Free Her Bodyguard by Geralyn Dawson

recede.”
    Mari offered a weak smile. Jenny McBride’s mother antenna quivered even in the middle of a crisis. “Alex Simpson isn’t worth the cost of cookie dough, Mama. Don’t fret, I…oh, look. I’ll bet that is Billy’s—”
    “Daddy!” the little boy cried.
    The reunion of father and son brought tears to both McBride women’s eyes. Billy’s grateful father, a butcher, promised them free beef for the rest of their lives. Watching the two depart, Jenny sighed and said, “It seems just yesterday my Billy was that age.”
    Hearing the tremble in her mother’s voice, Mari reached out and grasped her hand.
    Around the Texas Spring Palace, chaos continued to reign. Those fighting the raging flames had abandoned the building and instead, worked to prevent the fire from spreading to nearby structures. Further rescue attempts of any person trapped inside apparently had been abandoned. “Did the boys say where they last saw Billy?” Mari asked.
    “Tommy said he followed you out of the ballroom when you left with Luke Garrett.”
    “Billy followed me?” Mali’s mind raced back over the scene her young, impressionable brother might have witnessed. Oh, Kat. If Billy saw what I saw…
    “I imagine he was worried about you. He’s protective of his big sisters, and you were with a known outlaw. I haven’t a clue where Kat ran off to. What part of the building were you in?”
    The southeast wing. Where the fire started. Oh, God. “I was in the theater, but that was long before the fire started. I never saw Billy. I’ll bet something else distracted him and he went off somewhere else entirely.”
    Or else, he stayed to watch Kat after Mari fled the building. Maybe he’s with Kat even now. “Maybe he went home. Maybe he and Kat are waiting at for us at Willow Hill.”
    “I pray that’s so. Emma promised to send Tom to tell me the minute anyone comes home.”
    Tension churned in Mari’s stomach. She wanted to snarl at the bystanders nearby who oohed and aahed with excitement. One barrel-bellied cowboy actually said it’d be something to see a burning body dash from the inferno. “What’s wrong with people?” she murmured.
    Her mother squeezed her hand in silent agreement.
    Then a voice resonant with joy called out from the crowd. “Maribeth!”
    Seconds later, she was wrapped in Trace McBride’s strong embrace. “My baby, baby, baby,” he murmured into her hair. The tremor in his voice made her want to weep.
    Abruptly, he stepped back, surveying her from head to toe. “You’re all right. You weren’t hurt.”
    “I’m fine, Papa.” He, however, looked as if he’d aged a dozen years in the past two hours. The lines feathering from around his eyes had deepened, and his salt-and-pepper hair appeared heavier on salt. He looked weary and worried and wounded.
    Almost as if he knew something. Something bad.
    Oh, God.
    Jenny touched her husband’s sleeve. “Trace? Kat and Billy?”
    Distress flashed across his face. “No sign. No one has seen them. It’s a madhouse, though, and locating anyone is just a matter of chance. I had hoped to find everyone here.” To Mari, he said, “You remembered my rule about getting lost in a crowd.”
    “I did.”
    “The younger boys remembered,” he continued. “Billy should. Kat, too. I could see Billy getting caught up in the excitement of the fire and not thinking how worried we’d be, but Katrina should know better. She should know better, and she should remember and she should be here right now.”
    Mari didn’t know what to say to her father. Should she tell him about seeing Kat with Rory? How could she not? “Papa, I—”
    “Papa! Mama!” came a welcome, though teary, voice. “I hoped you’d be here.”
    Billy. Joy and relief filled Mari’s heart as her mother and father rushed forward and she turned to see…a most unexpected sight.
    Luke Garrett carried her brother in his arms. Though scuffed and dirty with red-rimmed eyes, Billy appeared to be