Tangled by Temptation (Doms of Destiny, Colorado 7)

Lucy held the door for them. “I’ll box up your leftovers and put them in the fridge.”

“You don’t have to do that,” Belle said.

“But I will.”

They walked Kip’s sister out of Lucy’s Burgers. Doc and Belle followed behind.

Cindy looked at him straight in the eyes. “I really can walk on my own.”

“I’m certain you can, but the Doc asked me to help you. That’s exactly what I am going to do.”

Whatever evil you and Kip have cooked up, I’m not going to let you get away with it.

If her story turned out to be true and she was innocent, he still would prepare himself for the worst. Like it or not, she had a connection to Lunceford. She was either working with him or in danger of him. Whichever it was, the team would need to keep her under guard.

“This is a lovely town.” Her words infuriated him.

Destiny was his home. “Just keep putting one foot in front of the other.”

She nodded.

He recalled how he’d learned about Cindy Trollinger.

Still trying to track down Lunceford, Easton Black, the leader of Shannon’s Elite, had told the entire team about Miss Trollinger. The existence of Lunceford’s sister had been unknown until recently, when a data mining exercise back at Langley had uncovered several Internet searches by the woman looking for Kip. Digging deeper, they discovered records of Trollinger’s adoption. Apparently, Kip’s father had cheated on his wife, producing a child several years younger than her half brother.

As they crossed South Street to the corner of the park where one of the four dragon statues sat, Cindy smiled. “Thank you for helping me.”

“What’s the last thing you remember?” he asked her.

“I was driving to Destiny. I stopped in Twin Falls, Idaho to stretch my legs and get a drink. Then I woke up here.”

He glanced over at Corey, who was clearly having as difficult a time believing Cindy’s story as he was. The rest of the trek to the courthouse was done in silence.

Being undercover in a federal prison for three years had taught Shane to trust his instincts before anything else, and his instincts right now didn’t trust a fucking thing that was coming out of the woman’s mouth.

Just as they’d discovered Cindy’s existence, she’d gone missing. For a week. The only reason they knew she had been headed to Destiny was because of the traces the team had placed on her phone and e-mail accounts the very first day.

They entered the room that Paris had gotten ready for Miss Trollinger. It had the latest and greatest medical equipment, thanks to the very generous donations of the local billionaire families in town.

Paris helped Cindy to the bed. “We’ve got it from here, Shane. You and Corey wait outside until we get her settled in.”

“Belle is coming with us.” Corey wasn’t giving any room for argument.

“I’m a nurse. Paris might be glad to have my help.”

Shane put his arm around her shoulder, unwilling to leave her alone with Trollinger. “Who said our date was over?”

Paris smiled. “Go out in the hallway with them, Belle.”

Doc nodded, checking Cindy’s vitals again. “We’ve got it covered now.”

Belle shrugged. “Okay.”

Shane felt his shoulders relax some, but only some.

He, Belle, and Corey went into the hallway.

Belle’s eyelids narrowed, hiding much of her mesmerizing green orbs. “What’s with you two?”