The Cradle Files

Garrett pulled himself away from the unwanted trip down memory lane so he could make eye contact. She was staring at him. No. She was studying him.

“You remembered who’s trying to kill you?” he asked.

She blinked. Shook her head. And it seemed as if she’d changed her mind about what she’d been on the verge of saying. “No. Not that. It’s not important.”

He grabbed her arm when she tried to step away. “Excuse me? Your memory returning isn’t important?” And he made sure his voice was dripping with cynicism.

“It’s not my full memory. It’s a memory. As in one. One memory that I shouldn’t have even mentioned.”

“Why?” he asked before he thought it through. And he was immediately sorry about that. Because he saw the blush spread across her cheeks. “Oh,” he mumbled. “You remembered us having sex.”

“Not quite. But I, uh, remembered the kiss leading up to it.”

That was some memory to regain. Garrett remembered that kiss, as well. Unfortunately, he remembered it in full, blazing detail. And probably because he was standing so close to Lexie, the memory was as crystal clear as the original.

“It’s still there,” Lexie said, looking up at him. “The attraction,” she explained.

As if he needed any clarification.

“It’s there,” he admitted, since a lie that big would have stuck in his throat. “But bad things happened the last time we acted on that attraction.”

She flinched. “You mean the baby.”

“No.” His quick response surprised him almost as much as it obviously surprised her. “If there is a baby, then that’s not a bad thing.”

He meant it. He’d never considered himself father material, but if there was a child, then he would love his baby and do whatever it took to get her back and keep her safe.

“Thank you,” Lexie whispered.

The emotion in her voice drew his gaze back to hers. “For what?”

“For caring about the baby.”

Oh, man. There were tears in her eyes. Tears! Again. He couldn’t keep resisting her. He would have almost certainly pulled her into his arms to offer what meager comfort he could offer.

But he didn’t get a chance.

“Want to tell me what’s going on here?” he heard someone ask.

But not just anyone. His brother, Brayden.

Garrett shifted his attention to the doorway and spotted his older sibling standing there. Even though Brayden had been called in well after normal duty hours, he still managed to look very much like a cop in charge. He was wearing khakis and a crisp white shirt. Tucked in, of course. He had his badge clipped to his belt.

Garrett suddenly felt very unprofessional in the black T-shirt and boots he’d grabbed from his locker. Still, the too casual attire was far better than the alternative. When he’d arrived at headquarters, he’d only been wearing jeans.

“Well? What’s going on here?” Brayden repeated. He glanced at Lexie, and though his expression changed only slightly, Garrett saw the disapproval in his brother’s eyes.

“It’s not what you think,” Garrett insisted.

And he knew his brother well enough to know that what Brayden was thinking wasn’t good. Brayden no doubt believed that Lexie was back in Garrett’s life. Not back in an ordinary sense, either.

But in a sexual sense.

His eyes met Brayden’s and a dozen questions passed between them. Before Garrett answered those questions, he motioned for his brother to come inside the break room, and Garrett shut the door.

“Lexie,” Brayden said in greeting, walking toward her. He reached down and picked up the statements from the table.

She shook her head, glanced at Garrett.

“She doesn’t remember you,” Garrett explained. “Someone gave her a drug, and it’s caused some memory loss.”

Brayden stayed quiet a moment, but Garrett knew he was processing the information. “And that’s why you’re here?”

“We’re here because Garrett thought he could trust you,” Lexie interjected. “Can he?”

“With his life,” Brayden readily answered. “But I’d still like an explanation about what’s going on.”

The three exchanged glances. Garrett decided to go first. “Someone fired a shot into my house tonight. There were three of them. All armed. I had to drive out of there fast.”

Brayden took a deep breath. “Were either of you hurt?”

“No,” Garrett assured him. “But we have a problem. I can’t ID any of the gunmen, and I have a feeling they aren’t going to stop with just this one attempt.”

“So, why haven’t you made this investigation official? Why call me in and close the door?”

Lexie stepped between them. “Because I have reason to believe that it might be a cop who wants me dead.”

His brother was very good at hiding his emotions but he wasn’t able to hide his shock, and perhaps his disbelief. “I’ll want an explanation about that, too.”

Before that could happen, there was a knock at the door, one sharp rap, and it opened. The rookie stuck his head inside. “Lieutenant O’Malley?” he said to Brayden. “Lieutenant Dillard is on the phone. He wants to speak to you.”

“Hell,” Garrett grumbled. Lieutenant Dillard was his boss, and since he wanted to speak to Brayden, that probably meant the conversation would be about Lexie and him.

“Did you happen to tell Lieutenant Dillard I was here?” Garrett asked the rookie.

“I did. Because he asked,” the young officer quickly added. “Your neighbor saw some suspicious men hanging around your house, and he reported it. The neighbor said someone bashed into your garage door.”

Great. This just kept getting messier and messier.

“I’ll be right back,” Brayden said, heading for the door.

“Wait,” Lexie called out. Brayden stopped and turned back around to face her. He met her gaze head-on. “Remember what I told you.”

She no doubt meant the part about the possible cop who’d tried to kill her.

“You’ll just have to trust me to do my job,” Brayden responded. With that, he turned and walked out.

“Trust,” Lexie mumbled. “It’s disconcerting how easily that word flows right off the tongue. Let’s hope it’s a word that actually means something.”