Stepping up to the plate will put him in the line of fire…

For Drew Kiley, married life isn’t what he had in mind. Driven to “I do” by a sense of familial responsibility, he assumes the role of husband to his brother’s wife, Alyssa…and the role of father to his nephew, Luke. It seems to be the logical solution in light of his brother’s abandonment. But Drew doesn’t know the whole truth about his brother’s past. A rescue from a canine companion sets Drew and Alyssa on a perilous course of extortion, kidnapping and secrets unveiled. United in their determination to protect Luke, Drew and Alyssa learn to depend on each other. But as tensions escalate, so does a deep undercurrent of desire that casts their marriage in a different light.

“Don’t,” Drew said, snapping her out of her painful memories. “Don’t say things you don’t really mean.”

There was an undertone of something in his voice that made her breath stop. A tightness, an edge, something.

Heat. That, too. In his voice, and in his eyes as he looked at her.

“But I do mean it,” she said softly. “I’ve only just realized I’ve meant it for a while now.”

“Lyss—”

She put a hand on his chest, over his heart, and his words cut off as if her action had sucked the very air out of him. She could feel the thud of his heart, felt a skip in her own heartbeat as his accelerated at her touch.

Dear Reader,

I never grew up with a brother. I had one, but he died as an infant before I was born, so I never had that kind of sibling relationship with a male. Perhaps that’s why it fascinates me so. Or perhaps it’s because it’s so very different from the sister/sister relationship I do know. But my husband had four brothers, and a son and daughter, so I’ve had great opportunity to observe and learn. And I have a niece and nephew who are playing out that growing up together right now. Right about here is where I should say the story in this book is not a representation of any of those relationships!

If you grew up with brothers, I envy you. It’s something I missed, and although I suspect I would not have appreciated it every step of the way, that it intrigues me is obvious since they keep cropping up in my work. And to those of you who would say, “If you’d had one, you wouldn’t feel that way!” I can only say I’m the victim (grateful recipient?) of that writer’s curse…the words What if?

In a previous book (Operation Reunion) I explored that brother/sister connection. In this book, it’s two very different brothers, one long dead but still affecting the other, in fact shaping his entire life.

I hope you enjoy it!

Justine

Operation Unleashed

Justine Davis

www.millsandboon.co.uk

JUSTINE DAVIS

Justine Davis lives on Puget Sound in Washington state, watching big ships and the occasional submarine go by, and sharing the neighborhood with assorted wildlife, including a pair of bald eagles, deer, a bear or two and a tailless raccoon. In the few hours when she’s not planning, plotting or writing her next book, her favorite things are photography, knitting her way through a huge yarn stash and driving her restored 1967 Corvette roadster—top down, of course.

Connect with Justine at her website, >justinedavis.com, at >twitter.com/justine_d_davis, or on Facebook at >facebook.com/justinedaredavis.

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MAX

I was used to female German Shepherds, so when Mandy died, I immediately sought out another Shepherd. A woman invited me out to see her dogs; she had at least 7 Shepherds. When I got there, I asked, “Which one is mine?” She pointed to a smallish brown and white male dog, with floppy (not pointy) ears. So I said, “What’s that?” And she said, “That’s Max. He’s part Brittany, part Pointer. You can have him.” I wanted a Shepherd. Female, not a male mutt. But the thought of having fur to pet and cuddle led me to lead him to the car. By the time I got home, I was in love! Max had eyes the color of sherry, he craved salad, and he was my constant companion and faithful guy for 13 years. The night my mother died, he went into my mother’s room and walked around her hospital bed, as if to say, “Goodbye.” And less than a year later, Max became suddenly, catastrophically ill—and I was having to say “Goodbye” to him. It is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. He died in 1995, and I still miss him every day. Max the wonderful dog—I still love you.

—Binnie Syril Braunstein

This is the latest in a series of dedications from readers who have shared the pain of the loss of a beloved dog. For more information visit my website at www.justinedavis.com.

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Epilogue

Extract

Chapter 1

Quinn Foxworth had never really realized just how loud a dog’s bark could be. For an instant, when Cutter exploded into earsplitting noise inside the closed vehicle, a vision of distant sands and guard dogs trumpeting a warning of an enemy inside the perimeter shot through his mind.

That hadn’t happened for a long time. He consciously eased his muscles, especially his hands, on the steering wheel and instinctively slowed the SUV down.

“Loud when he wants to be, isn’t he?”

Quinn looked over at his fiancée, and the last of the memory vanished. He was grateful she hadn’t noticed his reaction. And then her gaze locked on his and he saw in her eyes that Hayley hadn’t missed a thing. But she had intentionally not prodded.

No wonder he loved her beyond measure.

“Yes,” he said belatedly, having to raise his voice just as she had to be heard over the cacophony from the back of the SUV.

“He’s not usually like that in the car,” she said. “You know he has exquisite manners. Well, except for when that guy tried to reach in.”

“Good for him. And lucky for the guy it wasn’t me.”

She smiled. Yeah, he loved her all right. And their wedding wasn’t soon enough to suit him, even though it was less than a month away.

The barking suddenly morphed into a howl, and Cutter clawed at the back hatch of the car.

“Well, that’s a new one,” Hayley said, wincing at the sound.

“Easy, dog,” Quinn said, but the howling continued.

He’d learned by now that ignoring Cutter was never a good idea. They were on a rather narrow lane, headed home from the indulgence of a breakfast out, but they’d passed a park a few yards back. He checked the mirrors, then put the SUV in Reverse. The moment they began to back up, the howling subsided to a mild whine that at least allowed room for thought.

He backed up until he could swing into the small parking area. The whine stopped. But Cutter was clearly still on full alert, ears and tail up, staring out toward the park.

“I suppose he wants out.”

“It’s raining,” Hayley said, “of course he does.”

With a sigh, Quinn hit the button that raised the hatch. Before he could even get his door open Cutter was out and running across the wet grass of the park.

“Well, he’s thoroughly unleashed now,” Quinn muttered as he walked around the back of the car to where Hayley stood, watching the dog go.

“Did that look full of intent to you?” she asked.

Hayley was focused on Cutter. Quinn stole the moment to just look at her again. He never got tired of the little jab of wonder that struck him when he realized she was his, that she would always be by his side.

“Quinn?”

“Sorry,” he said, not meaning it in the least. “I was distracted by the view. As usual.”

He loved that she still colored up when he said stuff like that.

“Thank you,” she said simply. “But...”

She gestured toward the far side of the park, where their rascal of a dog was approaching the child who sat on one of the swings. A blond boy in jeans and a sweatshirt but no jacket, with a small backpack beside him. He was staring at the ground, digging a sneakered toe into the mud.

“If you mean did all that ruckus in the car and then the beeline over there seem very specific, then yes,” he said in answer to her original question. “We’d better go rein him in. Don’t want the kid getting scared.”

She nodded, and they started across the grass. The rain was coming down steadily, but lightly. Cutter was almost there, but the boy hadn’t seemed to notice. In fact, he didn’t seem to be noticing anything except the way the mud oozed around what looked to be fairly new, once white sneakers.

Cutter had come to a halt about two feet away from the boy. “Maybe he just wants to play,” Hayley said. “There haven’t been any kids around for him to play with lately, since Brian moved away.”

The dog sat. Waited.

“Well, he’s not playing,” Quinn said. “And the kid doesn’t look much like he wants to.”

“It is raining.”

“When I was that age, I couldn’t have cared less if it was raining if there was playing to be done.”

Hayley laughed, a light, lovely sound that never failed to expand the warmth he always felt when he was with her.

“Not every boy is a bold adventurer such as yourself,” she teased.

“That’s what I get for being born before kids became tethered to a video game console.”

“Thank goodness.”

She turned her gaze back to the pair they were nearing. Cutter had reached out with his nose, and the boy had responded perfectly, holding out his hand, low and slow, for the dog to sniff. Someone had taught him, Quinn thought.

And then the dog rose and went forward, turning sideways to lean against the boy’s knees. The boy moved then, reaching to pat the dog. Cutter leaned harder. The boy’s fingers burrowed into thick fur. And Cutter leaned even more. They were just close enough to hear the odd sound the boy made before he leaned forward himself, wrapping his arms around the animal’s neck as if he were a life preserver. Cutter twisted his head up and back, and swiped his tongue across the boy’s cheek. A smile broke through, and only when he saw it did Quinn realize just how downcast the boy had seemed.

“You’re right, Cutter isn’t acting like he wants to play, either,” Hayley finally agreed. “In fact, he looks like...”

Her voice faded away. Quinn nodded. Spoke quietly.

“Yeah. He looks like he’s protecting.”

“Standing between that boy and the world,” she said softly.

Quinn let out a compressed breath. “I knew it had been too quiet these last couple of weeks.”

When the boy looked up at them, his expression wary, they stopped a few feet away. Cutter looked at them, his tail wagging in greeting. He made a quiet little whuffing sound, but never moved away from the boy.

Quinn held back slightly, letting Hayley take the lead with the child.

“Hi,” she said softly. “That’s Cutter, if you were wondering what his name is.”

The boy clung to the dog. “Cutter?”

That earned him another swipe of the tongue that made him smile despite his wariness.

“What kind of dog is he? I like how he’s black in front and brown in back.”

“We’re not sure, exactly. He looks like a sheepdog that comes from Europe.”

“Oh.”

“Are you here by yourself?” Hayley asked.

The boy’s expression went back to wary. His gaze flicked to Quinn, then back to Hayley. “I’m not supposed to talk to strangers.”

“That’s a good plan.” Quinn spoke for the first time, gently. “But Cutter’s already introduced himself.”

“My mom says sometimes bad people use dogs or cats to try and trick kids.”

Hayley smiled. “Good for your mom. She’s right, and I’m glad she warned you about that. So why don’t you take us to her? Then we can talk to her and not be strangers anymore. And she can decide if it’s okay for you to get to know Cutter.”

The boy sighed. “She’ll say no. She’s mad again.”

“At you?” Quinn asked.

“Sort of. And at my dad.”

Hayley glanced at Quinn. He nodded; the boy seemed to talk more easily to her, understandably. “What did your dad do?”

“He said something bad about my father.”

Uh-oh, Quinn thought. Already into a domestic situation. Divorce, stepfather, that could get ugly. Except the boy had called him his dad. Did you do that with a step-father you didn’t like? Then again, the kid was very young. Maybe he was just calling him what he was told to call him.

“Your dad and your father don’t get along?” Hayley asked, using the boy’s terms.

“He’s really my uncle. My father’s dead.”

Hayley blinked again.

“Who’s your uncle?” Quinn asked, starting to feel as if he’d stumbled into some kind of comedy skit. But the boy’s expression wasn’t the least bit amused.

“My dad.”

