Page 40 of To Hold and Protect

A pretty woman came to the table. “Good afternoon, Church brothers and...” She looked at Willow.

“Katie, this is Willow Landry.” Parker lifted his chin toward the woman. “Willow, this lovely lady is Katie, the owner of the Kitchen, and you won’t find better food in town.”

He really was a silver-tongued devil, Willow thought when Katie beamed. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Katie.”

“Likewise. What can I get y’all to drink?”

The guys all ordered sweet tea and she asked for a water with lemon. The menu included the standard things you’d expect from a diner and then there were a few unusual dishes. She loved to experiment, and an applewood bacon, tart Granny Smith apple, and Gruyère cheese on toasted sourdough caught her eye. That sounded delicious.

Katie returned with their drinks, took their orders, and after she headed for the kitchen, Parker said, “Any updates, Tris?”

“Not really. My and Skye’s people are keeping an eye out for our suspect, including driving down backroads and checking out places someone might camp. One of Skye’s deputies found a recent campsite, but it’s been cleared out. Maybe he’s moved on.”

“One can hope, but my gut says he’s still around. I wish I could remember that man’s name from my second show. I know we don’t know if it’s him, but I can’t think of anyone else who’d leave a photo with a message to me.”

“Someone left you a photo with a message?” That couldn’t be good. Parker shrugged as if it wasn’t a big deal, but it sure sounded like a big deal to her.

“You find him, call me,” Kade said. “I’ll have a little word with him. He won’t be setting any more fires.”

As innocent as those words seemed, the sound of danger in them had her studying the middle brother. There was an air ofdon’t mess with me or you’ll be sorryabout him. It was the first time since meeting him that he came across as a little scary. “Why? What would you say?”

“He probably wouldn’t say anything, just death-eye stare at our firebug until he ran for his life, never to be seen again,” Parker said. “Kade spent the last ten years in the Army Special Forces. He knows how to hide bodies.”

When her gaze flew to Kade, he smiled, and it was the kind of smile that told her she never wanted to make him an enemy. The first book she wrote—which was collecting dust and before she discovered she was meant to write middle grade fantasy books—had been a Navy SEAL romance. It was terrible, but when writing it, she’d fallen down the rabbit hole in researching those Special Forces guys. They were badass bad.

“Remind me not to get on your bad side,” she said...mostly joking.

Parker leaned his shoulder against hers. “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.”

“Here’s your lunches, people.” Katie arrived at their table with two plates balanced on each arm. “Need anything else?” she asked after setting their lunches in front of them.

“I think we’re good, Katie,” Parker said.

“Oh, my God, this is amazing.” Willow closed her eyes as the flavors of the sandwich burst in her mouth.

Parker chuckled. “Told ya.”

“You close to being ready for your show?” Kade asked as he dug into his lunch.

“Getting there,” Parker said.

She glanced at him. “What show’s that?”

Noises sounded in stereo, some kind of alert filling the air, and both Parker and Tristan pulled out radios she didn’t know they had on them.

“Multiple vehicles on fire at Lonnie’s Used Cars,” a voice said over the radios.

Parker stood. “Sorry, gotta go.”

“Me, too,” Tristan said.

Willow put her hand on Parker’s arm. “Be careful, okay.”

“Always am.” He leaned down and put his mouth next to her ear. “I’ll be over later tonight to hear your answer.”

Then he was gone.

Chapter Eighteen

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