Then his gaze found Alice. She was looking at him, waiting, and so he headed straight for the empty chair beside her. Yes, Ken was sitting on her other side, and yes, she’d held it together and even mouthed off to Owen Baker, keeping him distracted from discovering his mistake. But it had cost her emotionally, and she needed not only Ken but him, too. They would soon take her home and see to those needs, but for now, he could show her that he understood her.
He sat and slipped his arm around her. The sound of her sigh and the way she let her head rest on his shoulder for a moment made him feel ten feet tall. And it also let him know he’d had it exactly right.
“I’d say the three of you have had yourself quite an adventure,” Grandpa Noah said. “And not just the kind you headed out to have this morning when you left town.”
“We did, indeed,” Ian said. “I’m just not sure I know how our trusty backup arrived so quickly.”
“That is thanks to this guy.”
Ian—and the rest of the family—looked over at Jordan, who’d just stepped into the room, accompanied by Cam Drake.
“Cameron! How nice to see you!” Samantha Kendall got up from her chair beside his grandpa and went over to the man. She gave him a big hug. “How’s Linda?”
“She’s just fine, Miss Samantha, thank you.”
“I understand that we owe you a huge thank-you. Come and sit. Jordan?”
“Yes, ma’am. Cam, would you like a drink?”
“A beer would go nice, thanks,” Cam said.
“So, how did you play a role in our getting police backup so fast?” Ian asked.
“I had just gotten to the store this morning after our meeting and was waiting for my guys when Mel Richardson drove up.”
“I saw his truck and thought I’d let him know that we had the info on the vehicle Baker was driving. I thought I should let Cam know, because sometimes a firebug will return to the scene of the crime. I knew he wasn’t a firebug in the usual sense, but I like to cover all the bases. And because I do like to cover all the bases, I showed Cam a picture of Owen Baker.”
“His car,” Ken said. “Was it by any chance a dun-colored Ford?”
Mel nodded. “It was. I think he chose the color believing it didn’t stand out.”
“Well, he drew a lot of our attention to that car,” Ian said. “But we didn’t know it was him.” But I did feel that whole scene was off, so three cheers for my instincts.
“So, Mel showed you his pic,” Ken said to Cam.
“Yes, and I realized I’d seen the guy just this morning. He came into the restaurant about a minute after y’all did.” Cam nodded to indicate the three of them. “He sat close enough that I knew he likely overheard our entire conversation. So, I told Mel that, as well as where y’all were headed.”
“And I called Adam. Adam was in Waco, meeting with Clint, bringing him up to speed on our situation.”
“Originally, I wanted Clint aware just in case our case ended up out of not only my jurisdiction but the Waco P.D.’s as well. That was our lucky break. We took off immediately, destination Davidson’s Digs. We were only about fifteen minutes out when Alice set off the S.O.S. on her cell phone,” Adam said. Then he grinned. “We ended up just being there for appearances and so Clint could arrest the bastard and put him in handcuffs.”
“It occurs to me,” Samantha Kendall said, “that we’ve been awfully lucky over the past few years. Not to say that some of the villains that have come after some of the family haven’t been dangerous, because they certainly have been.”
“But we’ve had more than our fair share of incompetent boobs in the mix.” Grandma Kate nodded. “And most importantly, none of the family has been seriously hurt. That’s occurred to me too, Samantha.”
“Statistically speaking, and from what I’ve heard, I think we’re safe here in that regard.” Ken looked around the room.
Grandpa raised one eyebrow then looked over at Kate.
“I think I moved here just in time, Kate,” Grandpa said.
Before Ian could ask, Grandpa Noah looked over at Ken. “Statistics and research make for interesting pastimes,” he said. “But they don’t always translate into everyday reality. Not all criminals are smart—or stupid. Some are pure evil, and I think that your Mr. Baker had a share of that inside him. He also didn’t seem at all inclined to own his own actions. To my way of thinking, there are too many folks like that these days. Not that the attitude is new, of course. My own grandfather was a man who couldn’t accept responsibility for anything in his life.” Grandpa shook his head. “I’m with the womenfolk. From what I’ve learned, y’all have been very lucky, so far.”
“We have been,” Adam said. “And we have had a few very dangerous people hit town. It used to drive me to distraction, trying to find the perfect way to protect everyone.”
“Adam, that’s one hell of a horrible way to abuse yourself. I hope you’ve figured it out.” Kate Benedict, as genteel and ladylike as he’d always known her to be, could cut to the chase when she needed to.
“Yes, ma’am. I’ve had to learn to accept that it’s not all on me. That we can all play a part in keeping ourselves and each other safe.”
“You’re doing a good job, cousin. You kept us aware, had us keeping our eyes open, and ensured we had the means to help ourselves by seeing to it we all had
