Guardian of Justice by Carol Steward Page B

DEA has taken his supply, and maybe he wants re—” Dallas stopped himself. “Who else would break in, but not take anything of value?”
    “Nick?” Kira turned to the plainclothes brother. “Is that right? You think this is linked?”
    He nodded. “Dallas’s theory makes sense. Maybe Zelanski thinks you have something, records for instance. And yeah, maybe he just wants you out of the way. We can’t ignore that possibility, as ugly as it is.”
    Kent was already on the phone. “Find out where Zelanski is for me, would you? And get hold of that DEA agent who dropped by the other day.”
    “Kent? You know that monster? Please tell me Zelanski isn’t an undercover officer on your narcotics squad.” Fire lit in Kira’s soft brown eyes. “I might have to take him on myself if he is.”
    “No, he’s not one of ours. But let me put it this way. you’re not going anywhere alone until we have him behind bars.”
    Kira’s dad pulled Kira to him and looked Dallas in the eye. “You keep us up-to-date on this case, Brooks. We’ll do whatever we need to do to keep my little girl safe.”
    Dallas nodded at him and smiled. “Will do, sir. I’m moving to the day shift as of tomorrow, but I’ll still be following this case. Kira, I want to talk to you more about the incident.”
    Her father cleared his throat. “I’m going to make sure the house is locked up before we head home, Kira. Dallas, we’ll see you again, I’m sure. Boys, you’d better get back to work.”
    Nick started to protest, but her dad herded them all through the house.
    Kira’s brothers took the hint and said goodbye, too. It was just her and Dallas now. “You were saying?”
    “I want to discuss this, as one PTSD survivor to another, since you’re not interested in dating a cop.”
    “Since I’m not…? Where did you get the impression I’m not interested in dating a cop?”
    He paused a moment, then got a look of panic in his eyes. “You said so, and your brothers also told me.”
    She couldn’t think of what she’d said to give him that impression, but it didn’t surprise her that Nick and Garrett were against Dallas. They had always tried to scare off her dates.
    “That’s fine with me,” Dallas added. “I don’t want to pressure you. I just think that talking with someone who’s been through the stress you have might be helpful. Are you free for dinner tomorrow night?”
    “Yeah, maybe it would.” Maybe it was best to get the romantic notions out of her mind for now.
    Dallas seemed almost relieved by the announcement. Was he afraid of getting involved? Kira’s heart raced at the memories of him comforting her after the incident with Mickey.
    “Let me give you my parents’ address and I’ll see you tomorrow.” She didn’t dare let her guard down, did she? Or was God trying to show her the silver lining to this horrible week?

Chapter Ten
    TEN
    The only thing pushing Dallas to step inside the high school at six twenty-five the next morning was his motivation to make it to six that evening to see Kira again. He wasn’t worried about her in the same way he had been twenty-four hours ago, but he still couldn’t get his mind off her.
    He tried to convince himself that it was because he felt at least partially to blame for her suffering. His conscience wouldn’t let him rest until he tried to help her through this. Any other reason would be a huge mistake. Relationships and post-traumatic stress disorder mixed about as well as oil and water. Add to that the lousy statistics for police officers’ divorce rates, and getting involved with Miss Matthews was out of the question.
    Definitely out of the question.
    He took a deep breath, muttered a small prayer and found a custodian who directed him to Brad Johnson’s office. Dallas was surprised to find a pair of crutches propped next to the senior ranking officer’s desk.
    “What happened to you?” Dallas asked.
    “An old knee injury flared up after a mishap painting the