Chapter One

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Sweat gathered at Jim Parker's temples and trickled down the back of his neck. His boots
were heavy with the muck from Falls Creek, his brown uniform wet up to the thighs. His
chest burned with the six mile run through the rocky hills and woods southeast of Kansas
City, Missouri.

But he didn't dare slow down. He heard the bloodhound on his trail baying in the
distance. The creek water might have hampered the men pursuing him, but the dog hadn't
lost his scent. Jim smelled like blood and pigs and desperation, giving the dog plenty to
track.

The thick plastic envelope stuffed with photographs and police reports that didn't match
scratched at the skin inside his shirt where he'd stuffed it. If he didn't make it out of this
mess with the evidence he'd stolen, there wasn't much point in making it out at all.
Everything he'd given up to do this job, every hope he'd sacrificed, every person he'd lost,
would be for nothing.

His vision blurred as he fought the rough terrain and summer heat and dangerous men
who were after him. The roaring in his ears could be the engines of the pursuing vehicles
closing in on him. It could be his own oxygen-starved blood pounding through his veins.
It could be

Falls Creek.

Waterfall.

Run.

A root reached up from the ground, catching his right foot and tripping him. He hit the
ground hard, knocking the wind from his chest. The rocks and roots chewed at his skin,
bruised him as he rolled himself to his hands and knees and pushed himself onto his feet.

The brush thickened as he neared the waterfall. He stumbled forward, reaching the edge
of the falls that tumbled down into a lake.

As he leaped off the bank and sailed down toward the water, there were only two
thoughts in his head.

Getting caught meant certain death.

And no one would miss him when he was gone.

Chapter Two
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Six weeks later

"Those boys still giving you trouble?"

"I'm fine, Uncle George." Natalie Fensom tucked her phone between her shoulder and
ear, draped the bag with her bridesmaid's gown over one arm, gathered up the gifts she'd
picked up for the candlelighters and guest book attendants in the other, and nudged the
car door shut with her hip.

It wasn't every teacher in Kansas City who got a personal phone call from KCPD's
Deputy Commissioner to see if two teenage hellions who'd flunked junior English and
blamed her for being sentenced to summer school had continued to harass her. The
rudeness in class she could manage. She had no problem being tough when necessary.
Drawing foul pictures instead of answers on their tests meant a trip to the office and a
lecture on the legal consequences of sexual harassment. Egging her car required them
staying after school to wash and buff it clean. But the cruel message on her answering
machine, teasing her about Jim Parker, had crossed a line.

"Where's your boyfriend, Natalie?"

Buried in Washington Cemetery.

The man she'd dreamed would be the love of her life had been snatched away the day
after their first date six weeks earlier. Detective James Parker. Killed in the line of duty.
His body so mangled by the deliberate hit and run that his closed casket hadn't even given
her a chance to say goodbye.

And those two walking hormones with all the attitude had dared to use that loss to get
under her skin as some form of juvenile payback.

So yeah, she'd reported the prank call to her uncle. And she'd mentioned those two times
last week when she swore someone had been watching her exit the school parking lot and
follow her practical little sedan through Kansas City's rush hour traffic.

"I did exactly what you said." She'd agreed to teach during the summer session to keep
her mind off the funeral and losing Jim. As if helping with her brother's wedding to a
sweet, smart woman who could stand up to him and make him happy wasn't already
enough to keep her busy. But so many things seemed to have conspired to keep her and
Jim apart until that one perfect date at the end of the regular school year, that it felt even
more crushingand seriously unfairto lose him so quickly after finally making that
connection. However, she hadn't counted on the teen tyrants to steal the joy she normally
found in the classroom. "I reported Danny and Tom to the principal, and I asked the
school officer to walk me to my car after classes. They denied making the call, of course,
but at least they're keeping their mouths shut in class."
"Glad to hear it." George Madigan wasn't a man to mince words, or be stingy with his
efforts to keep the people he cared about safe. "I know the family is focused on Nick and
Annie's wedding this weekend, but I don't want you to feel like the issues you're dealing
with aren't important."

"I know that." Natalie pushed open the door and climbed the steps to her second floor
apartment. "But I'm glad the focus is on my big brother and not me right now. Everyone
else would try to help, and I just need time to work through a few things on my own."

She heard an uncharacteristic hesitation in the deputy commissioner's voice while she
juggled the items in her arms to unlock the door. "Natalie, I guess I didn't realize the
depth of your feelings for Jim Parker. After all those years he and Nick were partners on
the force, I thought it was just a schoolgirl crush on your big brother's friend. I regret
reassigning him."

"You didn't run him down. And you can't fix this for me, either. Between you and Nick, I
understand the risks of getting involved with a cop. It's my own fault that I didn't weigh
the practicalities of giving my heart so quickly." She laughed wryly and pushed open the
door. "The one time I throw caution to the wind"

She froze.

"Natalie?"

Her apartment was a shambles. Sofa cushions had been torn open and tossed aside. The
drawers in her desk had been pulled out and dumped. A photograph of her and Jim had
been ripped out of its frame and was missing. And though her television was intact, her
computer had been taken.

"Uncle George?" A wave of goose bumps dotted her skin beneath the shorts and blouse
she wore. "Send one of your units to my place right now. Someone's been in my
apartment."

Chapter Three
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"I hate secrets, Natalie. Where's Jim?"

Natalie stepped away from the happy commotion at the front of the church to read the
cruel message on her phone.

As the photographer near the altar tried to line up her extended family, straighten her new
sister-in-law's lacy white gown, and keep her brother from smearing the bride's makeup
with a dozen stolen kisses, Natalie sank onto the back pew. Her plan to upload some
candid photos from Nick and Annie's wedding was forgotten beneath the crushing weight
of grief, regret and paranoia that nearly suffocated her.

Oblivious to the whispering rustle of her dove-gray bridesmaid's gown, or the dewy
perspiration gathering at the nape of her upswept hair, she touched her thumb to the
picture of the wheat-colored crew cut touching her own dark ponytail on her social
network page. An image from one perfect day, frozen in time, reflecting laughter and the
blossom of new lovea moment that could never be recaptured, a future briefly hoped
for that would never be.

Detective James Parker, her brother's former partner at KCPD, the man she'd been
seriously crushing on since high school, had finally decided that, as a college graduate
with two years of teaching under her belt, she was finally old enough to ask out. And,
after Jim and Nick had been given different assignments, the awkwardness of dating his
friend's sister was no longer an impediment.

She'd been primed for love. Ready to prove she was an adult, eager to turn the longings
of her heart into the reality of a summer romance and so much more.

One day of fun at the amusement park, one night of trading stories and sharing souls. One
perfect kiss, and it was all gone.

Jim was supposed to be her date today.

But six weeks ago she'd laid a rose on his casket, instead, weeping for the life they'd
never have together.

Since the break-in at her apartment two days ago, she'd been bombarded with similar
messages. All senseless. All mean-spirited. All calculated to make her afraid.

The private message sent to her e-mail from the ominously named X at a generic dot-com
was even more unsettling. Don't think that moving back into your parents' house will
keep you safe. Hiding in a church won't save you, either. If I can't find him, I'll find you.
You can take his place.

Natalie looked up from the message at the beautifully decorated sanctuary. She could
identify everyone in her family, everyone working for the wedding planner from Fairy
Tale Bridal.

But she knew he was here.

X was watching her.

Following her.

Looking for a dead man?

Or stalking her?

Chapter Four
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"Hey, kiddo." A shadow loomed over Natalie, startling her before her uncle's crisp tone
voiced concern. "How are you holding up today?"

Natalie blanked her phone screen and scooted over as George Madigan settled onto the
pew beside her. "It was a beautiful wedding, wasn't it?" She looked down the aisle at the
perfect symmetry of her two younger brothers and two younger sisters lining up in their
gray tuxes and knee-length dresses with royal blue sashes and red boutonnieres. "Who
knew they'd clean up so nicely."

