Bound By Duty. Valerie Hansen

       FOUR

      Linc wasn’t surprised by the way Star treated the trusting little boy after a proper introduction, but his own reactions to the situation gave him pause. A feeling of tenderness he had not anticipated flowed over and through him, leaving a sense of peace and rightness behind. What was that all about? He didn’t even like kids. At least he didn’t think he did. Truthfully, his experiences with small children were limited, and he’d always viewed them as sort of alien creatures. Cute but unknowable. So how had he apparently managed to connect with this one?

      He cast a sidelong glance at Zoe and was awed by her expression, as well. The way she was gazing at her son left no doubt of her love and devotion. From what Linc could recall, nobody had ever looked at him that way, not even his own mother, and as far as his dad was concerned, he might as well have been invisible—unless he’d misbehaved. Then his father had taken plenty of notice and dished out serious punishment.

      Such thoughts pulled Linc from his earlier calm and left him wondering what Freddy’s father had been like. There wasn’t much background information in Sergeant Sullivan’s personnel file, but since she’d chosen to revert to her maiden name, he figured there must have been notable conflict.

      “You’re doing fine,” Linc told the child. “Just pet her gently. She likes her ears scratched like this.” He demonstrated, then laughed when Freddy tried it. “Not so hard, okay? Star wants to keep her ears attached to her head. She needs them to hear with.”

      Freddy giggled. “Silly.”

      Linc’s grin was genuine and widening. He really got a kick out of this kid. “Here. Let me tell her to lie down and you can scratch her tummy. She loves that, too.”

      Instead of bending over Star as she dropped to the floor and rolled onto her back on command, Freddy threw himself down beside her and reached across her body to wiggle his fingers in her short soft hair. “Tickle, tickle.”

      She turned her head without rising and gave his cheek a lick. Childish laughter filled the room, and the boy put his hands over his face. “Eww. She kissed me.”

      “Because she likes you,” Linc replied. He looked at Zoe. “I hope you don’t mind.”

      “It does my heart good to see Freddy so happy. If it takes a little dog slobber to make that happen, how can I mind? Besides, the newest info on keeping kids healthy is to raise them with animals and let them build up resistance to germs.”

      “Good to know.” Linc startled slightly when his radio went off, and he cupped a hand over his earbud, listening to the dispatch coming over his radio.

      Zoe gently touched his forearm. “Is everything okay? It’s not Boyd, is it?”

      “No.” Linc put on his blue beret and gave Star’s leash a tug. “We have to go downstairs for a few minutes. A couple of our dogs that were still missing after they were all released last month have been sighted coming this way. I’m supposed to keep an eye out and try to capture them.”

      It was all he could do to avoid looking at the place where her hand still lay. The sensation was electric. When she withdrew her slim fingers, he almost wished she hadn’t.

      “We won’t go far,” he said, rising. “Hand me your cell phone and I’ll enter my number. We’ll be right downstairs if you need anything.”

      “I can manage my brother if he does show up,” Zoe countered, complying anyway. “He doesn’t scare me.”

      “Well, he should.” Linc gave her back her phone and paused just long enough to put his dog’s working vest back on her. That also gave him time to be certain Zoe was taking his warning seriously. When she sobered, he was satisfied.

      Star accompanied him to the door, tight at heel position. Linc glanced back. “Lock this after me.”

      “I will.”

      “Now,” he added, when she didn’t immediately act.

      “Yes, sir,” she said, giving him a smile and a mock salute.

      More chatter was coming in over his radio. Linc keyed his mic. “On my way. I’ll meet you in the street.”

      With a last look at the woman and child, he turned on his heel and left. Normally, he would have waited until he was certain she had locked her door, but the last messages indicated that several of the missing dogs were nearby. His plan was to position himself on the lawn of the apartment building and wait, hoping that Star’s presence would draw the others in. Many of the highly skilled K-9s had been found and returned to the CAFB training facility, but there were still thirty-two dogs missing, including four special animals. He wanted to find all the dogs, of course, but locating Glory, Patriot, Scout and Liberty would be a real coup.

      A Security Forces SUV was approaching slowly, driver and passenger scanning the area. Linc waved them down.

      “I haven’t spotted any loose ones yet, but I just got down here,” Linc called.

      Novice trainer Bobby Stevens, the driver, nodded and glanced up at the apartment windows. “We have an audience. Did they see anything?”

      Linc followed the same line of sight and felt his heart skip like a flat stone thrown onto the surface of a placid lake. Zoe and Freddy were peering out their open window, watching the drama in the street unfold.

      “No. I was working up there with Star when I got the call. We were all sitting in the living room.”

      The SUV passenger, Master Sergeant Caleb Streeter, chuckled wryly. “Must be nice getting to sit around all day, Colson, while the rest of us bust a gut chasing reports of dogs.”

      Under different circumstances, Linc might have returned the taunt. Instead, he chose to tamp down his pride and stay silent. The most important task was catching the Red Rose Killer, and as long as Zoe Sullivan was on base, she was still their best, most important lead.

      In the shadowed corners of his mind lurked the realization that he also wanted to keep her safe. Her and her little boy, a child whose openness and charm had touched his heart in a way he couldn’t begin to explain. Maybe it was Freddy’s lack of a father that made him identify with the boy, Linc mused, remembering the shame his own dad had brought upon him and his mother by going AWOL, becoming a thief and finally being arrested and jailed.

      That was one thing he unfortunately had in common with Zoe. Neither of their families was anything to be proud of. And neither of them could do a thing about changing the past. Linc had spent his adult life trying to rise above the stigma of his untrustworthy, unreliable father.

      The comparison between his situation and Zoe’s struck him like the blast from a jet engine. He was not a bit like his father, so why did everybody seem to think Zoe Sullivan would side with her brother, given the opportunity?

      Because she’d kept in such close touch with Boyd, he reasoned, clenching his jaw. That was the difference, and it was a big one.

      His eyes were drawn to the apartment window again. As a single mother who had the responsibility of caring for Freddy, would she jeopardize his well-being for the sake of a killer? Approaching the question logically, Linc didn’t think so. The trouble was Boyd had always been good at hiding his true nature, at least at first. The women who had refused to date him and men who had somehow crossed him had paid the price for thwarting the emotionally twisted man. Could his seemingly innocent sister be the same kind of person?

      A loose German shepherd, tail flagging and ears erect, drew Linc’s thoughts back to the current task. The dog was trotting toward Star, panting as if smiling and acting ready to play.

      Linc crouched down. “Come here, boy. That’s a good boy.”

      Although the dog slowed and lowered its head as if deciding whether or not to flee,