Sworn to Protect Read online

  He had the same blue eyes as Jordan and a similar smile. Katie had not seen much of it since he’d been shot. He had recently gone back to work part-time, but the doctors weren’t sure if he would ever be able to return in his full capacity.

  That had to be weighing on him.

  Like his brothers, he loved the work he did with the K-9 unit. Katie had no idea what he would do if he couldn’t return to it full-time. He had his daughter, of course, and his fiancée, Rachelle. It wasn’t like his life was empty, but she knew Jordan would have been devastated to lose his ability to work in law enforcement. She imagined any of his brothers would feel the same. She hadn’t asked Carter. As wonderful as the Jamesons had been to her, she had not known any of them for very long. At least not long enough to ask deeply personal questions.

  “I was thinking the same thing,” Alexander Jameson said, still seated beside Ivy, his hand resting on her shoulder. The patriarch of the Jameson clan, he had a good head on his shoulders, an abundance of loyalty to his family and a calm demeanor that all four of his sons seemed to have inherited. “I take it you got that from Fisher.”

  “Unfortunately, yes.”

  “Does Noah know?” Carter asked.

  “He’s the one who insisted I get treated at the hospital. I wanted to keep searching for Fisher. Rusty and I almost had him.” He patted the Lab’s broad head and scratched behind his ears.

  Rusty seemed to smile in return, his head cocking to the side, his mouth open, tongue hanging out.

  “There is an entire K-9 unit hunting for him. We’ll get him. It’s just a matter of time.” Carter sounded confident. There was no reason why he shouldn’t be. Martin couldn’t stay hidden forever. Eventually, he would show himself again.

  She shivered, crossing her arms over her stomach.

  She had been trying not to dwell on what had happened that morning, refusing to allow her mind to go to the darkest places. The places where Martin was successful in his kidnapping attempt and hurt the baby.

  “You’re exhausted, Katie,” Carter said, his voice filled with concern. “You should go back to your room.”

  “I’d rather go home. I still have a lot to do before the baby arrives.”

  “The baby won’t know if pictures are hung or if all the baby stuff is put away,” Alexander pointed out.

  “I know, but I’ll feel better if I get things done.” And, she would feel better away from the hospital and the four sets of eyes that were watching her intently.

  “Going home is probably not a good idea. Fisher knows where you live, and based on what happened today, he’s been watching your movements,” Carter said.

  “He got to me in a medical center. I don’t think I’ll be any safer here than I will be at home.”

  “She has a point,” Tony said, unexpectedly coming to her aid. “If guards can stand outside her hospital room, they can stand outside her house.”

  “That’s true,” Ivy agreed. “And, if I were in Katie’s shoes, I would want to be home. As a matter of fact, maybe I’ll follow her lead and get myself checked out of here.”

  “No, you won’t,” Alexander said calmly. “You have a head injury, and you need to stay here for observation.”

  “I believe I make my own decisions about where I’m going and what I’m doing,” Ivy retorted, her gaze sharp. Her words sharper. She ran a tight ship at the Jameson house, keeping the five Jameson men in line.

  Four.

  There were only four Jameson men remaining.

  Grief washed over Katie like it had hundreds of times since Jordan’s murder, and she swallowed back tears.

  “You do. Unless you have a head injury. In which case, I make the decisions.” Alexander pressed a kiss to Ivy’s hand and smiled. “I don’t know what I would do without you, Ivy. So, how about you let me have my way this time? If you don’t, I’ll be pacing our bedroom all night, checking on you every fifteen seconds to make sure you haven’t fallen into a coma.”

  Ivy’s expression softened, and she touched her husband’s cheek. “Fine. For you, I’ll stay.”

  The exchange was brief and sweet, the simplicity and beauty of their love evident in the gaze that passed between them. They’d been married thirty-five years and had weathered many storms together.

  That is what Katie had imagined having with Jordan.

  Martin had taken that from her.

