Page 48 of Unlikely Guardian

“Maybe the officers you sent out to check the area will find her,” Lilly answered. “Maybe she’s out there, waiting to make sure it’s safe before she comes into the open.”

“Maybe,” he said, not sounding as if he believed that. She didn’t believe it, either. “Don’t sit so close to the window.”

She glanced at the window. Frowned. “I thought they were bulletproof.”

“More like bullet resistant. If the shooter is using armor-piercing bullets, the shot could still get through.”

He didn’t have to say that twice. Lilly immediately slid across the seat toward him, until her arm was squashed against his again. He felt warm. Comforting. Something she desperately needed.

“There are too many things that could go wrong,” Jason said under his breath. “That’s obviously why I didn’t want you to come.”

“But if something goes right, and we get these memos from Corinne, you might have the evidence you need for an arrest. Then we won’t be in danger anymore.”

He stayed quiet a moment. “If this doesn’t work, maybe you could try going about this from a different angle. During some investigations when the witness has been traumatized, sometimes we use a psychiatrist to hypnotize the person, to see if they recall anything.”

Lilly considered that. “And it’s been successful?” she asked.

“Sometimes.”

“Well, sometimes is better than nothing. I’ll do it. Just let me know when and where.” In fact, she wished they’d already arranged it. Recalling the face of the person who’d tried to kill her might lead them to the person who was behind all these latest attempts on their lives.

“Let’s get past this rendezvous first,” Jason reminded her.

If there was a rendezvous. And if it would amount to anything. They could be back at square one, and that meant all of them were in danger.

Including Megan.

Only hours earlier Jason had asked her if she would consider a relationship of convenience. Ironic. Because with the danger staring them right in their faces, she should be considering just the opposite. To keep her child and Jason safe, she might have to consider doing the unthinkable.

She might have to leave.

In some ways that was unimaginable. And yet in other ways, it seemed irresponsible not to do it. If she left, maybe the person trying to kill her wouldn’t go anywhere near Megan. It broke her heart just to consider it, but it would break her heart even more to lose her daughter.

The movement caught Lilly’s eye, and she looked up to see two uniformed officers cut across the parking lot. They approached the car, and Jason lowered the window a fraction.

“We found something,” one of the officers said to Jason.

“Is it Corinne Davies?” Jason asked.

The rookie shook his head and cast an uneasy glance at Lilly before bringing his gaze back to Jason. “Not exactly. But, trust me, you’ll want to see this.”

THE ROOKIE’S You’ll want to see this might have been vague, but it was more than enough to get Jason moving. Obviously, his fellow cop had something to say, and he didn’t want to say it in front of Lilly. If that was the case, there wasn’t much chance of this being good news.

“I want you to wait here with Lilly,” Jason ordered the rookie. He glanced at the other uniformed officer. “You’ll come with me.”

Jason checked his weapon and opened the door. “Don’t let her get out of the car, and don’t let Corinne Davies or anyone other than me get anywhere near her, understand?”

The rookie nodded.

Lilly didn’t agree quite so quickly. “Wait a minute,” she said, grabbing Jason’s arm to stop him from leaving. “What if I don’t want you to go to check on this ‘thing you’ll want to see’?”

“It’s my job to go,” Jason countered.

She pointed first at the rookie and then at the other officer. “It’s their job, too. Why can’t they go?”

“Because I’m a detective and they’re not. Besides, this is personal for me. If Corinne is out there, I want to see her face-to-face, to see if I can figure out what’s really going on here.”

She frowned. “I don’t suppose it’d do any good to ask if I can go with you?”

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