by Lisa Childs
“I’m sorry,” she murmured.
“It’s not your fault,” he said.
But he didn’t know what she’d done. She’d opened her mouth to tell him when his cell rang.
He pulled it from his pocket and accepted the call without so much as a glance at her. It reminded her of how their father had always taken calls no matter what was going on—her recital, one of Blake’s games...
If he’d bothered to show up at all, he’d been on his phone the entire time.
“Yes,” he answered his caller. “I’ll be there. Thanks...”
The call disconnected before he could say anything else.
“Business?” she asked.
He shook his head. “Juliette. She’s letting me see Pandora tonight. Now I just have to figure out what’s the right thing to do. If this should be the last time I see my daughter...”
Patience hoped it wouldn’t be. But she was more worried about him losing his life than leaving the country.
Chapter 23
She had been wrong—about so many things. Juliette realized that now as she watched Blake play with Pandora. Even though his father might not have been able to show him love, Blake could show fatherly love.
He obviously loved their daughter.
She had been a fool to keep them apart. Instead of being selfless, she’d been being selfish. Sure, she wanted him out of danger. Hell, with everything going on in Red Ridge right now, she would prefer he left the country.
But she should have never kept him apart from Pandora—not those first four years of her life and definitely not now that they’d met. They hadn’t just met. They’d connected in a way that had Juliette experiencing feelings she wasn’t proud of: jealousy, possessiveness.
She had always been her little girl’s favorite person. But already Blake had come to mean so much to her. And it was obvious from the way he looked at her, the way he touched her hair and kissed her forehead, that she meant so much to him, too.
Juliette’s heart ached just from watching them. Then it warmed and swelled as love replaced the jealousy. She loved them both so much. All she wanted was for them both to be happy. But she wasn’t sure how she could make that happen or even if she could.
She couldn’t do what Blake had asked; she couldn’t give up her job and move away from Red Ridge with him—not even if he was offering more than a sexual relationship. She loved her job, her friends—this city. Red Ridge held the memories of her parents, and memories were all she had left of them now.
But he wasn’t offering her more than a sexual relationship except for his protection. She didn’t need that, either.
“Mommy! Mommy!” Pandora called out to her.
And she realized she’d been lost in her thoughts. She forced a smile. “What, sweetheart?”
“Sing me the song, sing me the song!” Pandora implored her. She was tucked into bed already.
Blake had supervised teeth brushing and had pulled up the covers while Juliette had just followed them around, watching them and yearning. If only Blake could love her like he loved their daughter, maybe they could have this life together—maybe they could become the family Pandora so obviously wanted them to be.
“Mommy has a special bedtime song she sings when I can’t get to sleep.”
Her face heated with embarrassment. Pandora must have been tone-deaf to appreciate her singing.
Blake’s lips curved into a grin. “Really? Mommy sings?”
“I’m surprised it doesn’t give her nightmares,” she admitted.
When he chuckled, her heart flipped. She had fallen for him—so hard. That must have been the reason for her jealousy. Not that she envied his love for their daughter but that she wanted some of it for herself, too.
“Sing, Mommy,” Pandora demanded.
She was such an imp.
Juliette could deny her nothing. That was why she’d called Blake. Her daughter had wanted to see her daddy. She’d asked the past couple of nights as well, but Juliette had used the excuse that he was busy. But when she’d tried that tonight, Pandora had asked if he was too busy for her.
And Juliette’s heart had cracked with her daughter’s pain and her own guilt. That might be the case, someday, when Blake had to return to his businesses. But it wasn’t now. She was the one who’d kept them apart.
Knowing that she deserved more than some embarrassment for what she’d done, Juliette began to sing. Her voice rose and fell, missing notes and cracking, as she sang “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” It was so bad that Blake winced for her or maybe because she’d hurt his ears. But Pandora applauded.
Her daughter wasn’t hard to please. Maybe she would be okay with whatever time Blake could make for her around his business trips. Maybe they could figure something out to make Pandora happy.
But Juliette knew Blake couldn’t make her happy—unless he was willing to give her his heart instead of just his protection.
“Now you, Daddy,” Pandora urged him. “You sing now!”
“I’m not sure I know that one,” he said, obviously stalling.
“Everybody knows ‘Twinkle, Twinkle,’” Pandora said, as if he was an idiot. She was already a master manipulator at four years old.
Beneath his breath, he murmured, “You are my father’s granddaughter...persistent...”
So he’d recognized the manipulation, as well. But he caved for it, probably so that he wouldn’t feel like an idiot, and began to sing. Of course his voice was perfect, just like everything else about him.
Instead of clapping, though, Pandora began to snore. Blake had managed to make the song sound like the lullaby it was intended to be.
“She’s not going to ask for me to sing that again,” she remarked as she pulled the light blanket to the little girl’s chin and kissed her forehead.
Blake leaned over the child to do the same, and he pressed his mouth to the exact same spot Juliette had kissed. Even though they didn’t touch, she felt her lips begin to tingle.
