A DESPERATE FATHER

Only one thing matters to Caleb O’Malley: his daughter. Framed for his wife’s murder, Caleb’s only wish is to see his little girl. But Noelle Whitman, his daughter’s foster mother, isn’t buying his plea of innocence until bullets start flying and they’re running for their lives. Staying one step ahead of the real killer proves nearly impossible, but former SWAT cop Caleb will risk everything to keep them safe. Because now there is nothing more important than Noelle and his daughter—not his freedom, not even his life.

SWAT: Top Cops—Love in the line of duty

“I can’t stand the thought of my daughter being afraid of me,” Caleb whispered.

“She’s not,” Noelle whispered back. “After all, she let you hold her in the pool, remember?”

He shook his head. “She wanted to swim so badly I think she would have let anyone hold her.”

Noelle sank down into the chair next to him, unable to refute his logic. “She needs a little time, that’s all.”

He lifted his gaze to hers. “Maybe I can find a safe place for the two of you to stay for a while. Then I’ll head off on my own to try and figure out who’s trying to kill me.”

For some odd reason, Noelle found she was beginning to believe Caleb was in fact innocent of the crime he’d been accused of.

But knowing that didn’t reassure her the way she thought it would.

Because whoever had tried to kill Caleb outside her house was very likely still looking for him. And she was deeply afraid that the killer wouldn’t hesitate to take the life of a woman and child, too, if necessary.

LAURA SCOTT

grew up reading faith-based romance books by Grace Livingston Hill, but as much as she loved the stories, she longed for a bit more mystery and suspense. She is honored to write for the Love Inspired Suspense line, where a reader can find a heartwarming journey of faith amid the thrilling danger.

Laura lives with her husband of twenty-five years and has two children, a daughter and a son, who are both in college. She works as a critical-care nurse during the day at a large level-one trauma center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and spends her spare time writing romance.

Please visit Laura at www.laurascottbooks.com, as she loves to hear from her readers.

Wrongly Accused

Laura Scott

www.millsandboon.co.uk

MILLS & BOON

Before you start reading, why not sign up?

Thank you for downloading this Mills & Boon book. If you want to hear about exclusive discounts, special offers and competitions, sign up to our email newsletter today!

SIGN ME UP!

Or simply visit

signup.millsandboon.co.uk

Mills & Boon emails are completely free to receive and you can unsubscribe at any time via the link in any email we send you.

For I, the Lord, love justice; I hate robbery and wrongdoing. In my faithfulness I will reward my people and make an everlasting covenant with them.

—Isaiah 61:8

This book is dedicated to Pat and Ted Iding.

Thank you for all the wonderful years you’ve loved me as one of your own.

Contents

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

EPILOGUE

DEAR READER

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

EXTRACT

ONE

Caleb O’Malley’s stomach knotted painfully at the thought of seeing his daughter, Kaitlin, for the first time in over a year. Since the day he’d been sent to jail for a crime he didn’t commit.

He parked his beat-up truck in front of the fourth house from the corner and killed the engine. Taking a deep breath, he shoved his car door open and forced himself to get out and walk up the sidewalk to the front door of Noelle Whitman’s house, trying not to resent the woman who’d been his daughter’s foster mother while he’d been behind bars.

To be honest, it was his own fault he hadn’t seen Kaitlin in so long. At first, he’d thought he’d be let out as soon as they realized he was innocent. But then week after week passed by, and he’d grimly realized there was a very real possibility he’d be found guilty. At that point, he’d been unable to bear the thought of having his young daughter see him in jail.

He’d been shocked to hear from his lawyer that the case against him had been dropped due to the strange disappearance of the eyewitness. And deeply glad to know he was free at last.

He rapped sharply on the door and waited impatiently for the Whitman woman to answer.

He squinted against the harsh glare of the summer sun. After not being in the sunlight for so long, he enjoyed the warmth soaking into his skin, even though the temperature was hovering at a steamy ninety degrees.

His lawyer, Jack Owens, had promised to let Ms. Whitman know Caleb was on his way to pick up Kaitlin, so there was no reason for her not to be here. Hard to believe that he’d only been out of jail for a few hours. His release had been so sudden he hadn’t had time to make plans. It was Friday and once he picked up Kaitlin, he’d go home and take the weekend to figure out how to start their life over again.

He lifted his hand to knock again at the exact moment the door swung open, so he pulled back his hand just in time. The woman standing before him was much younger than he’d anticipated, probably barely thirty, with reddish-gold hair and fair skin. She was dressed casually in a green short-sleeved sweater and calf-length blue jeans. In her arms was his five-year-old daughter, wearing a pretty pink dress and pink barrettes clipped to her glossy chin-length blond hair. She clutched a small stuffed giraffe to her chest.

The minute Kaitlin saw him she dropped the giraffe, wrapped her arms around Noelle’s neck and burst into tears. “Nooo, I don’t wanna go wif Daddy!”

His stomach tightened painfully as his worst nightmare played out in front of him. Ms. Whitman held Kaitlin close at the same time she took a step back, a wary expression on her face.

“You’d better come in,” she said over Kaitlin’s sobs. He stepped forward and bent down to pick up the giraffe.

A split second later, he heard the crack of a rifle and the soft thud of a bullet hitting the doorframe of the house, inches from where his head had been.

“Get back,” he shouted, barging into her house with the finesse and strength of a bull, before slamming the door behind him.

Another bullet pierced the door, followed by yet another. He covered Noelle’s body with his as he practically pushed her toward the relative safety of the kitchen.

“What’s going on?” Noelle asked hoarsely, her green eyes wide with fear as he shoved her down behind the island. He hated the way Kaitlin’s crying grew louder.

“We have to get out of here.” There wasn’t time to explain what he didn’t even understand himself. He had no clue why someone was shooting at him, but right now all that mattered was getting out of here in one piece. He lunged for the keys he saw lying on the counter and mentally visualized where the garage was located. “Does that door lead out to the garage?”

“Yes.”

“Let’s go.”

“No! Wait! We have to call 911!” She shrank away from him, pressing herself against the island and curling protectively around his daughter.

He hesitated, trying to think rationally. He didn’t trust the police, but if he left on his own would the shooter follow him and leave Ms. Whitman and Kaitlin alone?

Or use his daughter as bait as a way to draw him out? The very possibility made his blood run cold.

“Look, we need to get out of here. There’s a chance that guy out there will try to use Kaitlin as a way to get to me. I have to keep her safe!”

The sound of breaking glass made him glance back toward the living room. A familiar round canister landed and rolled on the carpet with smoke rising up toward the ceiling.

“Tear gas! Listen, lady, if you want to live, come with me. I promise to keep you and Kaitlin safe. But we have to move. Now!” His eyes were already starting to burn as he grabbed the pink backpack that was on the counter next to the keys, gripped her arm and dragged her toward the door to the garage. “Hurry!”

Thankfully she followed him into the fresh air of the garage. She slid into the backseat and talked softly to Kaitlin as she buckled his daughter into her booster seat. He tossed the pink backpack inside and climbed into the driver’s seat.

“Buckle up,” he said tersely as he cranked the key in the ignition. The moment he heard her seat belt click he put the SUV in gear. Thankfully she drove a sturdy vehicle, which would help them escape the shooter. The thought of backing out the driveway in full view of the shooter filled him with dread. But he mentally visualized the neighborhood, marking a path that should help keep them safe.

