Under Threat by B.J. Daniels (reading the story of the .TXT) 📕

She pressed her lips together as if a wave of emotion had swept over her. Her eyes even looked a little shiny. When she spoke, there was a slight tremor to her voice. “I just keep thinking about how he said he had a daughter, and his wife had cancer, and he’s just...dead.”

“He worked for a man who has likely killed more people than we’ll ever know about. Herman knew what he was getting himself into and the risks he was taking. Even if he wasn’t the muscle, and even if he had a family, he made bad choices that he knew very well had chances of getting him killed.”

“So you’re saying he deserved to die?” Natalie asked in that same tremulous voice.

It had been a long time since someone had made him feel bad about the callousness he had to employ, had to build to endure a career in law enforcement, and especially unsolved crimes. He didn’t care for the way she did it so easily. Just a question and a tremor.

But this was reality, and clearly Torres didn’t have a clue about that. “It’s not my place to determine whether he deserved anything. I’m putting forth the reality of the situation.”

“I don’t understand why they burned down my house, why they killed a man, just because he mentioned a name and you started asking questions. How is that worth following us across Texas? I mean, if they were going to kill us, wouldn’t they have already done it?”

“Yes.”

She waited, and he could feel her gaze on him, but he didn’t have anything else to say to that.

“Yes? That’s it? You’re just going to agree with me, and that’s it?”

“Well, honestly, they probably did try to kill you with that fire. You were lucky you weren’t home. What more of an explanation would you like?”

“One that makes sense!”

He could tell by the way she quieted after her little outburst that she hadn’t meant to let that emotion show. Especially when the next words she spoke were lower, calmer.

“I want to know why this is happening. I want to understand why I’m in more danger than you or Ranger Stevens. Why my house was burned down, not yours.”

“I can’t speculate on why they burned your house down. The reason that Stevens and I aren’t in as much danger is because we’re police officers. We’re trained to look for danger, and quite frankly going after us is a lot worse for them than going after you. Anyone hurts a member of law enforcement, the police aren’t going to rest until they find him.”

“But if you go after a civilian, it’s fine?” she demanded incredulously.

She gave him such a headache. He took a deep breath, because he wasn’t going to snap at her for deliberately misinterpreting his words. He wasn’t going to yell at her for not getting it. She wasn’t an officer; she couldn’t understand.

“We’re family, Ms. Torres,” he said evenly and calmly, never taking his eyes off the road. “It’s like if a stranger is gunned down in the street or your sister is gunned down in the street, which one are you going to avenge a little bit harder?”

Something in what he’d said seemed to impact her a little more than it should have. She paled further and looked down at her lap. He wasn’t sure if she was more scared now, or if she was upset by something.

“I’m going to keep you safe, Ms. Torres,” he assured her, because as much as he avoided those soft, comforting feelings almost all of the time, that was his duty. He would do it, no matter what.

“Why?” she asked in a small voice. “I’m not law enforcement. I’m not your family. Why should I feel like you’re going to keep me safe?”

“Because you came under my protection, and I don’t take that lightly.”

“I can’t understand what they think I can do,” she said, her voice going quieter with each sentence, her face turning toward the window as if she wanted to hide from him.

He was fine with that. He’d be even finer if he could stop answering her questions. “The thing about crime and criminals is that they don’t often follow rational trains of thought like we do. Their motivations and morals are skewed.”

“That almost sounds philosophical, Ranger Cooper.”

“It’s just the truth. It’s easier to accept the truth and figure out what you can do about it than to wish it was different or understandable.”

“But...what am I supposed to do? How am I supposed to... I have other jobs, and a family, and... It’s all hitting me how much I’m los—”

“You’re saving your life. Period. You won’t have a job or a family to go back to if you’re dead.”

“Again, such a comfort.”

“At this point, it’s more important that we are honest than it is that I comfort you. Right now you’re safe because you’re with me. That’s the only reason. I need you to not forget that.”

“I don’t expect you to allow me to forget it,” she returned, reminding him of that hallway when she’d blamed him for getting her removed from the Rangers. Though it was frustrating that it was geared at him, her anger would serve them well. It would keep her moving, it would keep her brave.

“It’s best if you don’t. For the both of us. You’re not the only one in danger here, you’re just the only one who doesn’t know what to do about it.”

“What about Ranger Stevens?”

“Ranger Stevens can keep himself out of danger. All I need you to do is worry about listening to me. If you do that, everything will be fine.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I give everything to my job. There is nothing about what I do that I take lightly.”

So everyone had always told him. Too serious. Too dedicated. Too wrapped up in a career that didn’t give him time for much of anything else.

But people didn’t understand that it gave him