The Military K-9 Unit Collection. Valerie Hansen
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unshed tears to her eyes, tears that were quite embarrassing.
She blinked them away before Linc got close enough to notice. Smiling, she looked up at him. “You made good time. Where were you?”
“Waiting at the church. What happened to your assigned guard?”
“Beats me.” She shrugged. “At first, I thought it was the kid who said he was here to pick me up. But when he got out, I could tell he wasn’t part of the security team.”
“Who was he?”
“I’ve never noticed him before. This is a big base. I could have walked right past him—and a hundred just like him.”
“I have my people looking into it,” Linc said. “Part of this is my fault. I thought your night guard would escort you as far as the church. He said when he saw the car pull over and park, he assumed I was picking you up and he left. That kind of mix-up won’t happen again.”
“I certainly hope not.” Zoe spoke from the heart. “I suspect the problem is that you people aren’t watching me for my sake. You’re here because you expect Boyd to show up.”
“Granted. That doesn’t mean I’m going to take your reports of trouble lightly.”
“Honest?”
“Honest,” Linc promised. “If we manage to apprehend the airman who was here this morning, will you be able to ID him?”
“Yes. As soon as he began acting suspicious, I paid special attention to his face. Trouble is, I couldn’t read his name tag and he resembles half the guys on base. How did he manage to get the keys to one of your SUVs?”
“That’s another very good question.”
Zoe sighed as she helped Freddy into the rear seat of Linc’s vehicle and, in the absence of a car seat, fastened his seat belt. “In retrospect, this guy seemed more scared than menacing, as if he knew he was in the wrong and didn’t want to be there.”
“Interesting. Do you think your brother would be capable of fooling a clueless recruit into doing his bidding?”
“My brother again? Why do you keep blaming everything on Boyd? I mean, if he wanted to talk to me, he could just call.”
“On the burner phone you smuggled to him in prison?”
Astounded, Zoe gaped at him. “What are you implying?”
“Master Sergeant James and I paid a visit to the prison and spoke with a cell mate of your brother’s. He told us Boyd had a burner phone in his possession before his escape.”
She stood tall, shoulders back, chin up, and faced him. “Well, he didn’t get it from me.”
Noting Linc’s sigh, she wondered if she might be getting through to him. He did nod. “Okay. Then where do you think it came from?”
“How should I know? You’re the security guy. Was I the only one who visited the prison?”
To her relief, Linc shook his head. “No. One of our aircraft mechanics was there, too. Jim Ahern.”
“I think my brother had mentioned him before.”
“He may have. They were buddies before Boyd was dishonorably discharged.”
“Then why all the interest in me? Why don’t you put a watch on Ahern, too?”
“We’re not ignoring that possibility,” Linc said. He started to reach for the front door on the passenger side. Zoe stopped him. “I’ll ride in the back with Freddy, if you don’t mind.”
Although Linc easily acquiesced, she could tell he wasn’t thrilled that she’d refused to sit next to him. Well, too bad. Every time she began to think he might be on her side, he came up with another accusation and proved the opposite.
When Zoe admitted to herself that she wished he wasn’t going to church with them, her conscience reared up and gave her a swift kick. Just because somebody was a thorn in her side, that didn’t mean that person didn’t need the Lord. Maybe Linc was more in need of God’s mercy than she was.
Her glance caught his in the rearview mirror, and she was surprised to sense actual concern. Long after he broke eye contact, she continued to observe him. Analyze him. Admire him, despite his contrariness. There was something about the sergeant that impressed her in a way she didn’t understand. Moments ago, she’d been wishing he wasn’t there, yet now his presence was giving a lift to her spirits and bringing peace to her heart.
That was crazy.
It was also patently true.
Seated in the last church pew with his charges, Linc was fine as long as he kept his focus on doing his job, which meant not allowing himself to relax and enjoy Zoe’s or Freddy’s company. Star, on the other hand, was having no such qualms and was leaning against the boy’s tennis shoes, panting.
The K-9 didn’t have Linc’s background to create bias. Lies had cost him the lives of men in his former unit, something he would never be able to forget, and more lies threaded through his memories of his father. The parent he’d believed to be a hero had turned out to be nothing more than a thief and a coward, a familial sin he was still doing penance for in his own way.
His father was a lot like Boyd Sullivan, he thought. Slick on the outside and rotten to the core. It wasn’t until Zoe nudged him and asked, “Did you have dill pickles or lemons for breakfast?” that he realized his disturbing thoughts were being revealed in his expression.
“I feel as though I’ve been making a steady diet of sour lemons,” Linc replied, “in the form of unanswered questions and out-and-out lies.”
“Not to mention the stuff that’s been happening to me while you’ve been assigned to watch me.”
Linc saw a scowl beginning to knit her forehead beneath her bangs, so he continued. “It’s all part of the same package. If—and that’s a big if—you happen to be telling me the whole truth, we have more than one problem to solve.”
“Duh. You think?”
A hush was coming over the congregation. Linc laid his index finger across his lips. “Shush. We’ll talk about this later.”
“Guaranteed,” Zoe said. As the congregation rose, she pulled a hymnal out of the rack on the back of the pew in front of them and expertly thumbed to the called-for page.
Linc did not intend to sing along. He hadn’t been in a church since the deaths of some of his best friends and he was far from comfortable. Nevertheless, the music tugged at his boyhood memories of standing in a worship service beside his mother and following her lead as she gave voice to her strong faith. In that respect, Zoe kind of reminded him of his mom. Her pitch was perfect, her tone both soothing and inspiring.
When she extended one side of the open hymnal toward him, he grasped the edge and made a small effort to join in. The more he sang, the more poignant the song seemed. For some reason, words that were familiar suddenly took on deeper meaning, each phrase drawing him closer to the faith he’d once professed.
Linc resisted the inner call. He continued to sing until a catch in his throat made his voice crack. Keeping his eyes forward, he released the hymnal to Zoe and stood at attention. He was a soldier. A member of the elite Security Forces. His own man and afraid of nothing. He didn’t need the crutch of religion. He didn’t need anything or anybody except his badge and his dog.
As positive as those thoughts were, they weren’t enough to banish the tightness in his throat or the sense that he was missing something vital. Something that was almost within his grasp.
* * *
Zoe usually felt at home in church, though she might not be at ease in any