Guardian Of Justice. Carol Steward

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СКАЧАТЬ processing the experience, a bit at a time. Normally, he’d have been irritated with her for interrupting him, but he understood her shock. He’d been there. He moved to the trunk, popped it open and pulled out a blanket, forcing his post traumatic stress symptoms from his mind, only allowing it to help him prevent her from experiencing a delayed reaction as he had.

      Returning, he unfolded it and offered it to her. “Why don’t you cover up with this for a few minutes and rest. We’ll talk more in a few minutes.”

      She needed to know someone was there to let her talk.

      Thank you. I don’t know why I’m so cold.”

      Dallas knew that soon she’d realize she did know why, she just didn’t want to admit it. She wanted to be in control, just like she was every other day. A strong woman like her walked into domestic disturbances on a regular basis, but after tonight, things would be different. “Go on in, I’ll be a few more minutes,” Dallas said to the other officer. He couldn’t bring himself to walk out on Kira yet.

      Pete nodded and went inside without a word. Dallas liked knowing the men serving next to him here in the middle of rural Colorado. Pete had a wife and a one-year-old son. That was more than Dallas had known about most of the officers in Phoenix.

      He looked into the cruiser, surprised to see Miss Matthews had leaned her head back and closed her eyes. He knew her calm wouldn’t last very long.

      More officers showed up, and he let them assist in the search for evidence, and keep spectators off the premises while they finished the investigation. He assigned one officer to find out what neighbors knew about the family.

      Dallas took the opportunity to take notes for his report. About ten minutes later he noticed Miss Matthews’s eyes were open again, and he leaned back into the car. “Are you warming up?”

      She nodded. “I thought for a minute that he was going to go into the house after you. I couldn’t think of anything to do except pray and honk the horn, hoping maybe that would scare him away.”

      Dallas reached for her hand and held on tight. He wished he could give her the strength to get through the evening unscathed. “You did a great job. I like your quick thinking. Take a deep breath and be thankful that it wasn’t any worse.”

      THREE

      “Are there kids inside?” Kira didn’t dare dwell on what had happened. She needed to help the children get away from this crazy man. There wasn’t time to waste. Kira couldn’t believe Dallas wasn’t back inside the house yet. Why was he still out here? And why wouldn’t he let her go in?

      “Yeah, but you’re not going in yet.” He kept jotting notes, looking around, talking to other officers and jotting more. From the firm set of his jaw and shoulder, she knew he wouldn’t be easy to convince. He kept his emotions carefully guarded.

      She knew from her brothers’ comments that officers had to secure the premises before allowing anyone into a volatile scene. What were the chances that Kira would have ended up in the line of fire while waiting outside? “It couldn’t be any worse inside, could it? We have a job to do.”

      “It’s getting done. You need to calm down.”

      “I am calm,” she argued.

      “Yeah, I see that.” One side of his mouth turned up. It wasn’t quite a smile, but maybe he was one of those brooding types that didn’t smile. “Calm down some more, then.” He quirked an eyebrow, revealing a sense of humor in his blue eyes.

      Kira looked around at the half-dozen officers who were making their presence known in the neighborhood. “I will point out I followed your orders to a T. Am I supposed to be a robot and not get a bit riled after being scared out of my wits?” That’s all it was, she reassured herself. It was no more frightening than when her brothers jumped out at her from around the corner in the dark basement.

      But it was different, her ugly conscience reminded her. This wasn’t in the security of her adopted family’s basement. This was….

      She wasn’t going to let herself think about it. Not now.

      “I need to get in there, Officer Brooks. The last place I should be is out here twiddling my thumbs.”

      “We’ll go, in a few minutes. I just know it’s too soon to jump right back into the middle of the situation. A little more time wouldn’t be a bad idea. We’re trained to always prepare for the unexpected when responding to a domestic disturbance, but…” Dallas cleared his throat. “I shouldn’t have…” He couldn’t even think of what he’d done wrong. It was just a bad situation.

      “I’m not blaming you.” She felt bad for razzing him now. She hadn’t expected him to take it personally. His sensitivity caught her off guard, and she felt the warmth of his hand holding hers all over again. “The guy could have come barreling out of the back room of the house,” she said quietly. The last thing Dallas needed right now was for the other officers to hear her comforting him. “You didn’t know. If Child Protection had received the call, I’d have been here without a police escort at all.” She needed to take her mind off how handsome Dallas was and get back to work. “For now, could I at least get out of this car?”

      He paused just long enough to make her wonder whether something else was happening. He gave a quick scan of the area, then moved out of her way. He took the blanket as it fell from her shoulders, and wrapped it around her again. “It’s getting a little chilly. Why don’t you keep this with you?” His gaze lingered a moment too long before he broke the connection. She knew it was dangerous to let her feelings show and to let herself read anything into Dallas’s gaze.

      Kira stretched and shook her legs out, as if she’d been cramped in the car for ages. They had left the station a little over an hour ago.

      She walked around the car and saw the gouge in the door where the sharp rock had dented the steel. “If the crazy guy hadn’t been so high, he probably would have hit his target.”

      “Yeah,” Dallas responded somberly. “Remember not to touch the car anymore. We’ve called for an investigator to come get prints. Do you need anything?”

      She shook her head.

      “Listen, I have to get back inside and talk to the mother. I want to get a little more information about the situation before I bring you in and frighten them with Child Protection. It’s nothing personal.”

      She regarded him with a speculative gaze. Somehow it felt personal. “Just make sure someone’s out here with me, and I’ll be fine.” She felt another chill go up her spine, and wrapped her arms across her chest, tugging the blanket tighter. “Officer…”

      “Dallas.”

      Yeah, it definitely felt personal. Kira stuffed the attraction deeper inside. She didn’t want another cop in her life. Her dad and three brothers were enough. “I’m sorry I broke protocol, with the radio and everything.”

      “Don’t worry about it. You did the right thing,” he said quietly.

      His clear blue eyes were full of life and pain, yet she saw warmth there, too. He forced a tight-lipped smile before turning away. He was solidly built, but didn’t seem to have that tough-guy mentality, as she had initially presumed. Kim realized she was staring, and nodded.

      “Officer СКАЧАТЬ