by Karen Foley
“Who would do such a thing?” She swiped a hand across her eyes. “And why?”
“We’ll find the person who did this,” Jason assured her. “We already have a team working it.”
“We have to go. Now.” She rose quickly, feeling a little panicky. “I need to book a flight. He’ll need me there with him.”
“Already done,” Jason said, standing also. “We depart from Richmond airport in two hours. Do you need to go home and pack anything?”
“Yes.” Her mind whirled with all the things she should do before she left, but there was no time. She needed to get to her father’s side. She could make some calls on the way to the airport. She’d talk to Patrick Dougherty and recommend another attorney for Devon Lawton. Then she’d call Arthur MacInness, and explain what had happened and let him know she’d likely be gone for several weeks. The rest would have to wait until she reached San Francisco.
“I’ll drive you to your house, and then we’ll head to the airport.”
“Thank you.” She swallowed. “Did you— Have you seen him?”
Jason shook his head. “No. I got the news just before midnight. An hour later, Deputy Marshal Black and I were on the red-eye from San Diego.”
Caroline could hardly believe her ears. “Why?” she asked. “Why would you come straight here, when you could have gone to San Francisco to be at my father’s bedside?” A small part of her—the part that still held on to girlish fantasies—wondered if he might have come directly to her because, on some level, he did care for her. But in the next instant, those childish thoughts were banished.
“Caroline,” he said patiently, as if she really were no more than a child, “the U.S. Marshals Service is charged with providing protection for federal judges.”
“Yes, I understand. But my father is a judge in San Francisco, and your district is San Diego. Are you saying that you’ve been assigned to protect him?”
He gave her a humorless smile. “No. I’m here to protect you.”
She stared at him, uncomprehending. “Me? But why?”
“Until the assailant is captured, we have to assume the judge’s life is still in danger. It’s standard protocol to assign a protection detail to immediate family members, as well.”
She shook her head, unwilling to accept what he was telling her. She didn’t want Jason to protect her. The news of her father had left her feeling vulnerable and emotionally ragged. She didn’t want Jason to see her like this. Having him witness her fear and grief was far too intimate.
“But why you? This is out of your jurisdiction. Why wouldn’t you assign a marshal from the San Francisco district to protect me?” She couldn’t keep the strain out of her voice. “Why does it have to be you?”
Jason’s expression darkened. “Because despite the fact you clearly don’t give a shit about your old man, you’re the single most important person in his life,” he said, his voice hard. “Call it a professional courtesy. I’m doing this for him, not for you. I owe him that, at least.”
* * *
JASON GLANCED AT the woman who sat beside him in the car, tense and unhappy. She’d hardly spoken during the long flight from Virginia to San Francisco. Not that he blamed her. He hadn’t been overly sympathetic to her.
Even his deputy had given him a look that would have withered most other men. But he and Colton had worked together for more than five years, and the other man was as close to a friend as he’d probably ever have. He glanced into his rearview mirror, noting the unmarked car that carried Colton and another deputy. Between the three of them, they would provide around-the-clock security to ensure Caroline’s safety.
The Caroline Banks he’d once known had changed. Gone was the sweetly passionate teenager who’d worn her heart on her sleeve. In her place was a coolly assured woman whose brittle demeanor and aloofness he hardly recognized. If his own manner toward her had been on the cool side, it was because she’d made so little effort to come home to visit her father. She’d been home once in the past five years. Judge Banks never complained, but Jason knew it hurt him. Caroline was his only child. While Jason loved the judge like a father, they weren’t family. His own frequent trips to San Francisco couldn’t make up for the fact that his daughter never came to visit.
Physically, she’d changed, too.
Her blond hair was darker than he remembered, layered with wheaten and caramel strands, and her normally tanned skin was pale, as if she hadn’t seen the sun in years. Yeah, she’d really put the California girl behind her when she’d cut out for the East Coast. Whenever he thought about Caroline—which was far too often, considering how much time had passed since he’d last seen her—she was always wearing a bikini or some skimpy outfit that showed way too much skin. The woman sitting next to him wore a pantsuit that had probably cost more than his monthly rent. She was so buttoned-up and conservative that he had a difficult time reconciling her with the exuberant girl of his memories.
But one thing hadn’t changed. His reaction to her had been immediate and so powerful that he’d had to draw on all his professional training to keep his emotions concealed. For just an instant, when she’d looked up at him in the lobby and their gazes had collided, he’d seen shock, then something that looked like hunger, in her eyes before she’d swiftly schooled her expression.
He’d been unprepared for how time and maturity had refined her beauty, sculpting her features and softening her curves. Caroline Banks had been an exceptionally pretty teenager. Now she was a drop-dead gorgeous woman, and the first thought that had steamrolled through his mind was that he’d completely blown it all those years ago when she’d asked him to be her first.
Realistically, he knew he’d done the right thing turning her away, but the knowledge that she’d likely had numerous lovers in the ensuing years bugged the hell out of him. Clenching his jaw, he told himself again—as he’d done a hundred times since—that he’d had no other choice.
Now he glanced at her as they parked near a rear entrance of the hospital, where several California state troopers stood near the doors. Her eyes widened, and she turned to look at him.
“Are they here for my father?”
“Until we catch the perpetrator, they’ll provide twenty-four-hour protection.”
