"Is something wrong, Jim?" Caleb asked.

But Jim was already striding through the house in the direction Maya had pointed. He didn't think he drew a breath again until he burst into the playroom and saw Tyler on the floor, making motor noises as he drove a toy truck along the floor. He looked up with a smile. "Hi, Dad."

Jim scooped his son up and hugged him hard.

"I thought you was goin' on a picnic with Kara," Tyler said.

"I missed you."

"Already?" Tyler's face fell. "I don't have to go yet, do I, Dad? We were gonna have popcorn and play more."

He kissed Tyler's cheek, ruffled his hair and set him back down. "You go ahead and play. I'll be right outside if you need me, all right?"

"Okay, Dad."

Jim turned to see Kara standing in the doorway staring at him. He nodded at her inquisitive look. "Yeah. We can have that talk now. Just one more thing first." He pulled out his cell phone and dialed his chief. When Wilcox picked up, he said, "Ang is in Big Falls."

They sat on the porch swing as the sun went down. Jimmy still seemed nervous, watchful. Kara had lost her grip on her righteous indignation, on her anger at having been lied to. Now all she felt was fear, because if he was this upset over his wife-ex-wife, she corrected herself-appearing in town, then there must be a good reason. Jimmy Corona was not a stupid man. He was a cop, for God's sake. And she had no doubt he'd been afraid when she'd told him of Angela's visit. No cop got that scared without a reason.

He took her hand in his and she looked into his eyes. "Marrying Angela was a huge mistake," he told her. "But she gave me Tyler, so it's a mistake I'd make all over again. Except this time...I'd keep him safe."

Kara frowned. "Safe? From his own mother?"

He nodded, leaned back in the swing, closed his eyes. "She liked to party, liked to have fun, never wanted kids. She resented getting pregnant. Resented having to give up her drinking and drugs to carry a baby to term. But she did it. And I thought...I thought she would keep on doing it. I thought once she held our child in her arms, she'd see what was really important in life."

"You thought a baby would change her."

He nodded. "God knows nothing else did."

"But it didn't work."

"No. She was worse than ever after Tyler was born. And one day while I was at work, she got high and tried to take him out for a walk. He was a month old. We lived in a fifth-floor apartment and the elevator wasn't working that day. She fell, crashed down two flights of stairs, took him down with her."

"Oh my God."

He drew a breath, an unsteady, stuttering breath, as if just the memory was more than he could bear. "There was damage to his spine. That's why he's wearing the braces and suffering through PT twice a week and waiting for yet another operation."

"I'm so sorry, Jimmy."

He shook his head. "I divorced her, naturally. Gave her the option of surrendering parental rights to Tyler or going up on charges for possession and neglect. She signed him away as if it were nothing. She never wanted him to begin with. And we didn't see her again. Oh, I knew, though. She was still using, sliding further into the gutter with every month that passed. Last I knew, she was selling herself on the streets for drug money."

"But I don't understand. Why is she here?"

"I'm getting to that. I busted a man in Chicago for dealing in child pornography. He's a wealthy pig, made his fortune in legitimate porn. We got a tip and raided his home. Found the evidence and made the arrest. But this guy has money and apparently powerful connections. The evidence vanished. Just disappeared from the evidence room."

She frowned, searching his face, her heart in her throat.

"Angela showed up at my door before I left Chicago, begging me to change my testimony against this guy. Says he's the love of her life. He's got her convinced he's going to scrape her out of the gutter and make her fantasies come true. Fact is, I'm convinced he only took up with her to get to me. After the evidence vanished, my chief thought it best my partner and I get out of town until the trial."

"You think this man is after you? That he's here with her?"

He nodded. "Last night I learned they'd both fallen off the radar. Today she shows up here." He shook his head. "No way is it a coincidence."

She nodded slowly.

"And Colby's missing."

She blinked and sucked in a sharp breath. "Do you think they've done something to him?"

Jim closed his eyes. "God, I hope not."

He turned to face her, took her hands in his. "I know none of this gives me a reason for misleading you before, Kara. I just-hell, it's just easier to say she's gone and let people draw their own conclusions than to admit the truth. That I left my son in the care of a drug addict who damn near killed him."

