Special Forces Father - By Mallory Kane Page 0,17
together person he’d ever known. He’d loved that about her. His childhood had bordered on chaos, until his dad had suffered his first stroke. If his dad and mom weren’t yelling at each other, one of them was yelling at the kids. And occasionally his older brother Lucas and Dad would get into it. Those fights were legendary—and terrifying to Harte and Cara Lynn, the two youngest. Travis had long ago appointed himself as their guardian, but he knew he hadn’t been a good one. He’d always had too much of his dad inside him.
During the time they’d dated in college, Kate had taught him that life wasn’t about bouncing from one argument to the next. She’d always represented quiet and security to him, until that night he’d finally pushed her too far.
Could he reverse the roles? Could he be her security for once? He had no idea. But at least he could try.
He put a hand on her shoulder. “Think about Max. That’s good. Think about him and what you can do that will get him back to you the soonest.”
“Work on the case,” she muttered, and he could tell by her expression that she was considering the idea. “I should be working on proof that Stamps was temporarily insane when he shot Paul Guillame.”
Travis smiled wryly. “That’ll be a whole lot easier than you might think. Anyone who knows Paul knows that within about a half hour, he can make you feel one—” he held up a finger “—like you want to shoot him and two, like you’re going insane.”
“That could make it easy,” she replied, a small smile lightening her face.
He squeezed her upper arm, his fingers savoring the delicate bones and the warm, firm skin. It was all he could do not to lean over and kiss that tiny, pretty bump right above the curve of her shoulder.
* * *
“BUT WHAT ABOUT my secretary?” Kate asked, her brow creasing with worry. “She’ll know something’s wrong.”
Travis took her hand. “Think about it, Kate. You trust her, right? With all the confidential information about your patients?”
She nodded. “Of course. She’s the most discreet person I know.”
“Maybe you should talk to her. She might be the perfect person to confide in. She’d never betray your secret, right?”
“That’s right. Never.”
“There you go. Why don’t you get dressed and I’ll clean up these dishes.”
“It’s still early. What about you?” she asked, trying to sound casual. “What are you doing today? Are you going to see your parents?” she asked.
“No. I don’t want to see them right now. I came to see you.”
Kate’s heart thudded. She knew that. What she didn’t know was why. So she asked him. “Why right now?”
He shrugged, his lean broad shoulders looking bony beneath the pullover shirt he wore. “I had some leave and I wanted—” He paused and took a breath. “For the past few months I’ve been thinking about you.” He waved a hand impatiently. “It doesn’t matter. We’ve got bigger things to worry about, like why it’s so important to these people to get a temporary-insanity defense on this Stamps guy.”
She wanted to make him talk about himself, about what had happened that had taken such a toll on him, physically and emotionally. But her fear for Max overrode her curiosity about Travis. If telling him everything she knew could get Max back, then she was happy to let him change the subject.
“Why didn’t they just claim it was an accident?” he continued. “You said Paul was shot in some kind of a shoot-out? There must have been bullets flying everywhere.”
“True, but from what Harte told me, Stamps threatened Paul right before all the shooting began, and despite what Paul claimed about being hit by a stray bullet, Stamps’s gun was missing only one round.” She turned to look at the clock on the stove. “It’s seven-thirty. Do you think I should wait here until they call?”
“Until who call?” But as soon as the question left his lips, she could see that he knew the answer.
“The people who have my son,” she said, letting impatience tinge her voice.
Kate felt panic rising in her chest. “Why don’t they call? I have no way of reaching them. I’ve got nothing but that awful voice on the phone, telling me if I talk, he’ll be gone forever. Oh, Travis, I am so scared,” she said.
Travis stood and came around the counter. He pulled her into his arms. She laid her head against his shoulder for a brief