Free An Eye for an Eye: Zach and Katie's Story (Redwood Falls) by Lynda Chance

Katie recognized very well. It screamed of his iron will and complete implacability. His hair was cut short and his expression was set in lines of disapproval. His biceps bulged against his t-shirt sleeves, and although he was only twenty-one, his eyes were already creased with wrinkles.
    Being a few months older than Katie, he'd only recently attained his twenty-first birthday, and with it, the badge that declared him a Redwood Falls peace officer. He was off duty now, of course, but the weapon he was required to carry was in a shoulder holster, strapped to his side.
    Although the fall semester was only now starting, Katie had stayed on campus all summer and worked while taking a few classes, so she hadn't seen Josh in awhile. Katie let the happiness of seeing him again rush through her. "Josh!" She squealed and threw herself at him.
    Josh caught Katie to his chest and engulfed her in a bear hug. "Hey there, little cousin." His deep, familiar voice and loving embrace brought tears to her eyes. He called her 'little,' but the cousins were within months of being the same age and although not nearly as tall as Josh, Katie towered over Hannah's tiny stature. Katie leaned back, away from Josh, and looked into a startlingly handsome face with eyes as green as her own.
    "What are you doing here? Were you waiting for me?" Katie asked a bit sarcastically. She knew for a fact he wasn't here to see her. His attention was a hundred percent focused on Hannah. Katie looked over at Hannah whom she hadn't seen in several weeks. "Hey, Hannah." At Hannah's weak smile, Katie concentrated on Josh again.
    Never one to lie or speak an untruth, the complete opposite of the man who'd fathered him, Josh drawled, "Well, I wanted to see you, yeah."
    Katie absorbed that noncommittal answer and looked from Josh to Hannah and then back again. A soft blush stole over Hannah's cheeks as she refused to meet Katie's eyes and instead, concentrated on Josh while she bit into a fingernail.
    From the rigid way her cousin was holding himself, Katie knew that she'd interrupted an argument.
    She thought of the dark specter of Zachary McIntyre and fear made her blood run cold. " Oh my God ." Suddenly, Katie felt lightheaded and swallowed deeply, the secret both families had been keeping from Zach suddenly blazing larger than life in her brain. She broke away from her cousin's embrace and stood staring at him in horrified silence. Ignoring Hannah for the moment, Katie's fear made her focus on her cousin. "Are you insane? Are you completely insane? He lives in freakin' Dallas! Thirty minutes away, Josh! He could walk in here at any moment." Turning to Hannah, Katie asked hopefully, "Was he here yesterday?"
    "No, just my parents."
    Katie put a hand to her mouth. "Does he know? Did y'all finally tell him?" Katie paused, and then answered her own question. "He can't know. You'd be dead. Josh, he'll kill you ."
    Her cousin lifted himself from his negligent position against the wall and came to his full height of six feet, two inches. Katie studied him and absorbed what working on the ranch for years had achieved. Josh was young, but he was built like a brick wall. His answer was clipped and brutal. "I'd like to see the motherfucker try."
    Katie shook her head in denial and glanced over at Hannah who had turned white as a ghost and looked like she was about to collapse.
    Katie swiftly turned back to Josh and tried to get through to her cousin again. "Josh, my God, your father ran off with his wife . You cannot be serious. You--"
    Josh interrupted her, pain lashing his voice. "The man who ran off with Zachary McIntyre's wife wasn't my father. He was just the sperm donor who gave me nothing but bruises and cigarette burns."
    Katie knew well the emotional and physical scars Josh carried from the years of abuse he had endured before her parents had rescued him, though she had no idea if Hannah did. But even if she did know, the situation was upsetting to the younger girl, and