Quinn wasn’t much good at guessing ages on kids this young, but he put this one at somewhere in the six to eight range. Six in size, but older in the sadness in his eyes. A kid that young shouldn’t be able to look like that. Younger even than the ten he had been when his parents had been killed. But at least this one still had his mother. And...whoever the father figure in his life really was.

“It’s my fault,” the boy said in a tiny voice.

Hayley moved then, closer. He knew this woman, knew she wouldn’t be able to just leave a child who sounded so miserable. He wasn’t sure he could walk away himself. Hayley teased him—lovingly—about being a protector to the core. Maybe she was right.

Hayley crouched in front of the boy on the swing. She didn’t say any of the things most would, like “I’m sure it’s not,” or “You must have misunderstood.” Instead, she simply asked, “Why is it your fault?”

The boy dug the toe of one sneaker deeper into the mud beneath the swing. “It just is. If I went away, then they’d be happy.”

Hayley went very still. Quinn understood. No child should feel that way, but to hear it from one this young was unsettling.

“I’m sure they would miss you terribly,” Hayley said softly.

The boy stayed silent then, as if he’d suddenly remembered he was still talking to strangers. Or as if he didn’t believe a word of it.

And Quinn suddenly realized Cutter was staring at him. That intense, unsettling gaze was unwavering, and by now Quinn knew all too well what it meant.

Fix it.

He no longer bothered rationalizing it, not even to himself. He’d simply had to accept, by virtue of an undeniable amount of empirical evidence, that the dog knew what he was doing and somehow communicated it to anyone who would pay attention. And he seemed to instinctively know who would get the message, just as he always seemed to know who was in trouble and needed his help.

The problem was Quinn’s, not Cutter’s. How was he going to explain to a dog that absent genuine abuse, Foxworth never interfered in marital or parent-child situations? But family matter or not, when a boy this young talked about going away, it deserved some intervention. Just not the full force of the Foxworth organization.

On that thought, the dog let out a small sound, a soft but emphatic woof. Then he turned his attention back to the boy. Quinn felt decidedly shrugged off. Cutter had directed “Fix it,” and fix it he meant.

“You know,” Hayley was saying to the still silent boy, “Cutter’s pretty smart. He’s not a Bloodhound, but I’ll bet he could find your house without you even telling him where it is.”

Damn, she was good, Quinn thought. She had the boy’s attention now, and she’d managed to focus it on an idea most kids his age would find irresistible. She’d be a great mom.

For an instant his stomach went into free fall. They weren’t even married yet and he was thinking about kids? When not so long ago he would have sworn that would never happen, that he would never, ever bring kids into a world so screwed up by the people supposedly running it? But a baby, with Hayley? Their child?

Right, he muttered inwardly. Just dealing with this kid’s got you going sideways. You’d be great with one of your own.

“Could he?” the boy asked, stroking the dog’s head. “Really?”

“Shall we see?”

She glanced at Quinn. He gave her a half shrug. He’d been working with the dog on commands, if you could call it working when the animal seemed to learn everything on the first try. Once he’d come to trust the dog, once they had all accepted him as part of the team, he’d realized it would be best if everybody knew and used the same commands. He’d thought about using a different language, as military and police K-9s did to insure the dog obeyed only their orders, but since Cutter tended to completely ignore anyone he didn’t know and trust telling him what to do, it seemed unnecessary.

“We can try,” Quinn said. “Just remember Foxworth doesn’t do domestic.”

Hayley flashed him the smile that never failed to send a shiver down his spine. “It’s not me, it’s him you have to convince,” she said, nodding toward Cutter. She didn’t add, “And good luck with that,” but it was in her tone anyway.

“Great,” he muttered. He’d never met a more stubborn creature than that dog, and that included himself and even Rafe. “Let’s go, then.”

The boy looked at him somewhat warily. Quinn softened his voice. “Shall we see if he can do it?”

The boy still didn’t speak, but slid off the swing.

“Cutter,” Quinn said in an entirely different tone, one of command. The dog’s head snapped around, those intense eyes fastened on him. Quinn pointed at the boy.

“Backtrack,” he ordered.

The dog glanced from Quinn to the boy, then back. And then he whirled on his hindquarters and trotted off toward the tall trees. Quinn watched the boy watch the dog, saw the child’s eyes widen when Cutter stopped at the edge of the forest, beside a tall hemlock with a long branch dragging downward, and looked back over his shoulder at them.

“That’s my secret path! He does know!”

He took off after the dog at a run.

Quinn and Hayley followed. At least this, Quinn thought, should be quick. Return the kid home, and then they themselves could go home. And he could get back to his thoughts of luring Hayley back to bed for a leisurely afternoon of enjoying the miracle of them together.

He tried to ignore the little voice in his head reminding him that with Cutter, nothing was ever that simple.

Chapter 2

Alyssa Kiley paced because she couldn’t be still. Panic was edging its way upward from some low, gut-deep place she hadn’t heard from in a long time. Her fingers tightened on the phone she held as she resisted the urge to call the police, the fire department and anyone else she could think of. Drew was on his way. He’d fix all this. He always did. Despite the arguments, despite his sometimes presumptuous manner, he always did.

And her common sense told her he was right, Luke had been missing less than an hour. But she’d checked every place in the house, with some nightmare memory of a murdered child found in her own basement. She’d checked every neighbor on their short, narrow street, and no one had seen him. She’d called his best friend Dylan’s house, even knowing they were out of town for the weekend, just in case they’d changed their plans.

She wouldn’t be so anxious if it hadn’t been for that weird feeling she’d been having lately. It was silly to think someone had been watching her. When she’d mentioned it to Drew he’d naturally wanted details she couldn’t provide, because she’d never actually seen anyone. But even his assurances didn’t make that crawly feeling at the back of her neck go away.

Now she was wondering if what she’d been feeling was some sort of precognition, a foreshadowing of disaster.

She stared at the stand of trees across the road from the house. Normally, she loved looking at them—tall, strong evergreens, softened by the misty rain. But today that forest had never seemed bigger, or more endless. Even knowing that was silly—that they hadn’t changed—didn’t help. There was nothing normal about this morning.

It had been a while—quite a while—since she and Drew had argued like they had this morning. But it was Doug’s birthday, and that was always a rough day. How did you deal with a man who would just as soon ignore the fact that his younger brother had ever existed?

Luke must have heard them. They were usually careful to avoid that, but this morning it had flared up too quickly. She’d been on edge, knowing what day it was, and all it had taken was one exasperated glance from Drew to set her off.

And now her son was missing. Guilt stabbed through her. This wasn’t all Drew’s fault, she could have, should have, held it in until Luke was out of earshot. But Drew had a way of—

A noise from across the street, followed quickly by the sight of a dog bounding out of the trees startled her out of her useless musing. God, she was standing around wasting time treading old, tired ground, while Luke was gone.

To her surprise the dog, a large animal with a black head and shoulders shifting to brown over his back and tail, headed straight for her. He didn’t seem at all threatening, but she watched him warily. It was a strange dog, after all.

The animal came to an abrupt halt two feet in front of her. And unexpectedly sat, his ears up, his gaze fastened on her. She felt strangely pinned, as if she couldn’t move if she’d wanted to. But the dog was sitting so politely she didn’t feel the need.

She knew he wasn’t from anywhere on the street; there were only two dogs who lived here and they were both the little powder-puff kind of things that seemed as if they’d break if you just looked at them funny.

The dog cocked his head at an angle and made a low, odd sound. If he’d been human, she would have said it held a note of reassurance. But of course he was a dog, so that was silly.

And then he looked over his shoulders, back to where he’d come bursting out of the trees. To where someone else was coming. She could hear the noise of branches pushed aside, rubbing on each other. For an instant she wondered if the dog had in fact been fleeing something bigger and more threatening than he, no matter that something about him made her think he wouldn’t be afraid of much. But bears weren’t unheard of around here, and—

Her son came through the trees at a dead run.

“Luke!”

She ran for him, sweeping him up before he could say a word. Just the other day she’d been thinking how big he was getting, but now he felt like the slightest of weights, so glad was she to have him back in her arms.

“He knew the way, Mom! I didn’t even show him, but he followed the exact way I came.”

It took her a moment to realize he meant the dog. And a moment more to realize they weren’t alone. Two adults had come along the same path through the trees. A man and a woman, the man carrying what looked like Luke’s little backpack, the one Drew had bought him for their hikes and fishing trips. They must be the dog’s people, she thought in the moment she spared them before turning back to her son.

“You were at the park?”

He nodded. She felt a twinge of relief; that would have been her next stop, so she would have found him. Somehow that made her feel better. But it wasn’t enough to quell the overwhelming relief and the flood of wobbliness after being so frightened.

She wanted to be angry at Luke, to scare him into never, ever doing anything like this again, but she was too glad he was back and safe. She compromised, hugging him fiercely while saying, “Don’t you ever do that again. I almost called the police I was so worried.”

“Hard, isn’t it?”

Alyssa looked up as the woman spoke. The newcomer was a little taller than she was, maybe about five-five, her hair was a rich shade of auburn touched with gold, a shade that Alyssa guessed had to be natural, it had so many layers. Her eyes were lovely, a green that matched the surroundings and reminded her of Drew’s. And right now they were warm with empathy.

“They scare you to death so you’re angry, but you want to smother them with love at the same time because you’re so glad they’re all right.”

Alyssa smiled at the apt description. “You have kids?”

“Not yet,” she said, and flicked a glance at the man beside her. “But I remember my mother wearing the same expression.”

Alyssa stole a look at the man herself; he’d be enough to have any woman thinking about forever. She’d noticed the engagement ring on the woman’s left hand, and suppressed a little sigh. It must be wonderful to have done it the normal way, fallen in love, planning a life from the beginning. She looked upon her own plain, gold wedding band as a symbol of everything she’d done wrong as a stupid, naive girl.

“I’m Hayley Cole,” the woman said. “This is my fiancé, Quinn Foxworth.”

“I’m Alyssa Kiley,” she said, not willing to release Luke enough to shake hands. Neither one of the people before her seemed to take offense. “Thank you for bringing him home.”

“And this,” Hayley added with a gesture toward the dog, “is Cutter. It’s him you really have to thank, he found Luke and brought us here.”

Alyssa was loath to let go of Luke, but the boy was starting to squirm, his gaze fastened on the dog. Reluctantly she let him wiggle down. To her surprise when the dog moved, instead of going straight to Luke he came to her, and sat at her feet. She looked down at him, a little startled by the intense, steady gaze. She felt drawn, and leaned over to put a hand on the dog’s silky head.

“Well, thank you, Cutter,” she said, not sure what else to do.

The dog lowered his head in what for all the world looked like a nod of acknowledgment. As she stroked his fur, she felt oddly soothed, calmed, as if she’d finally accepted that Luke was truly all right.

“What an...interesting dog,” she murmured.

“You don’t know the half of it,” Quinn Foxworth said, his tone wry. Alyssa looked up at him, and saw nothing but bemusement and appreciation there. Except when he looked at Hayley, and she saw a loving warmth she’d never seen in a man’s eyes before.

