Free Against the Odds by Kat Martin Page A

while she waited for her
ankle to heal. Her mother had driven down from Uvalde and spent a couple of days
fussing over her, or at least that’s what Sage had told him. He’d sent flowers
and a get-well note, but hadn’t seen her since he’d flown her back from Rio
Gordo.
    Staying away from her was better for both of them—which was
clear from the moment he had kissed her. He wanted her, but with a girl like
Sabrina, a one- or two-night stand was out of the question, and more than that
was out of the question for him.
    Instead, he was determined to focus on work, to find another
case that interested him. He had begun to thumb through the messages on his desk
when the bell rang above the door and his sister and her five-year-old daughter
walked into the office.
    Grinning, Alex stood up from behind his desk and opened his
arms. Little Ginny ran straight into them.
    “Uncle Alex!”
    “Hi, sweetheart!” He planted a smacking kiss on her cheek.
Ginny Wyatt was a towheaded little imp with the same blue eyes Alex had
inherited from his father. She was smart and sweet, and he was flat-out crazy
about her.
    “Me and Mommy went shopping,” Ginny said. “Mommy said we could
come by and see if you wanted to go to lunch.”
    Alex thought of Melissa Carlyle, the last woman who’d come to
the office and asked him to lunch. He had dodged that bullet. But there was no
one he’d rather spend time with than the two most important people in his
life.
    Well, maybe there was one other person he’d like to include,
but that wasn’t going to happen.
    He hoisted Ginny up on his shoulder, leaned over and kissed his
sister’s cheek.
    “Hi, big brother.” Rebecca was a pretty young woman with long,
straight blond hair, brown eyes and a slender figure. She was tall, like their
dad, but she looked more like his mother, with high cheekbones and a slim,
straight nose.
    “I’d love to take you to lunch,” he said. “I have to be back
here in an hour, but we can go someplace close. Maybe Prego? Great Italian food
over there.”
    “Ginny was hoping for the Texas Café. She loves the fries and
chocolate shakes.”
    “Good idea. Great burgers, too.” It wasn’t quite as healthy as
salad and pasta, but Becca was good about watching what Ginny ate and staying
away from fast-food restaurants. The café was a local favorite, the place Trace
had first met his wife, Maggie.
    As they headed for the door, he waved to Annie, who sat behind
the receptionist desk.
    “We’re off to the Texas Café,” he said. “I’ll be back in an
hour.”
    “How ’bout bringing me a chocolate shake?” Annie asked.
    “You got it.”
    Annie winked at Ginny, her penciled blond eyebrows going up and
down. “Don’t let your uncle forget, okay?”
    Ginny grinned, showing a hole where one of her bottom teeth
should have been. “Okay.”
    The bell rang again as they walked outside. “How’s the house
coming along?” Alex asked Rebecca. His friend, Joe McCauley, the guy who’d been
responsible for his move to Houston, had become a contractor after he’d left the
navy. Alex had recommended him for his sister’s remodel job. She’d bought a
beautiful old Victorian in the Heights District, already partially remodeled.
Joe was continuing the work.
    Becca’s eyes cut away for an instant. “Joe’s good. He’s doing a
great job so far.”
    There was something in her face. Joe McCauley was a
good-looking guy, and solid as a rock. “You like him,” Alex said, opening the
door to the backseat of Rebecca’s Ford Explorer. Since his sister’s car had a
booster seat, they were taking her vehicle instead of his. He settled Ginny in
the seat, took the keys from Becca’s hand and slid behind the wheel.
    “Joe’s a nice guy,” she said, picking up the thread of
conversation once they were inside the car.
    “That’s it? Nothing more exciting than nice?”
    She shrugged. “I’m not ready for another relationship, Alex.
I’m not sure I ever will be.”
    He