by Linda Turner
Fury burned in his gut just at the thought of the bastard who’d done this to her. The day would come, Tony promised himself, when he’d make him wish he’d never been born. In the meantime, Lily had to know that the fire this morning had been no accident. He hated to tell her when she was still so weak, but he really had no choice. She was in danger.
His hand tightening gently around her fingers, he said huskily, “There’s something you need to know, sweetheart. The reason you couldn’t get the door open was because it was screwed shut. The fire was deliberately set.”
She was already as white as the sheets of her hospital bed. With his words, what little color there was left in her face drained away. “What?”
“We don’t know the specifics,” he admitted. “I left early for work, and Angelo was in his office by a quarter to eight, doing some paperwork. The bastard must have found a way into the building after that.”
Her eyes as big as saucers in her pale face, she shrank back into her pillow as if he was the monster who wanted her dead. “No!”
His fingers tightened around hers. “I had to break in the door to get to you, sweetheart. You’d already passed out trying to get out through the living-room window.”
Her blood roaring in her ears, Lily felt as if she was going to throw up. Her tormentor couldn’t have gotten so close to her without anyone seeing him. Tony had to be mistaken.
But who else would screw her door shut, then start a fire?
Starting to shake, she hugged herself, but it didn’t do any good. She was cold all the way to her bones. “It has to be him, doesn’t it?” she said hollowly. “He’s found another way to get to me. And this time, he almost succeeded.”
He nodded grimly. “Whoever he is, he’s damn clever. He didn’t leave any prints, and all the materials he used to start the fire were common things that could be bought at any home-improvement store. Nothing, unfortunately, can be traced.”
“How did he get into the upstairs hallway? The stairwell doors are always locked.”
“Apparently, he broke in through a fire escape in the roof. No one saw or heard anything. Do you remember what time you woke up this morning?”
“It was fairly early,” she said, frowning. “Seven-thirty or eight. I took a shower, then dried my hair. I remember it was misty, but the sun was breaking out.”
“Did you hear anything unusual? Or happen to look out the window and see anyone hanging around outside that didn’t belong there?”
Her lungs hurting, her throat sore from the smoke that she’d inhaled, she could only shake her head miserably. “No, nothing. I didn’t know anything was wrong until I saw the smoke and tried to open the door to the hall. When it was stuck, I ran to the window, but the ske was getting to me then. I must have passed out.”
Just thinking about what could have happened if Tony hadn’t found her terrified her. “He’s getting closer, Tony,” she said quietly. “You know that, don’t you? Next time, you might not be around to rescue me.”
“There isn’t going to be a next time,” he growled. “We’re going to catch this guy—you have to believe that.”
Lily wanted to believe it, but how could she? She knew Tony would do everything he could to protect her, but how much could he really do? A maniac had nearly killed her in her own apartment, and no one had seen a thing. And Tony, one of D.C.’s finest, lived right across the hall from her! How could he or the police department protect her from someone who was so damn bold? Obviously, the monster would try anything.
“How can you catch him when you don’t have a clue who he is? Who hates me that much? It’s not Neil—”
“Or your ex-boss or your father,” he added for her. “We checked them all out, and they were all clean.”
“You talked to my father?”
He nodded. “We had to eliminate all possible suspects.”
“What did he say?”
“That he wasn’t the kind of man that would kill anyone, let alone his own daughter.”
Kenneth Fitzgerald had said a few other choice things, the majority of which were cold and unfeeling, but Tony had no intention of repeating them to Lily. Her father had been cleared as a suspect, mainly due to the fact that he’d cooperated fully, lived halfway across the country, and had no suspicious contacts or phone calls that could connect him to the attacks. That didn’t mean, however, that Tony had to like him. The concern the older man had expressed for Lily had been stiff and grudging, and though Tony didn’t doubt that he loved his daughter, the man’s pride wouldn’t let him show it.
Idiot! Tony thought silently. Didn’t the old man realize he could lose her in a heartbeat? How could he not be speaking to her, especially now that he knew the circumstances? Somehow, though, Kenneth Fitzgerald had found a way to justify his actions and seemed to feel quite proud of himself. Let him enjoy his pettiness, Tony thought grimly. He’d already hurt Lily once; Tony wasn’t going to help him do it again by repeating what he’d said about her.
Not that it mattered. He could tell she knew that her father realized she was in danger—and he still hadn’t called to check on her. Tears glistened in her eyes, but she didn’t give in to them. Blinking them back, she raised her chin and said stiffly, “I told you he wouldn’t do anything like this. He’s washed his hands of me, and so has Neil. That just leaves my old boss, Meredith, and she’s the last person I know who would do something like this. Anyway, that threatening phone call I got was from a man. So that takes us back to square one. Whoever this guy is, he hates my guts, and I don’t have a clue why. Neither, apparently, do the police. So where do we go from here? How do you catch someone who leaves no clues, no motive? We don’t even know what he looks like.”
“He’s going to make a mistake,” he assured her. “s just a matter of time. When he does, we’ll be there to catch him.”
“Before or after I’m dead?”