Her uncle reached over to squeeze her hand. "You okay?"

She nodded, keeping the latest threat to herself. "Just a little tired."

But her mom's brother wasn't buying the reassurance. "You've kept your mother calm and
your siblings organized. And who knows how many other crises you've averted behind
the scenes. But I've noticed. When no one's looking, you're not smiling."

"It's not my day, Uncle George. I'm fine."

He arched a skeptical eyebrow. "That's the story you're going with?"

"Yes."

"You sure nothing else is bothering you? I'm used to trading those bemused smiles with
you over whatever the rest of the family's latest chaos entails. Did something else happen
after the break-in? Is it those students from your school again?"

"Danny and Tom still aren't doing their homework, but I'm managing." She'd considered
that their tolerable behavior in school could be a front, and this secretive terror campaign
was their way of tormenting her outside the classroom.

Still, she wasn't going to tell anyone about the creepy messages and ruin Nick and
Annie's wedding day.

His gray eyes narrowed. "Is it Jim again? Sweetie, I"

"It's okay, George. Really." She patted the sleeve of his tuxedo jacket. "I don't blame you
for what happened to him. He was doing his job. And he loved being a cop. Just like you
do."
George seemed ready to argue, but clamped his mouth into a thin line instead. "How
about you go find Grandma Connie. We need her for the family picture. Take a few
minutes to powder your nose or do whatever you women do. You're already beautiful."
He leaned over and kissed her temple. "But I want you smiling in that picture. Otherwise,
I won't be able to smile, either."

That earned him half a grin. "We can't have that, can we."

George winked. "It'd ruin the whole wedding album."

Chapter Five
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"I'll find Grandma. She said she was going to put on her comfortable shoes for the
reception." Natalie stood and moved past her uncle, but paused for a moment before
heading out the back of the sanctuary. "Don't tell Nick or Annie, or Mom and Dador
anyonethat I'm being such a downer today."

George pantomimed locking his mouth and throwing away the key.

She bent down to kiss his cheek before walking away. "Love you."

Natalie's silver heels clicked on the marble floor as she headed down the long hallway
into the Sunday School wing to check the room where the wedding party had changed
before the ceremony.

"Grandma?" The guests had already moved on to the reception, and the wedding planner
and her staff had cleared out everything except for their personal items. Although she
spotted the flat shoes her grandmother had mentioned, there was no sign of anyone in the
room. She stepped back into the hallway, raising her voice a notch. "Grandma?"

From the corner of her eye, she glimpsed someone turning the corner at the far end of the
hallway. Natalie clenched her painted toes at the darting shift of sunlight and shadow.
Then she forced herself to ease out a steadying breath. It was probably just a car driving
past one of the windows outside. Those creepy messages were making her jumpy, that's
all.

She stared a few moments longer into the shadows, ensuring she was alone before
stepping across the hall to the restroom. Since the light was on, she pushed the door open
and looked inside. "Grandma, are you in here? The photographer is ready to take the
family picture."

Bending her knees, Natalie peeked beneath a closed stall door. Empty. Just in case, she
pushed open all the doors. Maybe her grandmother hadn't come back to this end of the
church, after all.
"Where does an eighty year old woman disappear?"

Strong arms grabbed her from behind, and a hand clamped over her mouth.

Natalie clawed at the hand and screamed as the lights went out.

Chapter Six
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Muscular arms pulled her up against a hard chest and her feet left the floor as she
screamed beneath the muzzle of her attacker's hand. "Shh, baby, it's me. Nat, it's me."

Natalie went limp as the hoarse voice from the grave whispered against her ear. She
dropped her fingers from the sinewed forearms and braced them against the cold tile wall.
Suddenly, the hands that had trapped her were the only thing keeping her on her feet.

"No more screaming, okay?" The man's warm breath caressed her ear and nape, a
remembered touch that pricked the sting of tears in her eyes. "When I let go, not a peep,
promise?"

Natalie nodded. She turned as the hand slipped away. "Jim?"

She stretched onto her toes to wrap her arms around his neck and hug him tight. He
hugged her right back for several seconds, reminding Natalie how perfectly her body fit
against Jim Parker's six-foot frame. Then his hands were cupping the sides of her face
and his lips were on hers. His hips drove her back against the wall as his tongue claimed
her own. Natalie was breathless and clinging to the soft cotton of his T-shirt, and the
cords of muscle underneath, before he raised his head and exhaled a noisy sigh of
satisfaction. "God, I've wanted to do that again for six weeks."

She felt lightheaded with shock and shaky with newly awakened desire. She ran her
fingers over the sandpapery angles of his jaw and neck, flattened her palm over the
thudding beat of his heart. Then she pushed some distance between them and smacked his
shoulder, hating that she felt as much hurt as she did relief at discovering he was still
alive. "How dare you. Who do you think?How how are you here? I don't
understand."

His warm chuckle made her wish there was more light so she could see his face. "So
Nick's sensible little sister does have a temper. Glad I got that kiss in first."

Chapter Seven
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"Don't tease me, Jim. Five minutes ago you were dead."

Natalie's eyes had adjusted enough to the dim light to see the rueful look on Jim's face.
The military cut hair she remembered was slightly longer, pushed back from his face in
rumpled waves. And the scratchy stubble on his cheeks and jaw told her he needed a
shave. He still wore a gun at his waist, but there was no badge hanging around his neck or
clipped to his belt. This Jim was the same man from that perfect date at the beginning of
summer. Only, there was something different, harsher, maybe even a little more
desperate, about the man rubbing his calloused hands up and down her bare arms. "Do
you have your cell phone on you?"

Not I've missed you or Sorry I hurt you. Certainly not I love you.

Still, she nodded and pulled the phone from her wristlet to hand it over. The bright light
of the phone screen lit up his face, exposing a catlike gleam in his green eyes and familiar
lines that seemed to be etched a little more deeply beside his eyes and mouth. She
thought he needed to make a call. Instead, Jim pulled up those last few texts that had
frightened her so, swore beneath his breath, and then tossed the phone into the nearest
toilet. "What are you?"

"That's how they've been tracking you."

"Who?You can't just barge into my life and expect me to act as if nothing has changed. I
need answers, Jim. What is going on?"

Chapter Eight
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He grabbed her hand and pulled her to the door behind him. "I know I have a lot of
explaining to do. But I need to get you to safety first."

"Me?Safe from what?"

He inched open the door to check the hallway. "Take off your shoes and carry them."
Before she could ask another question, he answered. "They're noisy. And I don't want
anyone to follow us."

Once she'd slipped the high-heels off her feet and anchored the straps around her fingers,
he pulled her out the door into the shadows. The marble floor was icy beneath her bare
feet, but his quick stride and solid grip forced her to hurry along behind him. "Where are
we going?" She thumbed over her shoulder toward the sanctuary. "I'm part of Nick and
Annie's wedding party. I can't leave."

"And you're crazy hot in that sweet little dress, showing off all that skin. But you can't
stay."
Natalie tugged against his hand. "Pretending to be dead is a pretty big lie, Jim. I don't
know if I can trust you now. You have no right to come in here and haul me off like so
much"

She plowed into his broad back when he abruptly stopped. Jim turned, catching her by
the shoulders, his fingers pinching as he dipped his face close to hers. "Have you felt
someone's been following you the past few weeks? They have. I've seen them." Natalie
braced her palms against his chest, trying to push him away, not liking this cryptic bully
he'd become. "How many of those threats have you gotten asking about me? Trust me,
they're real."

She stopped struggling, curling her fingertips into cotton and muscle, unable to hide her
wary reaction to his knowledge of the terror campaign being waged against her. "Do you
know who X is?"

He shook his head. "Who's X?"

