Triggered

Immediately, his face changed back into the brooding cowboy, his forehead creasing. “I find little to smile about these days.”

Kate wondered what made him so sullen and sad but didn’t want to push the issue, not when he’d thrown up a no-trespassing sign in the way his body stiffened and he turned away. He took Lily’s hand in his. “Ready?”

The two left through the front door.

Yes, sir, the cowboy had issues. Hell, didn’t everyone?

Kate climbed the stairs, her footsteps slow at first and speeding up as she neared the top. For the first time in months, she wanted to get outside and enjoy the sunshine and fresh air. She refused to believe the hired hand had anything to do with her sudden surge of energy.

A pair of jeans, a snug-fitting ribbed T-shirt and tennis shoes completed her outfit. After she pulled her hair up into a ponytail and settled a baseball cap over her head, she hurried out to join Lily and Ben, her steps light, eager to finish unloading and settle into her new life.

Ben and Lily squatted beside the moving van, pointing at something on the ground.

“That’s a scorpion, Lily,” Ben was explaining. “Don’t try to touch or pick one up, they have a really bad sting.”

Lily hunched over, staring at the insect crawling across the ground. She looked up and spied Kate. “Mommy, come see the scorpion.”

Kate smiled and squatted beside her. With the three of them all gathered in a circle so close, her stomach knotted. This must be what it would feel like to be a family unit. Mommy, daughter and…daddy. Troy would have been a good father to Lily. He’d been so excited about the arrival of his firstborn, only to be robbed of ever seeing her.

Lily was a beautiful baby and an even prettier little girl with a grown-up sense of responsibility and a child’s joy of exploring.

“The day’s not getting any longer. I guess we better get this van unloaded so that I can return it to the rental center in town.” Kate stood, pulled the padlock key from her pocket and unlocked the back of the van.

For the next twenty minutes, Kate and Ben worked in silence, carrying boxes and furniture into the house. Lily helped a little, then lost interest and wandered around the yard, picking flowers and investigating her new home.

Kate kept a close eye on her. After last night’s break-in, she wasn’t feeling exactly trusting of her new environment.

Lily had strayed to the corner of the house when Kate and Ben hauled out the sofa with the repaired cushions she’d brought with her from her apartment.

Getting the sofa through the door took them several tries, tipping it in multiple directions, before they finally shoved the item through. When the sofa cleared the door frame, Kate tripped over a throw rug and landed on her bottom, the edge of the sofa coming down hard on her ankle. “Ouch!”

“Are you all right in there?” Ben called out over the top of the sofa.

“Yes, just not very graceful.” Kate stood and put pressure on her ankle and felt pain shooting up her leg. She swallowed a yelp and lifted her end again. There was no time for injuries. The van needed to be back before three o’clock or she’d have to pay for another day’s rental.

Once they got the sofa settled into the living room, Kate headed toward the door, trying to hide her limp.

Ben shook his head and pointed to the sofa they’d just placed. “Sit.”

“I’m fine, just a little sore. It’ll work itself out.” When she tried to walk past him, he grabbed her arms and made her stop.

“Let me see.” His grip was firm but gentle and his tone the same.

The warmth of his hands on her arms sent shivers of awareness throughout her body. “Really, it’s fine,” she said, even as she let him maneuver her to sit on the arm of the couch.

Ben squatted, pulled the tennis shoe off her foot and removed her sock. “I had training as a first responder on the Austin police force. Let me be the judge.”

Kate held her breath as he lifted her foot and turned it to inspect the ankle, his fingers slipping over her skin.

“See? Just bumped it. It’ll be fine in a minute.” She cursed inwardly at her breathlessness. A man’s hands on her ankle shouldn’t send her into a tailspin.

Ben Harding was a trained professional. Touching a woman’s ankle meant nothing other than a concern for health and safety. Nothing more.

Then why was she having a hard time breathing, like a teenager on her first date? Kate bent to slip her foot back into her shoe, biting hard on her lip to keep from crying out at the pain. Her head came very close to Ben’s. When she turned toward him she could feel the warmth of his breath fan across her cheek.

“You should put a little ice on that,” he said, his tone as smooth as warm syrup sliding over her.