Tony winced. “I can understand why you’re frightened, sweetheart, but I promise I’m not going to let anything happen to you. I’ve already made arrangements for a uniformed officer to be outside your room round the clock—”
“You’re leaving?”
“I have to for now,” he said. “But there’s nothing for you to be afraid of. Your guard’s not going to leave your side—or let anyone near you who doesn’t have a right to come in this room. He’s already met your doctors and the nurses who’ll be taking care of you, and I’ll be back before there’s a shift change. You’re safer than you would be in your own home. Okay?”
For a moment, he didn’t think she was going to let him go, and that tore at his heartstrings as nothing else could. Then she nodded reluctantly. “I’d feel better if I just knew who to be afraid of. You said yourself that whoever’s trying to kill me is damn clever. He could disguise himself as an orderly or a nurse and no one would blink twice.”
“I’ve already spoken to your doctor about that,” he assured her. “Only a limited number of staff is allowed in here and, like I said, your guard’s met them all. Trust me, sweetheart. You’re safe. Not even a Hummer could get in this room with Jimmy Bishop at the door. Let me introduce you to him.”
Giving her hand a reassuring squeeze, he stepped out into the hall and returned a few seconds later with a uniformed police officer who looked as big as a house. Six foot five if he was an inch, he must have easily weighed two hundred and fifty pounds. There wasn’t, however, an ounce of fat on him. All muscle, he towered over her bed and would, no doubt, be as intimidating as hell when he was in a temper.
But then he smiled and held out a massive hand to her, and he looked like a big teddy bear. “It’s nice to meet you, Lily,” he said in a voice that rumbled. “I’m Jimmy Bishop. I’m going to be here all day, protecting you, so don’t worry about anyone hurting you. It’s not going to happen.”
Lily didn’t doubt him for a second. Taking his hand, which completely engulfed hers, she smiled. “Thank you, Jimmy. I feel a lot better knowing you’re right outside the door.”<
br />
“If you need me for anything, just holler,” he told her. “I’ll come running.”
Returning to his post, he slipped outside into the hallway and quietly shut the door behind him. With a single step, Tony reached her bedside and took her hand again. “Better?” he asked.
She nodded. “I’m sorry to be such a baby.”
“Don’t,” he cut in. “You have every right to be scared. Just remember…you’re not alone. I have to go to work, but I’ll be back. So you rest and just take it easy, and I’ll see you later. Okay?”
She forced a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Okay,” she said huskily, but when he stepped back, she couldn’t bring herself to let him go. With a will of their her fingers curled tighter around his.
He should have squeezed her fingers reassuringly, then gone to work, as he needed to. But leaving her was turning out to be a hell of a lot harder than he’d thought it would be. He told himself it was because he couldn’t shake the image of her lying unconscious on her living room floor when he’d found her, but it was more than that. It was Lily herself, the softness of her skin and mouth, the scent of her, the feel of her against him…
Swallowing a groan, he ordered himself to quit torturing himself and just leave. “I’ve got to go,” he told her again, but instead of turning toward the door, he leaned down and gave in to the temptation to kiss her.
It was a mistake, of course. The second his lips touched hers, everything he’d felt last night came rushing back, and all he wanted was more. Tearing himself away, he rasped, “I’ll see you later.” Before he could change his mind, he hurried out of her room without a backward glance.
Carrying a large fall floral arrangement, Sly Jackson exited the elevator on the hospital’s third floor and nodded politely at the orderly who passed him in the hall. When the other man only returned his nod and kept on walking, Sly almost laughed aloud. Yes! He’d stolen a cap advertising the florist out of a truck parked in front of the flower shop where he’d bought the flowers, and the chance he’d taken was well worth it. Clothes made the man, and anyone who happened to see him strolling the hospital halls wouldn’t question his right to be there—after all, he was delivering flowers.
It was the perfect disguise, he thought in satisfaction. In all likelihood, no one would even notice what he looked like—the first thing everyone looked at was the flowers. If everything worked out the way he’d planned, he could waltz right into Miss Candid Camera’s room, kill her, and no one would even remember that he’d been there.
Bitch. He still didn’t know how she’d managed to escape with her life this morning. He’d planned it right down to the last detail. He’d watched the cop leave for work and had waited for the old man to go down and open up his restaurant, all before the irritating Lily showed any signs of stirring, let alone leaving her apartment. Seeing his chance, he’d slipped around behind her building and climbed the fire escape to the roof.
Trapping her in her own apartment had been the easiest thing he’d ever done. All he’d had to do was quietly screw the door shut with the screwdriver and deck screws he’d hidden in his pocket. Then it was time to set the rags smoldering that would kill her.
Only they hadn’t killed her.
Livid, he still couldn’t believe it. He’d gone to work and had one of the best days he’d had in years. The economy had rallied, and investors were ready to jump back into the stock market. Sales had been brisk and he hadn’t been able to stop smiling. Then on the local evening news, he’d seen the tape of a reporter standing on an all-too-familiar street in Georgetown, telling the world the miraculous story of Lily Fitzgerald, a local photographer, and how she’d just barely escaped dying from smoke inhalation from a fire in the attic of her apartment.