“Hang on,” he warned before he hit the garage door opener. As the door slowly opened he decided not to wait for it to get all the way up before he stomped hard on the accelerator and flew out of the driveway, clipping the bottom of the garage door with the top of her car.

The sound of gunfire filled the air as he swiftly spun the SUV around and headed straight across the street through a neighbor’s yard.

* * *

Noelle let out a small scream as he barreled out of the garage, wrecking her garage door as he sailed down the driveway. At the sound of gunfire, she leaned over, trying to protect Kaitlin as Caleb O’Malley drove like a maniac across the street and through her neighbor’s yard. She momentarily closed her eyes and frantically prayed.

Dear Lord, please keep me and Kaitlin safe!

The vehicle jerked sharply from side to side as they went up and over the edge of her neighbor’s flower bed. Within moments, they were heading down that neighbor’s driveway to the street behind hers.

Kaitlin’s father didn’t speak as he drove, taking several sharp turns as he took them farther away from her house. The way he kept glancing at the rearview mirror told her he was worried they were being followed.

Should she mention how she’d noticed a black pickup truck following behind her for the past few days? Was it possible that person had just been waiting for Kaitlin’s father to show up?

She swiped at her eyes and glanced back, wishing desperately there was a cop somewhere close by. Where were the police when you needed them? Hopefully one of her neighbors had heard the gunshots and called the cops. If only she hadn’t left her cell phone and her purse in her bedroom. But how was she to have known something like this would happen?

She pulled herself together with an effort. She could not let this man know how afraid she really was.

Kaitlin finally stopped crying, but her thumb was planted firmly in her mouth, a sure sign that the child was upset.

When Kaitlin’s father headed toward the freeway, she forced herself to speak. “Why aren’t we going to the closest police station?”

“Because I don’t trust the police.”

Her stomach knotted further and she had to work to keep her tone steady. “Where are you taking us?”

“Somewhere safe,” he said, barely glancing back at her.

Somewhere safe? She swallowed a hysterical laugh. Everyone in Milwaukee knew he’d been arrested for killing his wife fourteen months ago. Caleb O’Malley had made headline news, not just in the city but across the country. Former sharpshooter for the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Department SWAT team arrested for murdering his wife.

Unfortunately, all charges against Caleb O’Malley had been dropped when the eyewitness, who claimed to have seen O’Malley shoot his wife and then take off from the scene of the crime, abruptly disappeared a week before the trial. Without the witness there wasn’t enough of a case against him. At least that was what his lawyer, Jack Owens, had told her.

Noelle had been sick at the thought of handing Kaitlin back over to her father, but there hadn’t been much she could do to prevent him from exercising his custodial right to take his daughter. Supposedly he wasn’t a criminal anymore.

Still, she knew there was no statute of limitations for murder. There was a part of her that believed the police would eventually find the evidence they needed to lock up Caleb O’Malley for good. If he was guilty, of course, which she was fairly certain he was.

Had she gone with one killer to escape another?

“Why don’t you let me and Kaitlin go?” she said, striving to sound reasonable. “Surely you don’t want to expose your daughter to danger.”

He concentrated on the road. “I told you, I can’t ignore the possibility they would use her to get to me. I thought about dropping you off somewhere, but obviously Kaitlin needs you so that’s not an option. I promise I’m not going to hurt you.”

He was right about one thing: Kaitlin did need her. No way was she leaving the child alone with a potential murderer. Yet she knew she was risking her life by staying. Granted, he’d tried to protect her back at the house when the bullets had started flying, but what did she really know about this man? Nothing except what she learned through the media.

And none of that had been good.

Trusting men wasn’t exactly easy for her, either.

“Did you see anything out on the street?” he asked, breaking into her thoughts.

“You mean before the gunshots?” She thought back to those moments when she’d faced Caleb O’Malley across the threshold. Ironically, there hadn’t been the usual black car she’d noticed over the past few days. “There was a red pickup parked on the street.”

“That’s my truck. Did you see anything else? Another vehicle? A person? Anything?”

“No.” She’d been far more preoccupied with trying to find a way to ease the transition for Kaitlin. Noelle had planned to invite him in, hoping he’d spend some time getting to know his daughter again before leaving with her. Especially after the way Kaitlin had clung to her, sobbing.

As much as she feared the dark-haired stranger, she wasn’t leaving Kaitlin alone with him any time soon. Kaitlin was the sole reason she’d come along in the first place. The poor child had already been through so much, losing her mother and then her father. Kaitlin had suffered night terrors the first weeks she’d been with Noelle, but the child hadn’t had a nightmare for almost five months.

Noelle would be shocked if today’s events didn’t bring them back. She’d be surprised if her own nightmares of the past didn’t return, too.

There was another long silence and she realized they were already well outside the city limits. Grimly she knew they could go for several hundred miles without stopping on the gas tank she’d filled yesterday.

“I’d let you both go if I could,” he said in a low voice. “But I’m afraid it’s too late. You and Kaitlin are in danger now, too.”

“In danger from whom?” she asked helplessly.

“I wish I knew,” he said, his tone weary. “Probably from the same person who killed Heather.”

She knew Heather had been his wife and Kaitlin’s mother. And if he thought she was going to believe that line of baloney, he was as crazy as the media had portrayed him to be.

During an interview on TV, one of his SWAT teammates had mentioned Caleb’s hair-trigger temper. She could imagine how difficult it must have been for him to discover his wife was cheating on him.

Not that his wife had deserved to die for her sins, leaving Kaitlin without a mother, or a father once Caleb had been arrested. As Kaitlin’s preschool teacher and an approved foster parent, she’d fought for and won temporary custody of the little girl. At first she thought it would only be a few weeks until other family had been notified but no one had been found. Over the past year she’d grown to love Kaitlin. And being forced to turn the child over to Caleb had nearly broken her heart.

“I guess you don’t believe in the theory of innocent until proven guilty,” he said, breaking into her thoughts.

“I never said you were guilty,” she said hastily. No sense in baiting the tiger. She needed to keep on his good side in order to convince him to let her and Kaitlin go. So far, she wasn’t entirely sure she believed in his theory that she and Kaitlin were in danger.

“So you believe I’m innocent?” he asked after several long moments.

She licked her dry lips and tried to smile. “The judge let you go, which is good enough for me.”

He let out a noise that sounded suspiciously like a snort, but didn’t say anything more. She stared out the window as the miles zipped past. Glancing over at Kaitlin, she noted the girl’s eyelids were starting to droop. Long car rides tended to make the little girl sleepy and no doubt she’d worn herself out with her crying jag.

Twenty minutes later, Noelle realized Kaitlin’s father had left the freeway and turned onto a country highway.

She couldn’t quell a hint of panic when she didn’t recognize the area. They were in a rural part of Wisconsin. Where was he taking them? What did he intend to do?

She’d gone along with him to protect Kaitlin, not to mention to get away from the rolling tear gas and flying bullets. But now, she was second-guessing her decision.

She and Kaitlin would likely be safer on their own. She trusted the police would protect them. Why wouldn’t they?

Somehow, she needed to find a way to escape.