Ice was exactly what she needed. To chill her natural reaction to a handsome man paid to help and protect her, not touch, hold or kiss her.

Whoa, there, girl. Kate jumped up and moved away from Ben and his gentle fingers, warm breath and shoulders so broad they could turn a girl’s head. “I should get back outside. No telling what Lily is up to.”

Ben caught her arm as she passed him. “You felt it, too, didn’t you?”

Kate fought the urge to lean into him and sniff the musky scent of male. Four years was a long time to go without a man. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Ben held her arm a moment longer, then let go. “You’re right. We should check on Lily.”

Kate hurried, no, ran for the open door, her heart racing, her breathing ragged. Just as she crossed the threshold into the open breezy, South Texas sunshine, a frightened scream made her racing heart stop.

“Lily!” Kate burst out onto the porch.

The sound of engines racing up the gravel driveway greeted her. A man wearing a do-rag over his head with a bandanna pulled up over his mouth and nose straddled a huge motorcycle in the middle of the yard, holding a doll by its hair. He laughed, the sound so evil it made Kate’s skin crawl.

“That’s Lily’s doll.” Kate flew off the porch and would have scratched the man’s eyes out if an arm hadn’t circled her waist and yanked her back.

“Go back to the house. Now,” Ben said into her ear, his voice tight around the command.

“But Lily—”

“Go.” He shoved her back behind him.

Kate hesitated.

The roar of engines rose to a crescendo. An army of bikes swarmed into the yard, stirring up dust where the grass had long since died.

Kate ran for the house. Before she could reach the porch, a motorcycle cut her off. There must have been twenty bikes racing around the yard in a tight circle, trapping Ben and Kate in the center. The dust rose in a cloud, choking visibility to everything beyond.

Beyond panic, long past frightened, Kate screamed into the smoke screen, “Where’s my child?”

Chapter Four

Ben had left his Glock on top of the refrigerator inside the house while they’d been working to unload the trailer. Now he wished he had it. Two unarmed people against a biker gang weren’t good odds in anyone’s experience.

A rider broke the ring, circled the pair and then swerved toward Kate.

Fear for her spiked his adrenaline and he lunged toward the motorcyclist. Grabbing the closest handlebar, Ben twisted it hard toward the man astride. The sharp turn on the forward-moving bike caused the bike to flip over, rider and all.

Ben snagged Kate’s hand and pulled her closer to him into the center of the circle.

The man he’d toppled pulled himself out of the dirt, his face bleeding from where he’d crashed into the gravel drive. He glared at Ben and Kate and roared, veins popping out on his forehead.

Kate shrank against Ben. “Oh, God.”

They had nowhere to go; the ring of motorcycles tightened. The man with the doll eased toward them, dark eyes glaring through the slit between his do-rag and bandanna. “You need to leave, lady, before it’s too late.” He ripped the head off the doll and flung it at Kate’s feet.

Kate reached for the doll, but Ben held her back. “When I make my move…run toward the house,” he said into her ear. Anger surged and Ben threw himself at the lead man, knocking him out of his seat.

Kate ran.

Ben got one good, hard punch at the man’s face before two goons ditched their rides and jerked him off their leader. Caught between two beefy Hispanic men, Ben struggled, twisting and kicking, determined to keep their attention long enough for Kate to escape.

Ben jabbed an elbow into the gut of the guy on his right.

The man loosened his hold.

Ben ducked beneath his arm. No sooner had he shaken free from his captors’ hold than he was slammed to the ground from behind, a bull of a man hitting him low and hard.

The wind knocked from his lungs, Ben lay facedown in the dirt, willing his body to move. A foot in the middle of his back kept him from doing anything, especially refilling his starving lungs.

Kate screamed.

A shot of determination rocketed through Ben. He rolled onto his back; at the same time he grabbed the man’s leg who’d planted his heavy boot into his back. With a hard twist, he sent the thug flying backward, landing hard on his butt.

Two more men grabbed him, hauled him up and yanked his arms behind him, hard enough that spasms of pain ripped through his shoulders.

The leader lumbered to his feet and stalked toward Ben. He hit him with a hard-knuckled fist, square in the jaw. Ben’s head jerked back, hazy gray fog encroaching on his vision. Another punch to his gut would have had him doubling over, if he didn’t have two big guys holding him up.

