That someone obviously had taken Rio right out of the backyard. He’d have to beef up security around the training center. Not to mention keep a close watch on his son and his daddy. And he’d need to protect Kaitlin, whether she liked it or not.
Rubbing his hand on the back of his neck, he grunted at the twisted knots tightening his head and shoulders. Maybe he needed to hit the gym a little more to work out some of these kinks.
No, he just needed to catch The Boss. The mysterious leader of the local crime syndicate kept slipping through their fingers, but one way or another he vowed to bring this criminal to justice. Since the day his dog Rio had been taken right out of his yard and his father had been injured, he’d made this case a top priority. And his entire unit felt the same way.
He wanted his frail father to understand what he was trying to do.
He wanted his best K-9 partner back. Rio was part of his family.
He wanted his son to be strong and well and happy.
Then why don’t you spend more time with the boy?
That question hit him hard in his gut. Patrick asked him that at least twice a week. When he’d turned to Kaitlin in desperation after Rio’s kidnapping, the dog trainer and his sometime-babysitter had hinted that it might help for him to take more time with Caleb. Maybe that was why he always got so befuddled and tongue-tied around the woman. Maybe that was why bringing her here wasn’t such a good idea, after all. He didn’t want the woman judging him.
She wasn’t married and didn’t have kids. But she sure had a way with animals and children. She was all honey and sweetness when she wasn’t barking commands at K-9 dogs. Today, after things had settled down, her hair had shimmered like burnished gold in the light of early dusk, but her hazel eyes had remained cool and questioning each time her gaze landed on Slade. Except for that little bit of sympathy he’d seen there in shades of green and brown. The woman had been attacked and yet, she still felt sorry for him?
He didn’t need anyone’s pity.
Slade needed to be a better father, but...it was so hard to relate to his quiet, sad little boy. The boy missed his mother. And Slade felt the weight of guilt pressing like a two-ton chain on his shoulders. He and Angie had been fighting the day she’d died in that car bomb. His wife had been leaving him, probably for good, when she’d cranked the engine.
Slade endured the torment of causing her death each and every day. His daddy told him he should pray about his feelings, but Slade didn’t think he was worthy of asking God to release him of this burden. That bomb had been meant for him. He shouldn’t even be standing here. He couldn’t look his own son in the eye.
And...he had the nagging suspicion that the bomb that had killed Angie was related to this current case. Especially since similar bomb threats had been found at Nicolette Johnson’s former rental. Detective Jackson Worth and his K-9 partner, Titan, had found one bomb in the nick of time to save Nicolette. Her house had been damaged, but that only reinforced how much danger she’d been in to begin with.
Then Jackson had also been threatened with a bomb under his car. Titan, trained to detect explosives, had saved the day again.
They might not be so lucky next time. Too many killings and too many kidnapping attempts had everyone on edge. And after today’s bold attempt, Slade was sure there would be a next time. His bones told him that something else was coming. He only wished he could figure out what.
THREE
Kaitlin had thrown her duffel bag in the spare bedroom, then immediately asked Slade if she and Warrior could go visit with Caleb. The little boy was in his room playing with his trains and trucks, according to Papa McNeal. Slade had nodded curtly, then returned to making some sort of dinner.
Now Kaitlin was watching closely while Warrior and Caleb got reacquainted.
“He’s dif-fer-ent from Rio,” Caleb said, the big word twisting up in his mind but sounding cute when he squinted through it. “And he’s skinnier than Chief.”
“Yes, he is,” Kaitlin said. If she had to be forced to stay here tonight, at least she could visit with Caleb. “He’s still young like you. But he likes little boys. And I’ve told him all about you.”
Caleb’s big blue eyes, so like his daddy’s, widened. “He knows about me?”
“Of course,” she said, her expression animated. “I told him he’d get to come and visit you soon. I’m still training him and you can help with that. I told him how smart you are and that you are very good with dogs. He needs to be gentle with children so you are the perfect person to help him learn.”
Caleb tilted his head and gave her an impish stare. “Am I gentle?”
The innocent question tugged at Kaitlin’s heart strings.
“Yes, you sure are. But you’re also very brave. That’s why I brought Warrior to visit with you.”
Well, that and the fact that your domineering father told me in no uncertain terms that I would come here tonight.
She had Caleb for a distraction, at least. A good distraction. And she’d mostly given in to Slade’s demand so she could see how Caleb was doing. She adored this little boy. He took her mind off what had happened today. He took her mind off the big man in the kitchen making sandwiches, the man who’d gruffed out an introduction when he’d brought her into the house.
“Papa, this is Kaitlin Mathers and her newest trainee, Warrior. You might remember her. She’s visited Caleb and she’s watched him for me at her place a couple of times. We had a prowler near the training yard who tried to kidnap Kaitlin. She’s staying here tonight.”
His father, white-haired and holding on to a walker, had smiled and nodded while Chief had hopped up to inspect Warrior. After the dogs had sniffed each other to their mutual satisfaction, Patrick McNeal had said, “C’mon in, Kaitlin. You’ll be safe here.”
She supposed law officers had their own code of speaking, because she was pretty sure she missed some of the undercurrents of that brief, curt conversation. She’d also heard bits of a whispered conversation when she’d come out of the bathroom.
Caleb didn’t speak a lot, either, but tonight he’d actually talked to her more than the last time she’d seen him. That had been a few weeks ago when Slade had brought Caleb to work for a couple of hours and she’d offered to take him out onto the training yard. She’d promised Caleb they’d find his friend, but Slade hadn’t asked her to talk to Caleb since then. And she’d tried to respect Slade’s decision by not nagging him too much. She always asked about Caleb, though. Now she had a chance to help him again. She intended to keep that promise she’d made to the little boy, somehow. After the incident today, Kaitlin was once again reminded of how life could change in a minute. Something she’d learned after her mother had died.
Taking a quiet minute to thank God that she was safe and here now with this little boy, Kaitlin rubbed Warrior’s soft fur, her gaze on Caleb. “So do you think you two can be friends?”
Caleb bobbed his head, his dark curls bouncing against his forehead. Then he reached up and patted Warrior on the head. “I can show him my secret hiding place. I wuv him.”
“I do, too,” Kaitlin said. She was about to ask Caleb where his hiding place was, but
