Police Protector. Dani Sinclair

off. He had no idea how long he’d been sleeping, but he still held Kyra, asleep in his arms. His left arm was badly cramped from her weight. Ignoring the pain, he listened for whatever sound had wakened him. It took his sluggish brain a long moment to recognize what he’d been hearing, and by then the house had fallen silent.

      Someone had used the bathroom in the hall. They hadn’t closed the door or turned on a light and he waited, hardly breathing, for the sound of a flush. It didn’t come, but Lucan knew he hadn’t imagined the sound.

      Very gently he eased Kyra out of his arms. Instantly, her eyes snapped open. Lucan covered her lips lightly with his fingers, clenching and unclenching his cramped hand. He nodded toward the hall. For someone who’d been asleep only a second ago, she woke quickly and alertly.

      As silently as possible, he stood and crossed to the dark hall. The bathroom was empty, but a glance showed he hadn’t imagined the sound.

      “Where exactly did you see that shadow?” he whispered in her ear.

      “Down there, outside the baby’s room. He’s here, isn’t he? Kip’s in the house?”

      Lucan nodded and stepped into the hall. If the boy had made it back to his hiding spot already, then he was hiding close by.

      At the door of the baby’s room he listened to the silence a moment before flipping on the light. The room appeared empty, just as it had earlier.

      He prowled the small space. There was nowhere for anyone to hide. Unless…He focused on the bookcases. Frowning, he tugged on one, feeling a slight give. He went back to the door and studied the depth of the wall, then met Kyra’s excited expression. She’d seen what he was thinking. Inclining his head in tacit agreement, Lucan indicated they should leave the room. He led her back to the master bedroom.

      “I knew it!” she whispered excitedly. “I knew he was here somewhere!”

      “We should have seen it. There’s a panic room behind the bookcases.” He gripped her arm when she would have headed back out the door. “Wait. The boy is scared. If he was going to trust you, he would have come out by now. I could force it open, but that would only add to his panic.”

      “So what do we do?”

      “It’s almost morning. Most likely, he went back to sleep which means he’ll need the bathroom again when he wakes up.”

      “And he’ll be hungry.”

      Lucan smiled. “Yes. He’ll come out if he thinks it’s safe. We’re going to help him think that it is by staying very quiet.”

      “He’ll run when he sees us.”

      “We’re going to make that tough for him to do. He’s smart. He’ll realize pretty fast that he has nowhere left to go.”

      She thought that over. “Thank you, Lucan.”

      He blinked, surprised by the sound of his first name on her lips. She’d seen his name on his badge and the card he’d given her, of course, but he was pretty sure if she’d thought about it, she would have called him Detective instead. Using his first name implied a level of trust. He liked that thought.

      Kyra reddened. “Sorry. I—”

      “It’s my name. Feel free to use it, but I haven’t done anything worthy of thanks just yet.”

      She wouldn’t meet his eyes. “Yes, you have. You didn’t arrest me and you even let me cry on your shoulder.”

      He’d been right. She was embarrassed. “You needed to cry. In your place I would have wanted to cry as well.”

      She raised her face to meet his eyes. “I can’t see you sobbing your heart out on a stranger’s shoulder.”

      “No, I probably would have wanted to hit something instead, but it’s the same principal. I’m not a stranger, Kyra. I’m your sister’s neighbor and I’m a cop. People cry on our shoulders all the time.”

      Kyra managed a one-sided smile. He was glad to see the tension leave her features, even if only for an instant.

      “All the same, thank you.”

      “You’re welcome. Let’s go back in the baby’s room and wait for Kip to come out.”

      

      KYRA HADN’T EXPECTED TO like the big Irish cop so much, let alone feel this comfortable with him. Dealing in the business world she was always careful to maintain a professional distance with men she met. Simon had claimed it took him three months to get up the courage to ask her out.

      She tried to picture Simon offering silent comfort as Lucan had and couldn’t. But then, Simon wasn’t a touchy-feely sort of guy. She wouldn’t have thought Lucan would be either based on their first meeting. That hard-cop exterior hid a surprising well of softer emotions.

      And why was she comparing the two men? They were nothing alike. She was so tired that her mind was running in crazy circles.

      Shivering, she wished she dared close her eyes for a few more minutes. She jumped and stiffened automatically when Lucan slid his arm around her. He wasn’t coming on to her. He held her the way a friend would, offering comfort rather than intimacy. Sitting beside him on the edge of the bed with his broad shoulders pressed against the wall, Kyra realized she trusted Lucan.

      She allowed herself to relax and settle back against him. Being touched and held this way was nice. She wondered if Lucan was married and if his wife would be upset if she saw him now. The lack of a wedding ring meant nothing. Many men didn’t wear them. But what had his wife thought when he left their bed in the middle of the night to be with another woman?

      These were crazy thoughts. Lucan O’Shay was a cop and a nice man. His wife would be a warm, understanding person as well. And she knew thinking about Lucan and his possible wife was a way of keeping her mind from dwelling on what might have happened to Casey.

      Her sister had felt so threatened that she’d built a panic room into a house she was renting. How had Kyra not known that?

      Milt must have been threatening her again. Casey hadn’t said so, but Kyra had known something was wrong when Casey was willing to pull the kids out of school to take a sudden vacation right before Christmas. Casey had refused to explain, but she’d never invited Kyra to go anywhere with her before. When Kyra had asked if Jordan was coming too, Casey had said he couldn’t get away.