resurface. Really, crappy ones of her father’s death, and Caroline couldn’t deal with that and stay level about Bodie’s antics.

“Of course, you can stay with me,” Nash agreed, and Caroline didn’t think it was her imagination that he’d dodged her mother’s gaze when he said that.

“All right then. Let’s get that stuff from the laundry room and kitchen. Then, I can have the CSIs get my phone charger and tablets,” Caroline said, heading toward the laundry room.

With Nash right behind her.

She was thankful for it, too. At the moment, her house no longer seemed safe, and she’d take a heavily muscled, trained ops guy as her backup. She was also thankful that Ruby didn’t tag along because she needed a moment to catch her breath. Easier to do that without her mother.

“I’m sorry,” Nash muttered when they reached the laundry room. “If I could stomp Bodie’s ass in the ground for you, I would.”

That comment performed somewhat of a miracle because it made her smile. Well, her mouth went through the motions of one anyway. No real merriment made it to any other part of her body.

“If I could kick my mother’s ass for you, I would,” she countered as she opened the dryer and found the clothes that’d been there heaven knew how long. “That your brother remark. She could have at least just used the asshole’s name and not connected him to you.”

“But I am connected to him,” Nash pointed out after a long sigh. “I’m connected to the asshole.”

Caroline turned and gave him a flat look. “Only through random bits of DNA. Nothing more. I don’t consider him your brother,” she tacked onto that, remembering what her mother had said.

Recalling it caused her to huff, and she grabbed a handful of the clothes as if she’d declared war on them. “My mother was worried that me seeing you would remind me of the asshole. It doesn’t.” She threw the items into the laundry basket that she would use as a makeshift suitcase since her actual suitcase was in her closet. “It doesn’t,” she repeated when she didn’t think she’d convinced Nash.

So, she tried to convince him another way.

A bad one.

Caroline leaned in and kissed him. She had a WTF moment, followed by something else. Something hot that packed a serious punch.

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