The officers shook hands and exchanged brief pleasantries before they entered the empty apartment with him. In moments, he’d identified the points of impact of the bullets fired and been reassured that the apartment’s owner would be properly looked after.

  “We can go,” he said, rejoining Aurora and his K-9. “Dakota, Heel.”

  “That’s it? What about poor Maddie? She can’t safely come home, can she?”

  “I’d prefer she didn’t,” he said flatly as he led the way to the elevator. “Lorelei Danvers is the US marshal who arranged for your old teacher to be moved to a secret location. She can handle any changes that need to be made for your cousin too, although I assume she’ll want to retain her name and job in spite of threats, which will create a whole new set of problems. If every law enforcement professional hid when a threat was made, we wouldn’t have anyone left.”

  “What about Joy and Catherine? Jack can’t stay with them 24/7. He has a job to do with your team.”

  “That’s right, he does. We all do.”

  She arched an eyebrow at him. “Meaning?”

  “Meaning, fun and games are over. This is no longer up for discussion. You will go to a safe house as soon as I can make proper arrangements.

  “With Maddie? I’d actually like that.”

  “Not if I can help it. Assuming the threats to her aren’t connected to the ones involving you, we’d be compounding the problem by putting you together.”

  “But…”

  “No buts,” he said firmly, crossing his arms and wishing he didn’t have to be so inflexible.

  When Aurora mimicked his stubborn pose, he figured she was far from finished arguing with him. He was right.

  “At least ask Maddie to meet us at the station. That should be safe enough and it’s close to the courthouse.”

  “Any particular reason?” He stepped onto the elevator with his dog and the hardheaded CSI.

  “I’d like to see her, if you must know. It’s been a lousy couple of days and I need a friend.”

  That took him aback. It was an honest admission—she felt vulnerable. “I thought you and I were friends,” he teased.

  “You’re an ATF agent in charge of a team of specialists. I’m just a tech.”

  “Since when has rank made a difference?” Daniel asked.

  The pathos in her glance when she made eye contact hit him like a punch in the gut. She viewed him as an authority figure because that was exactly the vibe he’d been giving off, which was as it should be under normal circumstances. But these weren’t normal events, were they? Their lives had been threatened repeatedly and he needed to let Aurora know she could count on him in a personal way as well as formally.

  That was a wall he wasn’t sure he wanted to breach, not now, not ever, and yet his heart went out to the young woman. She’d recently lost her mother and was estranged from her father. Little wonder she wanted to spend time with her cousin, particularly if Maddie was the only remaining member of her immediate family.

  Finding the right words to comfort would not only be difficult, but make it hard to backtrack if he was misunderstood.

  Instead, he merely took a step closer, opened his arms and said, “Come here.”

  She turned to face him.

  “Friends,” he said tenderly.

  In a heartbeat, she was in his embrace and hugging him as if she’d never let go. Daniel was stunned. He’d handed out hugs to team members before but those had felt nothing like this. Not even close. Holding this woman was so special he had no words, no rational thoughts. When had she become so important to him? he wondered. When had his emotions crossed the line that he was just now outwardly expressing?

  Loosening his hold a bit, he felt Aurora’s arms slacken too. Part of him insisted he apologize and step away. A stronger part argued vehemently against it.

  She leaned back enough to raise her face to his. There were tears in her eyes, her cheeks were damp and her lips were slightly parted. She didn’t speak or try to explain. She didn’t have to. It was evident to Daniel that she was feeling their amazing connection the same way he was. At least he hoped she was, because he was sorely tempted to kiss her.

  At the last instant, he regained enough sensibility to hold back and place the gentle kiss on her forehead.

  The elevator doors opened. They jumped apart. Daniel wasn’t positive whether or not he was glad, but judging by the way Aurora had immediately withdrawn, he was pretty sure she was.

  * * *

  Striding out the ground floor exit ahead of Daniel and Dakota, Aurora was so disoriented she figured she was doing well to simply put one foot in front of the other. What had just happened? Had she actually made a pass at the agent who was merely there to protect her? It sure felt like it.

  Warmth flooded her cheeks so she kept her face averted. Mercy! as Mama would have said. What was wrong with her? She practically begged him to hug her and when he did, she reacted as if they were lovers and he wanted to kiss her. How embarrassing. And how unprofessional. They were colleagues, even though her job didn’t fall directly under his auspices. Being a crime scene tech put her in a different category than true law enforcement and she wasn’t the only one who considered her position far below that of a supervisor of any rank.

  Whether to apologize or try to overlook her error kept whirling through her brain. If he hadn’t meant anything by the tenderness, if it was as casual as it would be with anyone, talking about it would make things worse. If, however, Daniel had been as emotionally invested in their embrace as she’d been, it was a subject best broached ASAP.

  Circling his SUV, Aurora climbed into the passenger side and busied herself fastening the seat belt while he loaded Dakota from the rear. As soon as he started the engine, she began rubbing her hands together in front of the vent again.

  Daniel reached over and grasped both her hands. “You’re shaking.”

  “I’m okay.”

