The Midnight Effect

by Pamela Fryer

  He rose from his chair and crossed the small family room. Miles gently pushed the door open.

  Lily lay on her side, one arm placed over the sleeping child. Her molten gaze rose to his as he stepped into the room. Heat stirred in him, in of all places, his heart.

  “You want me to turn out the light?”

  She brushed a lock of corn silk hair from Annie’s cheek and whispered, “She’s afraid of the dark.”

  He’d already made the decision to dump these two at Seattle East’s front door tomorrow morning and pretend he’d never met them. They couldn’t be out of his world soon enough.

  He looked down at the toy in his hand. Lily saw it too. There was pity in her eyes when she looked back into his. He crossed the room and placed it against Annie’s arm. She would find it in the morning.

  The gentle smile Lily thanked him with was more than he could bear. He turned and strode from the room.

  He started by slipping into his shoulder holster. His feet took him to the wall safe behind Sara’s small painting of the lake. His fingers turned the dial even as his mind warred with the hand wanting to hold the revolver again.

  Turn them over to the department and forget you ever met them.

  He knew that wasn’t how it would happen. There was a part of the man he used to be, buried deep, that was still alive and wouldn’t allow it.

  Miles stayed up late into the night, taking great care cleaning his weapon. Hours later he was no closer to peace.

  He loaded the cylinder and snapped it shut. The .38 fit his hand like a well-worn glove. It slipped naturally into his leather holster with the familiarity of a lover’s kiss.

  Of Lily’s story, the part concerning him the most was the social worker’s death.

  Was a killer sleeping in the next room?

  He tried to convince himself appearances could be deceiving. If the man who had chased her to the gas station had been a better shot, Lily would be the prime suspect in his murder.

  He glanced at the short-wave radio on the credenza. Should he put a call in to local tonight? The clock beside it glowed eleven fifty-eight. At this time there would only be a desk officer on duty, but given the fire and the fact Miles couldn’t be located, Sergeant Thompson might still be at the station.

  Miles wiped his fingers on a rag and boxed up the gun-cleaning kit. A scraping sound behind him had him out of his chair and whirling toward the door. The .38 was in his hand before he’d made the decision to draw.

  There was no one there. His eyes slipped to the picture that had lain face-down since the first—and last—time he’d come here after Sara’s accident.

  It was now standing up. His wife’s smiling face taunted him over his own shoulder, her arms wrapped around his neck, her gleaming blond hair backlit by the late afternoon sun. In his arms Michelle smiled with all the youthful excitement of a playful child. His own face was that of a stranger he no longer recognized.

  He turned away. Annie stood in the center of the tiny room.

  “Sweetheart, you scared me.”

  Her eyes were wide, haunted. “I wanted to see them.”

  He turned back to the picture. He distinctly remembered glancing at it earlier, noting it was still laid down.

  “Shouldn’t you be in—”

  Annie was gone.

  An icy sensation rippled over his skin. Miles moved silently to the bedroom door and pushed it open. Annie and Lily lay in the same position they had been in hours earlier. Annie slept with one hand curled under her chin. Her brow was pinched and she twitched as though caught in a bad dream. Her little sneakers were beside the bedside table where her corduroy pants were folded neatly, exactly as they had been when he’d brought in the doll.

  She’d been fully dressed as she stood in the cabin’s main room, not thirty seconds ago.

  He’d imagined it. He had to have. His senses were on overload and he needed sleep desperately. Coming out of his half-dead existence had been a shock to his system.

  His body still hummed with nervous energy, but Miles went to the couch and lay down. He forced his eyes shut.

  It seemed only moments later Lily shook him awake. Sunlight streamed in through the kitchen window. Recognition came rushing back with painful clarity.

  Her beautiful face was a mask of terror. “Someone’s coming.”

  Lily stood back as he bolted from the couch. Her frightened gaze widened when he drew the .38.

  He went to the window over the sink and lifted the curtain. An engine surged and faded as a vehicle crested the hill on the dirt trail of his makeshift road and then slowed to cross the creek. He couldn’t yet see the approaching vehicle, but he hoped the familiarity of the engine would prove true.

