Texas Protector Read online

  “Tight suspense and great chemistry between the lead characters make Jean Brashear’s [book] a page-turner.”

  ~RTBookclub 4 ½ of 5 stars

  Discover the third book in New York Times bestselling Texas romance author Jean Brashear’s TEXAS HEROES: Lone Star Lovers series about three brothers, this story a uniquely powerful reunion romance between a haunted detective and the woman whose life he once saved.

  FBI agent Alex Sandoval has never forgiven himself for not protecting a young girl who was gravely injured and her mother killed before her eyes during his first hostage negotiation twelve years ago. Now Jade Butler is a cop herself, assigned to a prestigious multi-agency task force hunting for the killer of several young girls in Austin, Texas—and Alex is the agent in charge of the case.

  They never met all those years ago, but Jade recognizes his voice as the one she still hears in her dreams, the voice that has comforted her through many a terrifying flashback. Her role on the task force is undercover, serving as bait for a madman, yet Alex cannot stop trying to protect her as he was unable to do years ago. Tensions ratchet between them as old memories vie with a powerful new attraction, and when Jade is taken hostage by the killer, it’s Alex’s worst nightmare as he must negotiate once again—only this time, it’s to save the woman he loves.

  Lone Star Lovers

  Texas Heartthrob

  Texas Healer

  Texas Protector

  Texas Deception

  Texas Lost

  Texas Wanderer

  Texas Bodyguard

  Texas Rescue

  Texas Protector

  Texas Heroes: Lone Star Lovers Book 3

  (Texas Heroes 21)

  Jean Brashear

  Copyright © 2016 Jean Brashear

  EPUB Edition

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  Table of Contents

  Cover

  About Texas Protector

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Epilogue

  Excerpt from Texas Deception

  Books by Jean Brashear

  About the Author

  Connect With Jean

  Prologue

  Austin

  Twelve years ago

  Swollen with summer’s heat, droplets of orange streetlight tumbled through the darkness. Eyes closed, Alejandro Sandoval zeroed his focus on the nightmare playing out in the bedroom less than a hundred yards away.

  With effort, he ignored flashing police lights, gawkers jostling the cordon, adrenaline boiling through the SWAT team surrounding him. Violence stamped its feet, eager to breach the apartment where a terrified young girl fought for her mother’s life…and her own.

  To his left, the SWAT commander muttered into his headset. Alex had only a few moments more to salvage this situation before it would be ripped from his hands. The commander’s contempt for hostage negotiation was crystal-clear. His men were ready to rock, and Alex did not have the authority to hold them back.

  His shirt clung to his spine in damp patches. His first solo negotiation, and the hostage taker had refused to speak to him anymore.

  A frightened fifteen-year-old girl was Alex’s only hope, and he was hers. If he failed…

  He swallowed, his mouth raspy and dust-dry. He cleared his throat, took a sip of water and dialed again.

  “H-hello?”

  Steady. She’s all you’ve got.

  “Jade, if he’s standing right beside you, just say pardon me.”

  The only sound was her rapid breathing.

  “Good for you,” he said. “Are you hurt?”

  “No,” she whispered.

  “Is your mother worse?” What little he’d been able to piece together from the 911 recording indicated that Jade Butler’s mother had met the hopped-up ex-con named Kirk Claypool in a bar that night, and the girl had been awakened by her mother’s agonized cries as Claypool beat Belle Butler behind a locked door.

  “She’s—” Her voice broke on a sob.

  “What’s he asking?” Claypool roared in the background.

  “You’re doing fine,” Alex soothed. It wasn’t a lie. The girl had maintained her composure well beyond what anyone would expect of someone her age. “We’ll get her help. Everything’s going to work out.” Beside him, the SWAT commander tensed and cursed.

  “Tell him I’ve got new information. Ask him again if he’ll speak to me.” Time was running out.

  He heard her quick inhalation, as if she sought yet again to settle her nerves. Fifteen. She should be giggling on the phone with some boy, not struggling to survive while a maniac freaked about going back to prison, screamed demands and battered her mother.

  How long before he started in on Jade, too?

  “He’s got something new to tell you. He wants to know if you’ll talk to him this time,” she repeated to her captor.

  “There’s nothing to say until I see that goddamn van out front.”

  The SWAT commander’s fist pumped in triumph as a van rolled up. He caught Alex’s eye. Time was up. No more negotiations. The tactical phase of this operation was under way.

  Alex had only one more duty: to lure the captor to the window.

  He squeezed his eyes shut as he cast about for a last-ditch means to get the man back on the phone. To salvage the situation before the bullets began flying.

  The commander grabbed his shoulder and glared. With a cutting motion, he ended Alex’s hope of doing anything but preparing Jade to protect herself.

  Failure lay bitter on Alex’s tongue, but he shoved away every thought save protecting this courageous young girl. “Jade, tell him to look outside. The van is here. You be alert and stay down. Avoid the window, but don’t fight him. If he tries to take you to the window, go limp and fall.”