"That's what I call him. The man who sends me the messages. His addy is X-something
dot com." She could tell from the narrowing of his eyes that he knew who she was talking
about. "Who is he?"

Jim swore. "Not anybody I'd ever want you to meet."

"Someone broke into my apartment, too. I've been staying at Mom and Dad's the past
couple of nights."

He shifted his grip to her hand again, pulling her into a jog behind him, leading her to the
parking lot door. "I am so sorry, Nat. Once I slipped off their radar, I was afraid they
might target you. It's that damn picture on your social network page that connected you to
me."

"Who are you talking about?"

"The men who want me dead."

Chapter Nine
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Jim turned onto the highway and put his burner phone on speaker mode on the seat beside
him to listen to the last of Deputy Commissioner Madigan's explicit instructions
regarding his niece. "I'll hide her someplace safe until Paine and Butler can be rounded
up."

If only he'd been able to find more evidence on the crooked sheriff who ran Falls City
like a mob boss before Jim's cover as the town's new deputy had been blown. But with
citizens too scared of the consequences to stand up and tell the truth about their small
town southeast of Kansas City, Jim's only option had been to disappear into K.C., waiting
until Sheriff Paine and the rest of his thugs had been arrested and he could testify against
them. He'd been more than eager to accept the assignment with the state bureau of
investigation's task force, and earn some points toward his next promotion with the
commissioner's office.

But now he regretted that his career goals had put Natalie in harm's way. With no parents
or siblings to worry about, he'd figured he was a good candidate for undercover work. He
hadn't counted on that one incredible date he'd had with Nick's younger sister putting her
on Arnold Paine's radar. "You'll explain Natalie's disappearance to her family?"

George Madigan heaved an onerous sigh over the phone. "I'll come up with something
that won't frighten them too much. But I want her home in one piece. Understand,
Parker?"

"Yes, sir."

"Listen to him, Natalie. He's a good cop." Jim glanced across the truck. But she was
staring straight ahead through the windshield, refusing to answer. "I love you."

She waited until the call disconnected before speaking."Uncle George knew you were
alive?"

Chapter Ten
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Jim's stomach turned at the quaver he heard in Natalie's quiet voice. He spared a glance
away from the rush hour traffic that was backing up the Interstate. Her eyes were as blue
as that ribbon tied around the fancy lace dress she wore. But they were shadowed with
sadness and grief and a whole lot of mistrust.

A fitting mental slap in the face, he supposed, for a man who'd left her without a word of
explanation or even a proper goodbye. He couldn't even use the excuse that they'd only
had one datethat they weren't in a committed relationship and he didn't owe her
anything. Because they both knew that those twenty-four hours they'd spent together had
changed them somehow. He'd found a soul mate, discovered the sexy woman beneath the
practical exterior, learned that he could care about something more important than his
job.

The loyalty he'd sworn to KCPD and this undercover op gone south felt wrong somehow.
He'd owed a loyalty to Natalie that he'd betrayed. Any kind of explanation or apology in
the face of those sad eyes seemed pretty lame right now.
"The deputy commissioner is in charge of personnel assignments. Since the men we were
investigating were already suspicious of the state Bureau and had killed one of their
agents, they asked KCPD for a volunteer. George signed off on the transfer. Only he and
my handler with the MBI knew I was going undercover." He gripped the steering wheel
of his truck, eyeing the four lanes of traffic heading south at a snail's pace. "The perps
we're after have inside intel to law enforcement. We faked my death so they couldn't track
me back to the department."

"Jim, I've been heartsick and feeling sorry for myself for weeks now. I"

Anything she had to say, any name she wanted to call him, he was going to listen. "You
what?"

Chapter Eleven
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Natalie twisted her fingers together in her lap and went silent on him again for a minute.
The silence was harder to bear than the angry words and punch on the arm had been.
"Talk to me, Nat."

"I went to your funeral. I cried. For days."

"I'm sorry, hon." Jim reached across the seat.

But she yanked her hand away. "No.You don't get to call me that. Or baby or anything.
What was I? Part of some cover story to make everyone believe you were dead?"

"The funeral convinced the people I was investigating that Jim Parker, the KCPD
detective, no longer existed. But Bobby Jensen, a good ol' boy looking for a job with the
Falls City sheriff's department did. And yes, you played an unwitting part in that. You
know I've got no family. A bunch of uniformed cops attending a memorial service could
be faked. But a beautiful woman crying over the poor schlep who died?" Ah, hell. There
were tears in her eyes now when she whipped an accusatory glare at him. "That
convinced the people after me that I really was gone, without having to see the body."

"Glad I could help." She smeared her mascara with the back of her hand as she angrily
wiped away the tear that spilled onto her pale cheek. "I thought that day was special. I
thought I meant something to you."

"It was. You do."

I think I fell in love that day, he wanted to add. And I've never said that to any woman
before.

But Natalie was in no mood to hear a stupid confession like that.

After the way he'd been forced to lie to her, she wouldn't believe him, anyway.

A quick shift across highway lanes five cars back distracted his attention in the rearview
mirror, making confessions of any kind right now a moot point. "If I didn't have feelings
for you, Nat, you wouldn't be in this mess."

Chapter Twelve
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Natalie gripped the door handle and held on as the truck picked up speed and lurched
over the seams in the pavement.

The flash of red and blue lights in the sideview mirror alerted her to the big sedan that
had pulled onto the shoulder behind them."Jim, that police car is coming after us. Pull
over."

"That's the last thing I want to do."

The grim line of his jaw told her that whoever he'd seen pursuing them meant real
trouble. "Is the officer helping us escape?"

"Hardly. He's the one following us." He nodded toward the phone that had slid across the
seat and wedged beneath her thigh. "Call your uncle. Put him on speaker phone. Now,
Natalie," he ordered when she hesitated as if he'd spoken gibberish.

Fighting the bounce and sway of the truck as they skidded over loose gravel and cut
across a grassy ditch to speed up an embankment, she punched in George's number, hit
the speaker button and held the phone up for Jim to hear it ring. "Why wouldn't another
cop help you?"

"He's not KCPD. That's the sheriff's department from Hanover County." Natalie
recognized the name of a county about a half hour past the city's southeast limits."And
believe me, if they're wearing a Hanover County badge, they're the last guys we want to
trust."

Natalie smacked against the door as Jim hit the brake and spun the truck into a U-turn.
She dropped the phone on the second ring, but quickly scooped it up again. "That's who
you've been investigating? The Hanover County sheriff's department?"

He nodded, sparing her a glance before racing onto a side road. Their path would take
them right past the tan and white sheriff's vehicle slowed by traffic on the Interstate. "I
went in as a new deputy after reports of corruption were filed with the Missouri Bureau
of Investigation. One of their agents went to Falls City to investigate and ended up MIA.
My job was to find him."
"Did you?"

He ground his jaw into a hard line before answering. "Yeah." He glanced across the seat,
his eyes looking just as grim. "What was left of him, anyway."

Chapter Thirteen
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"What do you mean, what was left of him?"

Jim never took his eyes off the road. "The MBI agent had been shot and buried in a
shallow grave on a pig farm outside Falls City. Do you know what pigs do to the things
they dig up?"

Natalie's heart constricted in her chest at the horror he must have witnessed, and she
nearly reached for him. But she wasn't sure she could offer anything more than polite
sympathy yet. "I'm so sorry."

"I found out members of the sheriff's department weren't just covering up crimes, but that
they were committing a few themselves."

Three rings. "Besides murder? Like what?"

"The sheriff and one of the other deputies raped a woman they'd pulled over for speeding
through town. Said they'd call it even payment for the fine she would have gotten."

"Oh, my God."She felt sick to her stomach. And it wasn't from the wild, bumpy ride."Did
she report them?"

