Watching Over Her. Lisa Childs
banks where she worked.
Dalton nodded. “Send me the photo. I’ll get it to my informant right away. Whatever you need to get these guys, let me know. I’m happy to help.”
He obviously knew about Sarge. Blaine sighed. “Ash must’ve talked some.”
Reyes nodded again. “Yeah. He said this one’s personal for you both.”
It was, but not just because of Sarge. It was personal because of Maggie, too.
“He thinks it might be extra personal for you, though,” Reyes continued, “because of the witness.”
He glanced toward the ER, where Blaine kept looking, wondering how Maggie and the baby were.
“Ash talks too damn much,” he said.
Reyes chuckled. “He’s worried about you. He thought I should tell you about another agent who works out of the Chicago Bureau, Special Agent Bell. He works serial killers.”
“Maggie’s not a serial killer,” Blaine said. She was not a criminal at all. “She’s a victim.”
“Yeah, Bell got too personally involved with a victim’s sister,” Reyes said. “It’s the case he never solved. The serial killer he never caught.”
Would these suspects be the ones that Blaine never caught—because he cared too much?
* * *
“YOU CAN’T GO!” Maggie exclaimed as she clutched at Blaine’s arm, panicking at the thought of being separated from him. Since the first moment she’d met him, she’d thought him a golden-haired superhero, and every time he saved her life he proved that he was her hero.
“There are local authorities here,” he said, gesturing with his free arm to where two police officers stood near the nurses’ station. “You’ll be safe.”
She shook her head in protest. He couldn’t pass her off to someone else again. He couldn’t leave her. She was afraid that she wouldn’t be able to protect her baby without him. “I’m not safe anywhere. Except with you.”
“Not even with me.”
“You kept me safe,” she said. “They were trying to run us off the road. We would have been killed if you hadn’t driven the way you had.”
His voice gruff, he brushed off her gratitude. “But I could have hurt you...”
“The doctor said that the baby and I are both fine,” she reminded him. “I can leave now. They don’t need to keep me for observation.” Blaine was the only one who wanted her to stay in the hospital with the local deputies guarding her. “I can leave with you now.”
He wouldn’t meet her gaze, just shook his head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Why not?” she asked. “Where are you going? Have they found the van?” She’d seen the smoke from under the hood. It probably hadn’t gotten very far.
“The van has already been recovered,” he said. “Empty. And it had been stolen.”
“So you’re not going there,” she said. “So where are you going?” That he didn’t want her along. Had he found another lead he was pursuing? Was he going to put himself in danger?
The thought of that scared her as much as being without his protection. She didn’t want anything happening to Blaine. Maybe it was just the danger and the fear that had her so attached to him, but she had never felt like this before. She had never been as drawn to another person.
“I’m going to Andy’s dad’s house,” he said. “I confirmed that he is still living in the house where Andy grew up.”
She hadn’t wanted to go back there, now that Andy was gone. “I thought you wanted me to go along.”
“I was wrong to even consider taking you there,” he said. “It’s too dangerous.”
“It’s Andy’s dad—”
“And maybe his brother.”
If they believed Tammy...
Maggie wasn’t so sure that they should. While Mark had always been caring and friendly, sometimes too friendly, Tammy had always seemed cold to her—even at Andy’s funeral. Maybe that was just because Mark had been too friendly.
But Tammy wasn’t at the dad’s house. “They’re not going to hurt me,” she said. “I’ve known his dad for years.” But, truthfully, she hadn’t known Andy’s parents that well. They had usually hung out at her house or around town more than at Andy’s.
“Maybe his dad wouldn’t hurt you,” Blaine said. “But you’re wrong about his brother. The description of the guy who ordered the stolen vans matches Mark’s description.”
“Dark hair? Blue eyes?” She shrugged. “A lot of guys look like that.” Except for Blaine. She had never seen a man as attractive as he was, but it wasn’t just his looks. It was his protectiveness and his courage and his intelligence that she found even more compelling than his physical appearance.
“I sent someone a picture of Mark for a positive ID,” he said.
“It won’t be,” Maggie said. She refused to accept that Andy’s big brother could be robbing banks. “Mark wouldn’t hurt me.” He had promised Andy that he would take care of her. He would never break his promise to his brother.
Blaine sighed as if exasperated with her. Maybe that was why he wanted to leave her at the hospital. He was tired of her. “Don’t you think it’s strange that we were run off the road shortly after leaving his house?”
Her heart—that had finally slowed from a frantic beat—started pounding hard again. “No...” She really didn’t want Mark involved. “That van could have followed us from the bank.”
“I doubt it,” Blaine replied. “I was too careful. I didn’t see anyone following us. I think Mark was either in that house or his wife called him and told him where we were heading.”
“But you didn’t say where,” she reminded him. “You said that we would come back to their house the next day. If they were involved, wouldn’t they have just waited for us to come back?”
“Or they’ll make damn sure they’re gone before tomorrow.” He pushed a hand through his disheveled blond hair. “Hell, they could be gone now. I have to go.”
She didn’t release his arm. “You can’t go without me.” She hadn’t wanted to go back to Andy’s house, hadn’t wanted to relive the past. But now she was more afraid of the future. She didn’t want to be separated from Blaine and she wasn’t sure it was just because she was scared.
“I can’t put you in danger again,” he said.
“I won’t be in any danger,” she said. “This is Andy’s family. I’m carrying Andy’s baby. They’re not going to hurt me.” They wouldn’t want to lose that last piece of Andy any more than she did.
His mouth curved into a slight grin. “What about me?”
“They’re not bad people,” she said. “They won’t hurt you, either.”
“That wasn’t what I meant.” He stared at her, his green gaze tumultuous with regret. “I’m worried that I’m going to hurt you.”
“You’ve saved my life again and again,” she reminded him. She would never forget how he had protected her and her baby. Maybe gratefulness was the feeling overwhelming her and making her panic at the thought of him leaving her. But it didn’t feel like just gratitude. “You’re not going to hurt me.”
Physically—he wouldn’t. She knew that he would protect her from physical harm. He had proved that over and over again.
But he was only doing his job. And