The cop had rescued her! Furious, Sly kept his pace slow and easy as he headed down the hall toward Lily’s room. He’d get Officer Giovanni, he promised himself. But first, he intended to take care of Miss Candid Camera once and for all. She may have managed to evade death so far, but her luck had just run out.
This time, he’d planned the hit instead of going off half-cocked. He’d called the hospital earlier and gotten her room number from patient information, then waited for the next shift change. Right about now, the nursing staff would be at the nurses’ station, updating their notes, checking meds, punching out and in as the shift changed. No one would be in the patients’ rooms. All he had to do was act as if he belonged there and it would all be over in a matter of moments.
His heart pounding, he saw the nurses’ station just ahead on his left. He strolled past without bothering to glance over at the busy station, and no one paid the least bit of attention to him. Pleased, he followed the signs that pointed out the room numbers and turned the next corner.
Already picturing the horror in Lily’s eyes when she discovered that her murderer had tracked her down and this time she wasn’t getting away, he didn’t notice the man standing outside a room at the far end of the hall until he was three doors away. Then he saw the police uniform the man was wearing.
“Son of a bitch!”
Swearing under his breath, Sly quickly stepped into the nearest room, only to find it occupied by an old woman who was laid up in bed with a broken leg in a cast that was hung from a contraption at the end of the bed. Wide awake, she saw him almost immediately and frowned. “You must be in the wrong room.”
“No, ma’am, I’m not,” he growled, and set the vase of flowers at her bedside. “These are from your son.”
“But I don’t have a son!”
She might as well have saved her breath. Striding out, Sly turned down the hall, away from where the policeman stood, and never looked back. His face expressionless, he appeared perfectly in control of his emotions, but inside he was seething. Damn her! She wasn’t going to get away with this. He didn’t care how many cops she had protecting her, he’d find a way to get to her, and when he did, she was dead!
Wide awake in the darkness, Lily listened to the steady, squeaky tread of a nurse as she walked down the hallway. In the last hour, she’d made six trips down the hall and back again. Lily knew because she’d counted every trip. She didn’t even try to go to sleep. There wasn’t any point—she was too scared.
True to his word, Tony had come back, as he’d promised, but only to introduce her to Vince, her guard for the rest of the night. Disappointed, she tried to make Tony understand that she couldn’t stay there—she felt too vulnerable, even with a guard—but he couldn’t take her home until the doctor released her. Stuck, there was nothing she could do but wait.
The doctor had left a sedative for her if she needed it, but she wouldn’t even consider taking the medication. Just the thought of being drugged when her tormentor walked in to kill her horrified her—she wouldn’t stand a chance. So she sat up in her bed and listened to the sounds of the hospital at night. And every time someone even came close to her room, she froze, half expe a gunshot in the hall as the killer took care of her guard.
Thankfully, there were no gunshots, or for that matter, any unusual sounds, period. The night passed peacefully, but she still wouldn’t allow herself to sleep. When there was a shift change again at seven in the morning, she was exhausted, but still wide awake. Activity picked up in the hall outside her door, and the new day began. She should have been able to relax then—there were more people around and chances were that the maniac who wanted her dead wouldn’t be able to make a move against her without someone in the hospital seeing him. Still, she couldn’t sleep. Her heart pounding and her eyes on the door, she just sat there in bed, waiting.
It was barely eight in the morning when her doctor, Aaron Thomas, walked in, looking fresh and alert and a heck of a lot more rested than she. He took one look at her and started to frown. “I was going to say good morning, but it’s obviously not for you. Did you sleep at all?”
She didn’t even consider lying to him. What was the point? He’d already guessed. “I have a lot on my mind,”
she said with a shrug.
“You were afraid,” he said flatly as he stepped over to her bed to listen to her lungs. “It’s perfectly normal, Lily. A maniac tried to kill you. You wouldn’t be normal if you weren’t scared.” Checking her eyes, pulse and blood pressure, he unwrapped the blood pressure cuff and frowned down at her. “So other than being exhausted, how do you feel? Is your throat feeling better? What about your head? Any headaches or any other aches and pains?”
“My throat’s still a little sore,” she admitted in a raspy voice, “but it’s better than it was last night. Other than that, I’m fine.”
“And what about your lungs? Are you having any trouble breathing?”
“Not now. I was coughing some last night, but I haven’t had any problems since about midnight.”
Studying her with shrewd eyes, he smiled and patted her hand. “Then I don’t see any reason why you can’t go home later today.”
Startled, horrified, she cried, “Home? I can’t go home!”
“But—”
“No! You don’t understand. I live alone and the man who tried to kill me knows where I live. He’ll try again, and next time, he might succeed!”
“Maybe you could go stay with a relative for a while,” Dr. Thomas suggested. “Or a friend…”
“And put them in danger, too? I couldn’t. Anyway, I don’t have any family in the area, and I wouldn’t feel comfortable imposing on my friends.”
“You can stay with me,” Tony said quietly from the doorway. “I have a spare bedroom, so there’s plenty of room.” Stepping farther into the room, he held out his hand to the doctor. “It’s nice to see you again, Dr. Thomas. When can I take her home?”