"To who?" Jim's gravelly voice sharpened with contempt. "The authorities in that town
are part of a violence and extortion racket. There's another deputy who wanted no part of
it, but he's too cowed by Sheriff Paine and afraid of losing his job to do anything about it.
Most of the victims are too scared to say anything, and anyone who does stand up against
them gets a visit from your mysterious Mr. X and either changes his story or isn't seen
again."

"You think this Sheriff Paine is the man who was looking for me?" Finally, the last few
days began to make sense. But understanding didn't ease the chill shivering along her
spine.

"Either that or his enforcer, Deputy Butler." Jim darted around a slower car, then pressed
on the accelerator as they approached the flashing lights on the highway below them.
"They're hunting me because I know enough to take them down, and I'm not afraid to
testify. He's looking for you because"
"He thought you and I were a couple. He thought I knew you were alive and that I would
know how to find you."

"Butler would get the information out of you one way or anotheror he'd turn you over
to Sheriff Paine and use you as bait to get me to come out of hiding. I interviewed that
woman in the hospital. I saw what they did to her." A tight knot of emotion pulsed along
his jaw. "And that's not gonna happen to you."

For a few moments, Natalie forgot to breathe. The phone kept ringing. "You did come out
of hiding to find me. You wanted to get to me before they did."

"Told you I cared."

"Don't be flippant, Jim."

"Honey, I'm not I mean, Natalie, I wouldn't"

The phone picked up."Madigan."

The mirror outside her window shattered and Natalie screamed.

She turned in her seat to see a gun sticking out the passenger window of the Hanover
County car. "They're shooting at us!"

Chapter Fourteen
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"Get down!" Jim warned, snatching Natalie's arm and pulling her onto the seat beside
him as the back window splintered with the impact of a bullet.

"What the hell is going on?" George shouted over the phone.

Jim drove as fast as he dared with one hand, heading up a hill toward the next
interchange. "Commissioner, I need a couple of black and whites on 435 South to
intercept a Hanover County cruiser that's in pursuit."

Natalie shouted from her position beside him. "They fired two shots at us. But I think"
He pushed her back down to his lap when she started to rise to look out the window. "I
think we're losing them. I don't hear any more gunfire."

Jim checked the surviving mirrors and saw the sheriff's car kick up clouds of dirt as its
brake lights came on and it skidded off the road. The exit lane of traffic had come to a
complete stop, and one of the semi-trucks had jackknifed across the exit ramp Jim had
skipped over moments earlier.
He eased up on the gas while she held the phone up for them both to report to her uncle.
"Confirm that, sir. The pursuit is over. You'll want to send a helicopter and traffic patrol,
instead. Looks like we may have caused a bit of a pile-up near the Swope Park exit."

"Any injuries?"

Fortunately, Jim didn't see anything beyond the truck and a couple of cars off on the
shoulder. "Nothing major from what I can see. Looks like the cruiser is heading south
back to Falls City. I'll bet they've already overheard Dispatch calls regarding the pile-up,
and know legitimate officers are on their way."

"Good. I want them out of my town." George Madigan's sigh of relief was audible. And
short-lived."Is Natalie ok?"

"I'm fine, George. I'm mad at you and Jim for putting me through six weeks of mourning.
But I'm fine."

Jim felt the movement of her cheek against his thigh like a gentle caress when she spoke.
But once they made arrangements to contact the deputy commissioner later and ended the
call, Natalie squeezed his knee, hitting that ticklish spot that made him jump. She'd
discovered that sensitive spot when they'd ridden the Mamba roller coaster at Worlds of
Fun on their date. Her clutch of fear when they'd made that first giant drop had made him
scream out right along with her.

Was that gesture now the equivalent of another reprimanding swat? Or an homage to a
shared memory and a sign of possible forgiveness?

Chapter Fifteen
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Jim was hoping for the latter as he rubbed his hand along the sleek length of Natalie's
arm. "Your skin's like ice. Let me turn down the air."

"Is it safe for me to sit up now?"

He didn't want to lose the contact with her body, but with the sheriff's car disappearing
into the distance behind them, he could hardly justify keeping her so close. "Yeah."

"I'm not exactly dressed for this kind of thing."

After adjusting the air-conditioning, Jim reached behind the seat to pull out the wind-
breaker he'd stashed there. It was dusty and wrinkled, a sad contrast to the bridesmaid's
dress she wore, but at least he could offer her a little more than two strips of lace to cover
her shoulders.
"Here.You look beautiful today, by the way." Smeared mascara on her cheek, dark brown
hair falling from those ringlets pinned up at the back of her head, faded nylon jacket and
all. "You're still the prettiest woman I've ever been on a roller coaster with."

"You take a lot of women on roller coasters and car chases, Detective?"

He grinned, hearing a hint of the banter they'd shared on that best first date six weeks
ago. "Nah.Only the ones who scare me into thinking I don't want to be a bachelor all my
life."

And then she got as serious as she'd been when they'd cuddled close and talked late into
the night after leaving the amusement park that day. "I'm sorry about that woman who
was assaulted in Falls City. I'm sorry about the agent who was killed. I'm glad you're
putting a stop to those horrible people's abuse of power."

"I will as soon as I can make an arrest without getting my head shot off first. Then the
townspeople will start talking and we can make arrests that stick."

"I'll help you in any way I can, Jim."

"I'm not looking to get your head shot off, either."

He wanted to reach across the seat and hold her hand, but she had them hidden away
beneath the tight clutch of her arms around her waist, and he had to respect her wish to
keep her distance from him.

"I can't take you to your apartment. I saw Carl Butler, the deputy I never want you to
meet, parked outside your building this afternoon."

"One of the men who raped that woman?" He watched her shiver and go pale beneath
that glowing palette of special occasion makeup, and reached for her, anyway. When he
tugged on her elbow, she thrust her fingers out the sleeves of his jacket and latched onto
his hand with both of hers.

Despite the jacket and putting the AC on low, her skin was still cool to the touch. He
rubbed his thumb across the back of her knuckles, instilling what warmth and reassurance
he could. "Is there someplace else I can take you to get a change of clothes and some
toiletries?" he asked.

"I don't want to lead them to Mom and Dad's house.I don't want to endanger anyone
else." Her grip pulsed around his. "But I know a place we can go."

Chapter Sixteen
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Natalie stepped out of the faculty restroom into the hallway of the alternative high school
where she was teaching English classes this summer. She'd brushed her hair out into a
wavy ponytail and dressed in the workout pants, tank top, zip jacket and running shoes
she kept on hand for when she jogged after morning classes before the summer
temperatures got too hot and baked her fair skin.

The silent tomb of a building was scary enough at night when there were no other faculty
or students around, and the halls were lit with only the dim greenish hue of security
lights. But the broad-shouldered man with the golden hair and deep verdant eyes was the
thing that made her heart race when he unfolded himself from the shadows and pushed
away from the cinder block wall across from her.

Jim reached her in three short strides. "Nope.Still sexy. Don't know if it's the legs or the
hair or this."

He tucked a finger beneath her chin and tipped her face up as he lowered his head and
kissed her. She felt the firm pressure of his mouth, the cat-tongue caress of his beard
stubble against her skin, the flood of eager warmth that rushed through her body to where
their lips joined. But his warm, coffee-scented breath had barely mingled with hers before
she pushed him away.

"Too soon, huh?" Jim stepped back, holding his arms out to either side with a sigh of
resignation. "You think you'll ever forgive me for the whole not telling you I'm still alive
thing?"

Natalie studied the hard angles of his face that had aged several years in the few weeks
they'd been apart. She read the depths of need and regret in the moss-colored gaze that
never left hers.

She grabbed a fistful of his dark T-shirt and pulled him back.

Chapter Seventeen
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Jim let her take control of the kiss this time, bracing his hands on either side of her head
against the wall behind her. She wound her fingers around his neck, sliding them up into
the unfamiliar thickness of his longer hair as she parted her lips, inviting him in to taste
and receive.

