Hero Mine (3B Hero Series) Book 3

Chapter 4

**** Kyle rolled over in bed at the loud, insistent knocking at his door. Was that a baby crying? He cast a quick look at the clock and sat up. '0200?!' Sigh, 'I only got home a couple hours ago.'

Pan stood at alert and woofed softly, turned around and looked at him, 'Well, are you getting up or what?'

Kyle chuckled, "All right girl, let who ever it is in." Then called so who ever was out there could hear him, "Come on in, the door's open."

He grinned as Pan took off for the front door. Kyle moved himself over into the wheelchair. If someone was here at this time of night, there was a problem. He rolled into the living room and was surprised to see Charity standing there with a screaming Michael in her arms. She was keeping a weary eye on Pan who was in turn sitting patiently beside her, looking perplexed, but alert.

***

Charity stood transfixed, not knowing what to say. Kyle was in a wheelchair. The last time she saw him he was fine, and that was only a few days ago. Then she noticed that his prosthetic leg wasn't on. Instead there was a knot tied into the pants leg a few inches below the knee.

"Cherry?" The sound of his deep voice drew her attention.

"I'm sorry to just show up so late. I can go to my dad's if this is a bad time."

The Sheriff smiled, "What? Did my ride throw ya off? Don't worry. I only use Ol' Tess here at home. It allows my leg to rest. You want some coffee or a cup of tea? Then you can tell me why you're here."

"A cup of tea would be great, thank you." She followed him to the kitchen, sat down and watched him go about making the coffee and then putting a kettle of water on for tea. Michael had finally calmed down, which was a huge relief.

Charity hated the idea of asking for help. She felt especially bad as it looked like he hadn't been home very long. He was obviously exhausted, but she felt she had no one else to turn to. Maybe he would at least know someone who could help. Anyway, when someone broke into and ransacked your house you were supposed to report it to the Sheriff - right?

After handing her a cup of hot water and a tea bag, Kyle excused himself. After he left, Charity took the time to lay the now sleeping baby down on the sofa and look around. It was much homier than she would have imagined. There were pictures, and medals on the walls as well as a singing fish. The pictures were of his siblings, parents, friends and his time in the Rangers. One included Kyle, Eli, Spence, and two more men she didn't recognize. All of whom were grinning. The young man on the far left seemed to have a coldness to him, and he was far larger than the rest. Kyle was around 6'2", but that man stood well above that.

'Wow. He has to be bigger than Bear. Not bad looking, and those eyes... violet.' She turned her attention back to the other photos. There were aerial shots of the ranch and county... even a few photos of his time in the hospital. She took a closer look at one in particular. Kyle lay in a hospital bed, his leg wrapped and a tired grin on his face as a Great Dane, lapped at his cheek. She turned to the dog who lay there watching her. 'Are you the same dog?'

When Kyle returned he was dressed in regular cowboy gear and walking with only a slight limp. She couldn't get the wheelchair out of her mind. "Are you all right?"

He smiled warmly. That smile had always made her feel warm all over, even as a child. "Yeah, I'm fine. Though I think under the circumstances, I should be askin' you that. Feel like tellin' me what's goin' on?"

Charity couldn't hide her smile as she watched Pan carry a cane to her person. "Is she trained to do that?" She asked.

Kyle accepted the cane and scratched his partner's ears. "Buena niña," Poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down at the table. "No, believe it or not. She picked that up while I was held prisoner in the VA Hospital." He chuckled, "Havin' my family there for support was great, but I would never have survived without Pan. Now, enough small talk. Tell me what happened, somethin' has scared the he... uh heck out of you."

She did. "They made a shambles out of my house, they ransacked Eli's study. They even ripped some of the walls out!"

Kyle leaned forward in his chair and studied her face closely. "Cherry, I'm goin' to ask you a question, and I need you to be honest with me. It's very important."

She nodded, 'Where is he going with this.'

"Did ya see their faces? Could you identify them if ya saw them again?"

Charity shook her head, "I didn't see them well myself, but later in the safe room, we watched them on the laptop. It saves everything until it's deleted. It was the last thing I packed when we left."

Something flashed in his eyes as he leaned back and grabbed his cell. He turned back to her as he waited and said, "Go get the laptop and let's take a look." With that he dialed his partner's number.

"Hey, Spence."

Yawn, "K.B? Do you have any idea what time it is? We've only been off shift for two hours."

"Yeah, I know what time it is. Listen I need ya to take a team over to the Ford house. Someone broke into Cherry's tonight. Apparently they were lookin' for somethin' and did a real number on it."

"Is she all right? How 'bout the kid?"

"Yeah, I think they're fine, just shaken up, but unharmed. Both she and Michael are at my place. They'll be stayin' here for a while. Let me know what ya find."

"Sure thin', bro. K.B?"

"Yeah?"

"Get some sleep, and rest that leg! You'll be of no use to us if you're laid up."

Michael slept soundly while Charity and Kyle watched the two men demolish her home.

"And your sitter was in the safe room with the baby while this was goin' on? At least until you got there?" He asked.

Charity nodded. "It was all so odd, the lights were out, front door was ajar. All I could think about was Michael and Sadie and making sure they were safe."

The Sheriff nodded, "You do realize that you should have called 911 first and stayed out of the house. What if they had caught you? What would have happened to your baby then?"

"He was safe with Sadie in th..."

"But, you didn't know that at the time now did you?!" He asked in a hard voice. "You put yourself at risk by goin' in alone like that. You don't really want Michael growing up without his mother now do ya?"

She paled, "I wasn't thinking about that, I just wanted to find them and get them out." she whispered.