Page 27 of Lone Star Protector

So, Eddie was a liar.

And apparently not very loyal to Bodie, someone he thought of as a brother, since the photo showed Eddie kissing a woman who would have been Bodie’s fiancée at the time.

“Maybe Jordana is using Eddie,” Caroline speculated. “Maybe she used sex to convince him to help her set up Bodie’s escape.”

Nash took a moment to process that and nodded. “That’s a good angle.” And it seemed more plausible than Jordana having the hots for Eddie.

But why would Eddie have gone along with it?

Would sex with his best friend’s fiancée have been enough to convince him?

Nash immediately thought of kissing Caroline. The heat and pleasure hadn’t made him a complete idiot, but it had certainly clouded his head and made him burn for her even more. Maybe it was that way for Eddie.

“I’ve already sent a copy of this photo to Detective Malley, and I’ll let you know when Eddie’s and Leland’s interviews start at SAPD headquarters,” Ruby went on. “FYI, Slade should be there at your place any minute now. And full disclosure, I temporarily pulled him off the search for Bodie in the hopes that Bodie would follow him and that Slade would be able to intercept him along the route. Yes, it was a risk—”

“A good one,” Nash interrupted. “Because if Bodie comes here, Slade and I can catch him.”

Ruby seemed to breathe a whole lot easier. “I figure Bodie knows where you live, but he could see Slade as his ticket to getting inside your place. He’s not. Slade thoroughly checked his van to make sure Bodie hadn’t stashed himself inside it. But it’s still possible that Bodie has managed to track where Slade is going and is keeping him under surveillance.”

It was especially doable if Jordana had shelled out some of her money for equipment to allow Bodie to do that. And at this point, they had to assume there was a good chance that Jordana and Bodie had hooked up and she had given him whatever he needed. Also, if Jordana had indeed helped him with his escape, then she likely would have set up a safe, off the grid place for them to go to minimize the chance of Bodie being recaptured.

“Anyway, Slade will be there soon to drop off some more items, including Caroline’s meds and some groceries. I figured you hadn’t had a chance to shop in between your last mission and getting to Caroline’s.”

“I hadn’t,” Nash said. Then, he stopped and added. “Caroline’s meds?” He looked at her for an explanation.

“Low-dose antibiotics,” Caroline told him. “I’ve been on them since, well, since the attack. My spleen had to be removed, and that means I’m more suspectable to catching stuff and getting an infection.”

Hell. He hadn’t known that, and Nash immediately glanced at the small nicks and burns she’d gotten from the explosion.

“I’m fine,” Caroline insisted, obviously noticing that he was giving her the once-over.

Clearly, she wasn’t fine if she had needed meds for all this time, but Nash didn’t press as to why she hadn’t told him about this earlier, especially since the pressing wouldn’t accomplish squat. Instead, he turned back to Ruby, thanked her for the updates, and ended the call just as he heard a series of beeps.

“Oz, security monitor on,” Nash instructed.

Within a blink, the feed from multiple security cameras popped up on the blank screen where Ruby’s image had just been. And he saw Slade’s van at the security gate. Since his brother already had the code, the gate opened and Slade drove in.

“He’ll be pissed that he hasn’t found Bodie,” Nash let Caroline know.

One look at Slade’s face and Nash had confirmation of what he’d just said. He could see Slade scowling. The scowl didn’t let up either as he used the code to open the garage and park his van inside.

Several moments later, Slade came in through the mudroom, and he was carrying several large plastic bags.

“Oz, reset all security,” Nash instructed, nodding a greeting to his brother.

Slade’s scowled managed to get even worse. “Oz? What happened to Caroline?”

Nash groaned just as Caroline gave Slade a wide-eyed stare. “Nothing else happened to me. Why?”

“No, not you…” Slade’s words trailed off when he noticed the look on Nash’s face. A look that obviously conveyed that he wished Slade hadn’t said anything about this.

“My AI app,” Nash clarified because he had to say something. “I used to call it Caroline.”

She smiled, which was a far better reaction than Nash had considered she might have. “Did it have my voice?” she asked.

Nash nodded, cursed under his breath. “I know that must sound creepy.”

Still smiling, Caroline lowered her head and shook it. “No, it sounds…promising. Like maybe you didn’t forget about me after that party.”

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