Montana SEAL (Brotherhood Protectors #1)(11)

Hank frowned. “Hunting season started last week?”

Sadie nodded. “I checked with the sheriff. He said he’d keep an eye peeled for anything out of the ordinary. He checked the area where we were and all around, but he didn’t find any leads.”

“No bullet casings?”

She shook her head. “Only the bullet they pulled out of your father.”

“It doesn’t make sense,” Hank said. “Who would want to kill my father or you?” Hank tilted his head. “I can see my father making someone mad, buy why you?”

“Getting rid of the witness?” she offered.

“Well, you both lived, and no one has been brought in for attempted murder. Seems whoever did this is off the hook.”

“Your father and I go through that intersection every time we come to town. Many others do, too. What if the shooter decides he wants to conduct target practice again?”

Hank shook his head. “He has to be caught.”

“Agreed. The sheriff said he’d check the usual suspects. The rowdy teenagers, the county rabble-rousers and anyone else he can think of. They did manage to pull a bullet out of your father’s truck. He sent it to the state crime lab for analysis.”

“Good. In the meantime, we have to be aware at all times.”

“Tell your father that. He’s already madder than hell at being confined in this hospital.”

Hank glanced at the door and braced himself for facing his belligerent father.

Sadie touched his arm. “For what it’s worth, I’m glad you’re here. Despite what he says, your father needs you.”

The warmth of her hand on his arm filled Hank with the fortitude he needed to deal with the situation. She’d always calmed him, made him step back from the blowups with his father and think logically. Patterson men were stubborn to a fault. That’s what made him and his father butt heads all the time. Now was no different. Only this time, Hank really did need to be there to figure out who the hell shot his father and tried to kill Sadie.



Sadie followed Hank back into the room, her heart still hammering, her hand tingling from where she’d touched Hank’s arm. Eleven years had done nothing to quell the hunger that flared each time she was near him. She was still the same girl inside, but she had to consider who she’d become on the outside. Even if she wanted him to be a part of her life, she couldn’t drag him into her world. The red carpets, paparazzi and living in LA would kill him. At the very least, it would kill any kind of relationship they could hope to have. If he was even interested. The best thing she could do for him was to not encourage a resurgence of old desires. They lived vastly different lives now. She had contracts to fulfill, press conferences, media events and more that went along with being a star.

Sometimes she wished she could go back to being that girl who knew that boy and wanted nothing more than to be his wife and have his babies. But if she’d said yes to his proposal when they were teenagers, they’d have stayed in Montana, barely made a living, and Hank would have been as grumpy and bitter as his father. He never would have pursued his dream of joining the Navy and becoming a SEAL.

Walking into the hospital room behind Hank, Sadie couldn’t help noticing how broad his shoulders had become. And he must have grown another two or three inches. He was all lean muscle and dangerously handsome.

She frowned.

Was Hank limping? If so, he was hiding it well.

Neither his father nor his sister had noticed.

But Sadie had, and her heart contracted. Had he been injured in battle? All the years away from him, Sadie had forced aside images of Hank fighting for his life against terrorists. Every time she heard a news report about military personnel dying in battle or a helicopter crash, she stopped everything and waited for the names, nearly fainting in relief when not one of the names listed was Henry Patterson.

“I changed my mind,” Lloyd said before the door closed completely behind Hank and Sadie.

“About what?” Hank asked.

“About needing your help.” Hank’s father waved his hand. “Of course, I don’t need your help, other than helping Eddy get the hay into the barn. But besides that, I don’t need you.”

“Dad, you’re not making sense.”

“It’s the damned drugs. They’re making my head fuzzy.”

Allie touched her father’s good arm. “Tell him what you told me.”

He patted her hand. “I’m getting to it.” Lloyd cleared his throat. “I want you to find out who shot me and tried to shoot Miss Sadie. There.” He glared at Allie. “Are you happy, now?”

Allie smiled at her father. “Yes, Daddy. I’d feel better having Hank around.”

“I’m not concerned about having him around. In fact, if anything, he needs to stay close to the girl. I won’t be straying far from Bear Creek Ranch for the near future. But Miss Sadie wasn’t injured. If whoever was shooting at us decides to shoot again, she needs someone to protect her.”

Sadie raised her hand, alarmed at the direction in which the conversation was going. She couldn’t be around Hank on a regular basis. Keeping her distance was predicated on just that—keeping her distance from the man who had the ability to flip her belly and make her knees turn to goo. “I can take care of myself, Mr. Patterson. No need for your son to follow me around.”