Lone Wolf Lawman

“Then you have no way of knowing that he won’t go after my mother. Heck, my entire family.” A clipped sob tore from her throat. “I can’t let him get to them.”

“I’ve already arranged for someone to watch the road leading to the ranch. I won’t let him hurt them.” Weston hoped that was a promise he could keep. He didn’t have a good track record when it came to stopping this vicious killer.

“Who?” she pressed.

“Friends I can trust. I didn’t want to involve the Rangers in this because I’m trying to set a trap for the killer, and I didn’t want him hearing about it. But these friends are armed, and they’ll let me know if he tries to get to you.”

That was part of the plan anyway.

But not all of it.

“I don’t just want to scare off the Moonlight Strangler,” Weston explained. “I want to catch him. Tonight.”

Addie froze. Then her breath shivered. “You want to use me to draw him out.”

“Yes.” Hard for Weston to admit that, but it was the truth. “We know he’ll probably come here, and since he doesn’t know that I’ve contacted you—”

“What if the letter is a hoax?” she interrupted. “I mean, why tell you what he’s going to do? He must know that as a Texas Ranger you’d try to warn me.”

“That’s not the only reason I would have warned you.” Judging from the hard look she gave him, she didn’t believe it.

He took out the copy of the second letter. “It came the same time as the other one, but it was a different envelope.” Weston unfolded it, held it up for Addie to see. “If you try to save Addie, I’ll kill Isabel and you,” he read.

“Isabel?” she asked.

“My kid sister. She’s in medical school. I’ve already had her put in protective custody. Now the next step is doing the same for you, but that’s why I snuck onto the ranch. I didn’t want the killer to know I’d come here. It might have provoked him or sent him into a rage.”

Not that a serial killer didn’t already have enough rage. Still, Weston had wanted to try to control the situation as much as he could.

The silence came. Addie, staring at him. Obviously trying to make sense of this. He wanted to tell her there was nothing about this that made sense because they were dealing with a very dangerous, very crazy man.

“Oh, God,” she finally said.

Now her fear was sky-high, and Weston held his breath. He didn’t expect Addie to go blindly along with a plan to stop her father. But she did want to stop the Moonlight Strangler from claiming another victim.

Weston was counting heavily on that.

However, Addie shook her head. “I can’t help you.”

That sure wasn’t the reaction Weston had expected. He’d figured Addie was as desperate to end this as he was.

She squeezed her eyes shut a moment. “I’ll get my mother, and we can go to the sheriff’s office. Two of my brothers are there, and they can make sure this monster stays far away from us.”

“You’ll be safe at the sheriff’s office,” Weston agreed, “but you can’t stay there forever. Neither can your family. Eventually, you’ll have to leave, and the killer will come after you.”

“That can’t happen!” Addie groaned and looked up at the ceiling as if she expected some kind of divine help. “I can’t be in that kind of danger.”

Weston tried to keep his voice as calm as possible. Hard to do, though, with the emotions swirling like a tornado inside him. “I’m sorry. If there was another way to stop him, then I wouldn’t have come here. I know I don’t have a right to ask, but I need your help.”

“I can’t.”

“You can’t? Convince me why,” Weston snapped. “Because I’m not getting this. You must want this killer off the street. It’s the only way you’ll ever be truly safe.”

Addie opened her mouth. Closed it. And she stared at him. “I’d planned on telling you. Not like this. But if I ever saw you again, I intended to tell you.”

There was a new emotion in her voice and on her face. One that Weston couldn’t quite put his finger on. “Tell me what?” he asked.

She dragged in a long breath and straightened her shoulders. “I can’t be bait for the Moonlight Strangler because I can’t risk being hurt.” Addie took another deep breath. “I’m three months pregnant. And the baby is yours.”

Chapter Three (#ulink_748bc481-8a0b-5f49-899a-c19d811321aa)

Addie figured this was the worst way possible a man could find out that he’d fathered a child.

But she hadn’t exactly had a choice about the timing of the news. Weston had come here to drop a bombshell that he wanted to use her to catch a killer, that the killer was actually after her, but she’d delivered her own bombshell.

And it had stunned him to silence.

Weston just stared at her for a very long time, and she could almost see the wheels turning in his head. This pregnancy changed everything.

At least it had for Addie.

Maybe it would for Weston, too.

Change him in a way that wouldn’t put her in danger. Three months ago, she would have been willing to do whatever it took to catch the Moonlight Strangler. Weston obviously felt the same way. Especially since the killer had murdered a woman he loved. But even though the killer had murdered her brother’s wife, Addie couldn’t allow herself to be used in this justice net.

Unless...

“Can you guarantee me that the baby wouldn’t be hurt?” However, she waved off the question as soon as she asked it. “You and I both know you can’t. The Moonlight Strangler’s smart. He’s been killing and evading the law for three decades, maybe more, and he might have already figured out a way to get around you so he could come after me.”

Heck, the killer might have figured out a way to use Weston. Too bad Addie couldn’t think of how he’d done that, and she didn’t want to find out the hard way, either. This had to end.

But how?

“You’re pregnant,” Weston said under his breath. He groaned, and this time he was the one to do the stepping away.

She couldn’t blame him for being stunned. The truth was, Addie had been pretty darn stunned herself when she’d first learned the news. She had always wanted children and figured that one day she would be a mom. She just hadn’t thought it would happen like this, with her being unmarried and with the baby’s father disappearing.

Weston shook his head. “But we used protection.”

Ironic that she had said the exact same thing to the doctor when he’d confirmed the pregnancy test results. That day, she’d said a lot of things, including some profanity in regards to Weston.

“Obviously, protection’s not a hundred percent. Don’t worry,” Addie quickly added. “I was going to tell you if I ever managed to locate you, but I don’t need anything from you, including child support. Or any other kind of support for that matter. As far as I’m concerned, you won’t be a part of this.”

The look he gave her could have blasted a giant hole through the moon. Weston’s eyes went to slits, and the muscles in his face turned to iron. “It’s my baby. I’ll be a part of this.”

“That’s not necessary—”

“I’ll be part of his or her life,” he insisted.