Unexpected Father

by Delores Fossen

  Lilly had no trouble recognizing the man. After all, they'd run into each other plenty of times during the investigation that'd led to his disbarment.

  Klein hadn't changed at all in the past nineteen months. The same slightly shabby salt-and-pepper hair. The overly round face that was cragged with too many wrinkles considering he was only in his late thirties. All those wrinkles and his heavy brow gave him a permanent sourpuss expression.

  "I thought we'd settled this," Klein greeted. He looked right past Jason and O'Reilly and aimed his greeting at her.

  Jason stepped protectively in front of her. Lilly huffed and tried to reestablish her ground, but Jason would have no part in that. The best she could manage was to move to Jason's side so she could face Klein head-on.

  "I want him tested for GSR," Jason relayed to O'Reilly.

  "Gunshot residue?" Klein supplied. "You'll need a warrant for that."

  "We already have it," Jason confirmed.

  Klein's chin came up. "You're wasting your time, Detective."

  That was probably true. Klein's hair was still damp, indicating a recent shampoo. If he was the shooter, he'd no doubt have worn gloves, showered and changed his clothes. He wasn't the sort of man to get caught with the obvious. It'd taken her twice as long to connect Klein to her father as it had for her to do the same for Sandling. In the end, the authorities had gotten him for a suspicious report he'd made to the city engineers. A report that had ultimately allowed her father to receive a contract where he'd taken a ton of money and provided minimal services in exchange. Klein's part in that deal had been barely enough to get him disbarred.

  And he wasn't about to let her forget that.

  Raymond Klein hated her. Lilly had no doubts about that. But the question was, had he done something about that hatred, or was this anger simply because he felt he'd been railroaded again?

  Though it seemed a senseless exercise, Lilly tried to remember what'd happened that night of her accident. Had she seen her attacker's face? Was it Klein's face? And was that the reason he now wanted her dead—because she would be able to identify him if and when her memory returned? Unfortunately she could insert Sandling's name into that particular scenario and it would ring just as true.

  Klein took one step toward her, halving the already meager distance between them. "I guess I wasn't clear enough when I phoned you. I told you I wouldn't be pulled back into this, and I meant it."

  Jason put his hand on the butt on his Glock. "Since we're clearing things up, you won't be calling Lilly again. And you won't be getting in her face to issue any other threats."

  No more steps toward her, but that didn't stop Klein's expression from tightening. "She and her father ruined my life."

  "And you had no part in that?" Lilly asked.

  "None," Klein quickly answered.

  Jason obviously didn't buy a word of it. Glaring, he motioned toward the room behind them. "Escort him into interrogation," Jason told O'Reilly. He waited until O'Reilly had done that before he continued. "I need to be here during the questioning, but I'll get someone to give you a ride back to the house."

  Yet another head-against-a-brick-wall moment. "And if I don't want to go?" she asked.

  "Tough. You're going." He leaned in closer, until his mouth was practically right against her ear. "You've had a long day, an even longer night, and you need some rest. Please, just go. You don't have to worry about being there alone with Erica. I'll make sure an officer stays there with you until I get back."

  She was about to argue, but O'Reilly came out of the interrogation room where he'd deposited Klein.

  "Before you listen to Klein being grilled, you might want to hear what the crime lab had to say about that surveillance video taken from the security camera at the gate of your neighborhood." O'Reilly closed the door to the interrogation room. "They were able to partially enhance the image," he explained.

  Lilly couldn't help it. Her hopes soared. This could be the break they'd been praying for.

  "And were they able to determine who was behind the wheel of that car?" Jason asked.

  "No."

  She'd had mere seconds of that soaring hope, but that dashed them.

  "But they were able to get a better look at the license plate," O'Reilly continued. "They only got a partial, but it was enough to run it through DMV and come up with a name."

  All right. That was a reason to hope again. "Which is it—Wayne Sandling or Raymond Klein?" Lilly asked.

  O'Reilly shook his head. "Neither. The car is registered to your former secretary, Corinne Davies."

