Free Seeking Love in Salvation by Dixie Lynn Dwyer Page A

Working with victims of violent crimes was emotionally draining, especially since she was dealing with it herself on a personal level. Having Lois and Kenny in counseling was a step in the right direction. They were beginning to establish their own lives, and she was starting to pull back a little from being in control of Lois and the decisions she made.
    Working here along other law enforcement officers made her feel a little more normal, like she was back on the job again. Helena had been right. Together, her law experience, her experience with counseling, and her experience dealing with the intensity of violent crimes were definitely helpful in the services the Rangers offered.
    A lot of the women and children who came in were on edge and scared, some even angry. She had to filter through those emotions and get concrete information the detectives could use to investigate the crimes and gain knowledge of the suspects.
    She liked being here and helping victims get the counseling, the financial and supplemental support they needed to move on with their lives in a positive fashion. She was also establishing a name for herself.
    Valentina was looking forward to getting together with Helena. Helena had called her to meet up at the farm tomorrow to show Kenny the animals there.
    “Valentina.” She heard her name and looked over toward her boss, Gus. He was a Texas Ranger and head of the department. They’d hit it off immediately.
    She was filing some new paperwork for one of the clients and making sure the secretary got the right ones signed before the end of the day.
    “I need to talk to you a minute,” Gus said and waved her over. She gave Liz, the secretary, a smile and then went into Gus’s office.
    “What’s going on?” she asked him. He gave her a serious look as he walked around his desk and picked up a file.
    “Okay, I have this case. It’s a tough one. I have all the information here. The thing is… I know we talked about your family situation. This is similar in a lot of ways. Roxie has three children, all under six years old. Her ex, a gangbanger, forced her to make some deliveries with the kids in the car and things went wrong. He came back to her apartment and messed her up good. The details are in the file. Whatever he did, he made sure that she won’t say a word to any of the detectives or Rangers. We can’t get a location on her ex, but she knows where he is. She’s our only lead.
    There’s more. Samuel, her ex, shot a cop two months ago. The officer lived, but we never got our hands on him. He’s known to be abusive, confrontational, and irrational. We need information on this guy, and Roxie is holding out because she’s scared for her life.”
    “Where is she living, and what protection are we providing for her?” she asked him as she opened the file and saw the photographs of the woman with her babies and the ex-boyfriend.
    “She’s living in a safe family shelter for domestic violence victims. Kay, one of the social workers there, said Roxie is scared and won’t talk about any of it. There’s another case our team is working on and they believe that Samuel is involved. We got agents working undercover and a lot invested in bringing down these major drug dealers. We need to locate Samuel. Someone has to get through to Roxie.”
    “What am I able to offer her and the kids?” she asked him.
    “What do you mean, offer them?”
    “I mean, she’s not going to give up info on her ex unless she knows that he can’t come back and kill her and the kids. She needs real promises of safety for them.”
    He held her gaze. “Whatever you need to do. A safe house solo if we get a full arrest and bring down the operation. Then we can set her up with something more stable. I’m sure we can figure it out. We need her ex.”
    “Okay, Gus. When do you want me to go see her?”
    “Right now.”
    She swallowed hard. They were desperate to find this guy.
     
    * * * *
     
    Lois was sitting in the chair