Cole floored the gas and the tires spun then gripped. Derrick slid in and closed the window. Gravel and dust peppered the air. Gunshots pelted the car. Ethan held his breath as they raced off and the fire of weapons died down.

  “Call this in, Derrick,” Ethan said, his voice alive with adrenaline as he turned his attention to Jennie. He lifted her to the seat and scanned her from head to toe. A nasty bruise had already formed on her cheek, marring the creamy complexion. She was shaking, and as her eyes met his, fat tears slipped down her cheeks.

  “Hey,” he said, feeling like a first-class loser for letting this happen to her. He cupped her cheek. “Don’t cry.”

  “Thank you,” she managed to say between chattering teeth.

  “For what, Jen? Letting these guys get to you?”

  “No. It was my fault. I should have found a way to get away from them before this happened.”

  “I shouldn’t have let you out of my sight.”

  “Hey,” Derrick called over the seat, “how about you both stop with the blame and celebrate the fact that everything turned out fine?”

  Ethan peered at her. “You are okay, aren’t you?” He gently rubbed his thumb over the bruise. “This happen when we hit the car?”

  “No. When they shoved me inside.”

  He stifled a curse and drew her into his arms, holding her as tight as he dared without bruising her more. He wanted to kiss her. Right here in the car in front of his brothers.

  But he couldn’t, could he? She didn’t want him to. Those creeps might’ve tried to do her harm, but nothing else had changed.

  * * *

  Jennie let Ethan hold her. Not only let him, wanted him to. She’d been so afraid. Terrified, actually. Now she was safe. God had sent Ethan and his brothers to her rescue.

  Thank You, Father. For not only keeping me safe, but for the Justice siblings. For their safety. And I pray You continue to watch over all of us, keep us from all harm and let us find the men behind this before someone else is injured.

  She pushed back a few inches and looked at Ethan. The pain etched in his startling black eyes sent her heart into a spin.

  He cared about her. She’d been prickly since they’d reconnected and still he cared. He was the only man, person actually, who’d ever cared this much for her, and she was in awe of his depth of compassion.

  How could she ever have left him for any reason?

  He eased back more. “Are you sure you’re all right?”

  “Yes,” she whispered.

  “The crash didn’t hurt you?”

  “No. I saw you coming.”

  “Promise me something.” His eyes were fixed on hers.

  “Anything.”

  “If I let you out of my or my family’s sight again before this is resolved, stop me. Okay?”

  The softness of his voice brought more tears to her eyes and they rolled down her cheeks.

  “And don’t cry.” His voice was low and intimate. “I can’t handle it when you cry.”

  Despite the two men in the front seat, she felt as if she and Ethan were alone. She reached a hand toward him, but he groaned, and with his eyes still fixed on hers, he set her away.

  She caught Cole’s glance in the mirror and suddenly felt self-conscious. What was she thinking, fawning over Ethan like that in front of his brothers? Fawning over him in any situation was wrong.

  “Where to, bro?” Cole asked.

  “Kat’s house to regroup. And let’s be sure no one’s tailing us.”

  Cole gave a clipped nod, and Jennie saw him check the mirrors.

  The adrenaline started leaving her body, and she felt weak with relief. She was with Ethan. Safe again. But for how long?

  She faced him. “Did Jack have any news?”

  He didn’t answer right away, and she knew that meant bad news. She braced herself to hear it.

  “One of the men in the picture is Eduardo Sotos.”

  “And the other guy?”

  “No ID, but Jack’s calling the DEA to see if we can get a lead on him.”

  Everything they had feared was true. She’d caught a ruthless killer in one of her pictures. So now what would happen?

  She lay back on the seat and closed her eyes. Her cheek throbbed, bringing Ethan’s gentle touch to mind. Why was she always falling for the wrong guy?

  First as a teen, mistakenly believing the boy who fathered her baby wanted more than a casual fling. Then as an adult, she’d only had three serious relationships, but none of them should ever have happened. She should’ve called things off with Ethan the moment she realized the difference in their backgrounds. Wes was a mistake from day one. He was just her rebound guy. And most recently, Owen, well, she should’ve told him about the baby right up front, and they’d never have gone on more than a few dates.

  But none of that mattered. Not now. Not when a drug lord was after her.

  She felt the car slow and turn a few corners then climb up a steep hill. It slowed even more and they bumped into the driveway before coming to a complete stop. She sat up and waited for directions.

  “Check things out, Derrick.” Ethan’s tone still held worry. “We’ll wait here until you clear the house.”

  “I’ll go with him to speed things up,” Cole offered and climbed out with his younger brother.

  “You still doing okay?” Ethan asked.

  “As good as I can be after what happened.”

  “I know I promised never to bring this up again, but in light of what just happened, I wondered if you’d consider canceling the show.”

  She had thought about that the entire time the two creeps held her at gunpoint in their car. She’d said to herself, If I get out of this alive, I’ll back off. Now she wasn’t sure what to do.

  “Jen,” Ethan said gently.

  “I want to cancel it—even thought about it when they had me—but now…”

  “Now that you’re safe you can’t,” he finished for her.