She wanted him to kiss her.
She wanted him. But she wanted more than sex. She wanted this—this evening. Love. Family.
But he hadn’t offered her that. And even if he had, she was in no position to accept it now. Not with a killer determined to get rid of her and their daughter. And if Blake were to propose, then a killer would try to get rid of him. A different killer—the Groom Killer—but one probably even more dangerous than the one after her.
She hurried out into the hall. She needed to dress in her uniform, needed to get Sasha and head to the train station soon. But she’d only made it outside Pandora’s bedroom door when Blake grabbed her arm.
He whirled her around and pulled her close to him. And then he was kissing her.
Her hands slipped up to the nape of his neck, and she held him there for a long moment, kissing him back. But then she moved her hands to his shoulders and pushed him away. Panting for breath, she said, “I didn’t call you here for that.”
“I know. You called me here to talk me out of following you tonight,” he said.
Heat rushed to her face. That had been one of her reasons. But Pandora was the biggest reason. She was always the biggest reason for everything Juliette did.
“Can I talk you out of it?” she asked.
“Only way I won’t be there is if you’re not,” he said.
“Blake, this is a bad idea...”
“I agree,” he said. “That’s why I think you should stay here—with her—with us...” And he lowered his head and kissed her again.
She wanted to stay—so badly. But his coercion reminded her of that last night in his hotel suite. And she jerked away from him. “I will never be your kept woman,” she said. “I have a job that I love. I’m not giving it up for you—to follow you around the world.”
Not even if he loved her. But of
course, he didn’t. If he loved her, he would understand her—and how much her job meant to her. But he didn’t even know her.
His voice a gruff whisper, he said, “Your job is dangerous enough when there isn’t a killer after you. But there is one. You need to be extra careful now.”
“I need to not be distracted,” she said. “If something happens tonight, it’ll be because of you—because you’re in my way. You’re the one who should stay here—with her.”
“In case you don’t come back?” he asked. “See, even you have a bad feeling about this.”
She did. But she wasn’t sure why. Maybe it was because she didn’t entirely trust that the young dealer had been telling the truth. Or that she didn’t entirely trust the new guy on loan from Wexton County.
The last thing she needed tonight was to worry about Blake, too. Most of her worry was about him, like maybe he was the one who was going to wind up getting hurt, and this time it would be more serious than a scratch on his handsome face.
She’d wanted to push him into going away—leaving the country. She knew she didn’t really want to lose him. She loved him. But she couldn’t tell him—not now—probably not even after the Groom Killer was caught.
Because if she confessed her love and he didn’t return her feelings, she would be more embarrassed than she’d been singing in front of him. No. She would be worse than embarrassed; she would be crushed.
* * *
Maybe Blake should have listened to her. Maybe he shouldn’t have shown up. If something happened because he’d distracted her, he would never forgive himself. And if Pandora ever learned he was to blame, she would never forgive him, either.
But he was being careful. From the bodyguards, he’d learned how to keep more to the shadows—how to make himself invisible. He wore a hat, the bill pulled low over his face, so that he wasn’t recognizable.
Juliette knew he was there, though. She kept glancing at where he sat in the chairs. Had he made a huge mistake in following in her here?
It seemed as if he just kept making mistake after mistake with her. He kept offending her when he didn’t mean to. All he wanted was to take care of her.
But to a woman like Juliette, one as fiercely independent and strong, he should have realized that was an insult. She didn’t need taking care of.
What did she need?
Her daughter. Her job. The killer caught...
What about him? Did she need him?
She’d pushed him away easily enough tonight. But then she’d known she had to leave—that she’d had to come here—because of that tip.
Would she have pushed him away if she hadn’t had to leave? Would she have pushed him away if he’d told her he was starting to fall for her?
His heart lurched as he realized that he already had. Hell, he’d fallen for her nearly five years ago during that incredible evening they’d spent together. He’d never connected with anyone the way he had with her, and not just physically or sexually but emotionally, as well. He’d told her things he’d never shared with anyone else.
Somehow, something about her had compelled him to trust her with his innermost thoughts and feelings. But then, when he’d learned she wasn’t who he’d thought she was that night and that she hadn’t told him about his daughter, he’d lost that trust. And with that trust had gone his feelings for her.
But watching her with their daughter, watching her do her job...
He’d fallen for her all over again. And loving her was why he was so determined to keep her safe. Maybe if he’d told her that, she wouldn’t have come here tonight.
But he doubted it. He doubted even his love could stop Juliette from doing her job. She loved it too much. And because he loved her, he never should have tried to get her to quit it. He should have supported her. Instead of trying to take her and Pandora away from Red Ridge, he should have told her he’d come back here—permanently.
Would any of that had made a difference to her? Would she have accepted his proposal?
What the hell had he done? He hadn’t proposed. He hadn’t asked her to marry him just to be available to him. No wonder she’d been insulted.
