“Mattie Collier,” she heard the sergeant say. “She’s in Witness Protection, but someone hacked into her file. Her identity was compromised.”

That didn’t soften Bo’s glare. “Someone tried to kill her?”

“Well, at minimum someone tried to kidnap her several times, and it’s highly likely the culprit had intentions to murder her. The FBI thinks the attempts are connected to her uncle, Kendall Collier. And that brings me to the computer in the coffee shop. You wanted to know what other searches Kendall made …”

Mattie automatically moved closer, so close that her cheek brushed against the back of Bo’s hand. He jerked away from her and went to the center of the room where she couldn’t hear a word the sergeant was saying.

“Yeah,” Bo said to the sergeant a moment later. Then the seconds crawled by. She certainly couldn’t tell from Bo’s expression what exactly he was being told, but she doubted it would be good news.

While he finished his conversation, Mattie glanced out the window to make sure all was well. There were cars parked in the pristine driveways. Her own vehicle was still in front of Bo’s house. Someone was walking a dog. But there were no menacing black vans or possible assassins lurking in the shadows.

Not now, anyway.

But they would come. She was certain of it.

Bo ended the call and closed his phone, but he just stood there, staring at the cell.

“You were right,” he finally said. He came back across the room toward her. “Kendall used the computer to search for babies born on Holly’s birthday.”

Mattie wasn’t exactly relieved, because it meant Kendall was closing in fast, but at least now Bo might realize that they both wanted the same thing.

To protect Holly.

“You need to know the truth about her DNA,” Mattie pressed. She opened one of the kits and swabbed the inside of her mouth. She put the swab back into the plastic bag and handed it to Bo along with an unused one.

More seconds crawled by, and Mattie could feel her heart in her throat. Everything hinged on this.

Bo snatched the kits from her. “I’ll have the tests done, but I’m not giving up my daughter. Got that?”

No. She didn’t get that. But now wasn’t the time to argue with a father on the verge of losing a child he loved. Even if arguing was exactly what Mattie wanted to do. She wanted her baby in her arms, right here, right now. But her need for her baby would have to wait. Holly’s safety had to come first, and since that safety depended on Bo’s help, she had to keep this as non-hostile as possible.

“I probably don’t have to remind you to keep those results a secret,” she said. “Kendall has probably already bribed labs all over the city to alert him to something like this.”

“I’ll use the police lab,” he mumbled. “And I’ll make sure the results come only to me.”

Well, it wasn’t foolproof, especially considering how someone had hacked into her Witness Protection files, but Bo needed these test results so they could move on to the next stage. Plus, he was aware now of the danger and would hopefully be taking massive precautions.

Mattie used the pen and notepad near the house phone to jot down her number. “I obviously use a prepaid cell these days. No way to trace it. But when you find out who the man in the black van is, I’d like to know.”

Bo glanced at the paper but gave her no assurance that he would do that. Mattie would give him until noon the following day. If she could wait that long. And if she hadn’t heard from him, then she would call him.

“I want you to move Holly and your son to a safe house,” she added. “If you can’t arrange that for tonight, then ask for officers to patrol the neighborhood.” She’d already noticed that he had a security system.

“Don’t tell me how to protect my kids,” Bo snapped. “I’ve done all right so far.”

“Yes, but you haven’t run up against the likes of my uncle.”

He looked at her phone number and then the DNA kits before his gaze came back to hers. “The authorities want to talk to you.”

“It’ll have to wait until I can figure out a way to neutralize my uncle and his hired guns.”

“Neutralize?” he repeated, sounding very much like a cop again. “What are you planning to do?”

“After I’m sure Holly is safe, I’ll call Kendall and see if I can negotiate a deal with him. I’ll tell him I won’t testify against him if there’s a new trial.”

It cut her to the core to make that kind of compromise. After watching her family’s dirty dealings, the one thing that Mattie had always sworn was that she wouldn’t be like them. But her child was at stake. If she had any hopes of being a mother to her baby, she had to bring things to a peaceful end with Kendall.

“You believe your uncle would adhere to a truce?” Bo pressed.

“No. Not voluntarily, anyway. I plan to appeal to his new fiancée, Cicely Carr. We’re old friends, and I think I can reason with her.”

“And if you can’t?”

Mattie met his gaze head-on. “Then I’ll make arrangements to live a new life in hiding.” She paused. “And then I’ll petition the courts for custody of my daughter.”

There. That was the gauntlet she hadn’t intended to throw tonight, but a lie wouldn’t have worked. Bo would have instantly spotted it and called her on it. At least this way he knew her intentions were, well, motherly.

“You’re leaving now,” he insisted. And to make sure that happened, he took her arm and began to haul her toward the front door.

Mattie dug in her heels and stopped, whirling around to face him. She landed against him again, body to body. They’d already touched from head to toe, so this was familiar to her now. It was almost like being in his arms.

Almost.

The seemingly permanent glare on his face didn’t give her any warm and fuzzy feelings. Neither did his body for that matter. But he did stir something deep within her, and it was a stirring she preferred to ignore.

Mattie stepped back. “Please let me say good-night to Holly.”

“Not a chance.” He didn’t roll his eyes exactly, but it was close.

It was the answer she’d expected, but it still felt like someone had clamped a fist around her heart. “You know I’m telling the truth about being her mother.” Mattie didn’t try to keep the emotion out of her voice, but she did try to blink back the tears.

Mattie had known she couldn’t take the baby with her tonight. Well, her head had known that, anyway. The rest of her was having a hard time walking out that door even though there was no alternative. There wasn’t a chance in Hades that Bo would let her leave with Holly. Not now. Probably not without a court order, which she would get.

“If you don’t do the DNA test, I’ll get a judge to force you to do it,” she managed to say.

But there was something new in his eyes. Something beneath the shock and the pain. Something that made her believe the test would be done. Bo was, after all, a cop, and he no doubt had a need for the truth, even if that truth was too painful to bear.

She needed the truth, too.

Mattie turned, stopped and then eased back around. This time she made sure she didn’t run into him. No more touching. It was creating a warmth that shouldn’t be there.

“What did Nadine say to you before she died?” Mattie asked.

The muscle in his jaw flexed again, and he glanced at the DNA baggies that he had practically crushed in his hand. “I’ll call you with the test results.”

Her heart suddenly felt a little lighter. It wasn’t nearly as good of a concession as holding her baby would be, but it was a start.

“Your gun,” he said when she started to leave. He took it from the waist of his pants and handed it to her. “You have a permit for it? ”

She nodded. “Thank you—”

“Don’t,” he warned. “I don’t want you to thank me for anything. I just want the test results to prove Holly is mine, and then I want you out of our lives forever.”