  “It isn’t the bad man.” Annie stood in the doorway to the bedroom. He and Lily both glanced at her, but Lily was still tense.

  A moment later, Eddie proved the little girl correct. Miles holstered the gun. “It’s Edward Pierce. He was my sergeant before he retired. He’s the friend I told you about; we share this cabin. His name is on the deed.”

  He stepped outside as Eddie pulled his Jeep Cherokee to a stop beside the porch. His old friend smiled and waved.

  Miles went to the driver’s door as Eddie shut off the engine. “You sure are a sight for sore eyes, pal. What the hell happened at the garage?”

  “Small accident.”

  Eddie’s worried gaze fell on Lily in the doorway and his brows crept up his forehead. “Well, that only adds to the confusion.”

  “Come on inside. I could use your advice.”

  Miles stepped back and noticed the boxes in the back of the Jeep. “You planning to stay a while? Looks like enough for an army.”

  “Never hurts to be prepared.” Eddie waved his hand absently as he climbed out of the vehicle. “Local boys are looking for you. Them and the medical examiner. I sure am glad to find you in one piece.”

  “Eddie, this is Lily Brent.” He gestured and Lily waved.

  Eddie grinned. “Hello there, pretty lady.”

  Miles followed him to the back of the Jeep. Eddie opened the back and he and Miles each took a box. Lily came down and grabbed a third.

  Eddie saw Annie when he stepped through cabin’s doorway. “And who’s this little angel?”

  “This is my niece, Annie,” Lily supplied. “Say hello, Annie.”

  She lingered shyly behind a kitchen chair. “’lo.”

  Eddie gave him a questioning glance as he began unloading supplies.

  Lily moved past him into the kitchen and helped Eddie with the boxes. She held up a package of blueberries. “Ah, organics. A man after my own heart.” She gave Eddie a smile that nearly melted Miles’ heart.

  “Lily, why don’t you take Annie outside to play?” Miles made sure his tone left no room for argument. Lily’s smile faded. She set down the blueberries and leveled a solemn gaze on him before calling to Annie.

  “Say, I’ve got a baseball in the car,” Eddie volunteered. “Why don’t you two throw it around?”

  Miles cringed. The old man always did have a better bedside manner. He’d been a favorite public figure before he’d retired.

  Eddie shoved two cartons of milk into the refrigerator and the four of them trailed outside. He retrieved the ball from the back of his Jeep and tossed it to Lily. She and the child moved into the open circle forming his dirt driveway.

  Eddie settled beside him on the porch steps. He eased down slowly, and Miles could tell he tried to muffle the groan seeping out of him.

  “You okay there, old man?” He said it jovially, but for the first time Miles noticed how quickly Eddie had aged in retirement.

  “Nothing to worry about. I’m more concerned about you right now.”

  “I can only tell you what I know. Her car came barreling out of nowhere and crashed into my pumps.”

  “The police found two spent 9mm casings at the scene,” Eddie said softly. “Is this woman holding you hostage?”

  Miles laughed. “Co
me on, Ed.”

  “I can only tell you what I know,” he threw back at Miles.

  The light camaraderie brought back fond memories from his service years. Miles hadn’t realized how much he missed this. How much he missed being a cop.

  Lily tossed the ball to Annie. The little girl missed it and went scurrying after it, giggling with glee. Lily laughed and glanced over. Her smile turned into something that looked like bashfulness.

  “She’s awfully pretty,” Eddie commented.

  Miles shifted uncomfortably. He picked up a twig and tossed it off the porch. “Yeah.”

  Annie picked up the ball, awkwardly drew her arm back and threw. She held on too long and the ball smacked the ground two feet in front of her.

  Eddie laughed. “Gives new meaning to the term ‘throwing like a girl’.” He sighed. “The kid is cute, though.”

  “They’re all cute.” Miles refrained from adding, but there’s something strange about this one.

  “What’s going on, Miles?”