* * *

Caleb dragged a hand over his face as the SUV ate up the miles, and tried to think rationally. He didn’t know who’d fired those shots at him, but if he hadn’t picked up Kaitlin’s stuffed giraffe, he’d be dead.

Leaving Kaitlin an orphan.

Somehow, he felt stupid for not realizing that whoever had killed his wife would still be out there somewhere, waiting for him. But the attempt on his life didn’t make much sense. Why not try to plant more evidence to get him back behind bars? What would they gain from killing him?

“Where’s Giffy?” he heard Kaitlin ask. The little girl had napped for a while but was obviously awake now.

“Right here, sweetheart.” In the rearview mirror, he saw Kaitlin hug the stuffed giraffe close.

“Ah, Mr. O’Malley?” Noelle’s voice was soft, almost hesitant. He hated seeing the shadow of fear in her eyes, but he didn’t know how to reassure her he was innocent of the crime he’d been accused of. He could talk all he wanted, but without proof that he was being framed, there wasn’t much he could do.

“Caleb,” he corrected curtly. “Call me Caleb.”

“Uh, sure. Caleb. It’s past five-thirty and Kaitlin usually eats dinner about this time,” she said with a hint of nervousness.

He flushed, squelching a flash of guilt. He should have realized that his daughter would need to eat soon. After fourteen long months in jail he’d forgotten how to be a father. “Sounds like a plan. What would you like?”

“Kaitlin, what do you want for dinner?” Noelle asked.

The little girl pulled her thumb out of her mouth. “Chicken bites.”

In the rearview mirror he caught the fleeting grimace that passed over Noelle’s face, but she readily agreed with Kaitlin’s decision. “That would be great.”

“Looks like there’s a fast-food restaurant five miles ahead,” he said, gesturing to a road sign. “We’ll get something there.”

“Thank you.”

He swallowed a frustrated sigh. Noelle acted as if he was some sort of ogre keeping her and Kaitlin prisoner. Yet what could he have done differently? If he had left Kaitlin behind and something had happened to his daughter, he’d never have forgiven himself. No question he’d give up his life for Kaitlin.

And he couldn’t bring himself to trust the police, either. Not when he fully believed that someone from his SWAT team had set him up for his wife’s murder.

Feeling grim, he imagined that the cops were right now swarming Noelle’s house, gathering evidence. What would they think when they found the slugs from a high-powered rifle and a canister of tear gas in her house? Would that prove his innocence? Or would they turn the whole thing around to somehow make him the bad guy?

He couldn’t help believing the latter. It wouldn’t be long before the killer was hot on their tail. He needed to figure out a good place to hide until he could find someone to trust.

Not that he could think of too many people he trusted at the moment. He’d put his faith in his lawyer, Jack Owens, but Jack had been the only person who’d known Caleb’s plan of going to Noelle’s house. Not that he could understand why Jack would try to kill him after working more than a year to set him free.

His wife’s killer had clearly set him up to rot in prison for the rest of his life. And now that Caleb had been given a get-out-of-jail-free card, it was possible that the same person had tried to kill him. Unless his wife had other lovers who he didn’t know about, someone who’d taken shots at him in an effort to seek revenge?

He sighed and turned off the highway, heading onto a side road leading to the popular fast-food restaurant. He pulled in and headed down the drive-through lane.

“I hav’ta go potty,” Kaitlin announced.

He inwardly winced, feeling guilty for not anticipating his daughter’s needs. He made a quick U-turn in the parking lot so he could pull into a spot located near the front of the building.

He slid out from behind the wheel but before he could try to help Kaitlin out of her booster seat, Noelle took control, undoing the buckles to free his daughter. She carried Kaitlin out and set her down on the ground.

“I hav’ta go now!” Kaitlin said, rushing toward the door. Noelle sprinted to catch up, quickly capturing Kaitlin’s hand.

“I’ll take you to the bathroom, okay, sweetie?”

Caleb followed them inside, feeling like an outsider. He’d lost so much time with his daughter. The fact that she didn’t want to be near him was like a knife to his heart.

Standing at the back of the lobby area, he stared blindly at the menu selections. Food wasn’t nearly as important as keeping his daughter safe from harm. He felt exposed standing here in the middle of a fast-food joint, considering how just three hours ago, someone tried to kill him. Yet he’d kept a careful eye out to make sure they hadn’t been followed.

But they weren’t safe yet, not by a long shot.

Noelle and Kaitlin returned from the bathroom and he couldn’t help smiling at the way his daughter was giggling.

“I had no idea public restrooms could be fun,” he said with a smile.

Noelle shrugged. “She found the air hand-drying machine entertaining.”

“So, Katydid, what would you like for dinner?” he asked, capturing his daughter’s gaze. He hoped she remembered his pet name for her.

She tilted her head to the side and gave him an exasperated look. “I already tole you, chicken bites.”

She hadn’t reacted to the nickname, but at least she wasn’t crying, either. He tried to take heart at the minor step forward. “Okay, one order of chicken bites. Noelle, what would you like?”

“I’ll have a grilled chicken sandwich.”

“What about to drink? I’ll get Kaitlin some milk, but what would you like?”

“Water is fine.”

He nodded and decided to order a thick cheeseburger for himself. Soon they had their food piled on a plastic tray. Noelle and Kaitlin picked out a small rectangle table and he made sure to sit where he could keep an eye on the door.

He found himself distracted by Kaitlin, who’d grown so much in the time he’d been stuck behind bars. Before he could dig into his food, Noelle surprised him by taking Kaitlin’s hand in hers and bowing her head.

“Dear Lord, we thank You for providing this food for us to eat and we ask for Your protection and Your guidance in showing us the right path. Amen.”

“Amen,” his daughter echoed.

He paused, unsure of how he felt about the fact that Noelle was teaching his daughter to pray. He and Heather hadn’t been particularly religious and he instinctively knew Heather would have been upset at Noelle’s teaching Kaitlin about God. But he decided there were worst things than being a Christian so he didn’t say anything. Although he couldn’t help wondering what else Noelle had taught Kaitlin while he’d been gone.

He bit into his cheeseburger, enjoying the juicy taste he’d long been denied. He divided his attention between Kaitlin and the door. His daughter ate sparingly, spending more time playing with her chicken bites, pretending they were animals talking to each other. Regret burned in the back of his throat for the time he’d lost. He wanted nothing more than to gather his daughter into his arms and hold her close, but he’d rather cut off his arm than scare her again.

“Eat your dinner, Kaitlin,” Noelle said in a soft but stern tone.

“Are we goin’ home soon?” Kaitlin asked.

Noelle lifted her eyebrow and glanced at him. He cleared his throat and smiled. “We’re going to spend the night in a motel. Won’t that be fun?”

His daughter’s big blue eyes, mirror images of her mother’s, widened with excitement. “Wif a swimming pool?”

“I don’t know, maybe.” There were plenty of hotels with pools, but he’d wanted to find something small and off the main thoroughfares. Maybe he’d get lucky and find a small motel with an outdoor pool. After all, it was mid-June, warm enough for outdoor swimming. He was eager to gain whatever ground he could with his daughter. “But first you have to finish your dinner.”

“Okay.” She grinned saucily and popped another chicken bite into her mouth, smearing ketchup across her cheek. He was glad to see she was growing more at ease with him.

