Their Blue-Collar Girl (The American Soldier Collection 4)

“You rest, let your men take care of you,” Gunner said, “and the sheriff here will have some extra deputies patrolling around the ranch while I round up these two assholes. We’re posting the stranger’s picture on television indicating how important it is that we question him. Hopefully someone will see him and report his whereabouts.”

“Great. We really appreciate your help with this, Gunner. You, your brothers, and the sheriff have been awesome,” Dante said then shook their hands.

“We’ll catch them and put them away. Don’t you worry,” the sheriff said then reached over and gave Lori’s hand a squeeze.

They said good-bye then left the house.

* * * *

Trevor didn’t feel as relieved as he thought he would. Identifying the suspects, locating them, and building evidence against them should be giving him peace of mind, but it wasn’t. He glanced at Lori, noticing the bandage on her forehead and part of the large, wide bruise that peeked out from the sleeve of her T-shirt. Her blonde hair was in a low ponytail to the side and she looked so youthful and innocent. He felt the rage at the situation getting the better of him.

“Trevor?” Lori said his name, and when he looked up, her eyebrows furrowed and her lips puckered up in such a cute, yet serious manner.

“Come here.” Immediately his body responded to her voice, her command, as he walked toward her.

“Hold me?” she asked, and he immediately embraced her, wedging his thigh between her thighs. She pulled him tight as she laid her cheek against his chest. He could feel her warm breath penetrate the material of his shirt.

“Everything will be okay. Gunner and J.R. will catch these men.”

He caressed her hair and then looked toward Dante and Charlie. Their expressions had to have mimicked his. They looked just as angry and unsure as Trevor felt.

God, help us keep Lori and the others safe. Please.

* * * *

A few days had passed and the judge issued a warrant for Connor’s arrest, but he evaded capture and was on the run. The stranger had indeed left prints at Sylvia’s crime scene. On top of that, Charlie told Lori that the detectives Gunner and the sheriff were working with linked the stranger to five other homicides. He apparently left some form of flowers and a note on the victims’ bodies. The notes said the words, “now you die.” Gunner also said that people the stranger threatened for business contracts for Connor also received notes. Theirs said, “today you live.”

Gunner was confident that they would find Connor and the stranger. But the men still took precautions.

Lori was feeling cooped up and as if her plans for the future were suddenly going to come to an end. She was warned about not going jogging and she wasn’t allowed to go to Carl’s to work. Now she was sitting around, making no money, and feeling lazy.

Maggie and Jasper went out for an early dinner and Lori’s parents headed to Casper’s to have lunch with the McCallister brothers and their wife Eve.

Lori looked at Ben who was completely bored.

She glanced at her watch.

Dante would be over in an hour.

“Aunt Lori, can’t we please go outside on the swing set? I’m bored,” he stated and she felt bad. He had asked her five times in the last hour. She was trying to spend extra time with Ben. He had been very upset about her car accident. She picked up her cell phone and called Dante. He didn’t answer his phone and it made that funny noise as if he were on another call so she hung up.

“Okay, how about we go outside for just a little bit and wait for Dante? We can go in the backyard.”

Ben jumped up and down then grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the back door.

* * * *

“So, what you’re saying is that guy ‘the stranger’ as he calls himself, is wanted for questioning in Dallas and Austin on three separate murder investigations?” Dante asked Gunner as he spoke on his cell phone to him. Charlie and Trevor were standing next to him in the sheriff’s office. They had come down to press charges against Connor officially for threatening them. The sheriff had suggested they do everything they could to document what happened and to protect them for when Connor was caught.

“Do they think that he actually committed the murders?” Dante asked as he placed the call on speaker. They all listened.

“It seems to me that he is their prime suspect. It gets worse, guys. The stranger worked for two businessmen. One in Austin and one in Dallas. Both men disappeared. Sandman calls me and tells me that through his connections in the government, he gets some extra information from a friend of his. This investigator who has been working the case for two years now believes that this guy, ‘the stranger,’ is not only responsible for the murders but also believes that he is linked to several missing women. He has signed statements from multiple civilians stating that the stranger was either seen with the missing women hours before their disappearance or in the vicinity of their workplace and home.”

“Shit, Gunner. What are we dealing with here, a sexual predator besides a killer?” the sheriff asked.

“It’s not looking good. I suggest you guys get back over to your place and keep all the women, especially Lori, under your constant protection. Even though a couple of weeks have passed, this is far from over. I don’t like it and I don’t like that this guy can evade even government agents,” Gunner said.

“I agree. Tell Sandman we said thank you. We’re going to head out right now,” Charlie stated.