  “Someone chased them up the mountain using them for target practice. Her car was on its rims and out of control by the time it found my station. They got out alive, but whoever was after them tried to fix that. I’ve got a missing driver’s side window and if the local boys look harder, they’ll find a couple more casings.”

  “Jesus. Who would do that?”

  Miles glanced at him. “A killer hired by Colton Reilly.”

  “That someone I’m supposed to know?”

  “IntelliGenysis in Spokane.”

  Recognition and then anger filled Eddie’s face. “That crackpot keeps popping up in the news like a turd that won’t flush.”

  “He’s the girl’s father.”

  “I didn’t know he was married.”

  “According to Lily, he wasn’t. At least not to her sister.” Miles pried an acorn from between two boards and flicked it away.

  “Let me guess. The sister met a bad end.”

  Miles sighed. “I’m still trying to sort through all that.”

  Eddie shook his head. “You really stuck your foot in it this time.”

  “I’m taking them to Seattle and turning them over to Billings. Then I’m out of it.” He wondered if he should tell Eddie about the social worker. The old man looked so tired he didn’t want to add any strain.

  “You going to be able to drop them there and walk away?”

  Miles watched Annie try to throw again. It would seem she had never held a ball before, let alone tried to throw one. But she was having a good time, laughing and running and giving her best effort, and that was good for her.

  “I don’t know.” He wasn’t lying to Eddie. Somehow, without his consent, a protective urge had crept under his skin and fixed itself against his heart. Lily tried to keep a courageous front, but he saw the desperation in her frightened eyes every time she looked at him. It didn’t matter she was beautiful and alone. Dead soul or not, on the payroll or not, he would never turn his back on a person in mortal danger.

  But neither could he lie to himself. He was painfully aware of those melted-chocolate eyes, the slight curve of her small nose, the soft lines of a face pretty enough to grace the cover of a fashion magazine. She was nearly as tall as he was, with a narrow waist that flared into womanly hips and long legs that went all the way to town.

  He dragged his gaze away. “I need your Jeep. It won’t be safe for us in my truck.”

  “It’s yours,” Eddie assured him.

  “Whoever tried to plug her saw my truck. I’ll leave you the keys so you can get out if you need to, but no touring.”

  “I don’t plan to go anywhere,” Eddie said over another sigh. He looked over and found Miles’ assessing gaze.

  “What’s really going on with you, Pops?” Miles used the familiar nickname to let his old friend know he had no intention of letting him out of an explanation.

  Eddie tore a frayed strand off the bottom of his Levis. Annie drew back her arm to throw, lost her grip on the ball and sent it straight up into the air. Eddie laughed, but his expression sobered quickly.

  “The big C.”

  “Jesus, Ed. I didn’t know.”

  “I didn’t let you know. First time was four years ago. I had colon cancer but I beat it. I was free and clean for two years, and then they found it in my lung. You thought I was on a fishing trip in Alaska.”

  “You old dog. Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “You had your own problems by then.”

  Miles felt like a dirt bag. He’d been destroyed by grief and had let the rest of his life slip. There’d been no room for socializing, no room for another woman, no room for living. But he loved Eddie like a father, and he’d been too blinded by his own pain to see his friend’s.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Nothing to be sorry about. This is God’s plan.”

  “I wish I’d been there for you. You shouldn’t go through this alone.”

  “Oh, pshaw. Just because you didn’t know doesn’t mean I was alone.” He turned and gave Miles a piercing stare. “Listen to me, youngster.”

  Eddie had assigned the moniker to all the young cops. Miles gave a chuckle at the nickname he’d nearly forgotten while inside he felt the last solid pieces of his world crumbling away.

  “I know you’ve had a hard time finding reason these past few years, but take it from someone who knows, mortality is a lot less comforting when you’re staring it in the face.”

  It was official. He was pond scum.

  “I miss Claire something awful, but I’m in no hurry to join her.”

  “I would trade places with you if I could. I owe you my life, several times over. The Christy Street bust, Ricardo Mendez. Probably a few I’m forgetting about.”