"She was his mother, Jimmy. You can't take responsibility for what she did. No one can, no one but her."

"I don't agree with that. But that's beside the point, Kara. I shouldn't have lied to you."

"You didn't exactly-"

"I did. I knew what you assumed and I didn't correct you. I'm sorry, Kara. I can't tell you how sorry I am that I hurt you like that. You don't deserve it."

"Given the circumstances, I think I can forgive you."

He smiled a little, but then his eyes turned solemn again. "Not that it matters at this point. I can't risk them catching up to us. I've got to take Tyler and leave town."

She put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm not sure that's the best thing here."

He lowered his head. "I don't want to leave, but I have to put Ty first."

"So do I," she told him. "Come on, Jimmy, you know me well enough to know I wouldn't suggest anything that would put you or Tyler at risk. What I want doesn't even enter into it. But just hear me out on this, okay?"

After a moment he nodded. "You're right. I do know you well enough to know that. Okay, so what are you thinking?"

"Just this. You take Tyler anywhere else, what's to stop these two from tracking you down again? And then there would be no one but you to watch over him. What if they get to you? What if they do something to you, make you disappear the way they maybe did to Colby? What happens to Tyler then? He'd be all alone."

Jim lowered his head. "I won't let that happen."

"You might not have a choice. But here-here there are tons of us. I can call Mel. She and Alex will drop whatever they're doing to get back here to help, I know they will. Alex is one of the top P.I.s in the country, Jimmy. He's good at what he does. And Mel is no slouch. Besides that, here you've got Caleb and his father, Cain. A lawyer and a retired senator, with all the power and influence that go along with that. You've got Wade, the toughest guy I know. You've got Mom and Maya and Edie and Selene."

"I can't ask you all to-"

"You don't have to ask." She shook her head. "Hell, you won't be able to stop them from getting involved in this once I tell them. And I am going to tell them. And you've got me, too. I'd do anything for Tyler. I...I love him, Jimmy."

He stared at her as if considering what she said. Thank God, she thought.

"If this goon is out on bail, awaiting trial-" she said.

"He is."

"Then he isn't supposed to leave the state, is he?"

"No."

"You've told the authorities he's here somewhere. They'll be hunting for him here. Let us help keep Tyler safe while they do. If you go elsewhere, they won't know where to look for the guy. But if you stay here and he's really around looking for you, then he'll stay, too. And they can get him back behind bars where he belongs."

"I don't know...."

"We can have people watching him 24-7, Jimmy. If you go off alone, who's with him when you're sleeping? Or in the shower? You can't do this alone. Not the way we can do it here."

"I just...I can't believe your family would really do all that."

She smiled a little. "It's a Brand family tradition. When one's in trouble, we all come running. Hell, if things get scary, I can call in the Texas branch of the family."

He smiled, and she saw some of the tension leave his eyes. "And how many of those are there?"

"Eighteen, not counting the kids. Let's see, there's a sheriff, a martial-arts expert, a shaman-"

"Okay, I get it." He lowered his head. "You've convinced me. If your family really is willing, then..."

"Her family is more than willing," Maya said from somewhere behind them.

Jimmy swung his head around. So did Kara. Maya was standing near an open window, her husband close beside her.

"Did I mention," Kara asked, "that my family is also terribly nosy, snoopy, rude and intrusive?"

"Only because we love you, sis," Maya said. She slid the window closed and came out through the door, Caleb at her side.

Caleb spoke then. "Jim, everything Kara told you about the Brands is dead-on accurate. No one's gonna get within ten miles of your boy with us on the job. I guarantee it."

"Come on, Kara," Maya said. "Let's call Mel, then we'll fill in the others."

Kara looked back at Jimmy.

Caleb said, "Go ahead, sis. I need a minute with Jim anyway."

Jimmy nodded, telling her with his eyes he would be fine. She had no doubt he would, but she also knew Caleb wasn't going to pull any punches. And nothing she could say would be likely to dissuade him.

Sighing, she went inside with her sister. As the door swung closed behind them, Kara heard Caleb's voice, speaking low. "If there's anything else you're keeping from her, pal..."

"There's not."

"There had better not be."

Only there was, Jim thought. There was one very big thing he was still keeping from Kara Brand.