He reached for his napkin but Noelle was quicker, already wiping the red stain away. He curled his fingers into a helpless fist.

And couldn’t help wondering if Noelle was really trying to help. Or if this was a subtle way of sabotaging his relationship with his daughter.

* * *

Noelle finished her sandwich about the same time as Caleb. She gathered all the trash into a neat pile on the tray while they waited for Kaitlin. When they’d first entered the restaurant, she’d considered asking one of the patrons for help, but there weren’t many people inside. And what if they simply looked at her as if she were crazy? Technically, Caleb had legal custody of his daughter, while she didn’t have any right to the child. For now, she’d decided to go along with pretending to be a family.

The stark longing in Caleb’s eyes as he gazed at his daughter made her wonder if she’d misjudged him. Clearly he loved Kaitlin and during the course of the meal she found herself torn between wanting to get as far away from him as she could and wanting to help him repair his relationship with the daughter who barely remembered him.

She couldn’t imagine who’d tried to shoot him, but at least now the black truck that had trailed her for days made sense. Whoever was driving it must have been waiting for Caleb to arrive. If Caleb was truly innocent of the crime he’d been accused of, why would someone still want him dead? Was it possible he had really been framed? Or was that wishful thinking on her part?

“We need to go,” Caleb said.

“All right,” she agreed. Kaitlin was obviously finished with her food, so she quickly wiped off the little girl’s sticky fingers and then stood up. Caleb took the tray of garbage and headed over to the trash can. Then he waited for her by the door, holding it open for the two of them.

They walked toward her car and as Caleb opened the back passenger door, she caught a glimpse of a police car pulling into the parking lot of the restaurant. She froze, wondering if she could manage to capture the cop’s attention. Would the cop believe her story? Or would he run a check on Caleb only to find that he did have legal custody of his daughter?

“You’re welcome to leave, but you won’t take my daughter,” Caleb warned, clamping his hand on her elbow to prevent her from leaving. “So make up your mind, and quick.”

She hesitated, full of uncertainty.

“Just get Kaitlin into the car, all right?” he pressed.

“Uh, sure.” She lifted Kaitlin into the booster seat. Her fingers were shaking so badly that she had trouble buckling the girl in.

When Kaitlin was safely secured in the seat she shut the door and made her way around to the other side, trying to see where the cop car was located. The officer had pulled into the drive-through lane and had his window rolled down as he perused the menu.

If she started screaming like a lunatic, would he help her?

“Sit up front next to me,” Caleb said when she reached for the back door handle.

She felt trapped but since there was no way she was going anywhere without Kaitlin, she climbed into the front passenger seat.

When she glanced over to the police car, it was farther away, having moved forward to the next window.

Within moments Caleb drove back out onto the road, leaving the police car and any hope of getting help behind.

TWO

Noelle was grateful that after another two hours of driving, Caleb pulled off onto an exit that advertised a motel with a swimming pool.

The motel was small, but not so small that there weren’t other guests, at least based on the cars in the parking lot. She was berating herself for not taking a chance by going to the police.

Too late now. She’d agreed to stay with him for Kaitlin’s sake. Her own deep-seeded fears meant nothing compared to keeping the little girl safe from harm.

Caleb kept her close by his side, as if worried she might try something rash. She found his presence overwhelming. She wasn’t used to being so close to a man, hadn’t dated anyone in years. The three of them walked into the lobby together, and she knew he wanted to give the clerk the impression that they were a family, especially when he’d requested one room with two beds.

“How’s the water in the pool?” Caleb asked the older man behind the desk as he paid in cash for the room. The guy barely glanced at his driver’s license.

The guy shrugged. “Probably a bit on the cold side by now,” he said in a disinterested tone. There was a small television behind the desk and his gaze kept straying back toward the baseball game he had on.

“Thanks,” Caleb said cheerfully.

“Can we go swimming? Please?” Kaitlin asked.

“Soon,” he promised, taking the room key and then holding the door open for Noelle and Kaitlin as they made their way back outside. There were two levels of the motel but Noelle noted their room was on the first floor, closest to the outdoor pool.

The room was nothing special, but it appeared clean enough. Kaitlin disappeared into the bathroom. When the child was out of earshot Noelle turned to Caleb. “Now what?” she asked in a low tone.

His enigmatic gaze didn’t reveal much. “There must be spare clothes in that backpack that Kaitlin can use to swim in.”

“There’s one change of clothes, the rest is in her suitcase we left behind. And I don’t have any other clothes and neither do you. She’s too young to swim by herself.”

“There’s a strip mall a few miles down the street. We’ll stop by tomorrow to pick up a few things,” he said. “And the pool isn’t that deep. At the very least she can dangle her feet in the water.”

As annoyed as she was with him, she couldn’t help appreciating the way he was trying so hard to make his daughter happy. But at the same time, she also wished he’d simply let them go.

Was he right in thinking that the person who’d shot at him would use Kaitlin to get to Caleb? Or was that just a handy excuse? She wished she knew.

Kaitlin came out of the bathroom and jumped up beside her on the bed. “Can we swim now, Noa? Puleeze?”

Looking down into Kaitlin’s big blue eyes, she couldn’t bear to disappoint the little girl. “Sure, sweetie.”

“Why does she call you Noa?” Caleb asked, a small frown puckering his brow.

Did he resent their closeness? It certainly wasn’t her fault he’d been arrested.

She dug in the backpack for a pair of shorts and a top that Kaitlin could use in lieu of a swimsuit. “Because she couldn’t pronounce my name. Noa was as close as she could get to Noelle.”

“How is it that you became her foster mother?”

She had no intention of giving him her life story. Especially since that would include confessing her horrible past along with her more recent failures. Trusting him as much as she had so far had been difficult enough. Under normal circumstances she avoided men, especially macho, dangerous types like Caleb. She forced a casual tone. “I’m your daughter’s preschool teacher and happen to be licensed as a foster parent. I asked for custody and the state agreed.”

If he was embarrassed that he didn’t recognize her from the preschool, he didn’t show it. She wasn’t necessarily surprised that he hadn’t remembered her, because his wife had been the one who’d come in to drop off and pick up Kaitlin, at least 80 percent of the time. The few times Caleb had come, he hadn’t seemed to notice her.

She still remembered the last time she’d seen Heather, the day before she’d died. Caleb’s wife had come in late on that Friday, almost twenty minutes past closing. Heather had looked nervous and hadn’t been alone. There had been another man with her, who’d waited impatiently near the doorway.

It wasn’t until after Heather’s affair had hit the news that she’d understood what she’d seen that evening.

Tearing her thoughts away from the past, she turned her attention to helping Kaitlin change her clothes into a shorts-and-top set.

“But this isn’t my swimming suit,” Kaitlin protested with a frown. “My swimming suit has sparkles.”

“We left your swimming suit at home, remember?” she said patiently. “Do you want to check out the water or not?”

“I do! I do!” The little girl jumped up and down for emphasis.

“All right, let’s go.” She ducked into the bathroom, grabbed a towel off the rack and then came back out to take Kaitlin’s hand in hers.

Caleb silently held the door open once again. A criminal with manners, she thought, fighting a sense of hysteria as they walked over to the pool area. He unlatched the fence, and she was surprised and a bit disappointed to find there weren’t any other guests there.

Kaitlin ran over to the edge of the pool.

