KEEPING WATCH
When dog trainer Kaitlin Mathers is attacked, Texas K-9 Unit captain Slade McNeal is determined to keep herâand whatâs left of his familyâsafe from harm. But soon Slade realizes nothingâs safe, including his dogs, his son or the beautiful woman whoâs opening his heart. When Slade realizes the enemy might be closer than he ever dreamed possible, he vows to see justice served. But can he save Kaitlin before itâs too late to tell her he loves her?
Slade felt the rush of air as she moved away from him. âHey, wait a minute.â
âYou seem to want to be alone,â Kaitlin said, her voice a sweet whisper.
âNot tonight,â he replied. âCâmon and sit with me awhile.â
She stood there, hesitating. He could almost feel the conflicting thoughts rushing through her head. He felt the same kind of warning each time he was around the woman.
But she moved, finally. She went to the kitchen and
put the glass in the sink and stood there for a minute staring out the window. Then she let out a gasp. âSlade?â
âWhat?â
âIâ¦I think thereâs someone out there.â
LENORA WORTH
has written more than forty books for three different publishers. Her career with Love Inspired Books spans close to fifteen years. In February 2011 her Love Inspired Suspense novel Body of Evidence made the New York Times bestseller list. Her very first Love Inspired title, The Wedding Quilt, won Affaire de Coeurâs Best Inspirational for 1997, and Loganâs Child won an RT Book Reviews Best Love Inspired for 1998. With millions of books in print, Lenora continues to write for the Love Inspired and Love Inspired Suspense lines. Lenora also wrote a weekly opinion column for the local paper and worked freelance for years with a local magazine. She has now turned to full-time fiction writing and enjoying adventures with her retired husband, Don. Married for thirty-six years, they have two grown children. Lenora enjoys writing, reading and shoppingâ¦especially shoe shopping.
ONE
âDonât make a sound.â
K-9 trainer Kaitlin Mathers felt the cold nozzle of the gun sticking into her rib cage, shock and fear pouring through her system like a hot, blowing wind. The man holding her had a raspy voice and wore silky black coveralls and a black ski mask, even though it was June in Southwest Texas. She could feel his sweat breaking through the lightweight material of his clothes, could smell a musky scent that probably came from the heat and high adrenaline. When she tried to squirm away, something cold and metal pressed against her backbone. A zipper, maybe? Determined to keep it together, Kaitlin didnât move or try to speak. She had to stay calm so she wouldnât be killed. So she could get away.
Across the K-9 training yard, Warrior barked and snarled from his vantage point inside his mesh kennel porch. Thankfully, she hadnât put the young trainee inside for the night yet. Someone would hear the barking and come around the corner, wouldnât they? Please, Lord, give me courage, she prayed, memories of her motherâs death playing through her head.
Thatâs what you get for working late all by yourself. Youâre more like your mother than you realized. But it had never occurred to Kaitlin that someone would be hiding in the bushes right outside the doors of the Sagebrush K-9 Training Facility. Especially since the building and training yard were located inside a locked fence directly behind the Sagebrush Police Department.
The man holding her must have known the risks, but heâd somehow managed to get through that gate. He hurriedly shoved her toward a waiting van, the same dark van sheâd only minutes before noticed parked underneath an old oak near the back parking lot.
âI need you to come with me,â he said, his whisper like a knife slicing through her nerve endings.
âWhy?â She had a right to ask.
âIâll explain that later, sweetheart.â
Kaitlin looked at the van, then tried to look back at her attacker. She caught a glimpse of strange, black eyes, another shock wave jolting through her system. Before she could see anything else, he jerked her back around and pushed the gun hard against her side. âLetâs go.â
Kaitlin didnât think about being silent anymore. If she got in that van, the chances were very good that sheâd be dead by nightfall. Just like Mom. But unlike her too-trusting mother, Kaitlin didnât intend to become a victim. She screamed and started fighting for her life.