He'd been forced to say good-night to Kara with most of her family watching, and though the entire situation had been explained to them and they had wholeheartedly embraced Kara's plan, Vidalia still looked at him as if she'd like to take him out to the woodshed with a switch. Maya seemed undecided. Edie, blatantly suspicious. Wade and Caleb watched him like bulldogs watching a steak. Only Selene and Kara looked at him with complete understanding and concern. And even Selene seemed to wax uncertain every now and then.

They all seemed to adore Tyler, though. And hell, Jim couldn't blame them for being protective of Kara. If they knew what he was really doing with her, they'd probably run him out of town without thinking twice.

By the time the family was through questioning him and offering opinions and making plans, Tyler had climbed into his lap and fallen asleep.

Jim had been watching Kara, paying close attention all evening to try to assess the extent of the damage he'd done. But he was damned if he could see any sign of any in her eyes.

He'd been craving a moment alone with her, but in the end he gave up on it. Said his good-nights with the entire clan watching him and then carried his sleeping son out to the pickup. He would just have to try to get some private time with Kara tomorrow. He'd made too much progress with her to risk screwing it up now, especially if he was sticking around here in Big Falls after all.

He shifted Tyler onto his shoulder so he could reach for the pickup door, only to see a hand grip it before he could.

Kara had come out behind him, and he hadn't even heard her. Hell, he'd better snap out of this habit of being lost in his thoughts.

She opened the door, and he laid his son gently on the seat, then fastened the seat belt around him, stepped back and closed the door softly.

He turned then and leaned against the truck. "You never got any dinner, Kara."

"You didn't either." She shrugged. "Not like I could think about eating with all this."

Jim wanted to know where things stood with her, how bad a setback this had been. He could happily strangle Angela for showing up now of all times. Ruining his plan when it had been going so damn well. God, he hoped Colby was all right. He'd had phone calls from the Oklahoma state police, the county sheriff's office and the Tucker Lake-Big Falls PD. They were coordinating with Chief Wilcox in Chicago and conducting an all-out search for the missing cop. There wasn't a hell of a lot more that could be done on that score.

Kara looked tired. There were faint circles beneath her eyes that hadn't been there before. He decided to touch her just to see if she would still allow it. He put his hands on her shoulders, then slid one inward, to move over the curve of her neck.

Kara surprised him, by stepping closer, wrapping her arms around his waist, leaning her body into his. She rested her head on his shoulder and she whispered, "I'm so sorry you're going through all this, Jimmy."

He stilled, holding her, one hand cupping her neck, fingers just starting to thread into her hair. "You're sorry? Kara, you don't have anything to be sorry about."

"You could have told me, you know. From the beginning, I mean. You didn't have to keep all this from me."

"I know that. I know. I'm the one who owes you the apology. I just hope...I haven't messed this up."

"Messed what up?"

She was still in his arms, still resting against him, so he couldn't see her face. He wished he could, so he could try to read whatever might be in her eyes and be sure she was asking what he thought she was asking.

He had nothing to go by except the feel of her in his arms, her warm breaths on his neck, the stars twinkling overhead. Hell, no, the stars had nothing to do with this. "Kara, I...I think there's something special between us. I think you feel it, too, don't you?"

She raised her head, stepped back slightly, looked into his eyes just the way he'd been wishing she would. Only, she was the one doing the searching, the probing, trying to read what was in his. He hoped she saw what he was trying to show her and nothing more.

"I feel-" She dipped her head suddenly. He thought he saw color flooding into her face.

"Don't be afraid to tell me what you feel," he said softly.

She raised her eyes to his. "I'm not afraid. Not really. It's just...I'm not sure what I feel. It's too soon for it to be...as big as it seems." She drew a breath. "And I don't want you worrying about my feelings anyway. Not right now, when you've got so much else to contend with."

"I want to worry about your feelings, Kara."

She shook her head. "Tyler comes first."

His heart knocked against his rib cage. He hooked a finger under her chin, tipped it up and pressed his mouth to hers. She kissed like an angel. Like a fragile, timid angel, hungry for something she couldn't begin to understand.

When he lifted his head, he said, "I'm feeling things, too, Kara. The same things you are."