The Texas Lawman's Last Stand by Delores Fossen Page A

his mind, betrayed him.
    “Collier’s a rich, powerful man,” Bo pointed out. “Is it possible he has this Marshal Tolivar on his payroll?”
    “It’s possible. It would have taken money and resources to hack into the Witness Protection database. Collier has the money, and Tolivar has the resources.” Shaw’s quick response meant he’d already thought of it. “Let me handle looking into that. In the meantime, we have this situation with Miss Collier.”
    Yeah, it was a situation, all right. She was looking at him with those sad doe eyes again.
    “Mattie needs to be in protective custody,” Shaw added.
    Bo snapped back his shoulders. “You aren’t suggesting we turn her over to Witness Protection.”
    “No. Besides, I doubt she’d be too eager to go with them.”
    “You’re right about that.” It was stupid to feel even mildly relieved that she wouldn’t go back into a system that had nearly gotten her killed. “So, what do we do with her?”
    “We protect her,” Shaw simply stated. “She did law enforcement a huge favor by testifying against her uncle, and it wasn’t her fault that the FBI screwed up the search warrant and got most of their evidence thrown out.”
    No. It wasn’t her fault. And it wasn’t his that this mess had been brought right to his home.
    “What are you suggesting?” Bo asked.
    “Probably something you don’t want to do, but hear me out, Bo. Mattie Collier is already there, and until I can make other arrangements, that’s the safest place for her.”
    There went another shot of adrenaline and anger. Because so many objections came to mind, it took Bo a moment to pick which one to verbalize first. “There’s an assassin after her and maybe even a corrupt federal marshal. My kids are here in the house.”
    “Yeah. I know, and as a dad myself, I know your twins are your first priority. That includes Holly.”
    That knot in his stomach twisted and tightened. Bo knew what the captain meant. If Collier, the assassin or anyone else after Mattie suspected that Holly was her daughter, they might try to take his little girl to get Mattie to cooperate.
    Hell.
    It wouldn’t even have to be true that Mattie was Holly’s biological mother. The SOBs would just have to think that it was.
    When he looked at Mattie this time, he was sure his eyes were narrowed to slits. How dare she bring this danger right to his babies.
    She shook her head, obviously not understanding the venom he was now aiming at her.
    “What are you asking me to do?” Bo questioned the captain. And he held his breath, waiting for the other shoe to fall.
    “I’ll get to work on a safe house, one under our jurisdiction. One where I can control the security until we can get this all figured out. I would move you now, but this is going to require a lot of work to make sure we’re not taking you from the frying pan and into the fire. I want to make the arrangements myself and keep it out of anyone else’s hands. Until I can work out everything, I’ll send a couple of officers to sit in front of your place in a patrol car. That should deter an assassin or anyone else.”
    “You’re sure about that?” Bo managed to say.
    The captain paused. “I’ll make things as safe for your family as possible. But in the meantime, Mattie Collier stays there, with you, in your protective custody.”

Chapter Six
    Protective custody.
    To Mattie, this arrangement didn’t feel so protective, not with Bo’s obvious disapproval at her presence in his house. He had made her feel totally unwelcome, and it had started before the conversation with his captain had even ended.
    After that call, Bo had grumbled that she would be staying at his house for the night, and then he’d promptly disappeared into the nursery, leaving Rosalie to show Mattie to the guest room. Rosalie had relayed Bo’s order for Mattie to stay put in the guest room until morning. In other words, he didn’t want her sneaking out to look at Holly.
    Of course,