Certainly never in her husband’s. At least, not directed at her.

As if her thought had conjured him, a vehicle turned the corner, fast enough to make the tires squeal a little in protest. Hayley and Quinn looked, but Alyssa didn’t, she knew who it was. And his mood probably wouldn’t be any better now than it had been this morning. Worse, in fact, now that she’d called him home from work for what turned out to be nothing.

She glanced at Luke, who was on his knees beside the dog, hugging him fiercely. She thought about sending him inside, but before she could decide, the dark blue pickup stopped in the driveway with a final bark from the tires and it was too late.

“I’m thinking you should handle this one,” Hayley said quietly to Quinn. “He doesn’t look happy.”

“Drew never looks happy,” Alyssa said. Only when she heard the words spoken did she realize how sad they really were.

She tried to imagine how the man who erupted from the vehicle must look to them. Certainly a million times more intimidating than her annoyingly fragile looks. Drew was tall, lean, and after years of hard work looked as powerful as he was. There wasn’t a touch of softness about him, except perhaps in the unexpectedly vivid green eyes. Where Doug had had a refined face, a soft, sweet smile and a ready, carefree laugh, his brother’s jaw was strong, his face uncompromisingly masculine, his smile rare and his laugh almost nonexistent. She thought she remembered, years ago, that he had smiled, even laughed, as readily as anyone. But it had been so long she wasn’t sure anymore.

He quickly gave the newcomers—including Cutter—a suspicious once-over. But the moment his gaze came to rest on Luke, some of the tension visibly drained out of him. He truly did love her son, Alyssa thought. She couldn’t deny that. She’d always known it. It was, after all, why she was here.

Drew crouched beside the boy. “You’re all right?” he said. Luke looked up at him, his mouth tight as he nodded.

Drew let out a breath as if he’d been holding it. They were a contrast, Drew’s dark hair glistened with rain, while Luke’s even damper hair was a darker shade of his father’s dirty blonde.

Luke looked up then. “Am I in trouble? For running away?”

Something pained flashed in Drew’s eyes. “If you’re in trouble for anything, it’s for how you scared your mother. And me.”

Luke’s eyes widened. “You? You’re never scared.”

“I love you, buddy. That gives you the power to scare me.”

“Oh.”

Drew straightened up, gave Luke a moment to think about that before he went on. “Something you want to say to your mother?”

It was more suggestion than question, and Luke didn’t miss it. With a heavy sigh the child released his hold on Cutter’s fur and straightened. He turned and looked up at her. “I’m sorry, Mom.”

She didn’t know whether to hug him again or order him to his room and lock him up until he was twenty-one. Or thirty.

“How did you sneak out so quietly?” she asked instead. Luke usually made enough noise to cover for a battle invasion.

“I waited until you were in the bathroom. You had your purse and makeup and stuff, so...”

Alyssa felt color creep up her cheeks and barely managed not to look at Hayley and Quinn. That made it sound like she was a woman who cared more for her appearance than taking care of her child, when in fact she’d gone in there because she knew she was going to start crying again, and she didn’t want Luke to see that. His witnessing the latest argument was bad enough.

“I didn’t mean to make you mad,” Luke said.

“You didn’t. You scared me, too.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Promise me you’ll never do that again.”

The boy studied the well-muddied sneakers that had been nearly new when he’d put them on this morning. “I promise.” He looked up. “Could I play with the dog a little?”

Alyssa glanced at Hayley. “He’s welcome to for a few minutes,” the woman said. “But we won’t take up residence, I assure you.”

Alyssa smiled. She could like this woman.

Luke looked at Drew. For an instant Alyssa wondered if he’d withhold the threat to punish the boy. But even as she thought it she discarded it as unfair. Drew was stern, perhaps, stricter than she, but he wasn’t mean.

“For a few minutes,” he said.

Luke darted off with Cutter at his heels. As they went the dog looked back over his shoulder at his people, and Alyssa had the oddest feeling the glance was making them uncomfortable. Even the impressive Quinn, who was reminding her more of Drew with every silent moment.

“He certainly messed up those new shoes,” Alyssa said, her adrenaline-fueled relief finally ebbing and leaving her a bit shaky.

“He’s a boy,” Drew said. “It’ll happen.”

Drew had never worried much about that, either, at least, not like she did. He didn’t like waste, but he didn’t consider normal boy wear and tear on things waste. She’d been afraid of the cost of things when they’d first settled in here, he could be so intimidating, but it had been clear from the beginning that Luke was his soft spot.

“I’m a little confused,” Quinn said, looking at Drew. It was the first time he’d spoken in some time, and as Drew turned to look at the man Alyssa could see the assessing going on. It always happened with Drew, that quiet appraisal. She would have put it down to some primal male thing, except that he did it with women too, in a non-sexual way. It was one of the many, many ways he differed from Doug, who had taken pride in never judging anyone.

Of course, in the end he’d paid the ultimate price for that lack of judgment.

“Luke said his mom is his mom, and called you his dad, but said you’re really his uncle,” Quinn said.

“None of our business, honey,” Hayley said softly.

“If it’s true, no. But if Luke ran away because something more than a family spat is going on, then—”

“Oh, no,” Alyssa exclaimed. “No, you mustn’t think that! Drew would never, ever hurt Luke.”

“It’s all right, Lyss.”

Drew had apparently drawn his conclusion about Quinn Foxworth because he nodded in approval. And he met Quinn’s gaze head on.

“I appreciate your concern. Alyssa and I are married, but Luke is my nephew, technically.”

“And you’re raising him.”

“Yes. I’m the only father he’s ever known. My brother sure as hell wasn’t up to the task.”

And there it was again. Alyssa felt the old, familiar jab of pain at the cold, dismissive tone in his voice as he spoke of his brother. It was always there, it seemed, just sometimes closer to the surface, as it had been this morning, sparking the argument that had sent Luke running.

“Drew, please, not now,” she said softly, looking over to where Luke was romping with the dog, who now seemed nothing more than the perfect child’s companion.

His jaw tightened, but with a glance in the same direction, he nodded. His tone was neutral when he turned back to the pair before him. “Thank you for bringing him home.”

“Thank Cutter,” Hayley said. “He found him.” She looked at Alyssa. “He was very cautious, your Luke. Said you told him people sometimes use animals to lure kids.”

“For all the good it apparently did,” she answered wryly.

“Oh, it did,” Quinn assured her. She appreciated that. “He wasn’t about to let either of us near him. That’s why we had Cutter backtrack him here. That interested him enough to get him to come home.”

Drew glanced once more at the boy and dog, who were rolling around on wet grass as if it were a warm, sunny day. “That must be some dog.”

Hayley laughed. “We could tell you stories. But now, I think we should leave you to...resolve this.”

Drew nodded. “We need to talk to him some more.”

“Don’t you need to get back to work?” Alyssa asked.

“This is more important,” Drew said, and started across the yard to collect Luke.

“Nice that he puts that first,” Hayley said, sounding as if she were making an effort to be noncommittal.

“He always puts Luke first,” Alyssa said.

That was our deal, after all, she thought. And Drew kept it. Of course he did, he was Drew.

She’d made the best bargain she could, at the time. Her choices had brought them to the brink of disaster, and Drew had saved them. He’d promised them safety, a home, and to love and care for Luke as if he were his own. And he’d delivered on every one of those promises. Unlike his brother, Drew Kiley’s word was his bond, and he lived up to it.

And if things had changed, if she had changed since then, it wasn’t Drew’s fault. It was hers.

As usual.

Chapter 3

“That has got to be an interesting household,” Quinn said as they walked back to the park, taking the same shortcut through the trees, since Drew had told them it was a good mile if they went by road. Plus it offered some protection from the suddenly increased rain.

“Indeed,” Hayley said, looking back to be sure the reluctant Cutter was actually with them. The dog had been very hesitant about leaving his new playmate. “But Luke wasn’t scared. Of either of them.”

That had been her first fear, that the boy had run away to escape some kind of abuse. But the way he’d been with his mother, and his...uncle, had clearly negated that idea.

“No. Nervous about being in trouble, but not scared.” Quinn grimaced. “No love lost between those brothers, though.”

“No. Even with one of them dead. Sad.”

“He’s doing the right thing.”

“Drew? Yes, he is.” She dodged a low-hanging branch. “But I have the feeling things are going to be very interesting around there this afternoon.”

Cutter woofed, low and with emphasis.

“I know, dog,” Quinn said. “But we don’t mess in people’s private lives, buddy. Not what Foxworth does.”

The dog made another sound, one Hayley thought sounded rather disgusted.

“But if Luke had been afraid...” She was still fairly new to all the ins and outs of the Foxworth Foundation, and wasn’t sure exactly where the line was in some situations. And this situation was certainly unique. She couldn’t imagine they’d come across a family like this one, consisting of a boy and his mother, who was married to his dead father’s brother.

“We don’t do domestics,” Quinn said. “But if there was reason to suspect he was being abused, we would at least look into it and then turn it over to the right people,” Quinn said. “We’d never walk away from something like that.”

Hayley looked back once more. The trail through the trees had turned westward, and Luke’s home was now out of sight.

“I wonder what kind of argument’s going to break out next,” she said.

“Let’s just hope it’s out of that kid’s earshot,” Quinn answered.

With a sigh Hayley nodded. Then they cleared the trees and stepped back into the open space of the park. Rain was pelting them now, hard and steady.

“We’re going to get soaked,” Quinn said.

“I think that ship already sailed,” Hayley retorted.

“Guess we’ll have to go home and change clothes.”

She flicked him a glance, saw nothing but obvious innocence in his expression. For a guy who had a poker face that wouldn’t quit, she knew exactly what this meant.

“You just want my clothes off,” she accused, but laughter broke through in the middle.

“Damn straight,” he said.

“You go first,” she teased.

“My pleasure,” Quinn said, and there was so much heat and outright need in his voice she was surprised she wasn’t already steaming.

She spared another thought for Drew and Alyssa Kiley, wondering if they ever shared moments like this in their odd relationship. If she had to guess, she’d sadly say no. They didn’t have the air of a couple that was intimate at every possible moment. She wondered if they were at all, given the nature and circumstances of their being together.

And then they were in the car, Cutter loaded in the back where he promptly sprayed the interior with a hearty shake, and all she could think about was getting her man home and licking every raindrop off the body she knew so well.

* * *

Drew was thankful Alyssa didn’t seem inclined to fight with him. Maybe she was just so thankful Luke was home safe, thankful that they’d dodged a large bullet, that her relief made her more forgiving. Or maybe, as he had, she’d just learned the futility of it. All they did was go round and round in the same old rut, digging it deeper and deeper with each circuit.

More likely she just felt like he did, now that the adrenaline that had spiked when she’d called to tell him Luke was missing had begun to ebb. The thought of Luke out there, alone, lost and maybe scared, had knifed at him. That it was probably his fault had only driven that knife deeper.