  “I’m sorry, Ethan.”

  “I understand up here.” He paused and tapped his temple. “But I don’t fully understand what motivates you.”

  “You can’t. Not unless you’ve walked in my shoes.” She sighed and looked out the window. “Every time I think about these kids, I ache with the hunger of my childhood. Empty cupboards and my stomach growling, keeping me awake all night. Going to school the next day and hiding in the bathroom at lunchtime so I wouldn’t have to see other kids eat and then toss good food into the trash when they were full. Eating plain rice meal after meal because it was cheap.”

  “Did your father ever apply for assistance?”

  “He was too proud. Said he’d provide or we wouldn’t eat.” She felt the weight of her childhood bearing down on her. “And it wasn’t just the food, Ethan. The smell of poverty still clings to me. Apartments that reeked from neglect. I cleaned and bathed as often as possible but it never left me.” She looked at the ceiling to hold back her tears. “I told you I joined the yearbook staff to go to events, but I really did it to get away from the places where we lived and the creepy men who lived nearby.”

  “I’m sorry, honey,” Ethan said so softly that she looked back at him and let his warm expression comfort her before going on.

  “I wanted to get away from it so badly. I thought about leaving during college but I only made enough money to pay for things my scholarships didn’t cover. I kept telling myself a few more years in that dump would help me live a lifetime free of poverty.” She shuddered.

  “It tears me up inside to think of you living that way.” Ethan drew her into his arms again and she willingly let him. “Especially when I knew you and could have done something about it. I wish you’d told me.”

  “I didn’t want your pity,” she whispered into the curve of his neck. She settled closer, reveling in his clean scent that drove out all the horrible odors of her past.

  The door opened, and she jerked back.

  “We’re clear,” Cole said, giving them both an appraising look. “You can go in now.”

  Jennie didn’t wait to be told again but bolted from the car, into the house and up the stairs to the guest room. She’d told Ethan things she’d never shared with anyone—things she’d never wanted him to know.

  All those years of hiding her upbringing from others. Being like her father. Too prideful to accept help or let others know what was going on. She’d thought finally talking about her childhood might free her from the shame she carried, but embarrassment still sat in a lump in her stomach. She didn’t think she could look at Ethan again. Not without seeing pity coloring the eyes that had once looked on her with total and complete love.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Derrick left for his shift on Madeline’s detail, and Ethan watched Jennie run up the stairs. He’d always wanted her to share her past with him, and now that she had, he didn’t know what to do. She was right. He did feel badly for her. How could he not? No child deserved a life like that. But it was precisely that life that had given her the passion to help others and made her the special person she was today.

  Cole came up beside him. “I guess this thing with Jennie isn’t over.”

  Ethan looked at his brother and wanted to tell him to mind his own business, but maybe if they discussed this, Cole could help him work though the problem.

  “Can we talk for a minute?” Ethan asked.

  Cole was clearly surprised but he nodded.

  “Let’s get something to drink.” Ethan went to the kitchen. He handed Cole his usual cola and took a bottle of water for himself.

  He climbed onto a stool at the counter. “You ever want something that’s really bad for you?”

  Cole raised a discerning eyebrow. “You mean recently?”

  “I’m not talking about kid stuff here.” Ethan knew his tone was defensive.

  “You’re talking about Jennie.”

  “Yeah.”

  “From all I can see, the two of you are adults, not involved with someone else, so why is she so wrong?”

  “I’ve had enough of women saying they want a relationship then bailing when things get serious.”

  “You’re talking about Carla.”

  “Jennie and Carla both took off. Maybe Jennie’s like Carla and I’m just attracted to the kind of woman who can’t commit.”

  “She is nothing like Carla.” He shot Ethan an impatient look.

  Ethan studied his brother, who rarely weighed in on issues lately. To do so meant he had strong opinions on Carla.

  “Don’t look so shocked,” Cole said. “I never thought Carla was the right person for you.”

  “And yet you never told me.”

  “Would you have listened if I had?”

  Would he? Or would he have done just what he wanted, ignoring help from the brother who’d lived hard and lost hard? Whose take on life might be jaded? Whose fiancée bailed on him for no good reason other than she didn’t want to marry a man in law enforcement? Who had to live through unspeakable tragedies when his National Guard platoon had been called up? Who—now that Ethan thought about it—had come to be a great judge of people because he’d said farewell to all the social pleasantries of life and saw people for what they were?

  Still, Ethan wouldn’t have listened. “No. Probably not.”

  “But you’re willing to listen to me now?”

  “I guess…I mean…I don’t know.”

  “I think you’re missing the most obvious thing here. Jennie’s already proven to all of us that she can commit. Sotos’s thugs kidnap her and she still won’t cancel the show. Doesn’t that say she isn’t afraid of commitment?”

  “I don’t know, man.”

  Cole clapped Ethan on the back. “For such a smart guy, you’re pretty dense at times.”

  That didn’t deserve a response so Ethan stared at his brother and waited for him to explain.

  “Change the way you think,” Cole said, “and there’s no problem.”

  “It’s not that easy, bro.”

  “Why not?”

  “What if we’re wrong? What if I put myself out there and she bails again?”

