Undercover Texas Read Online Free PDF

vulnerability, his child an even larger one. They could be used against him. He couldn’t risk putting her, their child or his team in danger. His heart hadn’t shattered into a million shards when he made the toughest decision of his life. It had been sucked into a black hole, where no feelings escaped.
    He’d had no choice then.
    Or now.
    Hunter turned on a road leading to highway 281.
    Erin whipped her head toward Pensacola. “You’re going the wrong way. The police station is back there.”
    He flipped on his turn signal and merged into traffic. “Erin, I’m the only one who can help. I’ve devised a plan.” Hunter pressed a button on his earpiece. “We’re en route.”
    “Did you pick up the packages?” Leona asked.
    “Yes, but our friends were less than five minutes behind,” Hunter growled. “Why didn’t you know about them earlier?”
    Leona let out a curse that belied her grandmotherly appearance. “Must be new deliverymen. I’ll look into it.” She paused. “By the way, the firemen found the charred remains of two similar packages inside the burning building. Police are assuming they belong to the occupants of the house. I suspect they were delivered to the address just prior to the blast.”
    Hunter’s gut roiled. He’d heard a thud in the kitchen just before Terence and his partner had burst into the living room. He didn’t want Erin to ever know what had happened. “Our friends don’t want anyone searching for a missing doctor and her son.”
    He could picture the flash of fury in Leona’s eyes.
    “How do you want me to proceed?” she asked.
    Hunter watched Erin’s eyes. He could see those genius-level brain cells taking in his end of the conversation with his handler. Erin would understand the whole situation soon enough. As far as the world knew, she and Brandon were dead. Hunter didn’t intend to change that perception.
    “Stay with the plan, Leona. Run the credit card as soon as we’ve had time to get to the marina. Track any hits so I know when they’re coming our way.”
    “Done.”
    The scratch of pen to pad filtered through the phone. Leona was nothing if not old-fashioned. The brand-new tablet computer the general had issued her lay unused in her drawer. Paper was more secure, she’d told Hunter defiantly when he asked about the unopened box last time he’d visited headquarters.
    “We still on the down-low?” he asked.
    “For now. Not sure how much longer I can keep a lid on it, though. I’m getting looks.”
    “Be careful, Leona.”
    “Don’t worry.” She chuckled. “I’ll have my husband call and talk dirty to me. That should back them off from listening in on my conversations.”
    Hunter quirked a smile. “Poor Chuck.”
    “Don’t pity him. He’ll get thanked very well tonight.”
    “TMI, darling.... Keep in touch.” He tapped his earpiece and glanced back at Erin once more.
    Her jaw ticked with barely restrained frustration. “Who are you, Clay? You’re way more than a consultant.”
    “Someone who wants you to stay alive. Let’s leave it at that.”
    “I deserve the truth,” she said finally.
    He couldn’t argue there.
    Brandon fussed and squirmed for a minute. A pungent odor wafted through the car.
    Erin wrinkled her nose. “I think we have a dirty diaper, and his bag never made it out of the house.” She looked down at an increasingly unhappy Brandon. “He needs changing. Can you find me a store?”
    Hunter had spent two years on the streets and in shelters. He’d watched over enough helpless kids when their mothers were too strung out to change a dirty diaper. He knew what kids needed. Diapers, food and toys. He’d expected to pack Brandon and Erin’s things at her place. Did they dare stop?
    “It’s got to be quick,” he muttered, even as he checked ahead for a place to turn off.
    He looked at his watch and tapped the earpiece to hail Leona.
    “Miss me so soon?” Her lilting voice was tinged with worry that most listening