Unexpected Father

It was logical.

Mercy, he hated that frickin’ word.

The move was logical, but nothing else about this was. This was the next step in the nightmare he’d dreaded since the moment he’d heard that Lilly had come out of the coma.

He would literally put Lilly under the same roof with the daughter he loved more than life itself.

The daughter she’d no doubt try to take from him.

Lilly shook her head. “You know this protective custody won’t work, right?”

Jason shrugged. “We don’t have a choice.”

“Maybe we do. I could always use a private bodyguard.”

Jason was about to give her an opinion on that, and it wasn’t a good opinion, but something—or rather someone—stopped him.

“I will see her now!” someone yelled from the hall. It was a man’s voice. One that Jason didn’t immediately recognize. That angry shout had him moving and reaching for his weapon.

“Take another step,” he heard Detective O’Reilly warn, “and I promise you’ll regret it.”

With his gun ready and aimed, Jason hurried to the door and looked out. Hell. While he hadn’t recognized the voice, he certainly recognized the man.

Wayne Sandling.

The former prominent attorney who’d done business with Lilly’s father. Lots of business. And it hadn’t all been aboveboard, either. Sandling was the last person on earth Jason wanted near Lilly.

“He barged his way in through the front desk,” O’Reilly told Jason.

That didn’t please Jason, but he would deal with the lax security once he’d finished with Sandling. “What are you doing here?” Jason demanded.

Sandling obviously recognized him, as well, because the man’s mouth practically curled into a snarl. “Detective Lawrence. Long time, no see.”

It wasn’t nearly long enough.

Though the former attorney had no doubt climbed out of bed to make this visit, he somehow managed to look as if he were ready for the courtroom. He wore a navy suit, complete with a tie. A tie! At this hour of the morning. His ink-black, conservative-cut hair had been combed to perfection. Not even a hint of sleep was in his eyes. For someone that meticulous, it made Jason wonder how he’d managed to get caught doing anything illegal in the first place.

“You didn’t answer my question, Sandling,” Jason pointed out. “Why are you here?”

“Isn’t it obvious?”

“Not really.” Jason used his best badass-cop voice and added a glare. “Clarify it for me.”

If Sandling had an unsavory response to Jason’s tone and glare, he didn’t show it. “One of your fellow officers called me tonight. About an attack on Lilly Nelson. He wanted to know if I had an alibi.”

“Do you?”

“That’s not the point. The point is I was awakened and questioned.” His cosmetically perfect teeth came together for a moment. “I don’t like that.”

“Well, I don’t like someone trying to kill Ms. Nelson.” Jason stepped closer, making sure he violated Sandling’s personal space. “So, where were you tonight?”

“Home, in bed, asleep. Alone,” he added. Sandling came closer, too, violating Jason’s personal space. “And I won’t be questioned about my every move, either.”

“You don’t have a choice about that. You have motive and that gives me the right to question you about your every move.”

“Is that Wayne Sandling?” Lilly called.

“Don’t you dare try to get out of bed,” Jason warned her without taking his eyes off the man. He didn’t want Lilly to have to confront Sandling. That didn’t mean she’d agree with him, and she would probably go so far as to try to get up and make her way into the hall.

That wasn’t going to happen.

Jason decided it was time to put an end to this spur-of-the-moment conversation. “Detective O’Reilly, escort Mr. Sandling out of the building. If he puts up a fight, arrest him.”

“I won’t let the cops and Lilly Nelson try to pin trumped-up charges on me again,” Sandling insisted. “Find another scapegoat, Detective Lawrence, and leave me the hell alone.”

And with that, Sandling turned and walked away. His hand shot up, to give O’Reilly a back-off warning when the detective tried to take hold of his arm. O’Reilly’s escort duty wasn’t necessary; Sandling left on his own, practically gliding down the hall. Jason kept his gaze fastened on him until the man was out of sight.

“Make sure he doesn’t come back,” Jason instructed O’Reilly. He turned to Lilly, who was indeed trying to get out of bed. “Stay put. He’s gone.”

Huffing, Lilly sank her head back onto the pillow. “Well, that was a special ending to a special night.”

It was indeed. “I’ll beef up security at the nurses’ station and the front door.” Just having to say that riled him, because until Sandling’s impromptu visit, Jason thought he’d already done that. Which only proved just how dangerous this situation was. It was next to impossible to secure the place. He needed to have her transferred to the other hospital immediately.

“Sandling wouldn’t dare try to come back tonight,” Lilly said under her breath.

It seemed as if she was trying to convince herself.

“Are you still having doubts as to whether you need protective custody?” Jason didn’t wait for her answer. “Then think again. Because I’m going to protect you whether you want it or not.”

It was an order. Solid. Forceful. Certain. But Jason had his own doubts about the certainty. With everything that’d happened, he had to wonder. Could he do his job and keep Lilly alive?

Chapter Five

Lilly’s nerves were too frayed, and there were too many butterflies in her stomach for her to object to what Jason was doing. And what he was doing was lifting her from her wheelchair into the seat of the waiting SUV he’d rented. The rental was a necessity, he’d insisted, because his own vehicle would be too easily recognized.

By Wayne Sandling, perhaps.

Or by someone else who wanted to silence her permanently.

Carrying her was a necessary act, as well, Lilly reminded herself, because despite the past two days of intensive physical therapy, she still wasn’t able to walk unassisted. That meant she didn’t have a choice about his hands-on care. Still, there was something unnerving about having to rely on anyone—especially Jason—to make sure she got from point A to point B.

On the plus side, she was leaving point A: the hospital.

Point B: Jason’s house.

Where she would see her daughter for the first time.

Lilly glanced down at the photo she had cradled in her hand. That instantly soothed the unpleasantness from having to rely on Jason to carry her. It also lessened the fatigue and the stress from the spent adrenaline and the sleepless nights. She could face almost anything now that she knew she’d soon meet Megan.