The Texas Lawman's Last Stand Read Online Free PDF

gaze, and he didn’t see the immediate dismissal that he hoped would be there. He kissed the babies again and passed them back to the nanny. “I need to clear this up with Ms. Collier.”
    Rosalie looked ready to argue, but thankfully she didn’t. She pulled both kids into her arms and headed back down the hall.
    “I was going to name her Isabella,” Mattie said before he could speak. Her voice cracked. “But Holly suits her. It’s a good fit.”
    He didn’t want to hear any of this.
    “This ends now,” Bo quickly told Mattie. “I’ve already wasted enough time. If you were really Holly’s mom, you wouldn’t have come here.”
    “I told you I didn’t have a choice. I’ve been keeping tabs on my uncle and his cronies, and I have reason to believe that Kendall or someone else has made the connection between your wife and me.”
    There it was. The feeling of being punched in the gut. “And how would he have done that?”
    “I’m not sure. Maybe that hospital video. Maybe by talking to eyewitnesses who were able to give him a description of me.” She paused. “As I told you, someone has been researching all the babies born around the time my child was due. It’s possible Kendall knows that you have my child. And if he knows that, then it won’t be long before he comes after her. Because he’ll probably try to use Holly to get to me.”
    Every muscle in his body tensed. Bo couldn’t bear the thought of anyone being a threat to his child.
    “I still don’t believe you,” he said, enunciating each word so that she wouldn’t misunderstand.
    “Just think this through,” she countered. “Nadine and you must have known she wasn’t carrying twins.”
    “We didn’t. There were no ultrasounds. Nadine had read a lot of articles about ultrasounds, and she was worried they might not be a hundred percent safe. Something to do with the way the high-frequency waves could maybe alter cells. Even though there’s no conclusive evidence that an ultrasound would be harmful, Nadine didn’t want to take the risk unless it was absolutely necessary.”
    Mattie cleared her throat. “If what I’m saying isn’t true, then why else would I have been in that maternity hospital?”
    He could think of a reason. A bad one. Maybe she’d been there to assist the gunmen. But if so, then why hadn’t she gone with them?
    Or maybe she had.
    Keeping an eye on her to make sure she didn’t go after Holly, Bo took out his phone, scrolled through his numbers and tapped Sergeant Garrett O’Malley’s personal cell.
    “Bo, have you got ESP or something, because I was about to call you,” O’Malley answered, obviously seeing Bo’s name and number on his caller ID. “You’re not going to like this, but the guy in the black van hasn’t even gotten here, and his lawyer has already arrived. It’s Ian Kaplan.”
    “You know this Ian Kaplan?” Bo asked. He heard Mattie’s breath rattle, and she took a step back.
    “No, but I ran a check on him as soon as he showed up,” O’Malley explained. “Ian Kaplan is expensive and exclusive.”
    He felt another punch. That was not a good connection. So what did this exclusive lawyer have to do with a van driver with fake plates?
    Bo didn’t think he was going to like this answer, either.
    “Do me a favor, Garrett. I told you someone’s been doing computer checks on me, and it flagged firewall markers. The person used a PC in a coffeehouse over on San Pedro. I had someone lift prints from that PC, and they were running the forty or so partials they found. Is that list ready?”
    Bo heard Garrett’s keystrokes on the computer. “Yeah,” the sergeant said a moment later. “Forty-six partials but only two hits.”
    The odds sucked, especially since the person responsible might not have prints on file in the database. “Is Ian Kaplan one of the hits?”
    “No. But there is a name here I recognize. Kendall Collier.”
    Bo thought his blood might have turned to ice.
    “You know,