  “I’m assuming you plan to escort Katie home?” Alexander asked, his gaze shifting from his wife to Tony.

  “I’ll escort her there, and I’ll stick around until one of you arrives.”

  “That’s not necessary,” Katie began, but it was. She knew it. They knew it. “What I mean is you’re injured. If you’d rather me stay here so you can go home, I’ll understand.”

  “I would rather you be somewhere that feels comfortable and safe. If that’s home, then I’m all for you being there. Ready?”

  She nodded, kissed Ivy’s and Alexander’s cheeks, waved to Carter and the other people in the room, and followed Tony into the hall.

  Neither of them spoke as they took the elevator to the lobby. When they reached the hospital’s exit, Rusty nosed the ground near the door and sniffed intently.

  “Do you think he smells Martin?” Katie asked, suddenly wondering if she were making the right choice. Maybe the hospital would be safer than her house.

  She almost told Tony she had changed her mind, but he opened the door and gestured to a police officer who was standing near the curb. Long and lean, the man had a narrow mustache and coal-black eyes.

  “What’s up?” he asked, his hand resting on his utility belt, the leather creaking as he moved.

  “I need another set of eyes while I’m walking to my car,” Tony replied.

  “I can be that.” The officer smiled and moved in beside Katie. Neither man touched her, but she felt cocooned between them.

  It took seconds to cross the parking lot and reach Tony’s SUV, the police K-9 logo emblazoned on the side. She waited while he opened the passenger’s side door and moved a bloodstained shirt and jacket from the seat.

  “That’s a lot of blood,” she said as she tried to pull the seat belt across her lap. Her hands were as clumsy as the rest of her, trembling as she attempted to snap the ends of the belt beneath her belly.

  “Not really.” He brushed her hands away and snapped the belt into place, his knuckles skimming her abdomen. Her cheeks heated at the intimacy of it. Tony leaning in, his head bent close to hers, his hair tickling her chin.

  She had never thought of him as anything other than Jordan’s best buddy. Tony had been beside her since his death, offering help, support and comfort. She had appreciated that, and she had thanked him for it, but she wasn’t sure she had realized until just that moment how much it had meant to her.

  “Tony?” She touched his wrist before he could close the door. “Thank you.”

  “For the ride? Thanks aren’t necessary.” He smiled and would have closed the door, but she had learned a valuable lesson from the deaths of her parents and her husband: always say what needs to be said to the people you care about.

  “Not for the ride. For everything you’ve done since Jordan’s death. You’ve been a rock. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”

  “You would have been just fine.”

  “Maybe.”

  He didn’t reassure her. He didn’t offer platitudes. He studied her face, his gaze skimming across the curve of her cheek and down the flushed column of her throat. “Based on what I have seen the past few years and what Jordan told me about you, I don’t think you have nearly enough confidence in yourself.”

  “I have plenty of confidence.”

  “Then, don’t sell yourself short. You would have been fine, Katie. You’re tough and smart. Even if you had no one but yourself to rely on, you would be okay.”
His fingers skimmed her cheek as he tucked a few loose strands of hair behind her ear. Warmth she hadn’t expected or wanted seeped into her blood.

  She thought he must have felt that strange and unsettling spark of heat. His eyes narrowed and his hand dropped away. He stepped back quickly and closed the door without saying another word.

  She rested her head against the seat’s headrest, closing her eyes and telling herself she was overtired and overreacting. What she had felt was a product of stress and trauma. Of course, she would have strong feelings for the person who had saved her life. It was a normal and expected thing.

  Plus, she was nearly nine months pregnant.

  Hormones were raging. Emotions were heightened.

  That was all there was to the heat in her cheeks and in her blood.

  Cold air swept into the vehicle as Tony opened the back hatch and let Rusty in. The Lab huffed quietly as he settled down for the ride. When the driver’s side door opened, Katie kept her eyes closed and her body relaxed. She was too tired to talk, and too confused to want to.