  Chapter Nine

  Jason unlocked the front door to his house, stepped inside and listened for any sound that shouldn't have been there. He could hear the hum of the air-conditioner. The rhythmic swish of the brass pendulum in the grandfather clock in the foyer. The TV was on low volume in the living room.

  All seemed well, but he wasn't about to take that at face value.

  Yes, he was paranoid.

  That could happen when only ten hours earlier someone had come close to killing Lilly and him.

  There was a plainclothes cop watching TV from the sofa in the living room. Jason nodded and tried to convey his appreciation that the man was guarding the place in his absence. Unfortunately, the guards were a necessary precaution that might have to continue for a while.

  Jason didn't even want to think about how long a while might be.

  He continued down the hall. Listening. Staying vigilant. Erica was in the playroom, and even though she was holding a magazine, Jason didn't think she was reading it. She tossed it aside and practically leaped to her feet when she saw him. But Jason motioned for her to sit back down.

  "Where's Megan and Lilly?" he whispered.

  There was little change in Erica's expression, just a soft intake of breath that had a hint of frustration to it, and she aimed her index finger in the direction of Lilly's room. "Lilly insisted on having Megan with her," she said.

  Uh-oh.

  That had probably caused an argument or two. Not from Megan. But from Erica. Things had probably not gone smoothly while he'd been at headquarters. Still, it couldn't be helped. He'd had to do reports and he'd wanted to help with the investigation and interrogation of the suspects. Plus, Lilly had needed some rest. And it was a necessity to get her out of headquarters, away from Wayne Sandling and Raymond Klein. For that to happen, he'd had no choice but to send her with the police escort back to the house. Unfortunately, that meant Lilly had had to deal with Erica on her own. He was sorry he hadn't been here to run interference.

  Jason turned toward Lilly's room, and because the door was open, he spotted her immediately. She was napping not on her bed but on a brightly colored patchwork quilt stretched out on the carpeted floor.

  She had a sleeping Megan cradled in her arms.

  He smiled, leaned his shoulder against the door frame and watched them. This was one of his favorite moments—watching Megan sleep. When she was awake, she was always on the move, and it was impossible to concentrate on the sheer joy she'd brought to his life. But now, with her resting peacefully, Jason could study her tiny face and relive all the wonderful things that he loved about her. If he accomplished every career goal he would ever have, it wouldn't come close to the fulfillment he'd gotten just by being Megan's dad.

  And that brought him back to Lilly.

  She could take fatherhood from him, but he no longer thought that she would. He mentally shrugged. Maybe that was what he wanted to believe, anyway.

  The files that Lilly had brought from her office were scattered on the desk tucked in the corner. She'd no doubt been reading through them while watching Megan. Double duty. He'd done a lot of that himself over the past eleven and a half months.

  "Lilly's rushing things," Erica whispered, walking up behind him. She folded her arms over her chest and didn't take her gaze from Lilly. "It'll confuse Megan."

  Jason made a sound to indicate he didn't agree. "Megan doesn't look confu
sed or rushed." She looked as if she belonged right there in Lilly's arms.

  Erica stayed quiet a few moments, and Jason braced himself for the fallout. It came. "I don't know how you can welcome her into your home. Not after what she did to Greg."

  Fallout, indeed. Any other time, he might have agreed. But this wasn't any other time. It was now, and whether he wanted it or not, things were changing between Lilly and him. They had to change, for Megan's sake.

  "Oh, I get it," Erica concluded on a rise of breath. "You're being nice to Lilly because you're worried she'll take Megan. That's it, isn't it?"

  He wished that was it. Jason wished the attraction he felt for Lilly was all part of the custody issue and the love both of them felt for Megan.

  But it wasn't.

  He wanted to kiss Lilly. He wanted her in his bed. Hell, he just plain wanted her. That didn't have a thing to do with Megan.

  "Please don't tell me you're willing to have a relationship with Lilly for Megan's sake?" Erica went on.

  Jason didn't know the answer, and he didn't want to explore it now. Especially not with Erica.

