Mia frowned. "What do you mean?"

Mitchell took a sudden interest in the tip of his beef stick. "Nothing."

"Is there something you want to tell me?"

He slouched a little lower in the chair. "No."

Which meant there was.

She sighed and let the subject drop. Mitchell shared confidences according to his timetable, not hers. "Collin needs your help now more than ever."

"It really stinks about his brother. I wish I could do something."

"You already do. You help with the animals. Keep him company. Cheer him up. He depends on you." The boy was good for Collin, and the cop was finally at a place where he could realize as much.

Mitchell sat up straighter. "Yeah. I guess he does. He hates mucking out stalls." One tennis-shoed foot banged the front of her desk. "But I meant about his brother."

"We can't do anything about Drew's death, Mitch."

"I meant the other one."

She smiled. "Sooner or later, we'll find Ian."

She let a couple of seconds pass. The subject she needed to broach wasn't a good one. Muffled voices came and went outside her closed door.

"You want a Coke?" she asked to soften him up.

"Nah."

"Later then. We'll go to that Mexican place you like."

"Cool." His toe tapped the front of her metal desk over and over again.

Mia picked up a pen. Put it down. Took it up again. "We need to discuss your stepdad."

Mitchell stiffened. The thudding against her desk ceased. He didn't look up.

"I know you're scared of him."

No answer.

"I talked to your mother about going to a women's shelter, but she refuses. She says there's nothing wrong. Frankly, I don't believe her, and I'm worried about both of you." When he didn't respond, she dropped the pen and leaned toward him. She was getting nowhere with this one-sided conversation.

"Mitch, if something should happen, anything at all, if you should ever be afraid, will you call me? Or Collin?"

He thought about her question for several seconds while a telephone rang in another office and a door down the hall slammed shut. Finally, he nodded. "Yeah."

That was the best she was going to get. She rubbed the back of her neck and stretched. "I'll trust you on that."

Her office door opened and another social worker peeked inside. "Mia, could I see you for a minute?"

"Of course." She stood and said to Mitch, "Stay put, okay?" She glanced at the clock. "When I get back we'll head for the mall."

"Can I play on your computer?"

"Sure. And have another beef jerky. I'll be back in a few minutes."

Three days later, Collin bounded up the stairs to the second floor of the Department of Human Services. Mia had said she loved him, but he'd never believed she'd do this.

She looked up from a stack of paperwork, the kind of overwhelming mountain he understood too well. Jammed into one corner of her office, a miniature Christmas tree blinked multi-colored lights. A whimsical Santa waved from the wall behind her desk, and Christmas carols issued from her computer speakers.

"Oh, hi, Collin." Mia's face lit up. "I got your note."

"Sorry I missed you." More than sorry. Every day since she'd said those shocking words he'd found an excuse to talk to her, either in person or on the phone. The last couple of days she'd been out of contact and he'd missed her. He'd wanted to surprise her with a special offer that was sure to make her happy. Instead, she'd surprised him.

Somehow the knowledge that she loved him had changed him. He wasn't sure what was happening inside him, but he liked the difference. He felt lighter, happier, freer, which made no sense at all considering the news of Drew's death.

But then today in his mailbox... He slapped the brown envelope down onto her desk. He could never repay her for this.

"This is the best news I've had in a long time."

She grinned at his unusual enthusiasm. "You could use some good news."

He didn't want to think she'd done this out of pity, but if he told the truth, he didn't really care why she'd done it.

"I think this is Ian, don't you?"

She blinked, puzzled. "Excuse me?"

He slid a sheet of paper from the envelope and laid the all-important document in front of her. "I think this is my Ian. I think this is the agency that handled his adoption."

And he hadn't even known Ian was adopted. Part of him rejoiced. At least one brother had found a family.

"Collin, I don't know what you're talking about-" She froze in midsentence as her eyes moved across the confidential document.

All the color drained from her face. Disbelief mixed with hurt, she shot to her feet. Rollers clattered as her chair thunked against the wall behind her. "I can't believe this, Collin. How could you?"

Now he was confused. "How could I what?"

"Break into these confidential files. Compromise me this way. I thought we were at least friends."

They were friends. A lot more than friends. "What are you talking about?"

"You were here in my office while I was gone."

He rocked back, stunned at the unspoken accusation. "You think I broke into your files?"

"What else can I think? This document is from a sealed adoption file. No one, not even me, is supposed to look at those files without express permission or a court order."

He knew how important her professional integrity was. He'd never even considered such a thing. "I wouldn't do that."