  The engine started, and the vehicle pulled out, the soft purr of the motor soothing some of the tension from her shoulders and neck. The heat in her cheeks faded, the country music Tony had playing a pleasant backdrop to the quiet rumble of tires on pavement.

  “You’re a country music fan?” she asked. She had had no idea. Now that she thought about it, there were a lot of things she didn’t know about him. He had spent a lot of time with Jordan and, by extension, Katie, but she had never asked him where he lived or what he enjoyed beyond dogs and criminal justice. She knew he liked fishing and hunting. He and Jordan had taken a few long-weekend trips to Maine to hike trails and track game.

  She had never joined them.

  Tony had invited her once, but Jordan had told him that she wasn’t much of an outdoors person. It wasn’t true, but she had not corrected him. Not in front of Tony and not later when she had had the chance.

  Like so many other things in the past, that hadn’t seemed problematic. She had been newly married and in love. She had assumed she and Jordan would have all the time in the world to learn about each other.

  Funny how life was.

  All of the things that were planned so carefully often coming to nothing, and all of the unexpected things taking their place.

  The SUV bounced over a pothole, and she almost opened her eyes, but she didn’t feel like talking. The baby had finally quieted, and all she wanted to do was be quiet with her.

  * * *

  Katie wasn’t asleep, but Tony let her pretend to be.

  Her relaxed muscles were a nice change from what he had grown used to seeing these past several months. Since Jordan’s death, she had been tense and nervous, her skin pale and her face gaunt. Aside from the baby bump, she had grown thin; her once-athletic body had become almost too lean. Like everyone else who knew her, Tony had been worried. Once he had realized exactly what had happened to Jordan and why, his concern had grown exponentially.

  He should have apprehended Martin today.

  He would have apprehended him if not for Martin’s using that scared teenager as his personal escape plan. Rusty shifted in the back of the SUV, his head popping into view and then disappearing again. The Lab knew work had ended for the day. His K-9 vest had been removed and he had been allowed plenty of attention and pets from hospital staff. Like any good working dog, Rusty knew what was required. He didn’t seek attention while he was on the job, but when he was off duty, he was a typical goofy, happy-go-lucky Lab.

  Traffic was slow in the city, as always, and it took nearly forty minutes to drive to the Jameson house. A three-level home on a pretty lot in a quiet Queens neighborhood, the multifamily dwelling was exactly what Jordan and his family needed. Like so many other New York City dwellers, they coveted fenced backyards. From what Jordan had said, it worked out well. The dogs had a place to run, family was close, but not so close there wasn’t privacy.

  Tony found a spot just a few doors up from the house. He’d park in the driveway, but he wanted to leave that available for Alexander and Ivy. As soon as the car engine died, Katie straightened, her long blond ponytail sliding over her shoulder as she reached for the door handle.

  “Thank you for the ride, Tony,” she said, as if she thought he would let her out and then drive away.

  “I was hoping for an invitation to coffee,” he said, not wanting to remind her of the attempted kidnapping or the fact that Martin was still on the loose.

  “From what I’ve seen, you’re not much of a coffee drinker, so I think it’s more likely that you want to check the apartment and make sure Martin isn’t waiting for me there.”

  “You’re right—on both counts,” he admitted.

  “You could have just said that. It’s not like I’m not aware of the danger I’m in, and it’s not like talking about it will break me.” She reached for the door handle again.

  “Wait until I’m out, okay?”

  “Sure.” Her hand dropped to her belly. She still had specks of blood on her knuckles. Her jeans were torn. Her hands were scraped raw. The fact that Martin had gotten so close to kidnapping her filled Tony with fury and with fear.

  He jogged to the hatchback and released Rusty. The dog was as familiar with the Jameson house as he was with his own, and his tail wagged happily as Tony opened Katie’s door and offered her a hand.

  “Thanks.” She allowed herself to be helped out of the vehicle, her gaze scanning the exterior of the house, the driveway, the sun-dappled shrubs near the corners of the yard.