  “I know.” A gentle tone that she was beginning to recognize softened his voice. Letting go, he cleared his throat. “I’m sorry if…”

  “Me too,” she broke in.

  “We should probably forget it happened.”

  “Oh, yeah. Definitely,” she said. Only she wouldn’t. She couldn’t. This was the perfect time to open up and confess the feelings she was starting to have for him. It was also more involvement than he’d alluded to with his effort to apologize. If he’d shared her growing fondness, he surely wouldn’t have said he was sorry.

  And so Aurora leaned back in the seat, folded her hands in her lap and kept silent. She’d never had to fight having undue affection for any of the police officers or other PCPD staff. This was new. Unsettling and a little frightening if she allowed herself to imagine forming a relationship with Daniel Slater. Yes, he was handsome and had all the other good attributes she admired in a man, but she was never going to settle down the way her parents had. Too many marriages, sadly including theirs, ended unhappily. He was apparently happy single and so was she. Therefore, encouraging romance was the last thing she wanted to do.

  But, oh, it had felt good to be held. To be cared for if only for a moment. People in her church gave hugs and for that she was always grateful, but this hug, this specific closeness, was different. Better. Special and protective without being constrictive or dominating the way it felt when her father had tried to hug her once after they’d quarreled about his new lifestyle.

  So, this hug can be filed away with my nice memories and never needs to be repeated. That was logical. Sensible. Appropriate. She made a face of personal derision. It was all those things. What she needed to do now was convince herself that the close encounter in the elevator with the senior agent was a fluke.

  And keep from blushing every time she saw him. Too bad it wasn’t still summer when she could have blamed her high color on a sunburn. Truth to tell, she had enough problems just dodging real bullets without adding having to dodge emotional ones.

  EIGHT

  The police station was as busy as ever. Parking in the rear, Daniel punched in the entrance code and led Dakota and the pretty CSI through a back door. His team’s office space was on an upper floor.

  “Do you need to check in or anything?” he asked Aurora.

  “I suppose I should. I’d like to be there when we do the ballistics on the slugs from Maddie’s apartment and see if they match the ones from her car. Our people are good, I just want to hurry the process.”

  “Okay. If you get finished before I do, come and find me.”

  “In other words, don’t go anywhere without you?”

  Her cynical tone made him choose a lighthearted reply. “I have orders to bring you back with me tonight. Joy insisted.”

  To his relief, Aurora began to smile. “For a minute there, I thought you were going to blame Dakota.”

  “Oh, she agrees. She’s just not as good with words as the princess. Thank you for that, by the way. Joy needed to feel special.”

  “She is special.”

  “No argument there.” Starting to step away, he looked back over his shoulder. “I know you’re perfectly safe here in the station but please check with me from time to time, will you? I’m not asking for a minute-by-minute schedule. I’d just be grateful if you’d keep in touch.”

  With a growing smile, Aurora teased, “And don’t leave town?”

  Daniel laughed. “Right. Something like that.”

  He hated to let her out of his sight even in such a secure environment, which made little or no sense when he thought about it. Nobody had assigned him to guard the young CSI and when he considered his growing feelings about her, he could see a problem in the offing. It would be easy enough to hand her off to another member of his team or even speak to the police chief and have her immediately placed in protective custody. That’s what he should do, he told himself. What he was going to do, however, was keep her with him for as long as possible because something in his gut kept telling him she’d be better off if he did.

  Logic had little to do with it, he realized with a start. He was going to keep a personal eye on Aurora Martin because he wanted to. He needed to. It was as if he’d been assigned to care for her from the moment he’d saved her life at the murder scene.

  The way she’d comforted Joy was another reason he wanted her near. He and Catherine had worked with the toddler for months before gaining the kind of trust Aurora had received in the space of mere hours. Of course, she was closer to Serena’s age and perhaps their hair was similar enough to remind Joy of her mother. Which reminded him.

  Rather than use the phone in his office, he pulled out his cell to call Catherine. Instead of hello, she answered with, “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing,” Daniel assured her. “I was just thinking of Serena and wanted to make sure you didn’t mind my going with you and Joy to visit her today. The last time I spoke with hospice they said her time was short.”

  “Absolutely. Meet us there a little after two.” There was a hesitation.

  “And?” Daniel asked.

  “And, I think you should bring our friend, Aurora. I know Joy would like it and I think it would be good for her to meet your sister.”

  Realizing that Catherine wouldn’t know about the disturbance at Maddie’s, he kept his reply simple. “Until we get more answers about everything that’s been happening I plan to keep a close eye on Aurora.”

  “I’m glad,” Catherine said. Daniel could tell by the tenderness in her voice that she too liked the pretty CSI.

  “Yeah, well, it’s my job.”

  “I love you,” Catherine said. “And I know what you’ve always said about settling down and starting a family, but…”

  “I have a family. Ready-made,” he said flatly. “Joy will be my daughter as soon as I can legally adopt her and you’re the maternal influence in her life. That’s all I need.”

  His grandmother’s sigh was loud enough to hear over the phone. “See you at two, then,” she said, “Bye, dear.”