"Somebody did."

His jaw grew hard enough to bite through concrete as her accusation hit home. "And you think it was me."

She stared at the twinkling Christmas tree. He sensed a battle going on behind those warm gray-green eyes, but her silence was an affirmation. Finally she said, "Who else would want to?"

He had an idea but if she couldn't figure that one out on her own, he wasn't about to toss out accusations. Not like she'd done. "You'll have to trust me on this, Mia."

She pushed the sheet of paper back into the envelope and handed the packet across the desk. Her hands trembled. "I hope you find him."

"Will you help me?" He needed her. And he wanted her there beside him when Ian was found.

She shook her head, expression bleak. "I'm sorry, Collin. I can't."

She didn't believe him.

All his joy shriveled into a dusty wad. He'd finally let a woman into his heart and she couldn't even give him her trust. Some love that was.

Fine. Dandy. He should have known.

He yanked the envelope from the desk and stalked out.

Mia locked the door of her office and cried. From her computer radio, Karen Carpenter's lush voice sang "Merry Christmas Darling." She clicked Mute.

How could Collin have done such a thing? He'd been in here two days ago, at her desk while she was at lunch. He'd even left a note. She'd wanted to believe he wouldn't do this to her, but how could she? Hadn't he pressured her more than once to open those files?

Over and over she remembered when Gabe had badgered confidential information from her. Just like Collin he'd said, "Trust me, Mia. You know I wouldn't do anything that could hurt you."

But in the end, her actions on his behalf had hurt her plenty. She'd lost her job and her credibility. And though Gabe had worked hard to make the loss up to her, she couldn't forget the awful sense of betrayal and shame.

Her own flesh-and-blood brother had compromised her for his own gain. How could she believe that Collin wouldn't do the same for a much more worthwhile reason?

Not that she wasn't glad he had the information about Ian. She only wished he'd come by it more honestly.

Collin stewed for two days, hammering away his anger on the barn that didn't seem to be getting any larger.

He hadn't broken into Mia's computer, but even if he had, he wouldn't lie about it. Why couldn't she see that? He'd considered questioning Mitch, but why bother? The deed was done and Mia blamed him.

If he'd known falling for a Christian was this much trouble, he would have run even harder the day she'd bought him a hamburger.

His cell phone rang and he slapped the device from his belt loop. "Grace."

"Mr. Grace, this is the Loving Homes Adoption Agency in Baton Rouge. I think I may have some information for you."

His heart slammed against his ribcage. His hammer dropped to the ground. Happy gazed up at him, puzzled as he grappled in his shirt pocket for a pencil. With shaking fingers, he scribbled the information on a piece of plywood.

His brother's name might be Ian Carpenter.

Everything in him wanted to call Mia, to share the excitement of finally having a concrete lead.

But he wouldn't. She wouldn't want him to.

Chapter Fourteen.

The call came in at ten minutes to nine in the morning. A hostage situation. The suspect a convicted felon, armed and dangerous. And probably high on drugs.

Collin donned his gear along with the rest of the Tac-team members as the captain drilled them on the situation. During the serving of a warrant, the suspect had gone ballistic and taken a woman hostage, probably the common-law wife.

Collin exchanged glances with Maurice. He knew his buddy was already praying and he was glad. In situations like this, they needed all the help they could get. The Christmas holidays were high-stress periods. If anyone was going off the deep end, this time of year seemed to bring it on.

As the van approached the neighborhood, Collin grew uneasy. He knew this area.

"This is the Perez house," he said.

Captain Gonzales nodded. "Isn't that the name of the kid you've been mentoring?"

"Yeah. Is he in there?"

"Not anymore. We just got a call from Shipley on somebody's cell phone. There's a social worker inside with him. Not the wife."

Collin's blood ran cold. "Who's the social worker?"

He already knew before the captain spoke. "Adam Carano's sister, Mia. You know her?"

He and Maurice exchanged quick glances.

"We've met." What was Mia doing in there? Hadn't he told her to stay away?

The captain gave him a strange look. He'd told no one except Maurice about his friendship with Mia. If the captain knew he was personally involved he'd send him back to the station. No way Collin was going to leave Mia at the mercy of some doped-up maniac whose last address was the state penitentiary.

Keeping his face passive, he readied his equipment, mind racing with the possibilities. Anything could go down in a situation like this. Anything.

"Why's the social worker involved? Was she there to grab the kid?"

"Bad timing, I think. She was inside when an arrest warrant was served. Shipley flipped out when he saw the cops approaching, and took her hostage."