The kiss was leisurely, thorough. A mix of getting reacquainted with something familiar
and getting to know something new. It hummed through her blood, heating her slowly
from the inside out. When her tongue ventured forward, his was there to meet it. When
she tilted her head at a different angle, he countered. When she demanded a firmer touch,
he delivered. The tips of her breasts tingled in anticipation, and something needy and
warm gathered between her thighs. Jim Parker's kiss was patient, potent. And far more
dangerous than the kisses she remembered sharing six weeks ago.

But what her body wanted and what her heart yearned to give were not the same things
that her cautious brain would allow her to do.

With a breathless sigh of her own, Natalie settled back onto her heels, ending the embrace
without completely breaking contact. She smoothed the rumpled mess she'd made of his
hair, stroked the warm line of his cheekbone, touched the throbbing pulse beat along his
jaw, looked up into his light-catching eyes and tried to make sense of what she was
feeling. "I thought I knew you after one date. But how could I, really." Her hands came to
rest against his chest. "I have feelings for you, Jim. But I'm not as blindly naive as I
used to be. I know it's not smart to give my trust so easily again."

He traced a long tendril of hair from her forehead back around the shell of her ear. "Then
I'm going to earn it. When this mess with the Falls City sheriff's department is over, I'm
going to do whatever it takes to make things right between us." He pulled away from the
wall to cover her hands with his, trapping her gently against his heat and strength. "If I
can."

A crash from the darkness at the end of the hallway shattered the tender moment.

Someone was breaking in.

Chapter Eighteen
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Jim heard the shattering glass and pulled away. With every nerve on instant alert, he was
even more aware of Natalie's fresh, citrusy scent and tender strengthand just how badly
he wanted to claim her for his own.

He was also keenly aware of just how vulnerable the gentle woman was in the face of
trash like Paine and Butler. He nudged her back into the faculty lounge and drew his gun.
"You go back to that john and lock yourself inside until I come to get you. I'll check it
out."

But Natalie's hand closed around his arm, holding him back. Her eyes were wide with
concern. "Shouldn't you call for backup?"

"I am the backup, babe. I'm the one who's going to keep us safe. Now, go."

"You don't know your way around this building. I do. And if something happens to you,
who'll protect me?" She flipped on a mini-flashlight attached to her key chain. "Besides, I
have keys."
The light was probably only bright enough to get them spotted by the intruder. But she
had a point about not knowing the lay of the land. And if it would get her out of there and
to his safe house sooner, Jim wasn't going to argue. "Stick close to the wall. And stay
behind me."

He had her kill the flashlight as they got close enough to hear hushed conversation, heavy
footfalls and the screech of furniture legs sliding across the floor on the other side of the
locked door.

"There are two people in there if I'm counting voices correctly."

Sheriff Paine and his deputy?

Natalie curled her fingers into the back of his belt, tugging him back a fraction of a step.

They'd found her.

"That's my classroom."

Chapter Nineteen
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Natalie took the keys back from Jim after he silently unlocked her classroom door, and
held her breath as he pushed it open and stormed inside.

"KCPD! Put your hands up where I can see them."

There was a flurry of movement when he flipped on the lightsdesks turning over,
books tumbling to the floor, two men cursing that their break-in had been discovered.

"I want you to lie face down on the floor," Jim ordered. "Keep those hands where I can
see them."

Concern for Jim's safety gave way to fear of a different sort as a moment of clarity struck.

Not men cursing.

Two teenage boys.

Oh, my God. She left her hiding place behind the door and hurried into her topsy-turvy
room. "Jim, wait."

"Damn it, Nat. I told you to stay put."

She touched the closest hand that held the lethal looking gun cradled between them,
aimed directly at the cowering forms of Danny Garcia and Tom Kuszak. "They're teenage
boys, Jim. Not Sheriff Paine. They're students of mine."

"Apparently not the top of the class." His shoulders rose and fell in deep, steadying
breaths as the adrenaline in his system ran its course and he lowered his weapon. "You
two, don't move," he ordered, before directing her attention to the white board at the front
of her room. She turned her gaze past the broken glass of the shattered window, and the
student desks that had all been turned upside down to the incomplete message spray-
painted on the board.

ENGILSH SUC

"Really, guys?" Natalie was steamed that they'd trashed her classroomand committed
the type of crime that had probably gotten them kicked out of a regular school in the first
place. But she was angrier at herself for feeling that gut-kick of emotion when Jim had
charged in to face the enemy and she feared that she might lose him all over again. No
sense of self-preservation in that, was there? "Could you have at least spelled it right?"

Jim was even less amused. "I'm calling your uncle to get a squad car down here. They can
handle this. I want to get you out of here before too many other people show up." He
circled the room, checking the closet and window locks to ensure they were all secure.
"It's harder to protect you in a crowd. If Paine or one of his men gets a hold of you"

"You're Miss F's boyfriend?" Danny looked up in disbelief, his gaze following Jim
around the room.

"You're real?" Tommy echoed the same surprise. "Dude, I thought she was some sad old
lady like my mom, making up stories about her dead boyfriend."

"Shut up, Tommy."

Jim paused near her desk. "You talked about me? You said I'm your boyfriend?"

"Dead boyfriend," Danny corrected.

"Shut up." Natalie and Jim silenced the frightened vandals in unison.

"We were reading Romeo and Juliet," she explained, trying to diminish the importance of
the boys' nervous rambling that had revealed far more than she cared to. "Talking about
love and tragedy."

"They were like, from rival gangs," Tom informed Jim unnecessarily.

"Enough, Tommy." The seventeen year-old chose now to remember something she'd
taught in class?
"These are the two boneheads who've been giving you grief?"

Natalie nodded."I thought I'd handled it."

Jim holstered his gun and pulled out his phone. "I don't know if I'm flattered to learn that
you claimed to love me, or pissed off to hear that you think of us as a tragedy."

Chapter Twenty
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"I wanted to let you know that I'm changing the safe word with this shift change. When
Dickson and Henley go on duty, the new word is hawthorne. If they come to the door or
call with any directives that counteract mine, they'll need to use that word." Missouri
Bureau of Investigation Agent Dave Medlund didn't have much going on in the
personality department, but Jim appreciated that he'd been thorough in all his
preparations for both the undercover op in Falls City and in securing the safe house here
in K.C. Regular phone calls like this one on the house's secure land line assured Jim that
the man was being proactive about tightening security now that the Hanover Sheriff's
department had declared Jim their #1 fugitive. "If they use the previous safe word, or
none at all, disregard whatever they say and assume there's a threat."

"Understood, Agent Medlund. Hawthorne or I'm pulling my weapon and getting Natalie
out of here." Jim paced the kitchen in the tiny cottage the MBI had set up for his use as a
safe house.

Medlund made some sort of grunting noise. "I know Ms. Fensom is important to you,
Parker. But understand that you are my priority. I can't have you out gallivanting around
the city after her and still protect you. I don't wish her any ill, but your testimony is
what's going to put Sheriff Paine and Deputy Butler away. If I lose you, I lose my entire
case."

"She can testify that Paine and/or Butler were shooting at us this morning. We can
probably dig up evidence to prove they've been stalking her, too, to smoke me out." Jim
tossed the case file he'd been reading on the table and poured himself a cup of coffee.

"And their attorneys can argue that you were driving recklessly and evading arrest." He
imagined Agent Medlund shaking his head. "Your friend at KCPD, the deputy
commissioner, has had a team at Ms. Fensom's apartment, looking for any trace to show
who broke in, but I'm not holding my breath. Those harassing calls she received all came
from an untraceable burner phone, and a public computer was used to post that threat on
her social network page. These guys are good."

Jim didn't need circumstantial evidence to prove Paine and Butler were behind the terror
campaign on Natalie. "I've heard it before. They have access to all the same law
enforcement resources we do."
"And they know all our tricks," Medlund added. "Just remember. If anything happens, my
men's priority is to save you."