Through the torture, his gaze panned the yard, searching for Kate and Lily.

The bikers had broken the circle and raced around the yard, running over bushes, ramming into a rose trellis. One drove up onto the porch and ripped the porch swing from its hooks.

Another cut off Kate’s attempt to get to the house.

Kate shot a glance over her shoulder and dodged to the left.

The biker sped past her and spun to renew his attack.

Ben planted his feet in the dirt and struggled, twisting and turning in an attempt to go to Kate’s rescue, his mind conjuring his wife’s last minutes on the earth, fighting to protect their daughter.

Then, he hadn’t been there to help Julia. His job now was to protect Kate. If only he’d been more vigilant and not lulled into believing danger wouldn’t strike during the daylight hours.

Hell, the fight wasn’t over.

The gang leader swung again.

Ben jerked to the side hard enough that the guy on his left tripped. The leader’s blow hit his own man in the cheekbone. The man yelled and grabbed his face with both hands, letting go of Ben.

Using the weight of the other man’s body, Ben rolled into him and sent him flying over his shoulder.

Kate ran toward the road.

The biker who’d missed her straightened his bike and hit the gas. The back tire spun, then gripped the ground and shot forward.

Ben came at him sideways, plowing into the biker.

The bike and rider rolled over to the side, the rider moving sluggishly in the dirt.

One down, nineteen to go.

Kate ran on, but another bike raced after her.

Ben wouldn’t catch up before the biker reached her.

A loud air horn broke through the roar of racing motorcycle engines, followed by a cloud of dust storming toward them on the gravel drive leading to the highway. Another air horn burst and a truck swerved around Kate, aiming straight for the biker in pursuit of the fleeing woman.

A shotgun’s nose poked out of the passenger window and blasted a hole in the ground in front of the bike tire. As a result, the biker spun so fast, the back wheel whirled all the way around and out from under the rider.

The gang members Ben had thrown off caught up to him and knocked him to the ground. He came up spitting dirt and ready to tear into them. He swung again and again, pummeling one man in the face. When that one went down, he kicked out and sent the other sprawling on his backside.

Another shot rang out, peppering bird shot at the gang members.

One man yelped and sent his bike skittering out of the shooter’s range.

The leader of the gang yelled something and circled his hand in the air, then pointed to the road.

All of the bikers revved their engines and rode out, leaving a lung-choking cloud in their wake.

Their leader left the yard, shouting, “Dejar o te vas a morir!”

As the dust cleared, the driver and passenger of the truck dropped to the ground.

Ben laughed, the effort making his split lip and sore rib cage hurt. He leaned against the gnarled trunk of a live oak tree, his knuckles bleeding and every muscle in his body screaming.

The driver was an older Hispanic man with a decided limp. The passenger, the one holding the shotgun, was a woman who could only be described as grandmotherly. Thank the lord for help in all shapes and sizes.

Ben’s next thought went to Kate and Lily.

Kate rounded the back of the pickup and ran back into the yard, tears making muddy tracks down her cheeks. “Lily!” she cried out.

A whimper sounded from the tree branches over Ben’s head.

Hidden between the leaves was a little girl with a curly halo of hair, clutching a ball of fur to her chest, tears slipping down her cheeks. “Mommy?”

“Lily?” Kate skidded to a halt beneath the tree. “Oh, baby. I’m so glad you’re okay.” Kate grabbed a branch and started up the tree.

Ben snagged her arm. “Let me.”

“I can do this.”

“It would be better if I could hand her down to someone she knows.”

Kate backed away and let Ben take the lead.

He ducked beneath the low-hanging branches and climbed upward. “Hey, Lily. How’d you get all the way up here?”

She hiccuped, her bottom lip trembling as she clutched the fuzz ball to the curve of her neck. “I followed Jazzy.”

“Is Jazzy one of your toys?” He spoke in calm, soothing tones, careful not to grimace when a shard of pain rippled across his hands or ribs.

Lily shook her head. “No, Jazzy’s not a toy.”

A soft mewling erupted from the fur ball and little paws reached out to latch onto Lily’s shirt.

