Page 15 of Lone Star Protector

Nash made a sound, part grunt, part groan, but she was absolutely certain that he felt the punch, too. He took hold of her forearm, easing her closer. Pressing his mouth even harder against her.

Before he stepped back.

Because the kiss had created a mighty haze in her head, it took her a moment to realize they were no longer alone. Her mother was in the doorway.

Shit.

“Don’t you dare give him the third degree about that,” Caroline warned her mother. “I’m the one who kissed him.”

“Yes, I saw that,” Ruby commented, and she couldn’t have had more disapproval if she’d tried in her voice and expression. She cleared her throat. “I, uh, wanted to let you know that you have a visitor. My gut tells me this isn’t a good time for you to talk to him, but I didn’t want to speak for you. For either of you,” she added, shifting her attention to Nash.

“Who’s the visitor?” Nash asked.

“Jordana’s father, Leland Harris, and he wants to talk to the two of you,” Ruby answered. “He claims he knows how to find Bodie.”

Chapter Five

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Hell.

Nash didn’t like people just showing up at Caroline’s place. Not when one of those people was Leland Harris. They’d already had surprise “visits” from Jordana and Eddie, and apparently, they were about to add one more to the list.

“If you want to talk to him,” Ruby continued, “then Detective Malley says it can’t happen here inside the house.”

Yeah, Nash had already come to that conclusion. Having Leland inside could screw with potential trace evidence.

Fibers and prints.

Maybe even some DNA.

Because if any of those things were found, Leland could argue they’d been left during his chat with Caroline and not when he’d been breaking in to leave that bloody mess in the bedroom.

That said, Nash figured if Leland was indeed behind that, if the man wanted to spur Caroline to kill Bodie, then he would have hired a minion to do it. Why get his rich hands dirty when he could just pay someone? Still, it was an unnecessary risk to bring him inside the house.

“We can use Caroline’s studio,” Nash suggested. That way, she wouldn’t be out in the open, and since the place didn’t have windows, a sniper wouldn’t be able to target her there.

Ruby turned toward Caroline, no doubt to see if her daughter had any objections to that. Apparently, she didn’t because she nodded, and on a heavy sigh, she started toward the front door.

Nash was right there with her and was glad she was still wearing the vest. That didn’t mean though that he wanted her out in the open any longer than necessary. Once they reached the porch, Nash stepped in front of Caroline, and he did a sweeping glance around at the, well, chaos.

In addition to Caroline’s, Jordana’s, and his vehicles, there was the SAPD cruiser, the county cruiser, a CSI van, and a black limo that had to belong to Leland. Two CSIs were standing by the side of the van and were talking to Malley.

Jordana was by her car and was with a tall gray-haired man who had to be her father. They appeared to be arguing while a beefy guy wearing a black suit stood at a discrete distance. Probably a chauffeur or bodyguard.

Possibly Leland’s minion.

Eddie was still there, too, and he was ranting about his rights to Officer Gonzales, who was mainly ignoring him and talking to someone on her radio that she had clipped to the shoulder lapel of her uniform.

Nash didn’t linger in the chaos. He got Caroline moving, and he didn’t breathe easier until they were in the workshop. With Ruby. Which, of course, stalled his whole breathing easier attempts. Still, he couldn’t fault Ruby for wanting to be there and hear what Leland had to say.

When Malley spotted Nash and Caroline though, he stepped away and started toward them. “I’m guessing you’ll be talking to Leland Harris in here?” the detective asked.

“Evidently,” Caroline said. “I haven’t gotten my things from the house yet though.”

Malley whipped out a small notepad from his pocket and handed it and a pen to her. “If you could jot down what you need, I’ll have the CSIs gather it up for you. Try to get enough for at least two days since I’m not sure how long it will take them to process the scene.”

Nash figured it could turn out to be longer than two days. Not because the CSIs would need more time but because he didn’t want Caroline returning here until Bodie was either back behind bars or dead. Nash was hoping Caroline would agree with him on that.

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