He paced the living room, seeing nothing of the familiar surroundings. He’d built this house for them, done much of the labor himself, but it all meant nothing. None of his success, his work at building the business his grandfather had begun, of hanging on to it through the toughest times, and now building it again, meant anything next to the biggest job he’d ever taken on.

He worked hard at being a father. Harder than at anything in his life. It wasn’t in his nature the way it seemed to be in Alyssa’s. She was automatically loving and understanding and generous—too generous in some cases—by nature. And it was that generosity that got them into trouble. Or more accurately, his reaction to it. Because that generosity made her excuse Doug even after what he’d done. And that clawed at something buried deep inside him. Made him, to his shame, lash out every once in a while.

And if he sometimes wished for a little more of that generous understanding for himself, well, that was his problem. She’d agreed to this arrangement for Luke’s sake, because at the time she’d had little choice. She wasn’t the one who was now chafing under the terms.

She hadn’t asked him to fall in love with her.

She still loves Doug, he reminded himself. For all his sins, she still loves him, and probably always will. It didn’t matter that he didn’t understand it, didn’t understand what she’d seen in his brother that had made her willing to throw her life away for him.

He’d long ago admitted he knew what Doug had seen in her, although he had his doubts whether his feckless little brother had seen the real woman behind the sweet face and the big, innocent blue eyes. In his more sour moments he suspected it was that innocence that had drawn Doug; it took a certain amount of innocence to be taken in by his act.

And there he was again, striking out even in his mind. Doug was dead—and hating him for what he’d done was pointless.

“We did this.”

Her voice was soft, almost a whisper from behind him. He spun around. She’d gone up with Luke to get him warm and dry, and set him up with his current favorite book. He was already reading well for his age, on to third-grade level readers, and Drew knew that was thanks to Alyssa. Not only had she read to him regularly, she’d made up a game where she’d written simple words on cards and hidden them around the room in reachable places for a child. Then she’d sent Luke off on a treasure hunt, making him tell her what words he’d found. At first Drew had thought it kind of silly, but when he’d seen the results—and heard Luke’s proud crowing when he got one right—he’d quickly changed his mind.

“Yes,” he said, his voice nearly as quiet as hers. “We did.”

“It has to stop, Drew.”

“Yes.”

“What can I do to make that easier?”

God, he hated this. She was being so reasonable, so understanding. And he felt like a fool because the only answer he had was “Stop loving my brother.”

“I’m not Luke,” he said, not quite snapping. “Don’t treat me like a six-year-old.”

“Luke,” she said sweetly, “is leaving temper tantrums behind.”

He drew back sharply. Opened his mouth, ready to truly snap this time. And stopped.

“Okay,” he said after a moment, “I had that one coming.”

“Yes.”

In an odd way, her dig pleased him. Not because it was accurate, he sheepishly admitted, but because she felt confident enough to do it. She’d been so weak, sick and scared when he’d found her four years ago, going toe to toe with him like this would have been impossible. But she was strong now, poised and self-assured. And he took a tiny bit of credit for that. She’d done the hard work. Once she’d gotten well she’d pulled herself up and found her way, but he’d given her the means, and the protection she’d needed to get it done.

“You’ve come a long way,” he said quietly.

“Because I don’t cower anymore?”

He frowned. “I never made you cower.”

For an instant she looked startled. “I never said you did.”

She crossed her arms and began to move, pacing almost the same track he had taken around the living room.

“You saved us, Drew, don’t think I don’t know that, or will ever forget it. I have come a long way, and it’s in large part because you made it possible.”

It was a pretty little speech, a sentiment she’d expressed more than once. And not so long ago it had been enough. More than enough. It had told him he’d done exactly what he’d intended. That he’d accomplished his goal. That she was stable now, strong, and he’d had a hand in that.

And it wasn’t her fault that wasn’t enough for him anymore.

“That’s what we dull, boring rocks do,” he said, using his brother’s terminology. Doug had always insisted it was a joke, but Drew had always known there was a certain amount of venom behind it. His insisting it was a joke just made Drew look touchy if he took offense. Doug had that little game down to a science.

Alyssa turned then. “There’s a lot to be said for being the rock of the family.”

Yes, she had come a long way. There was a time when she’d meant it just as Doug had, but no more. He had to give her that.

“Is there?” he asked.

“Yes. We’ve been safe, thanks to you. Back then I didn’t appreciate how important feeling safe and steady was. Now I do.”

He supposed that was something.

For a moment she just looked at him. One hand stole up to push her hair behind her right ear. She’d gotten it cut recently. He’d thought he would miss the long waves of golden blonde, but he liked this smooth shape, how it swept forward onto her cheeks, making her eyes look even bigger and bluer. He’d wondered what was behind the radical change, but had been wary to ask. Their relationship was such a minefield sometimes. She too often took a simple question as a criticism, when he never meant it that way.

But when you practically force somebody to marry you, you took what you got, he supposed.

“Thank you,” he finally said. That had to be safe enough, didn’t it?

“Thank you,” she said, “for not blaming me.”

His brows lowered in puzzlement. “Blaming you for what?”

“Luke slipping away.”

He drew back slightly. “It wasn’t your fault. He’s a smart kid, he knew when to sneak out.”

“Which brings us back to why he did it.”

Drew let out a compressed breath. “Okay. I get it. It was my fault.”

“I’m not saying that.”

“Then what are you saying?”

“I’m saying I appreciate that you don’t hold your feelings about your brother against Luke.”

“Appreciate?” What an insipid, bloodless word that suddenly seemed. “I love him like he was my own.”

“I know that,” Alyssa said in that patient way of hers that worked wonders with Luke but tended to spark his temper. “I know you love him completely. But Luke needs to know his father loved him, too.”

“His father didn’t even stick around to know him.”

“That wasn’t by his choice, Drew. You know that.”

“His choices led to everything that happened. Can’t you see—”

He cut himself off when he realized he was just repeating the exact words that had started this whole thing this morning. Just like that they were back in that circular rut. He determined to make her see, and she determined to hang on to her rose-tinted memories.

And the way things were going, they could well spend the rest of their lives there, endlessly circling.

He was going to lose her. He could feel it. What they had was a facade, a construct that had served a purpose that was now accomplished, and should be demolished before it collapsed under its own weight.

They weren’t just circling each other, they were circling the drain.

Chapter 4

“Please, Mom?”

Luke’s voice had taken on the wheedling tone that made Alyssa laugh but drove Drew nuts. But he didn’t react. He knew it was because it reminded him of Doug, who had had that perfected at Luke’s age. He hated to think there was anything of Doug in this boy he thought of as his son, although he knew there likely was. It was bad enough that he looked so much like him, but any hint that he’d inherited other things worried him.

But now he made himself chalk it up to typical six-year-old behavior and not a sign of hereditary, blatant self-absorption. And he told himself the actions of a six-year-old were not a predictor of the man Luke would become.

But he had less luck telling himself that the very thing that irritated him about that tone was what made Alyssa laugh; it reminded her of the man she’d loved. Still loved. Didn’t the fact that she still wore that damned necklace that Doug had given her prove that?

“Dad? Can I?”

“Not by yourself, if that’s what you mean,” he said.

“I should say not, young man,” Alyssa said, her tone so heartfelt in its agreement that Drew felt his irritation ebb away. Luke was just a six-year-old boy who wanted something, not a fledgling narcissist.

“Well, you could come,” Luke said. “We can even walk on the sidewalk if you want,” he added generously.

“Well, now, there’s a selling point,” Drew said drily.

Alyssa laughed. She did so easily now, and Drew caught himself again remembering the days when she had been too ill, and too frightened for herself and her son to laugh at all.

Seems like we switched places, he thought. She’d blossomed, while he’d...retreated. He supposed he should be thankful she wasn’t the nudging, prying sort, or he’d lash out even more; a public display of his private pain wasn’t in his nature. Or hadn’t been, until lately.

Of course, maybe she wasn’t the nudging, prying sort because she didn’t care. She might appreciate him—yeah, he hated the word all right—but that didn’t mean she felt anything more.

“Please? He might be there already.”

Drew snapped himself out of his useless reverie. “Or he might not be at all,” he warned.

“He will be. I just know it.”

It wasn’t what he’d planned on doing this Saturday morning, but Drew found himself assenting anyway. He didn’t want to take any chances. Things had been peaceful, relatively, even pleasant for the last week, but they’d been kind of walking on eggshells, too.

“All right. I’ll go with you.”

He felt rather than saw Alyssa’s startled glance. Usually she was the one to give in first.

Luke crowed. “Yahoo!”

“But you’re still restricted,” Drew warned. “You stay in sight at all times, no running off on your own.”

Usually Alyssa thought his penalties a bit too strict, but she had no quibble with this one. Which told him how scared she’d been last week. She’d already been on edge, thinking somebody had been watching her. And Luke taking off had been the tipping point.

“Go get your duck boots on, a sweater, and your blue jacket,” she instructed.

The boy grimaced, but was wise enough even at six not to push his luck. He darted up the stairs.

“I can go with him,” she said when he was out of earshot.

“I think we both should,” he said.

Her brow furrowed. He frowned; was just the idea of a walk with him so bad?

“I’m sure you have other things to do,” she said.

Was there annoyance in her voice, or was he imagining it? There had been a time when he’d been able to read her better. But she wasn’t the same foolish girl she’d been when she’d run off with Doug at seventeen, believing they were eloping, only to find he had no intention of marrying her. Not even—or rather especially—when she’d gotten pregnant.

Nor was she the same shattered woman he’d found two years after Doug’s death, alone, in a hospital and seriously ill, and unable to care for herself or her toddler son. Alyssa had been a broken woman. And the nephew he’d never even met was in the custody of Child Protective Services.

No, she’d healed, gradually, gotten stronger. And she’d grown up. Rather quickly, once she saw the chance to get her son back. Then she’d sacrificed everything to keep Luke safe and happy.

She’d even married him.

She was staring at him now. “Two sets of eyes to keep on him,” he said.

“You don’t think he’ll run away again?” Anxiety spiked in her voice.

He hadn’t meant to do that. “No. But it can’t hurt, can it?”

He wanted to ask if the idea of a walk with him was that horrible, but he didn’t want to hear the answer so he kept quiet.

“No. It’s a good idea. If he sees us going together, maybe he’ll think—”

She broke off suddenly, as if she’d realized what her next words would have sounded like.

Drew didn’t need to hear them to know what she’d been going to say. Maybe Luke will think we’re okay, that we’re a real family, that the only parents he’d really known were really together.

When in reality they were anything but.

Without a word, he walked over to the coatrack by the door and grabbed his rain jacket. He took Alyssa’s down as well and held it for her as she slid her arms in. A nice, husbandly gesture.

Right.

He knew too well he would never be able to make Alyssa happy, not in the way Doug had. No amount of telling himself it had only been teenage infatuation could change that.