  “Thank God it’s not up to you. Everything happens for a reason, Miles. Don’t you forget that.”

  Eddie was right. Miles never counted much on divine intervention, the stars or destiny determining the preconceived route of men’s lives, but something had brought Lily and Annie to him.

  He looked over and caught Lily’s curious gaze. She offered another shy smile before reaching to catch Annie’s throw. The part of him that wanted to help her was growing bigger, like a withering house plant that had been watered and placed out in the sun. He wasn’t even sure it was an unwelcome thing anymore.

  And that scared the hell out of him.

  Chapter Five

  Miles’ friend pushed off the step. “Here honey, let me give you a few pointers.” He ambled over to Annie and knelt behind her. “Hold the ball in your hand like this. Yep, that’s right. Now, when you throw it let it slip through your fingers.” With Eddie’s help the ball soared toward Lily.

  Miles stood and strode over to her. “Take a walk with me.”

  Whatever shreds of comfort she’d felt tossing the ball back and forth vanished in an instant. Mr. Cop was back, and probably ready to read her the riot act. She could only assume with another seasoned cop’s advice, Miles was feeling less generous toward her. She’d seen them talking, it didn’t take subtitles to know what they’d been saying. Give her to the cops. This isn’t your problem.

  She glanced at Annie.

  “She’ll be fine.”

  He took her by the arm and steered her away, no arguments allowed. In the next instant, he jerked his hand away as if her skin had burned him.

  The poor man was so despondent over his wife’s death he couldn’t even touch her. She wondered what it would be like to know that kind of love. A strange mixture of jealousy and remorse hit the pit of her stomach. However short their marriage, Miles’ wife had been a lucky woman.

  Lily looked over her shoulder. Edward tossed the ball gently to Annie, who managed to catch it. She smiled as Annie squealed with delight.

  Miles stopped under a massive pine and leaned back, one foot propped against its trunk. “I want you to know I’m not going to abandon you in Seattle. Things might get a little intense, but I’ll be right there with you.�
�

  Meaning, you’ll be interrogated and I’m going to take part.

  “Thank you,” she said automatically.

  “You said you’d been inside IntelliGenysis. What can you tell me about the compound?”

  “It was seven years ago. That’s what I can tell you.”

  He met her gaze steadily and Lily let herself drink in those deep blue eyes. They’d grown lighter in the morning sun, as still and clear as Caribbean waters.

  “You might as well tell me what you can.”

  “Why, so you can identify discrepancies in my story when I’m questioned?”

  He seemed taken aback she’d recognized the tactic.

  “I heard you last night,” she threw at him. “You asked Annie if I kidnapped her.”

  Miles’ expression hardened. “Do you blame me?”

  Her shoulders sagged and what little energy she had waned. He was trying to help in the only way he knew how: by the book.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t sleep well.” She stopped before telling him bad dreams and a pounding headache had driven her to the bathroom to throw up, and that was when she heard the approaching Jeep. “I wouldn’t expect any less of you. I wouldn’t want any less for Annie.”

  “Look, I don’t suspect you of wrongdoing. But I have to ask, what did you think you were going to do?”

  She shrugged. “I truly don’t know. I called my lawyer and told him I would need help with a custody issue.” She drew a shaky breath. “Since then this has soared out of his league.”

  “You were just going to run home and close the curtains?”

  His tone was hard and Lily felt like a fool—both for being so stupid and for daydreaming about him. Miles was an official who saw her as a suspect. He probably hated her for involving him in her problems.

  “Something like that. I told you, he didn’t actually shoot at me until last night.”

  Miles shoved his hands in the front pockets of jeans clinging snugly to distinct thigh muscles. With a plaid cotton shirt rolled up to the elbows, he looked like the sexy man on the Brawny paper towel labels. His suspicious stance relaxed a notch, but Lily could tell he was still uneasy about the whole situation.

  She couldn’t blame him. When he’d first said he used to be a cop, warning chimes had gone off in her head. Now she realized what a stroke of luck it was landing in the hands of someone with police training.