  “Then she bails and you pick up the pieces.”

  “You of all people know that’s not as easy as it sounds.”

  “Honestly.” Cole stood. “It’s just that easy. We aren’t talking about people dying in a war or children losing mothers and fathers in combat. Or even innocent civilians being cut down. We’re talking about your feelings. If you want to be alone for the rest of your life, run the other way. If not, deal and tell her how you feel.”

  The sound of the front door opening cut through the space and both of them turned to wait for whoever arrived.

  “Hello,” Kat called. “Where is everyone?”

  “In here,” Cole answered then took a long drink of his soda.

  Kat came into the room. “Where’s Jennie?”

  “Upstairs,” Ethan said.

  “Wow! That was some crazy kind of scary, huh? Is she all right?”

  “She’ll be fine,” Ethan said, but he wasn’t sure either of them would ever be fine again.

  * * *

  Jennie didn’t want to eat anything, but she couldn’t let food go to waste, so she choked down the lasagna Kat made for dinner. Jennie was sure it was good, but it tasted like sawdust to her. Her revelation to Ethan about her squalid past and residual fear over the cartel kept her stomach knotted, and the conversation flowing around the table didn’t help.

  Cole and Ethan sat at the heads of the table, and Kat across from her. Kat kept giving Jennie concerned looks, and Ethan avoided looking at her at all. Just as she’d suspected he’d do. He didn’t know what to say to her after the emotional bomb she had dropped in the car.

  Still, she couldn’t seem to quit looking at him and remembering the rescue. He hadn’t batted an eyelash or shown any fear, but saved her from two armed thugs. True, he’d had his brothers’ help, but he’d led the charge, and she respected him even more than before. He stood strong and true. Dependable. A force she’d hate to come up against.

  “Did you hear me, Jennie?” Kat asked.

  “Huh?” Jennie looked at Kat.

  “I was wondering if you wanted to help me get dessert.”

  “Sure,” Jennie answered cheerfully, even though Kat’s look declared she had something on her mind and she planned to share it once out of the room.

  Jennie followed Kat into the kitchen, where she’d already uncovered a pan of brownies and pulled out a knife. “You cut and I’ll serve.”

  “Do you have a plastic knife?” Jennie asked.

  “Sure. Why?”

  “Brownies don’t stick to plastic like they do real silverware.”

  Kat raised a perfectly groomed brow. “I never took you for the domestic type.”

  “Oh, really, what type am I?” Jennie’s tone was harsh, probably from the feeling of inferiority that clung to her from her discussion this afternoon.

  “Relax, Jennie. I’m not judging you.”

  Jennie simply lifted her brow and waited for Kat to continue.

  “You travel all the time, so I figured you don’t spend a lot of time in the kitchen.”

  Kat’s statement hurt for some reason, and Jennie couldn’t pinpoint why. “I don’t cook much.”

  “See, I wasn’t wrong.” Kat dug a plastic knife out of the drawer and handed it to Jennie. “Watching you over the past few days, I’ve gotten the sense that you’re driven by something that won’t let you settle down and keeps you so focused. This whole thing with the Sotos gang hasn’t stopped you. I admire your determination.”

  “Thanks, Kat.” Jennie sliced the brownies.

  Kat scooped them out and plated them. “There’s just one thing.”

  Jennie knew that compliment was going to be followed by something else. She’d just felt it. She looked up. “What?”

  “I see the way you’re looking at Ethan, and I don’t like it.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “I don’t like it, Jennie. Not that I don’t like you. I do. But it took Ethan years to get over you the first time. If he falls for you again—” Kat paused and stared at Jennie “—and I want to go on record as saying he seems to be heading that way—I don’t think he’ll recover a second time when you leave him.”

  Jennie hated that Kat had predicted a future Jennie thought was all too likely, but she wouldn’t admit it. “What makes you so sure I’d leave?”

  Kat’s gaze softened. “I’m pretty sure you haven’t reconciled the issue that sent you running the first time.”

  “And how do you know that?”

  “Because your eyes are still haunted.” Kat’s gaze lingered for a few moments then she went back to plating brownies.

  Jennie didn’t know how to respond. Kat was a keen observer if she could see what Jennie had years of practice hiding. Or maybe her time with Ethan had simply brought it closer to the surface.

  “Don’t hurt my brother, Jennie, or you’ll deal with me.” Kat fixed a stare on Jennie that she must have used as a police officer. “We understand each other?”

  “Yes,” Jennie answered.

  Kat took the brownies and a stack of plates then headed back into the other room.

  Jennie couldn’t follow. Not until she composed herself.

  Kat was right. Jennie hadn’t resolved any of her feelings, and if she was dumb enough to succumb to the emotions for Ethan tumbling through her heart and lead him on, she deserved every bit of Kat’s wrath.

  * * *

  Ethan didn’t know what had gone on in the kitchen, but when Jennie returned to the dining room, she slipped quietly into her chair, looking as if his sister had beaten her up. Not physically, although the bruise on her cheek was purpling nicely, but her crestfallen face made him think Kat had given her an emotional lashing. And he could just imagine the topic.