Page 20 of Nica (Texas Boudreau Brotherhood #17)

G abe paced the length of his home office, no longer having to wonder how Nica would react when she found out he’d called in outside help.

Outside, the Texas sun beat down on Shiloh Springs, casting long shadows across the parking lot as evening approached.

The familiar sound of Nica humming in the kitchen should have been comforting, but all Gabe could think about was the stranger who had been watching her. Following her. Invading their lives.

Ceasing his pacing, he flung himself in his chair, staring out the window.

The view of rows of covered parking spaces wasn’t exactly the kind of view he preferred, and he wondered how Nica would feel about getting a bigger place.

Then again, if they decided to take the World Health Organization offer, they might be gone for at least a year, maybe longer.

They hadn’t really had much time to discuss the offer, and with everything going on now, he wondered if the timing was right for that kind of career change.

Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and remembered the phone call he’d placed earlier that morning.

“Reynolds.” The familiar voice on the other end of the line brought immediate relief.

“Mike, it’s Gabe. I need your help.” He kept his voice low, glancing toward the hallway to make sure Nica couldn’t hear.

“Doc! Been a while. What’s going on?” Mike’s tone shifted from casual to concerned in an instant. They might not have spoken in months, but ten years of friendship meant Mike could read his voice like an open book.

Gabe sank into his leather chair, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Someone’s targeting me—and worse, they’re stalking Nica.”

He explained the escalating situation, the phone calls that had started weeks ago, always from different numbers, always untraceable.

How they’d begun with silence and hang ups, evolved to breathing, and finally to whispered threats.

“They’ll all know what you did, Dr. Summers.

Every person in your precious little town.

How do you think the townsfolk will feel, knowing their precious physician is a murderer? ”

“The calls I could handle,” Gabe said, his free hand clenching into a fist. “But now whoever this is, they are a threat to my wife. She’s spotted someone following her—always keeping his distance, always in dark clothing.

Then this morning…” His voice caught. “She received flowers at the school where she works. Two dozen pink roses. They’re her favorite flower. ”

“That doesn’t sound threatening on its face,” Mike noted.

“The card quoted something she wrote in her private journal, word for word. Something she’s never shared with anyone.” Gabe’s stomach turned remembering the look on Nica’s face when she’d shown him. “The only way someone could know that—”

“Is if they’d been in your house,” Mike finished. “I see why you’re worried.”

“There’s more. A couple days before that, she received a package containing newspaper clippings about Melissa Carpenter’s case and a copy of the complaint filed against me by Melissa’s family.

Whoever sent it has access to medical records, confidential files.

It also had a letter talking about how I was a murderer, that I’d deliberately mishandled Melissa Carpenter’s case and she’d died from malpractice. ”

The line went quiet for a moment. When Mike spoke again, his voice had the detached, analytical tone Gabe recognized from their med school days—the voice Mike used when he was already working on a problem.

While Mike would have made a fine doctor, his brain was geared toward analytical thinking, and working for the FBI suited him far better.

“The timing can’t be coincidental. This is all connected to the Carpenter case, even though that was what, four years ago?”

“Three years, nine months.” Gabe corrected automatically. He’d counted every day since the surgery that had gone catastrophically wrong, since the moment he realized he’d been drugged by Dr. Richardson, since his life and career had nearly ended.

“And the investigation cleared you completely,” Mike added. “Everyone who matters knows you were sabotaged, and what happened was in no way your fault. You were set up by someone you trusted, and though what Richardson did had catastrophic consequences, you were not to blame.”

Gabe stood again, unable to stay still. “That’s just it—Rafe and Douglas know the truth.

Or most of it anyway. But the people here in town, they don’t know about Stanford or what happened.

There was no reason they needed to know.

But this caller is threatening to go to the local press, make sure everything about what happened in California is dragged through the mud all over again.

And the timing couldn’t be worse. WHO has offered me a position in Geneva—or they were.

I’m not sure they’re still considering me.

” He could hear Nica puttering around in the kitchen, and he exhaled a deep breath.

“I think this is about more than just exposing me, Mike. I think they’re trying to get to Nica. I’m worried they intend to hurt her.”

