Page 55 of Unlikely Guardian

“You don’t have to do this,” Jason reminded Lilly. He didn’t know why he was wasting his breath—it was obvious he wasn’t going to get her to change her mind—but he wasn’t backing out of the garage to leave for her physical therapy appointment until he’d gotten his point across.

And his point was that meeting with Erica just wasn’t a bright idea.

“We have to drive through the security gate anyway,” Lilly explained. “Erica will be there, and she wants to speak to me. We might as well take a minute or two to see if she’ll confess to trying to kill us. Then, you can arrest her.”

Somehow she managed to keep a straight face when she said that, but Jason doubted he could do the same. “And you see what’s wrong with that logic, right?”

“You mean, the possibility that this is a ploy so she’ll have another opportunity to try to kill us?”

“Yes, that.”

Lilly shook her head. “You think Erica’s willing to do that in broad daylight in front of witnesses and with you carrying that big gun in your shoulder holster? Because she must have known you’d be with me.”

He didn’t want to point out that if Erica was enraged, on a rampage for revenge, then she might not be thinking straight. Still, it didn’t make sense for Erica to start shooting at them. Even though she was a suspect, Jason had her at the bottom of the list. The woman had loved and cared for Megan for more than eleven months. She’d been a good nanny. It was hard to dismiss that. He only hoped his dismissal wasn’t a mistake that he’d come to regret.

Realizing he’d just talked himself into this meeting with Erica, he cursed under his breath, backed out of the garage and started the drive to the security gate.

“What if this isn’t about a confession?” he asked, playing devil’s advocate both with Lilly and himself.

“What else could she possibly have to say to me? Don’t answer that,” Lilly quickly insisted. Probably because she knew this might not be some earth-shattering revelation or confession but a rehashing of the uncomfortable goodbye they’d already had with Erica.

Jason hoped that was all there was to it.

When he approached the gate, Jason looked around for Erica’s car but didn’t see it. In fact, he saw no vehicles other than the white truck with the security company’s logo. Instead, Erica was standing on the concrete platform in front of the small structure that housed the guard.

Jason stopped next to her, but he didn’t get out. He lowered the window and then slipped his hand inside his jacket in case he’d been wrong about her and had to reach for his gun.

“Erica,” he greeted. He made a visual check and didn’t see any weapons. Thankfully, she wasn’t dressed for concealment. Hard to conceal anything while wearing shorts and a cotton top that barely made it to her waist. Still, that didn’t mean she hadn’t stashed a weapon in her vehicle. “I don’t see your car. How did you get here?”

That question seemed to unnerve her. She shifted her feet and folded her arms over her chest. “I parked up the street. I figured I’d use my access code to walk in because if you saw my car pulling up in front of your house, you probably wouldn’t have even answered the door.”

He would have, but he darn sure wouldn’t have let her inside. “What’s this visit all about?” Jason asked.

Erica barely spared him a glance, her attention focused on Lilly. “I don’t know if you’re still trying to take Megan away from Jason, but I’ve been doing some thinking. And I’ve decided that I can’t give her up.”

Jason hadn’t forgotten about the custody issue, but he no longer believed that Lilly was out to gain total custody of Megan. Or maybe that was wishful thinking, too.

“Was that just an FYI comment?” Lilly asked. “Or did you have something specific in mind?”

“Oh, it’s definitely specific. I found a lawyer who’s willing to help me petition a judge for visitation rights. I raised her. I was more than a nanny.” Now her gaze drifted in Jason’s direction. But it not only drifted; it lingered a bit and turned into a heart-tugging stare. Jason didn’t want Erica’s pain and emotion to get to him, but he wasn’t impervious to it, either.

“A lawyer?” Lilly repeated in a flat tone.

“I won’t be shut out of Megan’s life, understand? And I won’t stand by while you continue to endanger her.”

That was not the right thing to say. Jason tried to hold on to his temper. “Care to explain that?”

Erica pointed to Lilly. “Someone’s trying to kill her, and that person isn’t likely to stop until he or she succeeds. That means, every minute she spends in your house is a minute where Megan is in danger. Believe me, my lawyer plans to let the judge know that.” Erica didn’t wait for them to respond. Nor did she issue a goodbye. She spun around and hurried away.

“Well, that was pleasant,” Lilly said sarcastically. “You were right. No confession.”

While he wasn’t happy about that, Jason was pleased that it hadn’t turned into a shoot-fest. Still, Erica’s threatened lawsuit and criticism of Lilly was yet something else on a plate that was already way too full.

“No judge will give her visitation rights,” Jason assured Lilly. But he wasn’t so sure. As a cop, he’d seen judges do the surprising and the unthinkable. And this certainly qualified as unthinkable.

“Erica’s right, you know,” Lilly concluded as Jason drove out the gate and onto the street.

He checked the rearview mirror but didn’t see Erica anywhere. “About what?”

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