“Wait for me,” Noelle called out, quickly taking off her sandals. “We have to check the water first.”

She glanced over at Caleb, surprised to see he was taking off his running shoes, too. He then proceeded to roll his jeans halfway up his calves, which would have looked geeky on anyone else.

But there was nothing geeky about Caleb. He must have worked out while he was in jail because he was lean and muscular, without an ounce of fat to be seen. His dark hair was short and she wondered if that was by choice. Or if he’d been forced to get it cut.

Did they have barbers in jail?

He plopped down on the edge of the pool and put his feet in the water. “Come over and test the water, Katydid.”

Kaitlin hung back, staying next to Noelle. She urged the little girl over, taking a seat on the edge of the pool next to Caleb, leaving enough room between them for Kaitlin. The little girl sat down and then shrieked when she put her feet in the water. “It’s cold!”

“Probably because the sun is going down,” Caleb said. “I bet it will be warmer tomorrow. See that plastic cover rolled up over there? They put that on at night, and in the morning the sun shines through the bubbles to warm up the water.”

Kaitlin kicked her feet, giggling as she splashed the adults. Noelle tensed, but Caleb didn’t yell or tell Kaitlin to stop. In fact, he playfully kicked his feet, too, mimicking his daughter.

“Can I go in farther, Noa? Can I?” Kaitlin pleaded.

“You can if you hold on to me,” Caleb answered, holding out his hands in a nonthreatening gesture.

Noelle held her breath as Kaitlin silently stared up at her father. The lure of the water must have been more than she could resist, though, because she nodded.

Caleb gently lifted her up, as if she weighed nothing more than Kaitlin’s stuffed giraffe, and propped his elbows on his knees for stability. Slowly he lowered Kaitlin into the water, her tiny hands clutching his forearms.

“It’s c-c-cold,” she said, her teeth chattering.

“Do you want to get out?” Caleb asked.

“N-no, not yet.” Kaitlin wiggled around in the water, as if she could swim with her father holding her, and then scrunched up her nose when a bit of water splashed in her face. He grinned and lifted her up and down, like a bobber on the end of a fishing pole.

She watched Caleb play with his daughter, her reserve melting away. His smile softened his harsh features to the point it was difficult to imagine him doing anything as terrible as killing his wife.

“Okay, I think that’s enough, Katydid,” Caleb said, lifting her out of the water and setting her back on the edge of the pool. “Your lips are turning blue.”

“I’ll get the towel,” Noelle murmured, glad to have an excuse to put some distance between them. Why did she suddenly doubt the image the media had portrayed? An eyewitness had watched Caleb kill his wife and then flee the scene.

An eyewitness who’d disappeared. Why? What did that mean?

She hid her confusion by wrapping Kaitlin up in the towel. The little girl snuggled against her and yawned.

“I think it’s bedtime, young lady,” she said, glancing up at Caleb. He nodded, rose to his feet and padded across the concrete to where he’d left his shoes and socks.

As they made their way back to the room, she reminded herself that it was easy to believe Caleb’s father-of-the-year act because she hadn’t seen him angry. She’d suffered at the hands of an angry man in the past and the last thing she wanted to do was to find herself in a similar situation with Caleb. So far, she had not seen any evidence of his so-called hair-trigger temper.

And silently prayed that she never would.

* * *

Caleb stretched out on the bed fully dressed, and stared up at the ceiling of the small motel room. Noelle and Kaitlin were snuggled together in the other bed, the one closest to the bathroom.

There were a few things he wanted to do, but he didn’t dare leave until he knew they were both sound asleep. He was fairly certain Kaitlin was down for the count, but he sensed Noelle was fighting to stay awake. Finally her breathing deepened and he waited another hour just to be sure she was asleep before he quietly stood and made his way to the door.

He held his breath as he opened the door as silently as possible and slipped outside. Had the noise caused Noelle to wake up? He sincerely hoped not.

First, he needed to swap the license plates on Noelle’s SUV. He drove down the road, looking for a car that he could use for the swap. He was afraid that anyone within the motel parking lot might notice, so he was determined to find a vehicle somewhere else.

About three miles down the road he spotted a tavern that suited his needs perfectly. He pulled up to a SUV similar to Noelle’s and smiled grimly when he discovered the Illinois license plates. Even better. He made sure the tag was paid up, and then used his Swiss Army knife to swap the plates.

At least this way, he could buy some time if whoever shot at him had an APB out on Noelle’s car. It wouldn’t work forever, but he’d take what he could get.

He returned to the motel, relieved to have that task finished. He parked and shut off the car, but stayed in his seat as he turned on his cell phone to place a call to his lawyer, Jack Owens. It was well past midnight, but he didn’t care. He wanted answers.

The phone rang several times before Jack answered. “O’Malley, where are you?” he asked in a sleep-laden voice.

“Somewhere safe. I’m sure you know by now that someone tried to kill me,” he said. “What’s going on?”

“I don’t know, but the police want to talk to you, Caleb. They’ve been hounding me all evening.”

“Too bad.” The last thing he intended to do was to trust the police. Not after the way his SWAT teammates had been so eager to believe the worst about him. And there was a tiny voice in the back of his mind reminding him that Jack was the only person who’d known he was heading over to pick up his daughter. Granted anyone could have made a reasonable assumption, but still. “Did they find the slugs embedded in the house? And the canister of tear gas?”

“They haven’t told me much,” Jack confessed. “Other than they want to talk to you.”

“Kind of hard to shoot at myself, don’t you think?” he asked, trying not to sound as sarcastic as he felt. “I’d estimate the shooter was standing about a hundred and fifty yards away.”

“I believe you. You’re the sharpshooter. But you really do need to come back, at least long enough to give your statement,” Jack pleaded. “After all, you have nothing to hide. You’re the victim this time, remember?”

He wished it were that easy, but knew full well it wasn’t. “What are they saying about Noelle Whitman and Kaitlin?” he asked, changing the subject.

“Not much, at least as far as I know. Although the police want to interview Ms. Whitman, too.”

Of course they did. And despite the way he’d watched her pray over their meal, he wasn’t ready to trust her completely, either. He sighed, feeling as if the weight of the world were on his shoulders. “I have to go. Let me know if you find out anything about the crime scene,” he said. “I’ll be in touch in a few days.”

“Caleb—” Jack started, but Caleb pushed the button to end the call, and then turned off his phone not just to avoid further conversation with Jack but to preserve the battery life and to prevent anyone tracing him through the GPS.

For several long moments he stared sightlessly through the windshield of Noelle’s SUV. He wanted to trust his lawyer—after all, Jack had been the only one to stick by him throughout the entire nightmare of being charged for murder. Of course, Caleb had paid the man a tidy sum of money to represent him, so that might not mean much. But he couldn’t come up with any reason his own lawyer would want him dead.

No, somehow the attempt on his life outside Noelle’s house had to be connected with Heather’s murder. It was the only thing that made sense. Someone who was afraid he’d discover the truth? Someone who was feeling desperate, now that the so-called eyewitness had disappeared? And why had the guy disappeared? A sudden attack of cold feet about committing perjury? Or something more sinister?

He took a deep breath and slid out of the car, closing the door behind him as silently as possible. Using the magnetic key, he quietly opened the door and slipped inside. He stood for several long seconds, allowing his eyesight to adjust to the darkness and listening to make sure Noelle and Kaitlin were still asleep.