They walked, slowly since the rain had for the moment lightened to more of a heavy mist. He wished he could kid himself that they were a normal, ordinary, happy family out for a Saturday morning walk. But his own actions, calling out to Luke to remind him to stay in sight, were a reminder they were not. As was his wife’s nervous edginess, the way she keep looking around, over her shoulder, as if she expected something or someone to jump out at her.

She must still be having that feeling of being watched. He didn’t sense anything, but he wasn’t sure he would. He was just a guy who went to work every day and tried to keep things together. Alyssa had the imagination in the family. Maybe that’s what had drawn her to Doug, who had always been full of wild, impossible plans.

But he didn’t discount her feeling. Because he knew something she didn’t yet, because he’d only found out the week before Luke vanished. He hadn’t been sure how to tell her, had been working up to it, and then the whole thing with Luke had happened, and even though that had turned out fine, she was still shaken. So he’d held off telling her what he’d learned. But he’d renewed the vow he’d made on the day she’d agreed to his plan. He would keep both her and Luke safe. And he would. No matter what.

* * *

“He is here!”

“Yes, it seems he is,” Alyssa said to her delighted son. “How did you know?”

Luke slid her a sideways look. “He told me.”

“Who told you?”

“Cutter.”

She had no idea what to say to that piece of fancy, so she merely laughed. In her heart, she was happy the boy could even manage such fanciful thoughts still. Because of his rocky start in life, he was ahead of many kids his same age in leaving childhood behind. But he was clearly able to still indulge in wild imaginings, and somehow that comforted her.

“Can I go now?” Luke asked, trying to tug his hand free from hers.

“No,” she said. “We need to talk to his people first.”

But it seemed the decision was out of her hands, the dog was already racing across the park toward them. She saw Hayley and Quinn spot them, and Hayley gave a friendly wave as they started their way as well.

The approach of the happy dog was too much for Luke, and he broke loose to run toward him. The dog yipped in greeting, and immediately dropped into what was clearly play mode, front end down, tail up and wagging.

“Hello,” Hayley said cheerfully as they joined them. Quinn merely nodded at them both. “I should have known there was a reason Cutter wanted to come here this morning.”

Drew blinked. “What?”

“He was determined,” Quinn said drily.

Alyssa laughed. “You say that like it was his idea.”

“Oh, it was,” Hayley said. “He made it quite clear.”

“He’s a dog,” Drew said, rather pointedly.

“Maybe,” Quinn said in the same tone.

Hayley laughed, probably at their expressions. Alyssa guessed she looked as skeptical as Drew did right now.

“It’s kind of hard to explain,” Hayley said. “He’s kind of hard to explain. But trust me, he brought us here, not the other way around.”

Drew was looking at them in that assessing, considering way of his. “He brought you,” he said slowly.

“He’s got his ways,” Quinn said. “He usually just makes your life impossible until you do what he wants.”

“But he’s helpful, too,” Hayley said, still chuckling. “He brings us our outdoor shoes. That’s usually our first clue we’re going somewhere. Then we wait to see if we’re walking or going in the car. Today was the car.”

“I suppose he gives you directions, too?” Drew sounded more amused than sarcastic, Alyssa thought. Thankfully, since he could carve a turkey with that sharpness sometimes.

“Actually, he does,” Quinn said. There was something, Alyssa thought, about this big, strong and clearly tough man accepting the eccentricities of a dog that warmed her. “It sort of consists of blessed silence when we’re going the right way and booming barks if we dare make a wrong turn. If we’re lucky, we figure it out before we go deaf.”

“We figured this one out fairly quickly,” Hayley said.

“Which is why we can still hear well enough to have this conversation,” Quinn said, his mouth quirking.

Something about this made Drew grin suddenly. Alyssa’s breath stopped in her throat. She tried to remember the last time she’d seen it, and couldn’t. Doug’s smile had been easy, his grins frequent.

And worth less because of it?

Alyssa blinked. What an odd thought to have.

“Can we go now?” Luke said, on the edge of a whine.

“Is it all right if they play for a while?” Alyssa asked.

“I think that’s why we’re here,” Hayley said.

Taking that as assent, Luke dashed off, Cutter at his heels.

“In sight!” Drew called out the reminder.

“A little fallout from last week?” Hayley asked.

Drew nodded. “He scared his mother half to death. I don’t want him forgetting that any time soon.”

It was such a simple statement, Alyssa didn’t know why it made her throat tighten up. She had appreciated the edict Drew had lain down, even appreciated the way he’d done it, approaching Luke for a man-to-man talk in a way that had the boy listening carefully, wide-eyed and intent. And for a six-year-old, Luke had followed the rule pretty well.

“At that age, boys need rules,” Drew had said after he’d sent Luke to bed that first night, telling him to think about it until he went to sleep. “They need to know where the boundaries are.”

“What about girls?” she’d asked, grateful enough at his reaction to this entire episode to merely tease.

Drew had given her a sideways look. “No idea,” he said. “I never was one.”

No, Alyssa thought now, you certainly never were.

“—in construction?” Quinn was asking Drew. “Mind if I pick your brain a little? Thinking about some remodeling of our building.”

“Sure,” Drew said.

“We’ll keep the rascals in sight,” Quinn promised Alyssa as they walked toward where boy and dog were romping in some self-invented game of tag that had no rules Alyssa could discern.

“It’s silly, I suppose,” she said to Hayley as the men walked away, talking. “But I’m still nervous.”

“Not silly at all.”

“I think Drew thinks I’m too jumpy, or imagining things. But I’d been feeling like somebody had been watching me, and then Luke vanished....”

“Someone was watching you?”

“No, probably not really. It was just a creepy feeling.”

“Quinn taught me that those feelings are often just your brain interpreting signals so fast that what’s really a logical process seems like a leap of intuition.”

Alyssa blinked. “Really?” She wasn’t sure if she was referring to the idea, or Quinn saying it.

“I’ve learned he’s right. If you go back over the details of what made you feel that way, you sometimes find there were a lot of little things that, added together, made your brain make that jump.”

It made sense to her, and she promised herself when she had a quiet moment she’d try to do that. In the meantime, she was grateful to Hayley for not simply brushing it off.

“Drew obviously cares a great deal about you and Luke.”

Alyssa said the one thing she was certain was true. “He feels responsible for us.”

“You have an...interesting family relationship.”

“Ya’ think?” Alyssa responded with a laugh. “I know, it seems weird to those on the outside, me being married to the brother of my son’s father. But I don’t want to think about where we’d be, where Luke would be, if he hadn’t found us when he did. I can honestly say he saved us.”

“Quinn kidnapped me.” Hayley said it as casually as if she’d said they’d met at a community picnic.

Alyssa blinked. “He what?”

Hayley explained about the night the proverbial black helicopter had dropped into her life and changed it forever.

“What,” Alyssa said, her eyes wide, “exactly does your fiancé do?”

“He fights,” Hayley said proudly.

So he was military? Alyssa had thought he might be—something about the way he carried himself. “Navy?” she asked, since this was Navy territory around the Sound. She thought he might even be a SEAL, he was just that impressive.

“Former Army. He used to be a Ranger. But he’s still a fighter. Only now he fights for people in the right who can no longer fight for themselves.”

Chapter 5

Alyssa blinked. She glanced across the park to where Drew and Quinn Foxworth were watching Luke and the dog play. It sounded so...noble, that sentiment. No wonder Hayley sounded proud.

“Why?” she finally asked.

“Because once he was helpless in the face of tragedy. He lost hope. He made it his mission to help others who were feeling that way. And I’m proud to be part of that now.”

Helpless. Oh, how well she knew that feeling. She would never forget, never wanted to forget, and was determined she would never be in that position again. It made her even more curious about these people.

She looked across the green expanse toward the swings, where Luke was weaving around the uprights with Cutter hot on his heels. Drew and Quinn were right there, deep in conversation but clearly with an eye on the boy.

“Is that why he joined the service?”

Hayley nodded. “But things changed. He was butting heads more than he was seeing eye-to-eye. So he left, and that was the beginning of the Foxworth Foundation.”

“He has a foundation?”

“Started by him and the only other Foxworth left, his sister. Now it covers most of the country, from five regional locations.” Hayley glanced over to where Luke and Cutter were now wrestling happily. “But we’re the only ones with a dog as a team member,” she added with a grin.

Alyssa, still nervous about Luke, had been doing the same regularly, checking on the pair. “He’s...quite something, your dog. Where did you find him?”

“I didn’t. He found me. Turned up on my doorstep when I needed him most, after my mother died.”

Alyssa’s gaze shifted back to Hayley. “Like he found Luke when he needed him most?”

“Exactly. It’s what he does. He finds people who need his—or Foxworth’s—particular kind of help.”

Alyssa sighed. “I’ll be forever grateful to him for bringing Luke home.” Hayley met her gaze, and there was something warm and understanding in her eyes, something that made Alyssa add rather pitifully, “I wish he could help us.”

“Don’t be so sure he can’t,” Hayley said.

“Can he help Drew stop hating his brother?” Her tone was bitter, but she couldn’t help it any more than she’d been able to stop the words from slipping out.

“Does he? Really?”

“Close enough.”

“Seems rather pointless to hate someone who’s dead,” Hayley said, her tone so neutral Alyssa knew it was intentional.

“It is, but he can’t let go. It’s the only pointless thing he does in his life.”

“Why?”

“It’s a long story.”

“We have all morning,” Hayley said, gesturing toward the romping dog and child. “I think they’re having so much fun it would be sad to interrupt them.”

Alyssa smiled. Luke was having fun, and it warmed her heart. Plus, there was something about this woman that made this feel more like sharing with a trusted friend than airing dirty laundry. So Alyssa answered her.

“Doug was very different from Drew. He was sunny, happy, carefree. Drew’s always been so serious, responsible.”

“Some would say,” Hayley said in that same, neutral tone, “the latter makes the former possible.”

“That people like Doug can only be carefree if people like Drew do the serious stuff? Yeah, I’ve heard that. Repeatedly.” At Hayley’s look, she added quickly, “Oh, not from Drew. He doesn’t say stuff like that, at least. I’ve heard it from other people. Even from guys who were supposedly Doug’s friends.”

“What does he say?”

Alyssa supposed she wanted to know what their fight had been about. Her instinct was always to keep quiet, if only because she didn’t want to whine. She’d been that way for too long, and she was determined not to revert.

“That Doug was lazy, always looking for the easy way. That he’d slid through life on looks and charm. That he wanted to be rich without putting in the work. That he was irresponsible.”

“Any of that true?”

Alyssa shrugged. Contrary to what Drew believed, she’d come to terms with many of the realities of Luke’s father a while ago. “Probably most of it.”

Hayley’s brows rose. “If you agree, then what is there to fight about?”

“Because Drew also thinks Doug never loved me, not really. That he abandoned me when I got pregnant. Because I got pregnant. It’s not true.”