  Because this wasn't going to be pleasant, he gently took Erica by the arm and led her down the hall so they wouldn't wake Megan and Lilly. He only hoped there wouldn't be shouting, but it was a distinct possibility.

  He considered several ways to go about this, but decided to use the direct approach. "Erica, I think it's time for you to leave."

  She went board-stiff. Stared at him. And then jerked away from him as if he'd slapped her. "What do you mean?"

  He continued with the direct approach. "I mean that Lilly and I have enough to deal with right now, and your being here isn't making things easier."

  "I see." Keeping her gaze pinned to him, she stepped back. She swallowed hard. "Did Lilly talk you into doing this?"

  "You know I can't be talked into anything that I don't feel is right. This was my idea. Lilly needs time to be with Megan, and Megan needs time to be with her. That won't happen with you around. Megan will keep turning to you, and that'll only cause friction between Lilly and you."

  Erica pulled in a breath and gave a shaky nod. "You're certain about this?"

  "Positive. I'll give you a month's severance pay and a reference, but I want you to consider this your two weeks' notice—"

  "Two weeks' notice isn't necessary. I'll leave today—for Megan's sake. And yours." Erica looked down at the floor. "I'll pack a few things and arrange for someone to pick up the rest. I won't be long."

  "There's no need for you to rush."

  "Yes. There is." When she lifted her head again, Jason had no trouble seeing the tears in her eyes.

  Great. He felt like a jerk. But he would have felt like a bigger jerk if Lilly had had to battle Erica just so she could spend time with her daughter. This was definitely a case of one too many moms.

  Swiftly wiping away her tears, Erica headed in the direction of her room, but then stopped and turned back around to face him. "I'm sorry things didn't work out so I could stay. And just for the record, no hard feelings." With that, she walked away.

  Jason was a little surprised with her reaction. It was amicable and the decent thing to say. The right thing. If Erica was sincere, that is. But he wondered if she truly was.

  "Anything wrong?" He looked back to see Lilly standing in the doorway of her room.

  Man, she was a welcome sight, and there was no amount of denial that would make him feel otherwise. There went another slam of guilt. First, over Erica. Now, over this giddy feeling he got whenever he saw Lilly. It'd been that way since he'd kissed her the night before at her office.

  Since giddy and guilt just didn't go together with a police investigation, Jason renewed his vow to start rebuilding some barriers between Lilly and him. Not anger barriers. Not hate. Just a few mental fences to remind him that this was a woman his brother had loved. Even if he wanted her—and, yep, he did—having her would make them both miserable.

  He needed to remember that.

  She'd changed since he'd last seen her at headquarters and now wore a sleeveless silk dress that was the color of ripe peaches. One of the articles of clothing she'd no doubt had the cops pick up for her from her house. The dress suited her, skimming along her body and stopping several inches above her knees so that it exposed a great deal of her legs.

  She was barefoot, and he could see that she'd painted her toenails pearl white. For some reason, even with the guilt-producing discussion he'd just had with Erica and the guilt/giddy pep talk he'd given himself, those bare feet captured his attention.

  "What happened?" She followed his gaze to her feet and flexed her eyebrows. "Am I about to get a lecture on the dangers of going barefoot?"

  "Not from me." He forced a smile because he thought they could both use it.

  "So, what's wrong?"

  "Erica's leaving." He kept his voice low so he wouldn't wake Megan. Erica would want to say goodbye to her, of course, but he hoped she would save that goodbye for another day. "She's packing her things now. Once she's done, I'll have the officer drive her where she wants to go."

  Lilly's eyes widened, and she walked closer, until they were only a few inches apart. She touched his arm and it soothed him far more than it should have.

  "I'm sorry," she whispered.

  "Don't be. It's for the best." He hoped. Jason also hoped that Erica's cool farewell wasn't a smoke screen for some sinister plan.

  Yep.

  That paranoia was still hanging around and was snowballing out of control. It was mixing with Lilly's scent and creating a fog in his brain. She smelled like cinnamon applesauce. Not exactly a scent that would normally turn him on, but it seemed to be doing the trick today.

  "How's Megan?" he asked. Best to keep the conversation on a safe topic.

