No gasp this time. Mattie groaned and no doubt understood why he’d responded with “You’re kidding” when Sergeant O’Malley had told Bo about the license plates.
“I know,” she mumbled.
“Larry Tolivar. U.S. Marshal,” the man said, pulling back his coat so that Bo could see the badge attached to his belt.
Bo still didn’t fully open the door.
“You know him?” Bo asked Mattie.
“Yes. He was the man in charge of my case. And I don’t trust him.”
That went without saying. Bo wasn’t sure he trusted the guy either, but he didn’t know exactly why.
Looking all around as if he expected an ambush, Tolivar came to a stop on the porch and reached for the door. Bo held it in place so the marshal couldn’t open it any farther.
“Lieutenant Bo Duggan,” he said, identifying himself. “How can I help you?”
“You can let me talk to Mattie Collier.”
The guy had the attitude of a fed, all right. Some arrogance mixed with an air of authority. Well, Bo had his own damn air of authority, and he didn’t exactly want to examine why he felt this stupid need to protect Mattie.
He wanted her out of his house. Away from the kids, especially Holly. And here he had the opportunity to do just that, but he couldn’t forget that Mattie had nearly been kidnapped and killed while in protective custody.
“Why would you think Mattie Collier was here?” Bo demanded. It was a reasonable question, especially since he’d bet his paycheck that Mattie had taken some serious security precautions before coming to his house.
Well, he hoped she had anyway.
“She’s here,” Tolivar insisted. He fired another glance over his shoulder. “And you’re to release her to my custody immediately.”
“I’m not going with you,” Mattie insisted right back.
Bo couldn’t fault her for speaking up, but he would have preferred to take care of this himself. He could have sent Tolivar on his merry way and then five minutes later done the same for Mattie. Now he was in some kind of jurisdictional contest with a federal agent.
Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.
Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».
Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.
Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.