Alyssa stopped herself when she heard her voice rising.

“It’s okay,” Hayley said gently. “An understandable hot button.”

Odd how her voice was so comforting, Alyssa thought. She felt like she could tell Hayley the whole story and she would understand. Maybe because she’d suffered the loss of someone she loved, too. Whatever it was, she found herself pouring out the whole story.

“I fell in love with Doug Kiley when I was fifteen. The way only a teenager can. A year later, he finally noticed me. My parents hated the idea because he was four years older. His parents weren’t too happy either. So they tried to break us up.”

Hayley rolled her eyes. “Oh, and that always works so well.”

Alyssa smiled, surprising herself. She rarely spoke of that time anymore, and it never made her smile, but somehow with Hayley it was different.

“We ran off together when I was seventeen. For a while it was fun, we had adventures, he called them, up and down the west coast. And then I got pregnant.”

“Where were you then?”

“California. It was the end of summer, and we were broke. Doug said you could practically live off what people left on the beaches.”

“And not get cold at night,” Hayley said.

Alyssa liked that she got that, and didn’t judge. “Yes. Anyway, I had to go to a free clinic to be sure, but I was pregnant.”

“That must have been a little scary.”

“It was. But I was...happy, too. I loved Doug, and I was young enough to feel like having his baby was a sign of that.” Her mouth quirked ruefully. “Shows you how stupid I was.”

“How did Doug react?”

Alyssa sighed. “I didn’t tell him, for a while. He was worried about just getting us enough to eat.”

“And when you did?”

Alyssa looked over at Luke, the single consistent light in her life since that awful day. “He got scared. He said we were broke, we couldn’t have a kid. He wanted me to get rid of it, so we could go on just like before.”

“Ah.”

The sound Hayley made was noncommittal, nonjudgmental. It enabled Alyssa to go on. “If it had been sooner, I might have done it. Probably would have. But I waited too long. I’d felt the baby move. And I couldn’t.”

“A tough decision.”

She didn’t tell Hayley Doug had become angry about it. He’d spent days trying to talk her out of going through with it. Then he’d turned on the charm full bore, sweet-talking her with stories about the future she was risking. She wasn’t sure where she’d found the strength to resist, but she had. And then Doug had lost it. She’d never seen him so furious, didn’t even realize he was capable of such anger.

And then he’d walked out. Just to cool off, she was sure.

And she’d never seen him alive again.

“Doug was killed a few days later. He’d gone out looking for a way to get money, to take care of us. He hooked up with this really creepy, shady guy we’d met on the bus to L.A.—Baird Oliver. It was all his idea. I know he was only able to talk Doug into it because he was so scared.”

“They did something stupid?” Hayley asked softly.

Alyssa nodded. “They robbed a convenience store. Baird got away, but he was caught later. Doug crashed running from the police. He was killed.”

“And you were pregnant and alone.”

She nodded. “I know it was wrong, the robbery. But he was desperate. And Baird was persuasive, in a slimy kind of way. Doug just wanted to take care of us.”

“You think he changed his mind about leaving?”

“I know he did. He didn’t have the money, so he couldn’t have been running away like Drew says he was. And he was headed back, not away. He was coming back to get me.”

“You must have been terrified.”

“I was. The next couple of years were hell. I knew I couldn’t come home, my parents hadn’t spoken to me since we ran off. Getting pregnant, having Luke, would only make it worse.”

“That’s sad.”

“Yes.”

“So what did you do?”

Alyssa laughed, only this time it was full of scorn, directed only at herself. “I brilliantly got so run-down trying to work three jobs and still take care of Luke that I got sick, which became pneumonia, and I ended up in the hospital.” She looked at Luke once more. “They took him away from me, Hayley. He was the only thing I had left of the man I’d been so crazy in love with, and they took him away.”

Hayley took in an audible breath. Alyssa liked her even more for her expression of genuine sympathy. “What happened?”

“Drew,” she said simply. “He found us. Saved us. Both of us. He took care of me when I could barely lift a finger to help myself for weeks. And he got Luke back, out of foster care. And I will always, always owe him for that.”

She meant it. Even though occasionally, after incidents like last week’s, she had to remind herself just how much she owed him.

And how impossible it would be to ever really pay him back.

Chapter 6

“Careless, foolish, and impossibly self-centered his entire life.”

Drew kept his voice low even though Luke was so raptly involved with his new playmate he doubted he would have heard anything short of a bomb going off. He didn’t care anymore how the boy had known the dog would be here in the park, he was just savoring the expression of delight on Luke’s face.

“And you’re obviously not,” Quinn said. It was so matter-of-fact Drew felt oddly pleased. “How’d that happen?”

Drew shrugged one shoulder. “Doug was kind of sickly when he was a baby. So everybody fussed over him. Then later he was so damn cute and clever, everybody spoiled him. He was smart enough to figure out early that he could charm people into just about anything.”

“And it’s a lot easier than working.”

Drew studied Quinn Foxworth for a long moment. He instinctively liked the man, for his brisk, businesslike manner, and the innate steadiness he sensed in him. And the obvious fact that he was crazy in love with his Hayley, and wasn’t afraid to show it.

He envied the man that.

“Yes,” he said finally. “And Doug was all about the easy way. But Lyss still insists he was trying to get money to take care of them both when he was killed.”

“But you don’t believe that.”

“More likely he was trying to get enough money to run from the responsibility. He didn’t have it on him when he died, so I’ve always thought he didn’t want to get caught with it and it was stashed somewhere for him and his scumbag partner to retrieve later.”

“The partner that went to prison?”

Drew nodded. “Baird Oliver. That robbery wasn’t his first foray into crime.”

“And they never found the cash?”

Drew shook his head. “Wasn’t in the car when Doug crashed and Oliver didn’t have it on him, either.”

“So your brother’s motives are what you were fighting about?”

Drew sighed, looking again at Luke, glad simply to see the boy so happy. “More who he was. Or wasn’t.”

“And you each have your own version.”

“Yes,” Drew admitted. “But mine’s based in fact, hers is based in...fantasy. Some sort of dream image she’s always had of him.”

“Incompatible visions.”

“Exactly.” He let out a compressed breath. “We agreed early on to not discuss it, because it just degenerated into scenes like last week. Our marriage may be...just a business arrangement, but the fighting isn’t good for Luke. And he’s old enough now, he’s starting to ask difficult questions.”

Quinn studied him for a moment. “About his father?”

“Yes. I wanted to settle that as soon as he was old enough to understand, to tell him the truth, but Lyss kept putting it off.”

“Because she didn’t agree that what you wanted to tell him was the truth?” Quinn suggested.

“Probably,” Drew said with a glum expression. “I didn’t mind that she wanted him to know about Doug, he is his biological father. But she didn’t want him to hear anything negative, anything at all.”

“Which makes a dead man the perfect father. He can do no wrong.”

Drew’s breath stopped in his throat. He stared at Quinn. How many times had he thought just that, and then hated himself for it?

Quinn shrugged. “I tended to idealize my own father, after he died. And it took a while before my sister could get me to remember he hadn’t always been perfect.”

“She’s older?”

“A little.” Quinn grinned then. “Or a lot, sometimes. Our parents always said they had a wise, brilliant kid and a smart but stubborn one. I’ll let you guess which was which.”

Drew smiled, an odd enough occurrence while talking of his family situation that he was acutely aware of it.

“So what do you do about it?” Quinn asked.

“What can I do?” Drew answered wearily. “I kept hoping she’d eventually realize that what she thinks she knows isn’t the truth, but she’s determined to hang on to that idealized image.” He shook his head sharply. “But it’s not all her doing. I let her most of the time, because I just don’t want to fight that fight. I don’t want to fight with her at all.”

Quinn’s steady gaze sharpened, and Drew wondered if he’d let too much show. He wasn’t sure why he was talking so much to this guy he’d just met a week ago anyway. He never talked about all this to anyone.

“So, this is just a business arrangement,” Quinn said, not even making it a question.

“It took me two years to find them, after Doug was killed. When I did, Lyss was really sick. Exhaustion, pneumonia. They’d already taken Luke, put him in a foster home. She couldn’t take care of herself, let alone him. Getting married was the fastest way to get through it all.”

“You would have had claim on Luke by blood, wouldn’t you?”

“Yes. But he needed his mother, too. And she needed help. And—”

He cut himself off. This was insane. He wasn’t going to explain to this near-stranger why he’d done what he’d done. Let him think whatever he was going to think. He was regretting already that Foxworth knew as much as he did.

When did you start running off at the mouth? he asked himself sourly.

He should get Luke and Alyssa, and they should just go home. The fight was over, and Luke had scared them enough that he thought they might be able to avoid the heated exchanges in the future. It would be hard to pry the boy away from the dog he was having so much fun with, but—

Almost on the thought, the dog stopped mid-romp. He spun around on his hindquarters and stared at Drew. And then he bolted, straight toward them.

Cutter sat, not as Drew would have expected, at Quinn’s feet, but at his own. The animal stared up at him intently. No, more than intently. That gaze was intense, and seemingly impossible to look away from. Drew thought of tales he’d read as a boy, of sheepdogs who controlled their flock with just the power of their eyes, and cattle dogs who did the same. He’d always thought it a bit fanciful. Now he wasn’t so sure.

“Uh-oh.” Quinn’s voice was wry, almost wary sounding.

Drew lifted a brow at him. “Your dog trying to tell me something?”

“He’s expressing an opinion, yes.” Quinn crouched down beside the animal, who only flicked a glance at him. “We can’t, boy. We don’t do domestic. It’s not our place.”

Drew shifted his gaze from the dog back to the man, who had seemed perfectly sane moments ago. Yet now here he was, talking to a dog as if the animal could comprehend every word. We don’t do domestic... What the hell did that mean?

Cutter let out a low sound, not a growl but a sort of whuffing bark. It sounded oddly insistent.

“No, Cutter,” Quinn said.

The insistent bark came again just as Luke, clearly curious at the departure of his delightful companion, came up to them.

“Do you have to leave?” the boy asked, looking crestfallen.

“We should,” Quinn said, “but I’m not sure he’s going to let us.”

“Okay, this is crazy. He’s a dog,” Drew said.

“Sometimes,” Quinn said. “Sometimes I’m not sure what he is.”

“Quinn?”

Hayley’s voice came from behind him, and Drew turned to see the woman and Alyssa approaching. Lyss was smiling, and he was thankful to Hayley for that if nothing else.

“Do we have a...situation?” Hayley asked as they came to a halt. She was looking at the dog.

“It seems we do.”

Hayley frowned. “Did you tell him this was personal, not really our business?”

“I did. He’s not listening.”

“I think,” Drew muttered, “I’ve lost my mind. We need to get out of here.”

“And away from the crazy people who talk to a dog like he’s a person who can understand?” Hayley said.

Drew blinked. “I....”