  She gave him a suspicious look, as if she'd expected him to say something else. But what he had on his mind, he had no intentions of saying.

  "Megan's napping." Lilly checked her watch. "She fell asleep about fifteen minutes ago."

  So, it'd be at least an hour, probably twice that long, before she woke up. That would give Erica plenty of time to pack and it'd give him plenty of time to fill Lilly in on what had happened.

  "Did you find out anything about Corinne's car?" Lilly worked her fingers through the crown of her hair to scoop it away from her face.

  "Yes." And Jason hadn't cared for the news any more than Lilly probably would. "Corinne reported it stolen, but she didn't do that until several hours after the incident at the security gate."

  Lilly bunched up her forehead. "Why'd she take so long to report it?"

  He'd asked himself the same thing. "Corinne said she didn't notice that her vehicle was missing until she left work that evening. It wasn't in the parking lot so she claims she has no idea who took it or when."

  "Do you believe her?"

  Jason shrugged. "I don't know what to believe. And it gets even better—guess who works in the same building as Corinne? Raymond Klein and Wayne Sandling. They're partners in the consulting business these days, and they work just three offices away from her."

  "Sandling and Klein," Lilly repeated. She pulled in a hard breath. "Their names keep coming up."

  Yeah, and not in a good way, either. Either of them was brassy enough to have taken Corinne's car and driven it to the security gate.

  "So, we're not taking Corinne off our list of suspects?" Lilly asked.

  "No one's coming off that list just yet," he mumbled, rubbing his hand over his face. "Worse, I might have to add a name to it."

  Lilly didn't have to think about that for very long. "Erica?"

  Jason didn't know why it surprised him that Lilly had come up with the correct answer so quickly. After all, they'd had that whole trust discussion at headquarters. Plus, Lilly had spent the better part of a week under the same roof with Megan's soon-to-be-former nanny. Lilly probably hadn't missed the jealousy in Erica's eyes. He certainly hadn't. Just as he hadn't missed Erica'
s cool pseudo-goodbye that he feared would come back to haunt them.

  Was Erica bitter enough to do something to get rid of Lilly?

  Maybe even bitter enough to want to kill her?

  "The day that Corinne's car was at the security gate, Erica was here inside with us and couldn't have done it," Lilly pointed out.

  Jason had already considered and dismissed that. "It doesn't mean she's innocent, though. She could have hired someone to do the job."

  "You mean a hit man?" Lilly shook her head. "No way. She wouldn't have risked that, not with Megan in the house. I might not be on her list of favorite people, but she loves Megan, and she wouldn't have put her in harm's way."

  He couldn't dispute that. But there was another angle to this. "Maybe the person in that car was never meant to come inside and hurt you. Maybe it was simply a scare tactic to send you running so that Erica could have Megan all to herself."

  "I'm sorry you believe that," he heard Erica say.

  Oh, sheez. Open mouth, insert size-twelve boots. And here he hadn't thought this could get any harder.

  Erica was at the end of the hall, her suitcase in her hand, and she had a fierce grip on the handle. She didn't come any closer, but her eyes darkened when she looked at Lilly. "You might have won this round, but this isn't over."

  "This round?" Lilly repeated. "This isn't a competition, Erica."

  "Isn't it? You think because you share DNA with Megan that it'll make you her mother? It won't."

  "DNA is just for starters," Jason countered. He maneuvered himself in front of Lilly in case Erica decided to go berserk. "The rest will come with time. Lilly has a right to be with her daughter."

  He hadn't choked on the words, either. And he wasn't especially shocked that he'd meant every word.

  Erica stared at him. "Does she?"

  Well, it wasn't the pseudo-cool goodbye that she'd issued just minutes earlier. "I'm ready to go now," Erica said to the officer in the living room. She didn't wait for him. She practically stormed toward the front door.

  The detective followed Erica, and from over his shoulder, he issued Jason a nod. Probably of sympathy. Man, he'd really gone about this the wrong way. Of course, maybe there was no correct way to dissolve a relationship like the one that Erica had with Megan.