And his priority was to save Natalie. "Understood.Parker out."

After ending the call, Jim pulled a chair out from the table and opened the file to review
his notes again. But his thoughts weren't really on the case.

Natalie Fensom loved him. She just wasn't sure that she wanted to.

"So you and me are a Shakespearean tragedy, hmm?" Star-crossed lovers, doomed by
outside forces to be denied a happily-ever-after.

He toasted the sound of Natalie showering in the next room before turning his attention
back to the file. A night without sleep, a shave and a shower of his own had done little to
improve his mood. And though MBI agents were en route to beef up security, Jim refused
to be derelict at his post. Paine and Butler were in the city looking for him, he had no
doubt.

Let them come.

As long as Natalie was safe, it didn't matter what happened to him. He loved her. And he
knew down in his bones that she was exactly what he wanted.

Now if he could only stay alive long enough to convince her to forgive him.

Shakespearean tragedy, indeed.

Chapter Twenty One

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Jim was cold. Like the blast of the air conditioner in his truck on a humid afternoon. Like
the alabaster pallor of Natalie's skin when she was afraid.

Like a freezing hospital room

He opened his eyes and looked around at the sterile environment of the Hanover County
hospital. The woman in the hospital bed was still, sleepingunconscious, perhapsas
he walked toward her across the room.

He moaned in his sleep.

He didn't want to see this again.

He didn't need to.

But his feet were suddenly locked to the floor, and the only place to look was down. He
didn't need to see Penny Earhart's chart to know she'd been beaten and raped. That she'd
barely survived the multiple assaults. He knew it by the bruises and cuts, the swollen lip,
the marks on her throatthe blank look in her eyes that told him checking out had been
the only way to endure the brutal ordeal.

Jim reached for her hand. He wanted to reassure her that he'd get the men responsible
for this. He promised that there would finally be real justice in Hanover County.

But when he bent down to speak, she had no face. A stark, white pillow covered her head.

And then he heard laughter from the corners of the room. "Got ya, college boy." Sheriff
Paine materialized on the opposite side of the bed. He plucked the pillow from the
woman's face. "Look. Nobody messes with us, college boy. We've got your woman. You
watch while she pays."

Jim looked down at the woman and recoiled as if he'd been jolted by a cattle prod. Not
Penny Earhart. Not the woman he'd interviewed in the hospital, the woman who either in
a delusion or through coercion had revealed his true identity to Arnold Paine. Not the
woman who'd been smothered to death once she'd served their purpose.

It was Natalie.

"No!"

Lying so still. Looking so cold.

And then bruises began to appear. Cuts, abrasions, the same injuries he'd seen on Penny
Earhart spreading across her fair skin like a rising tide of pain and death.

He tried to pick her up. He tried to stop the creeping death. "Natalie, no. Baby, no.
Natalie?"

"Natalie, baby," Paine mocked, as Carl Butler reached for her.

"No!Natalie!"

Chapter Twenty Two

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"Natalie?" Jim jerked awake.

The entire kitchen was dark. Papers were strewn about the table and crushed beneath his
feet. The nightmare of Penny Earhart's rape and murder had become his own nightmare.
"Natalie?" He staggered to the sink to splash cold water on his face. How long had he
been asleep? How long had he left Natalie alone and unguarded? He pushed the light
button on his watch. Hell. It was after midnight. "Nat?"

He touched the gun anchored at his side and moved through the house that was far too
quiet, turning on lights as he went. Back door secure. Living room, empty. Bathroom,
clear. Front door locked. He peeked through the front curtains to verify that an MBI agent
was sitting in a car beneath the street lamp out front to provide protection. There should
be another agent walking the perimeter.

But what if Paine and Butler had already gotten past them?

"Natalie?"

Why didn't she answer?

He pushed open the bedroom door and saw her still form lying on the bed.

His blood ran cold as the disturbing images from his nightmare blended with reality.
"Natalie!"

Jim rushed to the bed and reached for her hand. It was warm, not cold. He sank onto the
edge of the mattress beside her and pushed a long tendril of hair off her cheek. But her
skin was clean. Not bruised. She was asleep. Not dying.

"Nat?" He turned on the lamp beside the bed and her eyes fluttered open.

She pushed back the cover and sat up beside him. "What is it? Did something happen?
Why are all the lights on?"

He touched his fingers to her lips, tangled them in her hair and tucked it behind her ear.
But his fingers were shaking. "Honey, you have to answer me when I call you. I
thought"

"Jim, what is it?" She curled her fingers into the front of his shirt. "You're scaring me."

He gathered her into his arms and dragged her onto his lap, burying his nose in the citrusy
fragrance of her hair. "I'm sorry, baby, I just need to hold you."

Chapter Twenty Three

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Jim fell back across the bed, his strong arms pulling her on top of him. One hand palmed
the back of her head while he pressed his cheek against hers, holding her close and
rocking back and forth.
Natalie clung to his shoulders and rode the ragged rise and fall of his chest as he worked
past whatever devil had possessed him. "Talk to me. Tell me what's happening."

"You're safe? They're not here? You're not hurt?"

She went stiff in his arms and pushed against him. "Who?Sheriff Paine and his deputy?"

"I dozed off in the kitchenI should have been watching. I never meant for you"

"Look at me, Jim." She propped herself up on her elbows beside him and looked down at
the torment shadowing his eyes. She brushed a wave of hair off his forehead and cupped
his cheek. "I'm okay. It was a bad dream."

He pressed a kiss into her palm and then dragged her back to cover him like a blanket.
"Do you forgive me, babe? I never wanted to leave you. I'm sorry I made you cry. I'm so
sorry I put you in danger like this."

I love you.

Natalie spoke the words in her heart, but wondered if a sleep-deprived man with a guilty
conscience and a single-minded mission to save his corner of the world could ever really
hear them. Or feel them in his own heart.

But maybe she could show him.

"I need to know you're safe," he whispered, rolling her onto the covers beneath him and
sliding his hips over hers."If Paine or Butler ever put their hands on you"

"I'm okay, Jim," she repeated, over and over, stroking his brow, his cheek, his neck,
wanting to ease the fearful desperation in his husky voice. "I'm safe."

He pressed kisses to her cheeks, to her chin, to her temple, to her mouth. Dozens of
kisses. Tender. Clinging. Gentle. Praising.

Natalie tunneled her fingers into his hair, meeting him kiss for kiss. This was a Jim Parker
she hadn't known six weeks ago. This was a man who'd seen too much, who'd risked his
life to save another woman, to save an entire town. He was a man burdened by guilt and
responsibility.

He needed her to be safe.

He needed her to give him respite from his nightmares.

He needed her.

Chapter Twenty Four

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The weight of Jim's body pressed Natalie into the mattress, imprinting every sculpted
inch of his male form on the feminine curves of her body. His hand slipped beneath her
tank top to palm the nip of her waist. His strong thigh slipped between hers, rubbing
denim at that most vulnerable juncture of her body, the pressure sparking an ember of
need deep inside her. When she started at the hard poke of his gun against her hip, he
removed the weapon and set it on the table beside the bed.

But she wasn't out of his arms for long.

"You're so beautiful, Nat." He nipped at the soft swell of her bottom lip, then soothed the
sensitized nerve bundle there with his tongue. "So sweet. I hate that we didn't have more
time together." His hand slid up beneath her tank, his callused fingertips tickling and
warming her skin. "Yet I feel like I've known you forever. Like you and I were meant to
be."

With his mouth claiming hers in a deep, open kiss, Natalie tugged at the hem of his T-
shirt, freeing it from his jeans. His muscles quivered in a needy response as she slid her
palms across the fiery skin of his sides and back. "Jim.Honey.There's one thing we didn't
do that night. One thing that would make you and me truly perfect."