  “The van’s out there.” She relayed and muffled a sob.

  “You come with me, goddamn it,” Kirk growled.

  Alex heard her gasp in pain.

  The phone clattered to the floor.

  “Jade—” Alex mentally reached out to stop her, but he knew it was too late.

  Black-garbed men fanned around the building. Up the stairs.

  Deadly snipers took aim.

  Alex wanted to crush his headphones into the grimy pavement. To charge inside. Shield her. Things shouldn’t have reached this point. He should have—

  “Please—” Jade’s plea, instantly stifled.

  A slap. “Now, I said!”

  A low moan.

  “Mama—”

  “I’ll kill you both, girl—”

  Alex’s eyes locked on the window. Every second was an hour.

&n
bsp; A glimpse of long red hair wreathing a very young, stricken face.

  A man’s hand clenched around her vulnerable throat.

  Down, Jade. Fall. Please…dear God, let her—

  Jade collapsed.

  Her captor’s pistol rose, aimed at her—

  Shots rang out.

  Screams in Alex’s earphones—

  “Mama, no—”

  Shattering glass—

  Crashing wood—

  “Please—” Jade’s cry was so faint. “Help me—”

  Alex clutched his headset so tightly it cracked. “Jade—” he shouted.

  “We’re in. Three casualties. Get the paramedics—quick,” the team leader snapped.

  Alex hurled his equipment to the ground and raced toward the girl he should have been able to save.

  Chapter One

  Present day

  Austin police detective Jade Butler strode down the hallway of the nondescript office building, aware that she’d find only a suite number to indicate the headquarters of VICTAF, the elite FBI-funded Violent Crimes Task Force to which she’d gained temporary admission.

  She swiped the key card she’d been issued; then, drawing a deep breath, she grasped the handle of the door to the most exclusive club in town.

  Whatever she had expected, it looked like any squad room she’d ever inhabited—except for walls painted a color she’d have to call mauve. And carpet. Flowered carpet. She grinned, wondering who’d occupied this space before VICTAF.

  The unoccupied metal desks weren’t quite as beat-up as the ones she’d left in APD Sex Crimes, but they were every bit as mismatched. When she sniffed the bitter scent of overcooked cop coffee, it eased the tension in her shoulders a little more.

  Where was everyone? She glanced at her watch. Of course she was early. She was always early.

  She couldn’t help her eagerness. VICTAF had been operating for six years, a joint effort by Austin-area law enforcement agencies, federal, state and local, to tackle cases beyond the scope of any one of them. Some personnel, such as FBI agent and founder Doc Romero, remained constant while others rotated in and out. Slots were coveted by personnel in every agency.

  Hers wasn’t a permanent assignment, but it was the kind of work she’d been aiming to do ever since a madman had held her at gunpoint and killed her mother right before her eyes.

  At that instant, Jade heard a male voice. Light spilled into the hallway from the office farthest down on the left. The man sounded like Doc. Jade decided not to wait—never hurt to let the boss know you were gung-ho.

  Just shy of the door, she noted another voice and hesitated. The second voice seemed oddly familiar. From the tone of their voices the men seemed to be merely visiting, so she moved forward.

  “You planning a trip back home any time soon, Alex?” Doc asked.

  “If I don’t, they’ll be on my doorstep.” The other man chuckled. “I’m surprised they’ve waited this long.”

  Hearing him clearly now, Jade froze in mid-step.

  Him. That voice. The one from the night when—

  You’re doing fine…Jade, if he’s standing right beside you—

  Impossible. How could—She shook her head, struggling to breathe again. To think.

  Surely she was imagining things.

  He spoke again. “It’s great to be back in Austin after so long on the East Coast.”

  Back. In Austin. The place where—

  Before she realized it, she’d crossed the last few feet.

  Doc looked up. “Good morning, Detective.” His dark eyes were kind as he circled the desk to shake her hand. He topped her by several inches, though at five eight, she was not small herself.

  Jade returned his greeting, but her attention swerved to the man rising to his feet behind Doc. She stared. She’d never known her savior’s name, never seen his face.

  “Want a cup of coffee?” Doc asked.

  She jolted. “No, thank you,” she managed. She dragged her gaze back to Doc, who filled the doorway. “Thank you again, sir, for requesting me. I’ll do you a good job.”

  “If I didn’t believe that, you wouldn’t be here.” He moved back to let her enter. “Jade Butler, this is Alex Sandoval, also FBI,” Doc said. “We stole him from D.C. recently.”

  Alex. His name was Alex.

  Jade saw a man, probably late thirties, whose face was both handsome and severe, his bone structure dramatic and arresting. Over six feet in height, powerful build. Hair a glossy crow’s-wing black, ruthlessly trimmed to control curls that wouldn’t quite be tamed. Eyes more golden than brown.

  Frowning, he extended a hand.

