Free Her Bodyguard by Geralyn Dawson Page B

man?” Trace snapped.
    Luke responded. “The fella Billy found to haul me out of the theater. A guy named Wagner. He knows the building and said that stage door was the only back door out of the theater. That doesn’t mean they didn’t leave another way.”
    “But I didn’t see them. I’d have seen them. Kat didn’t come.”
    “Stop it.” Jenny pinned them each in turn with a fierce, determined look, then took charge. “I’ll have no more negative talk. Now, I think we can conclude that had Kat remembered her father’s edict regarding crowds and tall landmarks, she’d have been here by now. Therefore, Mari, I want you to take your brother home. I’m sure your father wishes to remain at the site and assist in the…um…efforts. I’ll stay with him.”
    Trace shook his head. “Jenny, you should go home, too.”
    “I’m staying,” she stated flatly. “Mari, if your sister arrives at Willow Hill, one of you come down and let’s do like we did for Mr. Waddell. Run something of Kat’s up this flagpole. Her yellow shawl, I think. That’s bright. We’ll spot it.”
    She turned to Luke and offered him her hand. “Thank you for bringing my son to us, Mr. Garrett. I’m glad he was able to be of assistance to you. Perhaps when this is all over, you could come to tea and share more of the details with us.”
    “Certainly, Mrs. McBride. Whatever you like.”
    Luke Garrett, however, wasn’t ready to be dismissed. He glanced at Mari once more, then said, “Considering this evening’s events, you should know that I intend to participate in a search for your daughter and Rory.”
    “Thank you, Garrett.” Trace cleared his throat gruffly. “All hands are appreciated at a time like this.”
    Mari sensed more to his offer than gratitude for Billy’s assistance, and under the circumstances, she thought she should call him on it. “Who is he to you, Luke?”
    He shoved his hands into his pockets and looked away for just a moment. Then, staring her straight in the eye, he said, “His real name is Callahan. Rory Callahan is my half brother.”
    Unsurprised, Mari nodded once. “Find them.”
    “I will.”
    At Willow Hill, Mari, Emma, and their three younger brothers gathered on the front porch in the gathering darkness, their mood quiet and subdued. Billy sat off by himself, his back turned toward the driveway. Mari tried to keep the other boys entertained with a game of cards, but in a rare occurrence, no one cared about competition.
    A little after ten, the youngest McBride, seven-year- old Bobby, fell off to sleep and Emma carried him upstairs to bed. Nine-year-old Tommy made it until just after midnight. Billy was still awake at half past three when the McBride family carriage rattled slowly up the hill.
    Light from a three-quarter moon cast a ghostly silver light across the scene, and though her parents’ faces remained in shadow, the very stillness of their bodies foretold the news they bore.
    Simultaneously, Emma and Mari reached for each other’s hand. Without uttering a sound, Billy McBride leaped up and ran inside, the front screen door shutting with a bang behind him.
    Their expressions ravaged, their cheeks tear-streaked, Trace and Jenny McBride lifted leaden feet to climb the steps of their home and face their two eldest children.
    Beside Mari, Emma swayed. “Mama?”
    Jenny looked at them, and tears spilled from reddened eyes. She slowly shook her head.
    “No-o-o-o.” Emma melted into her mother’s arms and the two women collapsed into quiet weeping.
    Mari stared up at her father, the strongest man she’d ever known. Her hero. Her champion. Her daddy. “Your Katie-cat?”
    Broken, Trace McBride pulled her into his arms and wept against her hair. “I’m afraid she’s gone, Mari. God help us, but I’m afraid that damned explosion took our Katie-cat away.”

 
     
    CHAPTER FOUR
     
     
    Three months later
     
    BACK IN THE DAY, Luke’s grandfather referred to Texas’s August heat as