He nodded, palming her breast beneath her shirt, catching the pebbled tip between his
thumb and finger, teasing it until she buried her face against his neck and whimpered at
the icy shards of sensation that shot from the sensitive nub down to her womb where they
melted and gathered and blossomed into feverish desire. "I know, baby. I want that, too.
I've missed you. Will you let me?"

Natalie nodded, assuring him with every touch, every kiss, every needy gasp that she
needed this closeness, this reassurance of life and love and belonging just as much as he
did.

There were more soothing words, more greedy touches, more perfect kisses as they
stripped away their clothes and bared their hearts and joined their bodies.

Jim drifted off to sleep afterward, still holding Natalie tightly in his arms. She dipped her
lips to the furrow of worry that lingered beside his mouth and whispered, "I love you,
James Parker. And I forgive you."

Chapter Twenty Five

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Jim awoke from the most peaceful sleep he'd had in six weeks to find the covers tucked
neatly across his naked body and his arms empty.
The pleasure of the past few hours disappeared completely as soon as he realized Natalie
had left him. He sat bolt upright in bed, letting the covers pool at his waist. He reached
for his jeans and shorts, and picked up his gun as he swung his legs off the bed. "Nat?"

The shower wasn't running. The bathroom stood open and empty.

"Baby, I know I'm not dreaming, but I still get that funny little feeling in my gut when
you don't answer me."

"In here," she shouted.

He finally smiled when his nose picked up the scent of bacon and followed her voice to
the kitchen. He found her wearing that figure-hugging running suit and lifting crispy little
strips of pork out of the cast iron skillet where she was frying them. "Sorry I didn't
answer. It's a Sunday morning tradition at my house to have a big breakfast. And since
you needed your sleep, I decided to cook."

Jim tucked his gun into the back of his jeans and reached around her to pinch off a bite
from the stack of pancakes on the counter and pop it into his mouth. "Mmm.That's good.
I guess I don't have any family traditions since it's just me. But I could get used to this
one."

He reached for another buttery bite, but she swatted his hand away. "Wait until it's on the
table. I still have to cook the eggs. Is fried okay?"

Jim bent down to nibble on the juncture of her neck and shoulder instead. "Honey,
whatever you're offering, I'm saying yes to. I'm a hungry man. You stirred up quite an
appetite in me last night. About wore me out."

"Is that why you slept so late?" she teased, cracking an egg into a small bowl before
dropping it into the sizzling pan.

"Maybe." He stole a piece of bacon while she was occupied. But he wasn't quite ready to
play the domestic bliss game and forget the fact they were in a safe house, and that two
very dangerous men wanted them dead. "Still, when I call for you, you need to answer. I
need to know you're all right."

"Yes, sir."

"I'm serious, Nat."

"I know." She wiped her hands on a dish towel, then turned to splay her fingers over the
left side of his chest. Although he was certain the gesture was meant to soothe his
concern, his heart-rate kicked up a notch at the feel of her gentle hand against his skin.
He covered her hand with his and dipped his head, leaning in for a kiss. But the telephone
on the wall beside the refrigerator rang, interrupting the moment of reconciliation.

"Expecting a call?" she asked.

Jim glanced at the clock on the stove. Medlund called in every twelve hours. This call
was early. That couldn't be good. He reached for the phone. "No."

Chapter Twenty Six

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"Detective Parker?"

Jim didn't recognize the voice."Yes?"

"This is Agent Dickson. I've got a guy out here who says he's volunteering to join the
watch. His badge says he's KCPD. He identifies himself as a friend of yours, Nick
Fensom?" The wary hackles at the back of Jim's neck relaxed at the mention of his old
friend. "Should I send him on his way or let him sit in his car and sweat like the rest of
us?"

"Nick's one of the good guys. I'd appreciate it if he'd stay."

Once Agent Dickson had verified the safe word, and he'd exchanged a few words with
Nick, Jim ended the call. Natalie was waiting anxiously at his side. "What is it?"

"Surprise, surprise. Big brother has come to join the watch."

She frowned. "What about his honeymoon?"

"Temporarily postponed until he knows his sister is okay. He says your Uncle George has
recruited a few more volunteers to reinforce what the MBI has set up. So we'll be seeing
more men around the place."

Instead of looking reassured, her frown deepened. "Sheriff Paine is that dangerous a
man?"

"He's been following his own set of rules in Hanover County for the past twelve years,
and anyone who dares to stand up to him winds up dead." When she hugged her arms
around her waist, Jim draped an arm around her shoulder and hugged her to his side.
"Now come on. Let's get back to that discussion about breakfast. So cooking is only one
of your many talents. Is there anything you can't do, woman?"
She smiled at the compliment, then snuggled up to kiss the corner of his mouth. "I really
am quite the catch, Detective Parker. Maybe you shouldn't be so quick to leave next
time."

He palmed her butt and lifted her onto her toes to deepen the kiss. "Don't I know it."

"Why don't you pour us a cup of coffee while I plate things up." She popped a bite of
bacon into his mouth, forcing him to chew while she turned away to crack another egg.

The doorbell rang and anymore conversation was put on hold while Natalie strolled to the
door.

"Yes?" she asked, pausing with her hand on the knob and peeking through the peep hole.

"Um, yes, ma'am," a deep voice answered. "I'm Agent Henley. Agent Dickson said I
could step inside for a minute to use the facilities?"

"Could I see your badge, please? Okay." After a momentary pause, she stepped back.

And then it hit him. "Natalie, wait. Did he give you the safe word?"

But she had already unbolted the door.

Jim drew his weapon. But it was too late to stop the nightmare from happening.

Arnold Paine grabbed Natalie by the arm and twisted it behind her, forcing her into the
room with the barrel of his service pistol. "Good morning, Deputy Jensen. Or should I
say, Detective Parker?" The bastard shrugged as if anything he said could be amusing.
"Seems none of us are who we say we are this morning."

Chapter Twenty Seven

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Jim braced his legs apart, ready for whatever the rat threw at him if it meant getting
Natalie out of here alive. "I never pictured you as a suit and tie kind of guy, Sheriff."

Paine shrugged his fat shoulders. "Our Hanover uniforms were too recognizable here in
K.C.I think I look a lot like that MBI hotshot I killed and buried out on Old Man Haight's
farm. Don't you?" He tapped his gun against Natalie's neck and she flinched. Easy, baby.
"Now be a good boy and put your weapon on the ground."

"Let her go." Jim offered a trade. "I'm the one you want."

"How about you do what I tell ya or I'll put a bullet in her head."
With his hands outstretched to show his compliance, Jim pulled his Glock from his jeans
and set it on the floor beside the table."Where's your bulldog sidekick?"

"Right here, Parker. The coast is clear, boss." Carl Butler turned sideways and came
through the door, closing it behind him and turning the dead bolt. "I took care of the two
outside."

Natalie's gaze flew to Jim. "Nick"

"I didn't stop to ask their names, sweet pea." He rolled a toothpick to one side of his
mouth and leered."You never told me she was so pretty, Parker."

At the stroke of his bear paw across her cheek, Natalie jerked away. "If you hurt my
brother"

Butler laughed. "She's a feisty one, boss. I think we ought to do her first and make
loverboy watch. That'll teach him a lesson about what we do to folks who betray us. Then
we kill him."

Jim knew he should have been evaluating escape options. He should have reassured
Natalie that there was a good chance Nick was alive and unharmed. Butler only
mentioned taking out two men outside. But two MBI agents plus Nick made three. There
was still help out there these two thugs didn't know about. If Jim could get a message to
that man, if that guard noticed the other two men were down, they had a chance of getting
out of this alive.

But all he could see was the beefy deputy's leering grin.

"Let me make this clear, Butler. You lay a hand on her again and I will kill you."