Reassured by the steady breathing, he ventured farther into the room, estimating the location of the bed.

And then nearly fell flat on his face when Kaitlin screamed.

* * *

Noelle bolted upright in bed and gathered the little girl close. “Shh, it’s okay, sweetie. I’m here, it’s okay,” she crooned.

“What’s wrong?” Caleb asked hoarsely.

“Nightmare. Shh, Kaitlin, please don’t cry. It’s okay, sweetie, you’re fine. Everything’s fine.”

She felt the mattress dip as Caleb came over to sit beside them. “Is there anything I can do?” he asked softly.

“For night terrors? I’m afraid not,” she responded, still smoothing her hand down Kaitlin’s back. After what seemed like ages, the little girl’s screams subsided into hiccuping sobs, her tiny face still pressed tightly against her neck. “I’m sure she’ll calm down soon.”

There was a long pause as she rocked Kaitlin back and forth, still murmuring words of reassurance.

“She’s done this before, hasn’t she?” he asked.

“Yes, but not lately.” Not for over six months, but she didn’t tell him that. She’d suspected the gunfire, tear gas and subsequent wild ride out the back of her garage would bring them back. “Unfortunately, with everything that happened today, I’m not surprised they returned.”

Please, Lord, bring peace to this sweet little girl. She’s an innocent victim in all of this.

Noelle lost track of time as she held Kaitlin, waiting for her to fall asleep once again. When Kaitlin’s breathing slowed and her tiny body went slack, she stopped rocking and gently lowered the child to the bed. Caleb moved away, and now that her eyes had adjusted to the darkness, she watched him scrub his hands over his face.

She knew just how helpless he felt; she’d experienced the same thing during those first few months that Kaitlin had come to live with her.

“Excuse me,” she whispered, making her way into the bathroom. She used the facilities and splashed cold water on her face to brace herself before heading back out to face him.

Caleb had opened the curtains a half inch, allowing the light from the outside parking lot to shine into the room. He was seated on a chair near the window, holding his head in his hands.

He lifted his head when she approached. “This is my fault, isn’t it?” he asked.

Why she wanted to make him feel better, she had no idea. “It’s not your fault someone shot at you.”

“I can’t stand the thought of Kaitlin being afraid of me,” he whispered.

“She’s not,” she whispered back. “After all, she let you hold her in the pool, remember?”

He shook his head. “She wanted to swim so badly I think she would have let anyone hold her.”

Noelle sank down onto the chair next to him, unable to refute his logic. “She needs a little time, that’s all.”

He lifted his gaze to hers. “Maybe I can find a safe place for the two of you to stay for a while. Then I’ll head off on my own to try and figure out who’s trying to kill me.”

As much as she wanted him to let them go, she couldn’t seem to stop herself from arguing. “Don’t you think that’s a job for the police? They have more resources than you do.”

“Not if they’re in on it,” he muttered. “Don’t you understand? I can’t trust the police, not after the way everything went down. The entire community thinks I’m guilty. And I can’t take the chance the shooter will use my daughter to get to me.”

“Who is the shooter? And why would anyone do something so terrible? I don’t understand what’s going on, Caleb.”

He stared at her in the darkness, and she wished she could see his eyes more clearly. Strange that her earlier distrust of Caleb seemed to have faded in the wake of Kaitlin’s nightmare.

“I don’t understand what’s going on, either,” he said. “Other than someone wants to kill me. Likely the same person who killed my wife. And why wouldn’t that person try to use Kaitlin? She’s my one and only weakness. Anyone who knows me, which includes all the guys on my former SWAT team, would know that I’d do anything to keep my daughter safe.”

She wasn’t sure what to say to that. “You really think someone on your team killed your wife?”

“Yes, I do. I’ve thought of nothing but Heather’s murder for the fourteen months and it’s the only theory that makes sense. I know you don’t believe me, but I promise you I didn’t kill her. I’d considered filing for divorce, when I discovered she was cheating on me, but I didn’t kill her. And I especially wouldn’t do that while Kaitlin was sleeping in her bedroom. I wasn’t there that night because I’d moved into a motel room. And no matter what that neighbor claimed he saw, I did not go back to the house to kill Heather.”

She’d known that Kaitlin being there the night of her mother’s murder had been the source of the child’s night terrors. The poor child had likely woken to the gunshots and had been found covered with blood in her mother’s room.

After seeing Caleb interact with his daughter, she found it hard to believe everything had happened the way the eyewitness had claimed. That Caleb had killed his wife and then had run away from the house, carrying a gun and leaving his daughter behind.

A gun that still hadn’t been found.

Not to mention an eyewitness who’d disappeared.

Had Caleb really been sleeping in a motel room while someone else killed his wife?

“You’d better try to get some sleep,” he finally said.

“All right.” She rose to her feet and crossed over to the bed she shared with Kaitlin.

But sleep was a long time coming, because for some odd reason, she found she was beginning to believe Caleb was in fact innocent of the crime he’d been accused of.

But knowing that didn’t reassure her the way she thought it would.

Because whoever had tried to kill Caleb outside her house was very likely still looking for him. And she was deeply afraid that the killer wouldn’t hesitate to take the life of a woman and child, too, if necessary.

THREE

Caleb woke up after five hours of sleep, feeling surprisingly refreshed. Maybe because it was his first night of sleep as a free man. He’d never slept well in jail, too much noise from the other inmates and guards constantly making rounds. Even a low-budget motel room was better than what he’d left behind.

The sun was up, but it was still early, barely seven-thirty in the morning. Noelle and Kaitlin were sleeping in, so he quietly made his way to the bathroom, gently closing the door behind him. He felt better after a hot shower, but wished he had a razor and toothpaste.

He planned to make good on his promise to do some shopping right after breakfast. Then maybe they could take Kaitlin swimming again, before they had to hit the road. As much as he wanted to stay here another day, he didn’t dare stick around in one spot for too long. He’d just have to find another motel with a pool for Kaitlin.

Remembering his daughter’s nightmare made him frown. It had been the first hint of what his daughter had gone through emotionally and psychologically after his arrest. He was sincerely glad to know that Noelle had been there for Kaitlin the past fourteen months. The way she’d soothed his daughter last night during her nightmare had touched his heart.

Noelle was a much better mother than Heather had been.

The instant the thought sank in, he thrust it away. He closed his eyes and dragged his hands over his rough cheeks. The demise of his marriage hadn’t been all Heather’s fault and he needed to stop thinking negative thoughts about his former wife. No matter how she’d betrayed him, and violated their marriage vows, she hadn’t deserved to be murdered.

He shoved the past away and finished cleaning up. When he emerged from the bathroom, Noelle was sitting at the side of the bed, finger-combing her hair. “Good morning,” she whispered.

“Morning.” The hint of fear that had shadowed her eyes since he arrived on her doorstep seemed to have vanished. He was afraid to hope that maybe, just maybe, she was starting to believe him. “I thought we’d get something to eat and then find a store. I’m sure you’d like some toothpaste as much as I would.”

A shy smile bloomed on her face. “Yes, that would be wonderful.”

Kaitlin opened her eyes and rolled onto her back, a tiny frown furrowing her brow as she looked around in confusion. “Noa?”