“Jazzy’s a kitten.” Lily’s eyes rounded as she stared down into Ben’s eyes. “Can I keep her?”

Ben chuckled, his body hurting with every breath. He wanted to crush the little girl and the kitten to his chest and hold them there for as long as he could. He couldn’t tell if the pain he was feeling stemmed from sore ribs, bruises or heartbreak. “You’ll have to ask your mommy.”

“Will you ask her for me?”

“You bet.” Ben settled on a thick branch and wrapped his legs around it before he reached out. “Come on. I think your mother wants to fix you lunch or something.”

“I’m scared.” She glanced around at the ground below her. “Are the bad men gone?”

Rage burned in Ben’s throat as hot as acid but he fought to keep it from his face and voice. “Yes, baby. They’re gone.” This child should not have been exposed to the violence of those men.

She leaned toward him and stopped, her arm around the kitten that clung to her, its blue eyes as big around as Lily’s. “You’re bleeding.”

“It’s okay. It doesn’t hurt, just a little cut.”

“I want my mommy,” Lily whimpered.

“I’m going to hand you down to her. Come on. You’re so brave to save that kitten. Now let me be brave and save you from falling out of the tree.”

Lily smiled. “Silly, I’m not falling out of the tree.”

“Your mother thinks you will.” He winked. “But I know better. You’re good at climbing trees, aren’t you?”

She nodded, then let him grab her around the waist and lift her onto the branch he sat on. He hugged her to him, relief washing over him in such a rush that his eyes glazed over and he couldn’t see.

“Give her to me, please,” Kate cried.

Ben blinked several times before he loosened his hold on the little girl and handed her down into Kate’s outstretched arms.

Kate gathered Lily into a hug so tight, Lily grunted. She sat on the ground in the dirt and hugged her some more, tears trickling from the corners of her eyes.

“I’m okay, Mommy.” Lily patted Kate’s face. “See?” Her empty hand pressed against Kate’s face, urging her to look into her eyes. “I saved the kitten.” Her smile broadened. “Can I keep her? Her name is Jazzy.”

“Sure, honey. You can keep her.” Kate dashed the tears from her cheeks and hugged Lily again. Then she climbed to her feet, lifting Lily to perch on her hip. “Come on, let’s clean up.”

Ben slid out of the tree and dropped to the ground beside the two, his hand going around Kate’s waist. “You two going to be all right?”

“I hope so.” Kate’s eyes widened. “You’re bleeding.”

Lily grinned at Ben. “Told you.”

Kate cupped Ben’s cheek. “Come in the house and let me take care of your cuts before they get infected.”

The light touch sent fire through his veins. Ben pushed her hand aside. “I’m fine. I’ll just stay out here and see what I can do to clean up the mess they made.” Anything rather than being close to Kate. She brought out too many feelings in him, feelings he’d thought long dead, emotions that made a man vulnerable.

The woman holding the shotgun waved her hands at them. “You three go get cleaned up and let us take care of the mess. Eddy and I can set things to rights in no time. Can’t we, Eddy?”

The short Hispanic man had wandered off, picking up broken bush branches. “Sí, señora.”

Ben stepped between the woman and Kate. “Could we at least know the names of our rescuers?” He tried to smile, his lip hurting with the effort. “I’m Ben Harding, Kate’s my…fiancée.”

“Oh, goodness, yes.” The woman shifted the shotgun into her other hand and gripped Ben’s hand in a firm, capable grasp. “Margaret Henderson. But most folks ’round here call me Ma or Marge. This here’s Eddy.”

“Mrs. Henderson, Eddy, glad to meet you.” Ben nodded at the gun. “Good shootin’.”

“No boys in my family, so my daddy taught all his girls to squirrel hunt.” She grinned. “And I make a mean squirrel soup.”

“I’ll bet you do.” Ben let go of her hand. “Thank you for showing up when you did. I think they were about to get the best of us.”

“I don’t know. You were holdin’ yer own pretty well.”

Ben didn’t want to argue with the woman. He’d gotten his butt whipped and Kate would be in a world of hurt had Margaret and Eddy not come along when they did. Guilt with a hint of heartrending regret tugged at his empty belly. What made Hank think a washed-up cop was the right man for this job? It had taken an old woman with a shotgun to chase off the latest threat. Some bodyguard he’d turned out to be.

