The Texas Lawman's Last Stand
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Oh, hell.
“I’ll get back to you on that,” Bo told Garrett.
He shoved his phone into his pocket, caught on to Mattie’s shoulders and put her hard against the wall. “I want the whole truth, and I want it now.”
Chapter Four
Mattie wanted to give Bo the truth he was demanding, but she had no idea what that truth was. That would change. She had to figure out what was going on so she could try to keep her daughter safe.
Her daughter.
That nearly took her breath away. She was so close to her baby. Holly was just up the hall. Mattie wanted to run to her, take her and get as far away from this place as possible. But there were some big reasons why she couldn’t do that.
The biggest reason now had her pressed hard against the wall.
Bo was right there, in her face, his gaze drilling into her.
“Your uncle used a computer in a coffee shop to dig into my background,” Bo told her, though she didn’t know how he managed to speak with his jaw that tight. “I know it was him because we found his prints on the keyboard.”
It felt as if someone had punched her. “Oh, God. Kendall’s closer to learning the truth than I thought. I’d hoped we’d have at least a day or two.”
Bo got even closer. His chest pushed against her so that it was hard to breathe. “A day or two for what?”
“To get Holly to some place safe.” Mattie mentally cursed, as well. “If Kendall used a public computer and left his fingerprints, then he wanted you to know he was searching for information on you. Have the computer checked again, because I’ll bet he also used it to do searches on babies born the same day as Holly.”
His eyes narrowed, his stare became even more intense, but he finally backed away from her. “Why would Kendall want me to know he’s doing these things?”
“Maybe because he wants to use you to find me. So he can kill me. Of course, Kendall would never confess to something like that. According to him, he loves me and forgives me for testifying against him.”
He stepped back even farther, apparently giving her theory some thought. Finally, Bo groaned and pulled out his phone again.
“Whoever you talk to,” she warned, “be careful what you say.”
Not that it would matter much at this point. If Kendall didn’t know she was at Bo’s house, then it was just a matter of time before he did. That’s why she had to hurry up this conversation.
Bo dismissed her warning with an ice-cold glance with those intense brown eyes. But Mattie knew he wasn’t really dismissing everything she’d just told him. No. Bo was too sensible for that. And while this had to be ripping his heart apart, he would need to get to the truth.
She was counting heavily on that.
Mattie wasn’t sure who Bo reached with his call. Maybe Sergeant O’Malley again. But whoever it was, Bo requested information about her, about her Witness Protection file, and he also asked for the browsing history on the computer Kendall had used. Each request seemed to make him angrier, so Bo was in full stewing mode when he ended the call. However, she couldn’t give him the time he no doubt needed to work through his anger and the bombshell she’d just delivered about being Holly’s mom. They had too much to do.
“You mentioned Ian Kaplan earlier,” she reminded him. “Why?”
He glared at her so long that for several moments Mattie didn’t think he would answer. “He’s the attorney for the guy in the black van.”
Mattie’s nerves had already been right at the surface, but that caused the blood to rush to her head. “Then the man in the van is connected to Kendall, because Ian is one of my uncle’s lawyers.”
Bo studied her. “You know this Ian?”
She nodded. “We worked together a lot when I did some P.I. jobs for my uncle. He’s very loyal to Kendall. And Kendall was no doubt sending another message by having him represent the man who was probably sent here to kill me.”
“You’re a P.I.?” Bo questioned.
“I was. Am,” she corrected, since she still had her license. “Much to the disgust of my family. The Colliers aren’t big on family members with careers in law enforcement.” That was a massive understatement.
“Yet your uncle hired you.”
“He did. After my parents died in a car accident five years ago, Kendall sort of took me under his wing. He hired me to do background checks on potential business associates. When I learned one of those associates was an illegal arms dealer, I told Kendall, but he didn’t believe me. That’s when I contacted the authorities.”
“A Collier with a conscience.” And it was obvious he didn’t bother to tone down the sarcasm.
Mattie couldn’t blame him for his attitude. He was right. Her parents had owned several investment businesses that were barely legal. She had known from an early age that they had questionable ethics, but only after she’d become a P.I. and had dug into their backgrounds had she realized just how corrupt they were.
“As you know, I testified against Kendall,” she continued, “but he was acquitted.”
“Because the FBI didn’t have the proper search warrant when they found the incriminating documents.”
She nodded, swallowed hard. “And I think because of that, Holly’s father, my fianc'e, was gunned down when I was six weeks pregnant. The police weren’t able to find any proof of who killed him.”
Bo blinked, probably because that had struck a still-raw nerve. He’d lost Nadine, the love of his life, and Mattie had lost Brody, the love of hers.
Sometimes, life just plain sucked.