“I’m here, sweetheart,” Noelle said as she pulled the little girl close and gave her a hug.

He wanted to give his daughter a hug, too, but stayed where he was, hoping she’d remember the way he’d held her in the pool rather than the way they’d escaped the gunman at Noelle’s house. “Hey, Katydid, are you hungry?”

Kaitlin gazed at him solemnly before nodding her head. “Yes.”

“Me, too,” Noelle said. “Let’s wash up in the bathroom first, okay, Kaitlin? Then we’ll get some breakfast.”

Kaitlin let go of Noelle and scrambled off the bed. She went into the bathroom and Noelle grabbed the pink backpack before following his daughter.

While he waited, he took out his wallet to double-check the amount of cash he had left. Thankfully Jack had stopped at the bank on the way home so that Caleb could draw out a chunk of his savings, partially to pay his legal fees along with having some cash to live on. Good thing, since staying alive was obviously a priority at the moment.

Heather had made a good living as a model before they’d gotten married, and after Kaitlin’s birth she’d worked out like a maniac to get back in shape to resume her career. He’d tried to tell her she didn’t need to keep modeling, but she’d insisted. The amount of money she made was more than what he made as a member of the SWAT team, but he’d rather Heather would have been content to do something else. It wasn’t as if she was going to be able to model for the rest of her life. But she’d refused to consider a second career. He hadn’t wanted to leave Kaitlin in the preschool center full-time, but Heather had insisted.

As a result of their combined incomes, they’d had a substantial amount of money saved up. Enough that he’d been able to continue paying the mortgage while he was behind bars. With Jack’s help he’d listed the house on the market, but apparently no one was anxious to buy a home where a murder had taken place.

Not that he could blame them.

The amount of cash he had would probably only last them a week, maybe more if he was frugal. He considered calling Jack for assistance in getting more money, but decided he’d wait until the following Monday. Considering it was a Saturday, there wasn’t enough time to get back into Milwaukee before the banks closed. Besides, he didn’t really want to head back into town so soon after leaving. Not when he suspected the cops would be looking for him and for Noelle’s SUV.

He was sure to be a person of interest despite Jack’s assurances that he was a victim. When he’d been arrested after Heather’s death, he’d assumed that he’d be found innocent because he was. But then the eyewitness had stepped forward and he had no choice but to grapple with the possibility of spending the rest of his life behind bars.

No way was he making the same mistake twice.

The bathroom door opened, letting a cloud of steam into the room. Noelle’s hair was damp from her shower, and Kaitlin was wearing her previous clothes. He quickly stuffed the money back into his wallet and turned toward them. “Ready for breakfast?”

“Absolutely,” Noelle said cheerfully. For a moment her gaze locked on his and he wished he knew what she was thinking. Had she changed her mind about him at all? Or was that wishful thinking? And why did he care?

“Let’s go,” he said, crossing over to open the motel room door. Kaitlin eagerly dashed outside, as if the nightmare from last night was already forgotten. Noelle seemed content to walk beside him.

After they reached the car, Noelle helped Kaitlin into her booster seat before taking her place beside him up front without his having to ask. He headed down the road to a well-known chain restaurant that served breakfast, trying not to read too much into Noelle’s small gesture of trust.

No matter how much he wanted to.

* * *

Noelle finished her breakfast, a yummy veggie omelet, before she realized that she hadn’t once looked for an opportunity to escape.

Was she crazy to put her trust in Caleb? She sipped her coffee, trying to sort out her feelings.

Caleb’s despair last night hadn’t been faked. He’d truly felt awful about Kaitlin’s nightmare. But did the fact that he loved his daughter make him innocent of the crime he’d been arrested for? Of course not.

So why did she suddenly believe him?

She closed her eyes for a moment and prayed. Dear Lord, I don’t know what to believe. Please help guide me. Please show me the way.

A sense of peace settled over her and she realized that if Caleb had intended to hurt them, he would have done that already. Instead he’d done nothing but provide food and shelter. Not to mention, finding a pool to make his daughter happy.

Even now, he was coloring the paper cartoon place mat with Kaitlin, as if he didn’t have a care in the world.

“No, Daddy, purple,” Kaitlin insisted, shoving the green crayon aside. “Not green, purple.”

“You’re right, Katydid, purple is way prettier than green,” Caleb agreed.

Noelle hid a smile behind her coffee mug. If she wasn’t seeing the way he tried so hard to bond with his daughter with her own eyes, she wasn’t sure she would have believed it. Especially when she hadn’t watched Caleb interact with his daughter very much before he’d been accused of murder.

“Kaitlin, why don’t you finish your scrambled eggs and bacon before they get cold,” she suggested.

“We’re almost done,” Kaitlin muttered, filling in the last of the cartoon character’s bright purple dress. “See?” She held the paper up high. “Isn’t it pretty?”

“Very pretty,” she agreed. Caleb set down his crayon and reached for his own cup of coffee.

“Here, this is for you, Daddy.” In a surprise gesture, Kaitlin handed the picture to Caleb and then picked up a piece of bacon.

“Thanks, Katydid,” Caleb murmured in a husky tone. For a moment she thought there was a glint of tears in his eyes, but then it was gone. He gave Kaitlin a broad smile and carefully set the place mat in the center of the table, where it wouldn’t get stained with food or drink. “This is the best present, ever.”

She simply couldn’t believe a man who cared so much about his daughter that he nearly cried after getting a picture from her was cold and callous enough to kill his ex-wife. In the past twenty-four hours, there’d been no sign of his so-called hair-trigger temper, either.

At this point, she had no reason not to give him the benefit of the doubt.

“Do you want anything more?” Caleb asked.

“No way, I’m stuffed,” Noelle murmured, sitting back in her chair and feeling a bit guilty at how much she’d eaten. “That was delicious. Thanks, Caleb.”

“You’re welcome.” He quickly finished his own meal, and then gestured for the waitress to bring the bill. He glanced at the amount and pulled out his wallet, leafing through the bills.

For the first time since this mad escape had started she found herself wondering how long they could stay on the run like this. She didn’t have her purse, so she couldn’t help pay for anything. What would happen when they ran out of cash? What if they messed up and the shooter who’d tried to kill Caleb found them?

She shivered, suddenly cold. Should she tell Caleb about the black truck that had been following her in the days prior to his release? Should she tell him about the man who’d accompanied his wife to pick up Kaitlin the Friday evening before she’d died? She’d told the police, but since she didn’t have a name, there wasn’t much they could do. The officer she spoke with assumed the guy was the same man Heather was having an affair with.

Wasn’t it possible that man had killed Heather, rather than Caleb?

“Are you all right?” Caleb asked with a slight frown.

“Sure,” she said, forcing a smile. The way he seemed to be tuned in to her emotions shouldn’t make her believe in him even more. But it did. She reminded herself that Caleb wasn’t her type. She didn’t date men, especially handsome men. There was no way she should even think about Caleb on a personal level. Trusting a man enough to have a relationship was far too difficult for her.

“All finished, Katydid?” Caleb asked his daughter.

The little girl nodded and pushed her plate away. She’d eaten most of her food this morning, which gave Noelle some encouragement. Maybe if they kept things calm today, the little girl wouldn’t suffer another night terror at bedtime.

