Page 47 of Unlikely Guardian

She made a show of pretending to think about it. “Forever?”

That didn’t improve his mood. “Smart-ass.”

“So I’ve been told. But here’s the deal, Jason. Corinne wants to meet in the parking lot of police headquarters. If she had murder on her mind, she wouldn’t have chosen a place where she’d likely get arrested. Pardon the question, but would she?”

Maybe. Or maybe this was one smart ploy to get them to cooperate.

And a ploy to get them killed.

“I don’t like this,” Jason told her.

“Neither do I. That’s why I’ll stay in the car. In fact, we both will, and we’ll let Corinne come to us.”

Jason stared at her. And glared. He hoped it conveyed his displeasure. But what it probably also conveyed was that Lilly had a point. Corinne might have something they needed.

“You won’t meet face-to-face with Corinne even if she insists?” Jason asked.

“I might have a smart mouth, but I’m not stupid.” Lilly brushed a kiss on Megan’s forehead. “Besides, I have a very important reason for staying alive, and I’m holding that reason right here in my arms.”

Jason looked down at Megan. Before he ever switched on the speakerphone, he’d known that she’d fallen asleep. Megan seemed totally unaware of what was happening. Thank goodness. That was something at least. The stress and worry of their situation hadn’t spilled over to her.

“Those memos that Corinne found could be the very thing we need to put an end to all of this,” Lilly pointed out.

And she was right. Jason knew it. So did she.

That didn’t make this easier, though.

“I’ll get another officer to stay here with Megan,” Jason finally said. “I’ll also arrange for us to use an unmarked vehicle with bulletproof windows. You and I will drive to headquarters, but you won’t be getting out of the car. Right?”

“Right,” she promised.

That promise might keep her safe. Might. But Jason couldn’t help but wonder if he was about to lead Lilly straight into a deadly trap.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

“I’m kicking myself,” Jason mumbled. Though his voice carried almost no sound, Lilly heard him loud and clear. She also felt the knotted muscles in his arm as they sat side by side on the seat of the unmarked car. “You know that, right?”

Lilly knew.

She was kicking herself, as well.

This meeting with Corinne could be important, critical even, but she hated leaving Megan for any reason. It didn’t matter that her daughter was in safe hands with not just one cop, but two. It also didn’t matter that one of the cops, Sgt. Garrett O’Malley, was someone that she knew and trusted.

Nope.

This didn’t have to do with trust. It had to do with leaving her little girl while she tried to figure out who wanted Jason and her dead. High stakes. But with an equally high possibility of failure.

She glanced around the parking lot again and checked her watch. “No sign of Corinne,” she pointed out.

Lilly didn’t have to add that the woman was nearly a half hour late. Jason was well aware of that. He was probably also well aware that Corinne wasn’t going to show with the evidence and this had perhaps been some sort of wild-goose chase.

But why would Corinne have done that?

Lilly couldn’t come up with a good answer, but there were possibilities that made her uncomfortable. In addition to the wild-goose theory, maybe someone had blackmailed Corinne into arranging this meeting. And that led Lilly right back to Wayne Sandling and Raymond Klein.

“She’s not going to show,” Jason declared.

Even though it was dark, there were enough security lights in the parking lot for her to note his frustrated, impatient expression. Sighing and feeling equally impatient and frustrated, she leaned her head against the glass of the heavily tinted window.

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