  She held out her own, jittery about hearing him speak again. When his hand clasped hers firmly, a quick, involuntary shiver raced over her skin.

  “Butler?” His face was carefully neutral, his eyes gone blank and still.

  She swallowed hard and forced a nod. “Yes. Jade Butler.”

  “Jade,” he repeated slowly. “I—” He glanced away, then back. “Pleased to meet you.”

  The sound of her name on his lips sealed it.

  Dear God. She’d know it anywhere, that voice. She’d listened to it a thousand times in her dreams. It had woven itself into the fabric of her soul, the warp and woof of the darkest day of her life. Salvation. Terror. Comfort. Despair.

  What was he doing here? FBI, had Doc said? If he remembered her, what would that mean for her job here? No one in the department knew—

  Doc was looking at her oddly. Pull it together, Jade. “I…same here.”

  “Why don’t you have a seat and we’ll catch you up,” Doc said.

  She grasped the arm of her chair and sank into it. “Thanks,” she somehow answered, folding her shaking hands in her lap.

  It can’t be. Alex settled back heavily in his seat, his mind racing to catch up. What was she doing here? How could she be a cop?

  She was forever fifteen and terrified when he woke in a cold sweat. He tried to concentrate on what Doc was saying, but that night never went away easily, no matter how spotless his record since. His supervisor had assured him that the fault was not his, that the incident commander had rushed the tactical solution when negotiations should have continued. It didn’t help; Alex had examined each second over and over, poring for the misstep that had paved the way for disaster.

  He’d promised her everything would work out right.

  She’d trusted him to deliver.

  He’d been her lifeline, her route out of a nightmare, and because he hadn’t done his job well enough, she had a picture in her memory that would never vanish.

  Or from his.

  She’d been gone in an ambulance by the time he’d been allowed inside the apartment, but he’d seen the blood everywhere. Her screams still echoed in his head in the solitary hours of the night.

  The cops who’d stormed the apartment had found her wounded by gunshot, cradling her mother in her arms and pleading for her to wake up, to open her eyes. To stay with a child suddenly cast into the world alone. She’d refused to let go until officers had pried her mother from her arms and delivered Jade to the paramedics.

  Word had come down that she’d wanted to meet the negotiator during those dark days following her rescue. He hadn’t been sorry to get caught up in another case. Before he’d had a chance to figure out the right words of apology, her grandparents had whisked her away to Oklahoma. To his everlasting shame, Alex had been relieved. He’d tried his damnedest to bury it.

  But some cases you never forgot.

  Did she know who he was?

  And what on earth could he say to her if she did?

  He shot her a sideways glance and saw her gaze fastened on him for only an instant before she jerked her attention back to Doc.

  The name was the same. The red hair, the enormous mossy green eyes.

  A cop. Could the frightened teenager have become a cop?

  “Alex, you got anything from your CI?” Doc’s question yanked him right back
to the present.

  “Sore feet,” he managed.

  Doc’s grin was wry. Alex saw her smile faintly, too. Confidential informants were a common bane for cops.

  “He’ll show up today with some great excuse for why he wasn’t where he said he’d be. His tales are some of my best entertainment.”

  “I prefer the X-rated kind myself.” Bob Jordan of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms stepped in from the hallway, coffee cup in hand. “Oops. Didn’t know a lady was present.”

  “No lady,” Jade responded as she rose and held out her hand. “Just another cop. Jade Butler, APD.”

  “Bob Jordan, ATF. Been with Doc since the beginning of VICTAF.” He shook her hand while his gaze scanned her figure. “Nice change of scenery. Ever let that hair down, Red?”

  Alex stifled the urge to tell Bob to go easy.

  She didn’t blink an eye. “Why? You need some?”

  Bob laughed and smoothed fingers over his rapidly thinning hair. “Wouldn’t match. But thanks for the offer.”

  She handled herself well, trading banter without taking offense. This Jade Butler had come a long way, a woman, cool and self-possessed. Her attire was stark and simple. The vulnerable eyes he remembered looked different in the face of a confident woman. They topped an aquiline nose and an unpainted, generous mouth that fit her name far more than the image she obviously wanted. Her auburn hair was scraped tightly into a braid coiled into a bun at the back of her neck, yet somehow the severe style only emphasized her good bones. Her carriage was proud, the metamorphosis complete. The frail girl was nowhere in sight.

  Alex reminded himself that for Doc to pick her, she had to be both experienced and competent. She didn’t need him running interference.

  “Okay, let’s move on,” Doc said. “We’ve got a new investigation on tap. Alex, I want you heading it.”

  Alex nodded.

  “APD has asked for our help. Lots of political pressure coming to bear on this one. Three young women have disappeared from the Sixth Street entertainment district. These are all coeds at the university, two freshmen and one sophomore, who, for different reasons, arrived alone at the bars. Two were coming to meet friends. We don’t know why the other was there by herself.”