“It’s okay,” Hayley said with a smile that was impossible to ignore. “We understand, believe me. It took us a long time to accept that...he really does understand. Not the words, perhaps, but he knows what’s going on.”

“Well, I don’t,” Alyssa said, watching this all with much more amusement on her face than anything else.

“He knows there’s a problem,” Hayley explained. “And it’s in his nature to want to fix it.”

“You mean to want us to fix it,” Quinn amended drily.

“Well, yes,” Hayley agreed with a laugh. “It is our function to figure out what he wants and try to do it.”

This time Drew and Alyssa were united. They both looked from the dog to his people in wary disbelief.

“You’re saying he wants to fix our problem?” Alyssa asked.

“He wants it fixed, yes,” Hayley said. “He likes people. He loves some. And he doesn’t tolerate fixable problems well.”

Drew looked back at the dog, who was still staring at him in that way that made him faintly uncomfortable. “Fixable?”

“Yes. But he thinks everything’s fixable. At least, he has so far.”

“I don’t think so,” Alyssa said. “Not this time. I’ve been trying for years.”

Drew’s gaze snapped to his wife. “What are you talking—”

“Let him try, Dad!” Luke said, sounding anxious, as if he thought a fight was about to start. “Please? Mom? Maybe he can help. He’s really smart.”

“This,” Drew muttered, “is ridiculous. We’re down the rabbit hole.”

“Luke, honey, why don’t you and Cutter go play a little more, because we will have to leave soon,” Alyssa said. “Let us talk to Quinn and Hayley.”

Luke hesitated as Cutter didn’t move. Hayley stroked the dog’s head. “Go ahead, boy. We’ll talk.”

The woof that came this time was much more pleased sounding. And Drew shook his head sharply at how willing even he seemed to be to assign human emotion to the dog. But the pair raced off to continue whatever boy-dog game they’d made up.

Alyssa watched her son go, then looked at Quinn. “Hayley told me what you do. What Foxworth does, I mean. And it sounds good, and noble, and all that. But there’s nothing you can do to fix us.”

Drew winced inwardly. She sounded so certain. Not that he thought this Foxworth outfit could fix them, but Lyss sounded so sure they couldn’t be fixed at all.

And she was probably right.

“Drew told me about his brother,” Quinn began.

“Oh, I’m sure he did,” Alyssa said, her voice fairly dripping with resentment.

“I only told him the truth,” Drew said.

Hayley stepped in before things escalated, saying calmly, “And Alyssa told me her side of things. Which I’m sure is very different.”

Drew stayed silent this time, reminding himself of his determination to never fight over this again.

“You each have your opinions, your interpretations of what happened, then,” Hayley said.

“I know what happened,” Drew said.

“You weren’t there—I was,” Alyssa pointed out.

“You weren’t with him when they robbed the place. Or when he crashed, thank God. And you never accepted the truth, even when the cops told you.” So much for his determination, Drew thought.

“The police didn’t know, either. They didn’t know Doug, not like I did. They assumed.”

“So,” Quinn said, “neither of you knows for sure what was in his head, you just have what you believe but can’t prove. And the two versions are not compatible. That about it?”

“I know,” Alyssa said stubbornly.

“And you can’t fix willful blindness,” Drew snapped.

And there they were, back to square one.

Quinn sighed. He looked at Hayley. “I’m not sure even Foxworth can fix this one. How do we prove what was in a dead man’s heart?”

“But Cutter...” she said.

“I know. He’s as determined as I’ve ever seen him.”

“We could look into it, couldn’t we?”

“Wait. You’re saying you’d go against your own policies because of a dog?” Drew asked, sounding as incredulous as he felt.

“Not just a dog. This dog,” Quinn said. At Drew’s look he chuckled. “Believe me, not so long ago I sounded just like you. But it’s hard to argue with the kind of stats this guy has piled up.”

“So, he’s never wrong, is that what you’re saying?”

“No. He just hasn’t been yet.”

Hayley cut in. “Maybe somebody, somebody not emotionally involved, might know something. If anybody can find somebody like that, Foxworth can.”

“Somebody without a dog in this fight, you mean?” Drew joked, unable to quite believe he was taking this discussion even semi-seriously. “This is crazy.”

“On that, I agree,” Alyssa said. “Dog aside, I don’t want anybody digging around in this. Luke’s been through enough. I’m not going to risk destroying his image of his father.”

Drew’s stomach knotted. Had she really said that? Did she even realize she had acknowledged the possibility that there even was a risk of that image—that illusion—being destroyed?

That quickly, Drew changed his mind. From what Quinn had said, Foxworth was big, had great resources, better people, and tremendous results. They also had time, time the police never had, and as Quinn had explained, once they took a case, they never gave up unless their client told them to.

It was almost dizzying how quickly he’d flipped, but Drew couldn’t deny the allure of this being settled once and for all. But he knew Alyssa would never voluntarily seek out truth that might contradict her image of Doug.

But if Foxworth could do it...

“—I appreciate the thought, but no,” Alyssa was saying.

“It’s going to be interesting,” Quinn said. “We’ve never really tried to pull Cutter back once he’s gotten his teeth into something, so to speak.”

“Maybe he’s right,” Drew said.

“What?” Alyssa’s head snapped around and she stared at him.

Careful, he cautioned himself. There’s only one way to get her to see reason. And in this case, it had the advantage of being true, and being the one thing that had made him sickest about this whole thing.

“Luke,” he said quietly.

“I told you, I won’t have him thinking his father was some common criminal who didn’t love him!”

“That’s not the reason to do it,” Drew said, keeping his voice low, even with an effort.

“Then what is?” she demanded.

“He doesn’t even have to know. I swear to you, even if I’m proved right, we don’t have to tell him.”

“Then what is it you’re after, Drew?”

“I’m after a way to clear the air between the parents he has now. Because a six-year-old talking about going away because he thinks it will make us happy is nothing to ignore.”

Alyssa opened her mouth. Shut it. And as if he could see it, he sensed the fight drain away. As always with her, Luke came first. And the truth of what he’d said was undeniable.

She looked over to the boy and the dog. Then back at him.

“How do I know you mean it, that you won’t tell him anything bad they might find?”

Again the admission. Drew’s hopes rose. He tried to quash them. It was too early, he couldn’t let himself think that way. “Have I ever broken my word to you?”

She looked unhappy about it, but she said, “No.”

“Then let them look. Maybe they won’t find anything, but maybe they will and we can put this behind us once and for all.”

“What if they find you’re wrong?”

He didn’t think that was going to happen. But if by some chance Foxworth found something that proved Doug was who she thought he was, at least with her, then he deserved better than he’d gotten from his big brother.

“Then I’ll join your chorus to Luke,” he said.

Something flashed in her eyes then, and he knew he’d won.

“Done,” she said.

And Drew wondered what on earth he’d gotten them into. All because of a dog.

Chapter 7

“I hope you know what you’re doing,” Quinn muttered to the dog at his feet. Cutter looked up at him steadily.

“I believe that’s his ‘Of course I do. It’s you humans who are slow on the uptake,’ expression,” Hayley said cheerfully.

“We humans,” Quinn said, “are reluctant to handle familial dynamite.”

Hayley glanced over to where Drew and Alyssa were standing at the third-floor window, Drew holding Luke up so he could see the bald eagle sitting on the branch of a large maple amid the evergreens. The boy was babbling excitedly; he’d never seen one so close before.

“Maybe we should have Kayla and Dane talk to them about misguided brotherly love,” Quinn said, and Hayley looked at him to see that he’d followed the direction of her gaze. Hayley had no doubts that Kayla and Dane Burdette would be willing. They felt, as did most of Foxworth’s former clients, that they owed them whatever they might ask for.

“I get your point, but I’m not sure this situation is the same. Brother and brother, not brother and sister. It’s different, the relationship between brothers, isn’t it?”

“Probably. More competitive, maybe,” Quinn said. “So, you believe her version?”

“Let’s just say I don’t disbelieve anybody at this point.”

“But they can’t both be right.”

“I didn’t say right. I think they both see what they see, through their own filters. And the truth is probably somewhere in between.”

The eagle lifted off, having spotted something worth investigating. Luke shouted “Look, look!” as the majestic bird dove, then soared before disappearing to the west.

“Beautiful, isn’t she?” Hayley said, walking up to join the trio at the window.

“It’s a girl? How do you know?” Luke asked.

“The females are bigger,” she answered. “Her mate’s noticeably smaller.”

Luke glanced from her to Drew. Drew nodded. “They are.”

“That’s weird.”

“We’ll go to the library and find a book about them,” Alyssa said.

“Can’t we just go on the computer?”

“The pictures are better in a book, and you can look at it by yourself after we read it together. When you’re done with your schoolwork.”

Luke frowned. “We’re not learning about birds yet.”

“Then you’ll be ahead of everybody, won’t you?” Drew said.

Luke’s frown vanished. “Yeah!”

Hayley glanced at Quinn. Competitive was definitely the word with boys, she thought. He was grinning at her as if he knew exactly what she was thinking. And he probably did. The closer their wedding got, the more excited she was; the thought of sharing the rest of her life with this man was more than she’d ever dared hope for.

And all thanks to that furry rascal Cutter, who chose this moment to rise and come to her, as if he’d sensed her rising emotions. Unable to hold it all in for a moment, Hayley crouched beside the dog and hugged him fiercely.

“Thank you, my friend,” she whispered.

Cutter nuzzled her, whuffing softly. She felt the quick swipe of his tongue over her chin.

“Why are you thanking him?” Luke asked. Hayley looked up to see the boy looking at them curiously.

“Because he found Quinn for me,” she said.

“Oh.” Luke looked doubtfully up at the man beside her. “He did?”

“That he did,” Quinn confirmed.

“I thought you said he found people in trouble.”

“He does.”

Luke’s eyes widened as he looked at Quinn. “Were you in trouble?”

Even a six-year-old can see Quinn isn’t a man to find himself in trouble often, Hayley thought with an inward laugh.

“No,” Quinn said, “but I was definitely lost.”

Hayley felt her eyes sting at his heartfelt declaration. But Luke just nodded. “Oh,” the boy said, as if it all made sense now. As perhaps it did. “Can we go outside and play?” he asked, petting Cutter.

“Not while we’re inside,” Alyssa said quickly. “Maybe later.”

Luke looked crestfallen. “I wanted to look at the eagle tree.”

“If you’d be comfortable with it,” Quinn said, “I can have somebody out there with him, while we go over what we’ve found so far.”

Alyssa blinked. “What you’ve found? But we only agreed to this a couple of hours ago.”

“Foxworth works fast,” Hayley said. Quinn had called ahead to Tyler Hewitt, their tech genius, and gotten him started. By the time they’d arrived here at the Foxworth building, he’d already sent the basics. And one possibly very pertinent fact.

“So can we, please?” Luke asked.