  “If it makes you feel better, I don’t think he is brazen enough to show up here.”

  “Did you think he was brazen enough to show up at the medical clinic?”

  “I hoped he wasn’t, but I was worried that he might.” He and Noah had agreed it was a possibility, which was why Tony had been driving past the medical center every few minutes. “The fact is Martin is mentally ill and unpredictable because of it. We’re using every bit of man power and caution we can to—”

  “Tony,” she cut in tiredly. “I know all that. I’ve been told the same thing by every member of law enforcement I’ve spoken to.”

  “Sorry. Sometimes I forget to take off my law-enforcement hat when I clock out for the day.” He smiled to try to lighten the mood, but Katie was digging keys from her purse and didn’t seem to notice.

  “I didn’t realize the hat ever came off,” she commented as she led the way through the front door and up the stairs to her apartment.

  “If a police officer wants to have a pleasant home environment and a happy family, it should,” he replied.

  “Interesting.” She tried to fit the key in the lock, but her hand was trembling, and she kept missing the mark.

  “Why?” He took the keys from her hand and unlocked the door.

  “I don’t think Jordan had a hat. Either that or it was always on.” She would have entered the apartment, but he pulled her back.

  “I’ll send Rusty in first. He’ll know if anything is off.” He released the dog, watching as the Lab trotted inside and paused in the small entryway. He sniffed the floor, then raised his head and scent-checked the air. When he plopped down on the carpet in the living room, Tony knew the place was empty.

  “Looks like he’s making himself at home,” Katie murmured as she stood in the doorway, her arm pressed against his, her body leaning just a little in his direction.

  Before Jordan’s death, she had seemed perpetually optimistic, her cheerful good nature making her a favorite with the K-9 unit. She had been the spouse who had brought Christmas cookies and holiday candy to the station, who had bought treats for the dogs and remembered everyone’s birthday. She seemed to have faded since Jordan’s death, her glossy hair brittle, her eyes shadowed and red-rimmed. Tony wasn’t sure if it was Jordan’s death or the pregnancy that had sapped so
much of her energy.

  “This is like a second home to him.” He nudged Katie into the apartment, walked in behind her, locked the door, and then peered into all of the rooms and out each window, focusing particularly on the backyard below. The late afternoon sun had finally broken through the cloud cover, painting the grass with gold highlights. There were no footprints pressed into the earth near the fence line, no sign that anyone had been lurking near the property while the Jamesons were away.

  Still, Tony felt uneasy, and he stood by the window for a moment longer, waiting for someone to step around the side of the house, for a shadow to move where one shouldn’t, for Martin to show himself.

  “Is everything okay?” Katie asked, and he finally turned away and walked back toward her.

  “Fine, but you look exhausted. Why don’t you go lie down? I’ll put the crib together.”

  “With a bandaged shoulder? I don’t think so.” Her hands settled on her hips, and she looked like a Victorian schoolmarm, hair just a little messy, eyes blazing as she tried to take control of an unruly student.

  “Your inner teacher is coming out.”

  She blinked and then, to his surprise, chuckled, her hands falling away from her hips. “Jordan used to say that to me every time I put my hands on my hips when we were...discussing things.”

  “Discussing? Is that the same as arguing?” he asked as he walked into the galley-style kitchen and opened the fridge. There wasn’t much in it. Orange juice. Eggs. Milk. Cheese.

  “Not when you’re a newlywed,” she replied. “If you’re looking for a meal, you may have to go elsewhere to find it. Ivy and I planned to go grocery shopping after my appointment today.”

  “I’ll go for you, after the Jamesons get home. For now, how about I make you an omelet?”

  “I’m not hungry.”

  “The baby might be.”

  “The baby is sleeping.” She pulled out a chair and sat at the kitchenette table, her stomach bumping the wood.

  It wasn’t his responsibility to get her to eat, so he poured a glass of juice and set it in front of her.