  Ending the call, he pocketed his phone, removed his coat, circled his desk and sat down, opening the folder at the top of a pile. It was a printout of the Kyra Fellowes case, Maddie Martin’s top suspect. Since the woman had recently been paroled there was a possibility she, or her boyfriend from before conviction, had surfaced to carry out the threats they’d made three years before. A check with her parole officer was called for, as was a trace on her current whereabouts. He kept reading, making notes.

  A knock on his door an hour later startled him. “Come in.”

  The face that peeked around the side of the door at him was smiling and, seeing who it was, he began to grin. “That didn’t take long. Was there a match on the bullets?”

  Entering the office, Aurora shook her head as she dropped her coat on a chair. She’d changed from jeans and a T-shirt to dark slacks and a polo with the PCPD logo on one shoulder. It didn’t escape his notice that she looked wonderful no matter what she wore. “Nope. No matches. Those guys must have more guns than an army.”

  “Ghost guns are part of their cache,” Daniel said.

  “The ones where they order separate parts and make them up themselves?”

  “Right. With no serial numbers. Impossible to trace.”

  “Just as lethal though,” Aurora said. He thought he saw her shiver.

  Daniel stood and circled the desk. He knew he could have told her to have a seat and wait for him to finish his reading but it was suddenly important to place himself nearer to her. Dakota got up from her cozy spot next to a file cabinet and followed.

  “I was considering asking your cousin to meet us for lunch if she’s free. I’d like to discuss her work in person. Is that all right with you?”

  “As long as you find a restaurant with bulletproof glass,” Aurora quipped. “I’m not sure I’m ready for a picnic in the park where we’re too visible.”

  “I can arrange a private dining room at the Plains City Pub and Grill,” he said. “Do you want to invite her or shall I?”

  “I will. What time?”

  He checked his watch. “We have to be at the hospice to meet Joy and my grandmother at two, so as soon as possible if she can get away. We have officers posted around the courthouse and the DA’s office. They can escort her.”

  That brought a light chuckle. “You’ll find that my cousin is a lot like me when it comes to being independent. She probably won’t take kindly to being coddled.”

  Daniel felt his muscles tensing and stood tall. “There’s a big difference between coddling and preventing a murder. Never forget why we’re taking these precautions, Aurora.”

  The openness of her gaze when she looked into his eyes touched his heart in unexpected ways. This woman fully trusted him despite their differences of opinion. It was as gratifying as if she’d just presented him with a gold medal for outstanding police work.

  Without thinking, he raised one hand to cup her elbow, realizing that he’d been right when he’d suspected that she was trembling.

  Somewhere down the hallway, a door slammed with a bang.

  Daniel startled and ducked slightly.

  Aurora jumped and threw herself at him. He caught and held her. “It’s okay. You’re okay. That wasn’t a shot.”

  Feeling her relax against his chest. he started to loosen his grip. She didn’t let go. “I—I thought…”

  “I know. Your nerves are wound a little tight.”

  “Yeah, you could say that.” As she finally eased away, she again lifted her face to look at his.

  Her breath was warm, minty. Time stopped. He saw her lips part slightly as if inviting a kiss. Did she have any idea what her actions were doing to his emotional reserve? Judging by the innocence of her expression, she might not.

  He made no conscious decision to kiss her. It simply happened. The touch of their lips was brief and tender without the overly amorous reaction he’d experienced when other women threw themselves at him. Although it was a refreshing change, it reminded him how much older he was than the woman in his arms and how important it was to protect her, even from himself.

  Gently grasping her shoulders, he set her away from him, wondering for a split second if she was angry. One look at her flushed cheeks and wide eyes told him she was anything but upset.

  Her palms remained on his chest. She gasped. “Wow.”

  What could he say? That he was a fool? That was true but far from helpful. At that point, he figured that anything he said could be misconstrued so he kept silent.

  “I’m going to kennel Dakota before we leave for lunch. Make yourself at home here. I’ll be back in a few.”

  His last glimpse of her as he left his office with his K-9 and closed the door behind them showed pure astonishment. Daniel huffed. If she thought she was surprised, she should spend a couple of minutes inside his brain and see what real shock was. That kiss almost defied description. It had been nothing like he’d expected, nothing that had reminded him of anyone else. Ever. And that was the biggest jolt of all. He was almost thirty-five. He’d kissed and been kissed more times than he could recall and never—never—had any woman’s affections touched his heart the way Aurora’s had.

  That was wonderful. No…not wonderful. Terrible and frightening, assuming he intended to stick to his sensible plans for the rest of his life. Hadn’t he learned enough by cleaning up after his father? By trying to salvage the lives that man had ruined? Marriage was not for him, period.

  If he intended to protect Aurora, and he did, he’d better start by keeping a tight rein on his own emotions.

  * * *

  Maddie was obviously busy when Aurora was put through to her but she agreed to meet for lunch anyway.

  “Agent Slater says he wants to talk to you about the case files you sent over.”

  “Anything to get out of the office for a break,” Maddie said. “Everybody’s uptight about the Carlson trial.”

  “Your evidence is solid?”

  “Yes, but any time human opinion is involved, there’s always a chance of losing. I’m just glad I’m not presenting opening arguments.”