“I’ll be there tomorrow,” Mike said without hesitation.

“Send me everything you have—the phone records, descriptions of the man Nica’s seen, photos of the note that came with the flowers, everything.

I’ll bring what I can access through Bureau channels about the Carpenter case, see if anyone connected to it has raised flags or accessed those records recently. ”

Relief washed over Gabe. “Thank you. I’ve got a spare room ready.”

“Keep Nica close until I get there. Document everything.” Mike paused. “And Gabe? Don’t try to handle this yourself. This person is escalating.”

After hanging up, Gabe moved to stand in the kitchen doorway, watching as Nica stood with her hands kneading dough.

Looked like she was making biscuits. The way she moved—efficient yet graceful, an innate sensuality that captivated him the way it had the night they’d met.

He’d never expected to find love after the scandal, certainly not with someone as vibrant and unflinching as Nica Boudreau. Now Summers. His wife.

Someone was trying to take that away.

His phone buzzed with a text. Mike: On my way at first light. Call me if ANYTHING happens before then.

Gabe slipped the phone into his pocket and headed into the kitchen. She straightened when she saw him coming, her smile making something in his chest ache. He wouldn’t let anyone hurt her. Not now, not ever.

Mike Reynolds arrived at ten the next morning, pulling his standard-issue rental sedan into the driveway of the Big House.

After talking with Rafe and Douglas, it had been decided the best place to meet up was the Boudreau ranch, where everyone could hear what was happening with Gabe and Nica all at once, not having to repeat it over and over to all the Boudreau siblings.

There was the added benefit of having advanced security measures, which meant Nica was protected, not only by state-of-the-art, military grade security, but by a family who’d give their own lives to keep her safe.

Gabe watched through the front window as his old friend emerged—taller than he remembered, shoulders broader under his casual blazer, hair cropped closer to his scalp.

The years in the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit had hardened him, but the grin that spread across his face when he spotted Gabe was unchanged.

Gabe hurried out onto the front porch to meet his friend.

“Doc,” Mike called, grabbing his duffel bag and a sleek laptop case from the back seat. “Still hiding out in the middle of nowhere, I see.”

Gabe stepped forward to embrace him, clapping him on the back. “And you’re still an overgrown Boy Scout. Welcome to Shiloh Springs.”

Inside, Nica and Ms. Patti had prepared coffee and a late breakfast, hospitality instincts kicking in despite the circumstances. Nica hadn’t met Mike, but she greeted him warmly.

“Thank you for coming,” she said, pouring coffee into a mug adorned with cartoon cows around the outside. “Sorry, with this many people, it’s usually first to the kitchen gets the normal mugs.” Her smile was infectious, and Gabe knew Mike already liked Nica by the twinkle in his eyes.

“Mrs. Summers,” Mike nodded, accepting the coffee. “I wish it were under better circumstances.”

“Nica, please,” she corrected, and Gabe noticed her hands trembling slightly as she set down the coffee pot. “I hope you’re hungry. Momma tends to cook when she’s nervous, and with everything that’s going on, well, let’s just say the freezer’s got enough food for the next month.”

“Starving.”

For the next hour, everyone made casual conversation while sharing the family breakfast and gallons of coffee.

Gabe watched the interaction between the family, most of whom had shown up.

He wasn’t surprised the family circled the wagons to protect their only daughter.

Nica was precious, not only to her family but to the people of Shiloh Springs.

They teasingly called her the Boudreau Princess, but it was done with love and affection.

Once breakfast was finished, everyone moved to the living room, where Mike opened his laptop and took out a small notebook. “I need to know everything, starting from the first incident. Leave nothing out, no matter how insignificant it seems.”

Gabe exchanged a look with Nica, who nodded. Guess he was going first. “I started getting calls. First at the clinic, then on my cell phone. According to my notes, they started about three weeks ago, always from a different number.”

Mike’s eyebrows rose. “So, they know your schedule, your work routines.”

Gabe nodded grimly. “The calls escalated. First, just silence, then breathing, and by last week, whispered threats about exposing me, about making sure everyone knew what I’d done.”

“And you’re certain this is about the Carpenter case?”