Protection Detail

Protection Detail
Shirlee McCoy

LAWMAN ON A MISSIONAfter a prominent senator's son is murdered, Capitol K-9 Unit captain Gavin McCord wants answers. The senator was a mentor to Gavin, and he'll stop at nothing to bring the killer to justice. With his team of elite K-9 cops and his loyal dog, Glory, at his side, Gavin discovers that a child at Cassie Danvers's nearby foster home may have witnessed the murder. He's drawn to the determined and beautiful woman, but she doesn't want him interviewing her traumatized charges. Yet trusting Gavin is the only way to stay one step ahead of the deadly gunman when Cassie becomes a target.Capitol K-9 Unit: These lawmen solve the toughest cases with the help of their brave canine partners

LAWMAN ON A MISSION

After a prominent senator’s son is murdered, Capitol K-9 Unit captain Gavin McCord wants answers. The senator was a mentor to Gavin, and he’ll stop at nothing to bring the killer to justice. With his team of elite K-9 cops and his loyal dog, Glory, at his side, Gavin discovers that a child at Cassie Danvers’s nearby foster home may have witnessed the murder. He’s drawn to the determined and beautiful woman, but she doesn’t want him interviewing her traumatized charges. Yet trusting Gavin is the only way to stay one step ahead of the deadly gunman when Cassie becomes a target.

Capitol K-9 Unit: These lawmen solve the toughest cases with the help of their brave canine partners

“Call off your dog!” the perp shouted. “You don’t, and the woman gets it first, then the mutt.”

“Cease!” Gavin commanded Glory, not because he was afraid of the threat. Glory could take the guy down in seconds. He was afraid of how much damage could be done to Cassie in those heartbeats of time it took his partner to lunge.

Glory settled onto her haunches, her dark gaze glued to the perp. She was ready. Gavin was ready.

Was Cassie?

He met her eyes. Not even a hint of terror in her dark green gaze.

The perp shifted, the gun pressed deeply into Cassie’s flesh. “Open the door!” he commanded.

Cassie reached for the knob and eased the door open. But something in her face, something in the complete and utter stillness of her expression, warned Gavin that she had no intention of walking outside.

* * *

CAPITOL K-9 UNIT:

These lawmen solve the toughest cases

with the help of their brave canine partners

Protection Detail—Shirlee McCoy, March 2015

Aside from her faith and her family, there’s not much SHIRLEE McCOY enjoys more than a good book! When she’s not teaching or chauffeuring her five kids, she can usually be found plotting her next Love Inspired Suspense story or wandering around the beautiful Inland Northwest in search of inspiration. Shirlee loves to hear from readers. If you have time, drop her a line at shirlee@shirleemccoy.com.

Protection Detail

Shirlee McCoy

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

Remind me each morning of Your constant love, for I put my trust in You. My prayers go up to You; show me the way I should go. I go to You for protection, Lord; rescue me from my enemies. You are my God; teach me to do Your will. Be good to me and guide me on a safe path.

—Psalms 143:8–10

To the 2015 LIS continuity team—you ladies are the best!

Contents

Cover (#u2ffa8735-7522-5f8f-9d16-4b3471578fad)

Back Cover Text (#ua1d57506-6429-5927-acf6-ba780a06cd20)

Introduction (#u6b7b01a2-4df8-5f3e-8c36-87d636be8c6e)

About the Author (#u43d03259-7ef2-5515-bd11-6ac607cfb9ae)

Title Page (#u61160bf8-e628-53a8-9481-64d4cb7ef337)

Praise (#ue735ea71-57f2-57a7-8b55-c13174161b53)

Dedication (#u32bf482f-476a-5109-8403-f2989f7a3ea0)

ONE

TWO

THREE

FOUR

FIVE

SIX

SEVEN

EIGHT

NINE

TEN

ELEVEN

TWELVE

THIRTEEN

FOURTEEN

FIFTEEN

Dear Reader

Extract (#litres_trial_promo)

Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)

ONE (#ue6c2a313-e382-5dbd-b235-0f3eb92a6709)

Something pulled Cassie Danvers from the half sleep she’d fallen into and yanked her back into the world of foster children and fevers, of long nights with sick kids. She eased away from little David’s bed, standing on legs that ached from too many hours sitting in one position. Five days and six nights of dealing with the eight-year-old’s illness had taken its toll. She was exhausted.

A soft thump sounded from somewhere below, and she cocked her head to the side, listening for whatever would come next. Something would. She was sure of that. She’d been house mom at All Our Kids foster home for enough years to know that kids didn’t always stay in bed. When it came to the kind of kids she dealt with, they often didn’t.

Someone was up. Probably Destiny. The thirteen-year-old had been neglected for ten years before she’d arrived at the home. As a result, she had food issues. As in, she liked to take food, hide it, hoard it. If she was up raiding the kitchen, she’d have to be dealt with. Too bad, because Cassie was just tired enough to want to ignore the issue.

She touched David’s forehead. Cool as a cucumber. Finally.

That was good news and might mean they both got a good night’s sleep. After Cassie got Destiny back into bed.

She hurried into the hall, tiptoeing past the boys’ room. The stairs creaked as she crept to the lower level of the house. A large foyer opened out into a living room area on one side and a formal dining room on the other. Unless they had special guests, the eat-in kitchen was always a better choice for meals. More relaxed and comfortable, it offered Cassie’s charges a chance to sit down and get a feel for what it meant to be part of a family. Or, in some cases, to remember what it felt like.

A wide hall stretched from the foyer to the back of the house. The family room and kitchen were there. The two most tempting areas for Cassie’s foster kids. TV and video games in the family room. Food in the kitchen. Not to mention the back door. That had tempted a few too many kids to wander outside unattended. She’d put a bolt at the top, but that couldn’t keep the more clever and persistent kids from escaping.

Fortunately, Destiny wasn’t one to wander. She’d been through way too much in her thirteen years, and she preferred to stay as close to All Our Kids as possible. Food, though, that was her weakness.

Cassie made her way down the hall, passing photos of dozens of children who’d spent time in the home. Some were kids who’d come and gone before she’d become housemother. Most were her kids. Hers for a while, anyway. She tried not to get melancholy about loving and saying goodbye to so many. Sometimes, though, she wanted to be more than someone’s foster mom. Sometimes, she wanted to be Mommy, Mom, Mother.