Margaret smacked Ben on the back. “Twenty-to-one odds needs a little more encouragement than bare fists. Don’t let it get ya down. Question is why they were here in the first place.”

Eddy stuck a long blade of grass between his lips and rocked back on his heels. “Their leader shouted ‘Dejar o te vas a morir’ as he left.” The man had a decided Mexican accent.

Kate shook her head. “I don’t know Spanish. What does it mean?”

Eddy’s gaze captured Kate’s, his lips tightening for a moment before he spoke. “Leave or you will die.”

KATE’S HEART SANK into her belly. Holy smokes, what the hell had she done to the bikers to warrant a death threat?

“Well, now, isn’t that a nice way to welcome the new neighbors.” Marge turned to face Kate, the stiff, tough persona fading with the softening of her eyes. “You must be Kate.”

Kate held on to Lily, refusing to let her child out of her sight for even a moment. Her legs still shook and she couldn’t keep her hand from trembling when she held it out to Margaret. “Should I know you?”

“Kate Kendrick—” the woman folded Kate’s hand in both of hers “—you’re the spittin’ image of your father.”

Kate shook her head. “I go by Kate Langsdon.” She gripped the woman’s hand with her free one. “Did you know my…Kyle Kendrick?” She still couldn’t manage to refer to him as her father. Throughout her life, her mother had told her that her father had died in a car wreck. Growing up without a father hadn’t given her any practice saying the word. And for the past four years, Lily had been without a father of her own.

“Know him? I worked for him until the day he was m—” The older woman’s eyes widened and she clapped a hand over her mouth. “Sorry.” Her glance moved to Lily, and her hand fell to her side. “I worked for Mr. Kendrick until he passed. He was a good man.”

Kate bit her lip, wanting to refute Mrs. Henderson’s statement. What man would willingly walk away from his daughter and never have contact with her? In Kate’s mind, that didn’t make a good man.

“Thank you for coming to our rescue.” Kate smiled and turned to Ben. “Now, let’s get you inside and doctored up.”

The kitten Lily had been holding mewed.

An answering meow came from beneath the porch and a brightly colored calico cat stepped out of the shadows.

The kitten clawed at Lily.

“Ouch.” Lily held the kitten away from her shirt.

Kate pointed to the cat. “That must be the kitten’s mother.”

Lily hugged the fur ball to her, her brows pulling together in a mutinous frown. “Jazzy is my kitty.”

“Honey, you have to let her go to her mama.”

“But I want a kitten.”

“Jazzy will be your kitten, but you’ll have to let her be with her mama until she gets bigger.”

“I want her to come in the house and sleep in my bed.”

“When she doesn’t need her mother anymore. You can come and play with her outside until then.”

The kitten dug her claws into Lily, scrambling to get to her mother.

“See, she misses her mother.” Kate leaned Lily away from her. “How would you feel if someone wouldn’t let you come to your mother?”

Lily stared at the kitten and the calico mother cat, meowing over and over. “I’d feel sad.”

“And the kitten is sad because you won’t let her go to her mother.”

Lily wiggled in Kate’s arms, so she set her daughter on the ground.

Plucking the kitten’s claws from her shirt, Lily settled the animal on the ground.

As soon as she was loose, the kitten ran for her mother, curling in and around the cat’s long, sleek legs.

“See how happy Jazzy is?” Kate knelt beside her daughter.

“Can I play with her after lunch?”

“You sure can.” If the bikers weren’t back or an intruder wasn’t rummaging through the only home they had to go to. Kate’s chest tightened. “We’ll bring food out for Jazzy and her mother.”

Lily slipped her hand into Ben’s and one into her mother’s. “I’m hungry. Can we eat now?”

Kate almost laughed at how quickly Lily forgot the bad men on motorcycles, all her concentration on eating and getting back outside to play with her kitten. How simple to be a child and forget about all the horrible things adults could do to each other.

Ben glanced over the top of Lily’s head. “She’ll be all right.”

The biker’s warning echoed in Kate’s mind. “I hope so.”

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