They left the restaurant and stopped at the strip mall that was only a couple of miles away. Despite her concerns about money, Caleb seemed determined to get them each a change of clothes, including sweatshirts for the cooler nights, swimsuits and toiletries. Kaitlin was thrilled to have another sparkly swimsuit, jumping up and down with excitement when Caleb agreed to buy it for her. Noelle winced at the total, but he readily paid in cash.

It wasn’t until they were walking back out to the parking lot, with Kaitlin skipping between them, that she noticed the license plates on her car. She stopped abruptly and stared.

Caleb instantly noticed her reaction. “Noelle, I only swapped them to keep us safe.”

Logically she knew that, but he’d broken the law just the same. Apprehension swelled in her chest. “What if we get caught?”

His gaze was full of empathy. “Please try to trust me in this. I won’t do anything to hurt you or Kaitlin. We’ll take Kaitlin swimming and then hit the road. We’ll be far away from here soon enough.”

She took a ragged breath and gave a jerky nod. When Caleb opened the back of her car she stored the bag inside, hoping he didn’t notice the way her hands were shaking.

Never in her life had she committed a crime. She always followed the rules. As a preschool teacher she took her job as being a role model for her students seriously. Granted she wasn’t perfect. After all, she’d failed her previous foster child. She’d thought for sure she was getting through to the youngster but Stephanie had run away and had been found dead of a drug overdose.

No matter how much she’d prayed for peace, Noelle still carried the guilt over Stephanie’s death. She’d done her best to make amends by helping Kaitlin.

She lifted Kaitlin into her booster seat and wondered if she’d made a grave mistake by trusting her instincts as far as Caleb was concerned.

* * *

Caleb glanced over at Noelle for the third time in five minutes, wishing she would say something. Anything. But she didn’t. She merely sat there, looking devastated. The shadow of fear was back in her eyes and he knew that his actions had put it there.

He shouldn’t care what she thought about him, but he did. For so long, no one had believed him. Not the D.A. Not his teammates. Certainly not the media. He wasn’t sure that Jack had really believed him, despite what the lawyer had claimed.

Even his closest friend, Declan Shaw, hadn’t believed him.

So why was he surprised that Noelle, a virtual stranger, was suddenly acting as if he deserved to go back to prison?

The silence between them stretched as they made their way back to the motel. Most of the cars that had been parked outside were gone, probably because it was near the designated checkout time.

But he wasn’t leaving until Kaitlin had a chance to swim. He parked in front of their room and slid out from behind the wheel. “Why don’t you change into your swimsuits and I’ll meet you out at the pool?” he suggested.

“Yay! I getta swim in my sparkly suit!” Kaitlin shrieked. He smiled grimly. At least one of them was happy.

“Sure.” Noelle’s less than enthusiastic response made him feel bad, but there wasn’t much he could do to change what he’d done. Especially since he wasn’t about to apologize for swapping out the plates. As far as he was concerned it was a small price to pay for keeping his daughter safe.

He carried the bag inside and then left them to change. He walked down to the office, relieved to see a woman sitting behind the counter, rather than the crabby old guy. He waited for her to finish with another couple who were checking out before he stepped up to the counter.

“Hi, we’re in room twelve and we’re checking out today, but would you mind if we did a late checkout so my daughter can swim before we leave? It would really mean a lot to her.”

The woman scowled and shook her head. “Rules are rules. I’m afraid I’ll have to charge you an extra fee for a late checkout.”

He narrowed his gaze, but didn’t bother arguing with her. He wondered what she and the old man had to be so crabby about anyway? “Fine, I’ll load up the car now, then. Here’s the amount we owe.” He handed over the cash, tapping his foot impatiently as she took her time counting out the bills.

“Leave your key in the room,” she instructed.

“I will.” He turned and left, trying not to be annoyed. The girls were finished changing by the time he arrived. Noelle had a towel draped over her shoulders. “We’ll just head out to the pool, okay?”

“Sure. We have to pack our stuff and vacate the room, so I’ll be down in a few minutes.”

Noelle didn’t meet his gaze, but took Kaitlin’s hand and headed outside. He quickly changed into a pair of swim trunks and a T-shirt before putting everything they’d purchased back in the plastic bag. He moved the car so that it wasn’t right in front of the room, and parked it off to the far side of the parking lot, but within view of the pool. Then he took the bag to the pool area with him, figuring they could change their clothes in the restrooms located in the small building adjacent to the swimming area.

When he arrived he found Noelle and Kaitlin in the shallow end of the pool. Noelle was holding Kaitlin as she moved around in the water, while his daughter giggled and splashed.

He wished he was the one holding his daughter. He’d been secretly thrilled when she’d given him the coloring picture at the restaurant, but that brief moment of closeness seemed to have vanished.

And he would have done anything to bring it back.

He set their bag off to the side and joined them in the water, swimming laps while Noelle and Kaitlin played. After about an hour, he noticed his daughter was shivering and decided it was time for them to leave.

“But I don’t wanna leave,” Kaitlin wailed.

Noelle wrapped a towel around his daughter. “Kaitlin, you’re shivering and your lips are blue. Let’s go and change our clothes, okay?”

“B-but I’m n-not c-cold,” Kaitlin protested, despite the way her teeth were chattering.

He had to smile at his daughter’s stubborn streak. He had no idea how much she enjoyed the water, and he knew that he needed to find another hotel with a pool. Maybe if he acted as if this was nothing more than a fun vacation, she wouldn’t have any more nightmares.

He took his own clothes inside the men’s room and quickly changed. When he returned he wrapped his wet things in one of the smaller plastic bags.

Noelle and Kaitlin emerged from the women’s room a few minutes later. “Here, I’ll take your wet things,” he said.

“Thanks,” Noelle murmured as she handed over their wet clothes. Some of the tension seemed to have eased between them as she lifted her face to the sun. “Feels good to be warm.”

“I know.” He felt bad about dragging them away from the cozy motel, but he couldn’t help the nagging feeling that they needed to keep moving. Even though he’d changed the license plates, it wasn’t as if they still couldn’t be found. For all he knew, the guy whose plates he swapped with had already informed the authorities. The cops could already be, right now, looking for the stolen tags he’d put on Noelle’s car.

“No, I don’t wanna go for a ride!” Kaitlin ran in the opposite direction, toward the plastic deck chairs lining the far side of the pool. Today, Noelle had dressed her in purple, his daughter’s favorite color, with matching purple barrettes in her hair. Her cleft chin was thrust forward in a stubborn way that made him smile. Maybe he was a tad biased but he thought Kaitlin was the cutest kid on the planet.

Noelle let out an exasperated sigh at his adorable daughter’s antics.

“Do you want me to get her?” he offered.

“No, I’ll do it.” Noelle walked slowly over to where Kaitlin stood, halfway hidden behind a deck chair. He lifted the plastic bag over his shoulder and followed.

A loud explosion caused him to instinctively duck and rush over to where Noelle and Kaitlin were standing. “Are you okay?” he asked hoarsely.

Kaitlin was crying but Noelle nodded. “Look!” she said with a gasp, pointing over his shoulder.

He turned and stared in shock at the ball of fire that engulfed Noelle’s SUV.

Horror seeped through his bones. If not for Kaitlin’s refusal to go along with them, they all would have been killed!

Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.