Page 17 of Lone Star Protector

So, he didn’t approve of the marriage. No surprise there.

“Jordana seems to think she’s in love with Bodie,” Nash pointed out.

That didn’t ease those tight jaw muscles. “Like I said, I intend to fix that. Once Bodie is out of the picture, then Jordana can do a reset and get her life back on track. And trust me, her track isn’t anywhere near your sonofabitch brother.”

Leland maybe thought that was an insult. It wasn’t. In fact, Nash thought sonofabitch was a mild term for Bodie. He could think of much, much worse things to call him.

“So, you don’t want to use Jordana as bait,” Malley spelled out. “But you want to use Caroline. In theory, how would that work? I’m guessing it’d be more than standing in the open field?”

Leland seemed to be making a visible effort to corral his composure. “Caroline should put out the word that she wants to meet Bodie. She could do that through Bodie’s lowlife friend, Eddie. Then, we could secure the meeting place and take Bodie down when he tries to kill Caroline.”

“No,” Nash was quick to say.

Ruby and Malley echoed the same.

Caroline laughed. Actually laughed.

“First of all, Bodie will know that’s a trap. He doesn’t want to meet with me,” Caroline emphasized. “He wants to put the blade of a very sharp skinning knife, maybe a bullet, into me. And despite being a vicious would-be killer, he’s not stupid. He won’t come at me head-on, especially not in a situation he can’t completely control. He’ll want the surprise element. Or a situation where he has complete control. Then and only then, will he try to kill me.”

And there it was. All laid out on that proverbial silver platter, and hearing it twisted a hard knot in Nash’s gut. Because that was exactly what Bodie would try to do.

Nash had to make sure Bodie didn’t get the chance.

“So, you’re turning down my plan?” Leland asked through clenched teeth. Apparently, he wasn’t accustomed to people telling him no.

“You don’t have a plan,” Nash pointed out. “You have a desire to eliminate your son-in-law.”

Yeah, that last part was a dig to get back at him for the brother remark. And it hit paydirt.

“Fuck this,” Leland snarled, and he walked out with the minion trailing along behind him.

Leland only made it a step outside the studio though when all hell broke loose.

Chapter Six

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Caroline heard the hissing and crackling sound. Sounds that amplified within seconds, followed by an intense burst of heat. She could feel it even while in the doorway of the workshop.

“Something’s on fire,” she managed to say.

Just as she got a look of the something. Her house. Or rather what was left of it. At the moment, it was a giant fireball with ashes and flames raining down on her driveway.

“Oh, God,” she blurted.

Her first instinct was to run toward the house, to try to save it, even though she knew it was well past that point. It was gone. In flames. Everything inside and the house itself were blazing.

There were shouts and curses as the people in the driveway scattered to get out of the way. She saw Jordana running toward the road. Eddie, too, with Officer Gonzales and the county deputy in pursuit.

She spotted Malley as well, not going after Eddie or Jordana but rather helping one CSI pull another away from the fire. Caroline thought the female CSI that they were dragging was unconscious. Hopefully not dead. But if she’d been inside the house, she certainly would be.

“Bodie,” Caroline muttered.

“Maybe,” Nash said, stepping in front of her again. Using his body as a human shield. He looked back at her. “There could be an incendiary device somewhere around the perimeter of the workshop.”

Sweet heaven. She hadn’t even considered that. But she was considering it now, and it gave her a hard punch of panic and adrenaline.

“We need to get to my SUV,” Nash said after firing glances all around. “It’s bullet resistant, and it’s closer than the two cruisers.”

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