Chapter Twenty Eight

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Sheriff Paine was laughing as he pushed Natalie farther into the room. "Down, boy. You
ain't got no place left to hide from me. I thought you were one of us, but then that wing
nut of a woman in the hospital said you were a Kansas City cop. She seemed to think you
were gonna save her or something."

"You killed her, didn't you," Jim accused.

Paine didn't deny it. "She was of no further use to me." He trailed his gun along Natalie's
neck. "Come to think of it, I've got no use for this one here, either."

Jim's toes gripped the floor to keep him from leaping over the table. "So let her go. Let
her walk out that door."
"I don't think so. This is too much fun to watch you squirm."

Meanwhile, Carl Butler strolled casually around the kitchen, sampling bites of food along
the way.

"Would you like me to fix you a fresh stack of pancakes?" Natalie offered.

Her sweet blue eyes locked on his across the room. Smart girl had a plan. Paine must be
twisting her arm right out of its socket, but she wasn't complaining. She was thinking.

He was the backup.

Whatever happened, they were in this together. "I love you, Natalie."

"I love you."

Paine laughed. "Now that's just so damn sweet." He shoved Natalie hard enough that she
stumbled into the counter. It took every bit of Jim's considerable will to lock his feet to
the floor and not go to her. I got your back, baby.

"I'm okay, Jim," she assured him. "I'm okay."

Paine laughed while Nat rubbed her sore arm and flexed her shoulder. "Fix us some food,
sugar. Maybe we'll eat while your boyfriend's bleeding out on the floor."

Carl joined in the laughter. "Like this?"

He swung around, driving his meaty fist into Jim's cheek and knocking him to his hands
and knees.

"Jim!" Natalie gasped. She darted behind Butler. "You creep!"

Blood oozed from the split in Jim's cheek and his skull rang with the force of the blow
he'd been too late to anticipate.

Nah, he'd dropped to the floor just in time. Just in time to see Natalie pick up a towel to
wrap around the handle of the cast iron skillet. Just in time to flip that hot bacon grease
into Butler's face. While he screamed in pain and staggered forward to grab her, she
swung the heavy pan again, catching the big man on the chin and knocking him back into
the counter.

In the split-second it took for Paine to swing around and fire his gun, Jim dove for his
own weapon. He'd landed in just the right place to fire straight beneath the table to hit
Paine's leg and topple him to the floor.
Another whack of the skillet and Butler was on the ground. Keeping his Glock trained on
the sheriff, Jim retrieved Butler's weapon and kicked Paine's gun beyond his reach.

"I got this, Nat." He eased the skillet from Natalie's frantic grasp and set it on the back of
the stove. "Get on the phone and call 9-1-1.Call Nick. Call your uncle. Call everybody.
We've got these bastards." While she dialed her brother, he read the men their rights. He
took the handcuffs off their own belts and put them on, securing the prisoners until help
arrived. "Arnold Paine and Carl Butler, you're under arrest for kidnapping, rape, murder
and witness intimidation."

"It's Nick. He's okay. He's on his way. He just found Agent Dickson in his car. He said he
found the other agent first, on the grounds. Looked like they'd both been tasered.
Attacked from behind. But they'll be okay. " Natalie was still on the phone when she
moved to Jim's side and leveled a charge of her own. "You cowards. Arrest them for
impersonating real police officers. You're the real deal, Jim. They're just bullies with a
badge."

Chapter Twenty Nine

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A week later, Natalie was explaining the building blocks for creating different verb tenses
when Jim Parker walked into her classroom.

He pointed straight at Danny and Tom. "You boys aren't giving Ms. Fensom any trouble,
are you?"

She wasn't surprised to see them both sit up in their desks. "No, sir."

Natalie's heart fluttered with anticipation and those little ripples of awareness flooded
shamelessly through her blood at the button-down shirt that hugged his broad shoulders.
Snug jeans, a belt, gun and a badge hanging from a chain around his neck completed
the look.

The crew cut was back, adding striking emphasis to the angular planes of his clean-
shaven face and the greenish purple bruise under his left eye. The injury was the last
remnant of the shadowy threat and painful disruption Arnold Paine had brought to their
lives.

"Detective Parker," she greeted him, gripping the back of her chair. "Did you finish your
deposition with the MBI?"

"Yes, ma'am.The Hanover County sheriff's department is being dismantled as we speak.

The ones who committed the actual crimes and the ones who looked the other way are all
being dealt with. The state patrol will watch over Falls City until a new law enforcement
team can be screened and hired. Arnold Paine and Carl Butler are awaiting trial. Word is,
there are several witnesses willing to testify against them, including one lady who's stuck
teaching summer school."

"Are you thinking of applying for one of the jobs in Falls City?"

He shook his head. "I've got ties here in Kansas City. I applied for a transfer to KCPD's
Cold Case squad. I'm friends with the deputy commissioner, so I think I might get the job.
I'm looking forward to avoiding undercover work and sticking close to home."

"I see."

"No, I don't think you do." Jim grinned and got down on one knee beside her desk. "One
date with you isn't enough."

"Dude." Danny Garcia stood beside his desk to get a better look. Like Natalie, Tom
Kuszak was actually tearing up.

But she only had eyes for the man kneeling in front of her.

"I know you like things to be predictable and reliable. I can't promise you the first, but I
can guarantee the latter. And, just so you understand exactly what I'm sayingI love you,
Natalie Fensom. Will you marry me?"

Natalie held on to the chair, afraid to move in case her knees failed her. She looked down
into Jim's moss green eyes, silently weeping with joy.

He whispered. "You're making me look bad in front of our audience here. You got an
answer for me, babe?"

If her knees buckled, it didn't matter. Jim Parker alive and loving her was Natalie's dream
come true. She threw her arms around his neck. "Yes.I love you. I want to marry you."

He stood with her in his arms, and they kissed. He set her on her feet so he could place
the diamond solitaire on her finger, and then they kissed to an outbreak of applause from
her classroom.

"I'm gonna use some of those moves," Tom declared.

Danny scoffed. "What, with a girl? You ain't got no game."

" Haven't got any game,"< Tom corrected. "Haven't you been paying any attention to Ms.
Fensom? Girls like smart guys. I think I'm gonna be smart now."

Jim agreed, looking down into Natalie's eyes. "Me, too. I'm smart enough to never let you
go again."
Chapter Thirty
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"Hurry." Uncle George shooed all the family up to the stairs in front of the altar. "These
monkey suits are only rented for the day, and the photographer's only here for a few
minutes. And I want everyone in the picture."

"My hair doesn't look as good as it did last time."

"I can't get this tie tied."

"Do I still have lipstick on?"

"A woman doesn't usually get to wear her wedding dress twice." Natalie's mom seemed
to be shedding just as many tears today as she had two weeks ago at Nick and Annie's
wedding. "I'm so glad we could get everyone together again."

Nick leaned in to kiss his bride. "You and I are going on our honeymoon right after this,
slugger. No more delays." He turned to include everyone in his next admonition. "So
nobody wander off for any reason until this photograph is taken."

Natalie strolled up to the front of the church in her dove-gray bridesmaid's gown, donning
it one more time so they could take the family portrait she'd missed that day Jim had
kidnapped her from the church to save her from Arnold Paine and Carl Butler.

She handed her mother a tissue, fixed her brother Noah's tie, offered Nadine her lipstick
tube and reassured her youngest sister, Nell. "You look beautiful, sweetie."

It took several minutes for the photographer to arrange all of them for the picture.

While the rest of the family settled into their places, Natalie glanced up at her Uncle
George. He was smiling, glad to have the family all together again. Glad they were all
safe. Glad that all was right in the Fensoms' world.

She looked out to the first pew where Jim sat, and touched her thumb to the engagement
ring on her left hand.

She was smiling, too.

From deep in her heart to the dimple on her cheek, she was smiling, too.