“Liam will take good care of him,” Quinn said. “Heck, they’ll have fun. He’s an outdoor guy, a dog guy, a tech guy and our best tracker.”

Drew reacted to that with a small chuckle. “That’s quite a résumé.”

“A tracker?” Luke asked.

“Yep. He could follow a trail through the trees for miles, if pressed,” Quinn said. “He’s the one who found where our eagle’s nest is.”

Luke’s eyes widened. “Really? Could he show me?”

“That might be a bit too far for today. Why don’t you meet him, see how it goes?” Quinn leaned over to the boy. “I hear he also carries those little candy bars all the time,” he said in a loud whisper. Luke grinned.

Alyssa looked at Drew, who nodded. So however unusual their relationship was, she did accept his input when it came to Luke, Hayley thought.

Quinn took out his cell and buzzed the comlink. “Need you to watch out for our young friend and a certain dog outside for a bit.” There was a pause before Quinn laughed. “Yeah, I’m sure Cutter does need watching more than Luke.”

He ended the call and slipped the phone back into his pocket.

“Cutter, take him down to Liam,” Quinn said, gesturing at Luke.

The dog was on his feet instantly. He walked a few steps forward, then stopped to look back at the boy. Luke looked at his mother.

“It’s all right,” she said, although Hayley thought she heard a bit of doubt yet.

“We’ll sit at the table by the window,” she said. “You’ll be able to see them.”

Alyssa let out a breath and nodded. “Thank you.”

With a whoop, Luke took off after the dog and they heard the clatter as the pair went down the stairs.

And now, Hayley thought as they went to the table she’d mentioned, to open that package of familial dynamite, as Quinn had put it.

* * *

“The first thing you need to know, if you don’t already,” Quinn said, “is that Baird Oliver is out.”

Alyssa’s breath caught audibly. Her gaze shot to Drew. He wasn’t sure what to say or how to say it. And in that moment of indecision, she got there.

“You knew!”

“Lyss—”

“You knew he was out?”

He sighed. “I’ve been tracking it, yes. I knew it was nearly time, so I started making calls. And found he’d already been let out, three months early.” His mouth twisted. “Nice, for a guy with a record pages long, everything from petty theft to assault with a deadly weapon.”

“And you didn’t tell me?”

“I only found out for sure a little while ago. Just before this whole thing with Luke, and I didn’t want to upset you even more.”

“So you decided to keep me in the dark? When the career criminal who got Luke’s father killed is out?”

“I was going to tell you, just not then.”

“And the week since?”

Drew flicked a glance at the couple opposite them. It was awkward, but he didn’t see any way out of it. There was only one reason he hadn’t told her Doug’s partner in crime had been released and was now a free man.

“It’s been so...nice, I didn’t want to ruin it.”

Her eyes widened slightly. And to his surprise, she smiled. A warm, acknowledging smile.

It had been nice. They had both been so relieved that Luke was all right, so focused on the boy and his welfare, that things had been quite pleasant. Something he should remember, Drew told himself. All it really took to keep her happy was that Luke was happy. He had the feeling she’d be content living in a tiny apartment somewhere, on a tight budget, doing without, as long as her son was happy.

And the biggest thing she could probably do without was him.

But that smile...

“We’re trying to track him down,” Quinn said briskly, as if he was used to emotional moments like this occurring in his workplace. As, given the work Foxworth did, perhaps they did. “But since he served his entire sentence and isn’t on parole, that’s going to take a little time.”

“Because he doesn’t have to check in with anyone?” Alyssa asked.

Quinn nodded. “He’s free and clear.”

“Except for that matter of a felony record,” Drew said.

“Yes. But all I meant was that no one has any leverage.”

“I’m hoping,” Drew said, “that since it’s been three months, he either can’t find us or isn’t looking.”

Quinn’s gaze sharpened. Then he gave Drew a short nod of approval. “Glad to see I don’t need to explain that.”

“Wait,” Alyssa said. “You think he’ll come looking for us? Baird? Why?”

“I just think it’s better to be cautious,” Drew said.

“Always wise when dealing with a man with his kind of rap sheet,” Quinn said.

Alyssa watched Drew for a moment. “That’s why you had that alarm system put in this summer, isn’t it?”

“Partly,” he admitted.

She’d teased him then, about being paranoid. An alarm system seemed completely unnecessary on their quiet little street in their quiet little neighborhood in a quiet little town. But he’d simply said he wanted them safe when he was working long hours on a job, and he was having one installed at the office anyway for insurance reasons. Which was at least partially true. He didn’t see any point in reminding her that Doug’s co-felon would be released soon. And she’d looked over at Luke, busily drawing a picture of their hike the day before, and thanked him.

She’d even reached out to him that night. It had been a long time, and he was hungry enough to take what she offered, even knowing it was out of gratitude rather than love. It didn’t happen often, but considering they’d started out with her insisting she would never, ever sleep with him he supposed it was something. He’d found it amazing how you could almost get used to not having sex if you went long enough. Like you went numb or something. Except for those times when the need became overwhelming and he’d resorted to the oldest method in the world, with stupid fantasies about his wife running through his head.

He saw her cheeks turn pink, knew she was remembering that night as well. It had been good, even she couldn’t deny that. But she’d been so glum afterwards, as if she felt guilty, he knew it would be a long time before he got that offer again. And he’d spent a long time after that cursing his dead brother for having such a hold on her. He just didn’t understand it. She was a bright, clever woman, why couldn’t she see who Doug really was?

Alyssa turned away, looking out the window where Luke and Cutter were playing under the watchful eye of the guardian Quinn had promised. Liam Burnett looked young from here, but Quinn had assured them he was more than competent.

“He’s been trained by the best,” Hayley had added with a loving glance at her fiancé. “And young enough he’ll probably end up playing right there with them before long.”

Drew wondered what it would be like, to have your woman look at you like that. He knew Alyssa respected him, was grateful to him, and—God help him—appreciated him. But love him, the way Hayley clearly loved Quinn? No. And he had no right to expect it. Ever.

“We’ll find Oliver, wherever he went,” Quinn promised now. “And no matter how long it takes. We’re dealing with a different sort of situation now.”

“More what you usually do?” Alyssa asked.

“Yes,” Quinn agreed, “but we won’t stop on the other. We’ll just add finding Oliver to it. And if necessary, once we do we’ll keep an eye on him from then on.”

Alyssa turned back. “That could get expensive,” she said with a frown.

Drew hadn’t even asked. Her safety and Luke’s was something he didn’t put a price tag on.

“Foxworth doesn’t charge,” Quinn said.

Drew blinked. “What?”

“Once we decide to take on a case, we fund it.”

Suspicion bit, deep and hard. “And just how do you manage that?”

“We’re funded by a trust, set up with my parents’ life insurance.”

“They’re both gone?” Alyssa asked softly.

Quinn nodded. “Years ago.”

“I’m sorry.”

There was no doubting the genuineness of her tone. Alyssa had that down to her bones, that capacity of empathy. Perhaps because of what she herself had been through, she had a knack for making people realize she truly did know how they felt. He used to wish she’d use some of that on him, but soon decided it was just as well she didn’t know how he felt. Especially after he’d made the stupid mistake of falling in love with her.

“It was the Lockerbie bombing,” Hayley said.

Drew sucked in a breath. He’d been a kid at the time, but he remembered his parents’ horror. Alyssa had only been a baby, so while she knew of it, it likely didn’t have the impact it had for him.

“That was the terrorist attack, the passenger jet?” she asked.

Quinn nodded. “They were both on board.”

“My God,” Alyssa breathed. “How awful. I’m so sorry. You must have been very young.”

Again the empathy fairly glowed from her, as if it were a tangible thing between her and the person she was feeling it for. He wasn’t used to that kind of introspection, he just went along day by day doing what had to be done. Alyssa sometimes unnerved him with her observations, leaving him wondering how she knew such things about people, things they never said.

And wondering whether to be hurt or thankful she didn’t seem to ever turn that capacity on him.

“I was ten,” Quinn answered.

“And alone?”

“I had my sister. She was four years older and practically raised me from then on. Our uncle really tried, but he wasn’t cut out for kids.”

“Is that why you joined the military?” Alyssa asked.

“Mostly,” Quinn said.

“And then the bomber got released in a backroom deal,” Hayley said. “That’s why Foxworth does what it does. Quinn didn’t ever want anyone to feel as helpless and wronged as they did when that happened.”

“So you used your parents’ insurance money to set up Foxworth?” Drew asked. “Must have been a nice inheritance.”

“It helps that my sister turned out to be a financial genius,” Quinn said with a grin. “Thanks to her we have facilities in all four corners of the country, plus headquarters in St. Louis.”

“Does each one have its own helipad?” Drew asked; he’d noticed the windsock next to the square of concrete outside the warehouse beside the green, three story building they were in now.

“Not all, not yet,” Quinn said. “We’re working on that.”

“And is every Foxworth building unmarked?”

Quinn’s gaze sharpened once more. He leaned back in his chair, and again gave Drew a nod of approval. “You noticed that.”

“Hard to miss.”

“Not for some,” Quinn said. “Let’s just say some of the people we help have enemies who aren’t too happy about it.”

“Why do I get the feeling your help isn’t limited to just avoiding domestic situations and tracking down released ex-cons?”

“Because you’re a smart guy?” Quinn suggested. He studied Drew for a moment. “You ex-military? Law enforcement?”

“No,” Drew said, then added with a crooked grin, “I was a Boy Scout once.”

“You still are,” Alyssa said.

Drew’s head snapped around. There hadn’t been a hint of a dig in her tone, although he knew there was a time when there would have been. Back when Doug had used it as an insult. My brother the Boy Scout, he’d said constantly.

I’ve got no chance of matching you in the good little boy department, so maybe I’ll just have to go for the bad instead.

The laughing statement that had haunted him for years now echoed in his head. Nothing else Doug had said or done had hit him quite the way that had. For a long time he’d felt almost responsible for his little brother’s twisted mindset. As if he’d set an impossible standard to live up to. He’d never felt he was anything special, he’d just tried to do his best, make their parents proud, but apparently in the process he’d somehow made Doug feel inferior.

But Alyssa was smiling at him.

He felt the strongest urge to call this all off. To go back, to try and hang on to the mood of the last week. It had been, on the surface, the life he’d dreamed of with her. And if they could hold on to that, maybe he could work on the rest, maybe someday she might actually look at him the way she’d once looked at Doug.

He tried to scoff himself out of that silly idea, but it clung stubbornly to the edges of his consciousness. But now he knew he had to decide, and decide now. For so long he’d wanted her to see the truth, wanted her to see the real man—or rather, boy—his brother had been. And on that day he’d realized he loved her, he knew he’d wanted her to see Doug differently in the hope that she would then be free to see him differently.

But now he wondered if it would be worth it. How would she react if he destroyed that rose-colored image she had?

If he let this go on, and Foxworth somehow found the answers and proved him right, what would he be left with?

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