He’d made a mess of everything.
He needed to fix this. He glanced at his watch. It was too close to midnight to bother her now. He didn’t want her distracted. He wanted her totally focused on her job, especially tonight.
He had such a bad feeling about this potential bust. The informant’s tip was highly suspicious to him—that a user or some low-level dealer would know about a big shipment. Why would anyone have told him about it? It seemed like his boss would have worried that he’d either spill his guts or try to hijack the shipment.
But Blake knew nothing about drugs or police work. He did know about business, though, and that would have been like his telling the mailroom clerk about some electronics invention. He wouldn’t have done it because he would have worried that the kid would blab.
It almost felt like someone had wanted this kid to blab. Why? To make sure that Juliette would be here? To set her up? Was this an ambush?
He looked around the train station. Nobody looked like him—like he was trying to disguise himself. And the killer would have had to be wearing a very good disguise, or Juliette would have already recognized him. She kept looking uneasily around the station. But maybe the guy was waiting for her outside like he had at the bus terminal and the airport.
The bodyguards had the surrounding buildings covered, though. They were also watching the parking lot for anyone driving up. The knot of apprehension in Blake’s stomach eased somewhat. Nobody could get close enough to her for a bullet to strike her out there.
A distant whistle alerted him to the arrival of the train. Red Ridge was old-fashioned enough that their trains still had whistles. He glanced at his watch. A minute before midnight. There was the squeaking of brakes as the train began to slow down to stop at the terminal.
Juliette and Sasha stood near the doors through which everyone would enter the station. And that was when it struck him...
The only place he, the bodyguards and Juliette’s fellow officers didn’t have covered...
The train.
And with absolute certainty, Blake knew that it didn’t carry any shipment of drugs. It carried the killer. He was going to get off the train.
Blake jumped up from his seat and leaped over travelers’ bags to race across the station toward Juliette.
Her eyes widened with alarm as she saw him approaching. She’d told him to keep his distance. But he didn’t care. He couldn’t let her get shot.
“He’s on the train!” Blake shouted.
And just as he did, the doors slid open and a man stepped through them. He hadn’t seen him before. But he instinctively knew who he was. So did Sasha, because the beagle began to bark and snarl.
Blake jumped forward, diving toward Juliette. He needed to knock her down—needed to get her out of the line of fire. But in doing that, he put himself there—right before the shots rang out.
Chapter 24
It all happened so quickly. Juliette had had no idea why Blake suddenly charged toward her. He was shouting but she’d only heard the last word of what he was saying, “Train!”
Then she’d realized what he already had. The killer was on the train.
She’d drawn her weapon, but before she could fire at the man who’d stepped through the doors, Blake had knocked her down. Shots rang out. People screamed and ran for their lives.
She pushed Blake off her and returned fire. The man darted back through the open doors and onto the platform. Sasha’s leash had slipped from Juliette’s hands, so the beagle tore out after him.
Juliette turned toward Blake, who lay on his side next to her. “Are you okay?” she asked.
His head jerked in a sharp nod. “Yeah, yeah! Are you?”
She nodded.
Then he urged her, “Go! Do your job. Get that son of a bitch!”
Love swelled her heart. He couldn’t have said anything sweeter to her unless he’d professed his love. His confidence in her—in her abilities—was nearly as important to her as his loving her.
She rolled to her feet and rushed off after Sasha, letting her barking lead her past the train. He hadn’t jumped back inside, but Brand was moving through the cars as if he had. He was wasting his time.
She signaled at him as she ran. But she didn’t wait to see if he got off the train and followed her. She had to catch up to Sasha before the killer hurt the beagle again.
Or worse.
She hurried along the edge of the platform, past the train cars—beyond the circle of light from the station. Only a sliver of moon shone overheard now, casting a faint glow on her. She glanced down and noticed something on her arm.
Blood?
Was that blood?
If so, it had to be Blake’s. Had he been hurt?
He’d assured her that he was okay. Had he been lying? Or hadn’t he realized he’d been hit?
Her pace slowed as she considered turning back. But then a shot rang out, the bullet whizzing through the air near Juliette’s head. If she turned away now, the killer would shoot her in the back. And she wouldn’t be able to help Blake then—if he even needed help.
He’d told her to do her job. And she needed to focus on that now. She needed to stop the killer before he hurt anyone else.
Past the stopped train, she leaped off the train platform to the tracks below. The trainyard was pure dark down there—beyond even the glow of that sliver of moon. She couldn’t see anything, but she knew he was down here—somewhere.
As if understanding she needed guidance, Sasha barked again. Juliette let the sound of the beagle’s barking lead her farther from the station. She ducked low and peered into the shadows, looking for movement.
Where the hell had they gone? He hadn’t had that much of a head start on her. Finally she glimpsed a flash of white and brown as Sasha jumped up and down near a dark train car that sat beside several others on the trainyard. Maybe there had been a stash of drugs somewhere and Sasha had found it.