“Why? Do you think whoever shot him will want to finish the job?”
Jason heard the underlying anxiety in her voice.
“That isn’t going to happen. We have our best men standing guard outside his room.”
He’d give his own life before he let anything happen to Judge Banks.
Or to Caroline.
“Thanks,” she said, nodding stiffly.
“Are you ready?”
She drew in a deep breath. “Yes. I think so.”
But moments later, standing by her father’s bedside, Jason knew she hadn’t been prepared for the sight of William Banks lying still and unresponsive, attached to a dozen monitors and tubes. Even Jason, who had seen numerous victims, found it unsettling.
Without the sparkle of his blue eyes or the energy of his personality in evidence, the judge looked old and frail. His mouth was slack, and his silver hair was in disarray. Above the thick bandage on his chest, his skin was stained orange from the surgical antiseptic. Jason noted traces of blood remained on his neck and jaw from the splatter of where he had been shot. Anger swirled through him, building and gathering like a dark storm. They’d find the person responsible, and he’d make sure they paid for what they had done to William. For what they had done to Caroline. For what they had done to him.
* * *
CAROLINE SAT BY her father’s bedside for the next several hours. At first, she’d just wept silently, but then she’d composed herself and covered his hand with her own, talking to him in soothing tones, despite the fact he was in a deep coma. She’d removed her jacket, revealing
a white blouse that was so sheer, Jason could see the lacy outline of her bra beneath it. Her blond hair had begun to come loose from the clip she used to hold it back, and he liked how the tumbling locks made her look less aloof. If he’d had any doubts that she loved her father, it was dispelled by the expression he saw on her face as she held his hand.
Finally, she leaned forward and pressed a lingering kiss against his forehead before rising to her feet. She glanced at Jason, then turned away and swiftly swiped her fingers across her cheeks. She picked up her jacket from where she had draped it across the arm of her chair and pivoted to face him. Jason was relieved to see she’d dried her tears. When she cried, he had an almost irresistible urge to drag her into his arms and comfort her.
“So what now?” she asked quietly. “The doctor said the next forty-eight hours are critical.”
She wanted him to reassure her that the judge would pull through, that he’d make a full recovery. But Jason couldn’t do that. He’d read the medical report. William had lost a tremendous amount of blood and had been in full cardiac arrest when they’d brought him into the emergency room. His injuries were so grave that the doctors had put him into a medically induced coma. He’d suffered brain damage, but they wouldn’t know the full extent of impairment until he regained consciousness.
If he regained consciousness.
Jason didn’t want to think about that. Everything he had—his education, his career and even his outlook on life—he owed to the judge. Losing him would be worse than losing his own father. And if he felt that way, he could only imagine what Caroline was going through. Seeing how hard she tried to camouflage her emotions and put on a good face made him feel a surge of sympathy for her.
“You know, it’s okay to cry,” he said. “You don’t need to hide your feelings from me.”
She gave a disbelieving laugh. “Oh, yes, I do. I absolutely do.”
Before Jason could respond, a nurse walked into the room and began to change the judge’s IV drip.
“Stay here as long you’d like,” he urged Caroline. “I’ll wait outside in the hallway.”
She hesitated. “Would you like to spend some time alone with him? After all, he’s as much your father as he is mine.”
For just a moment, Jason was too surprised by her perceptiveness to respond. He hadn’t been the only troubled youth who’d benefited from the judge’s generosity, but he knew he was one of the few who’d maintained a close relationship with him over the years. While others had used their friendship with her father to advance their own careers, Jason had genuinely loved the older man and had enjoyed spending time with him. Even after he’d joined the U.S. Marshals Service, and his future had been secure, that hadn’t changed. But he wasn’t going to do Judge Banks any good by standing vigil at his bedside. Not when the person responsible was still out there, maybe hoping to finish the job.
“Thanks,” he said, “but if you’re ready to go, then so am I. The best way I can serve your father is to protect you.”
For a moment, she looked taken aback. “You’re serious. You think my life is in danger.”
“I have to make that assumption.” He gestured toward the bed. “But you can stay with him for as long as you’d like. I’m not going anywhere.”
She shook her head “No, that’s okay. It’s getting late, and he doesn’t even know I’m here. I’ll come back in the morning. I think I’d just like to go home.”
Jason knew she meant the house in Sea Cliff, where she had grown up. “I’m afraid that’s not possible,” he told her. “The house is an active crime scene, and the investigators are still gathering possible clues.”
“Oh.” Her brows knitted together as she considered this. “Okay. Then I’ll find a hotel.”
“I already booked a suite of rooms for us at the Fairmont. It’s close to the hospital, and the security there is excellent.”
Jason saw something like panic flash in her eyes. “Us?” she repeated.
“Until this thing is over, I’m your personal protection detail,” he reminded her. “Where you go, I go.”
“Like a bodyguard? Is that really necessary?” Caroline clenched her hands at her sides, and her voice sounded a little desperate. “You said yourself that the security at the hotel is excellent. It’s my father who needs the protection, not me. Why can’t you just stay here, with him?”
“Not an option,” he said grimly. “There are two men standing guard outside the room and two more downstairs. Your father is secure—my job is to ensure your safety. If you’re ready to go, we’ll leave.”
“Oh, my God, this is crazy,” she muttered and rubbed a hand over the back of her neck. The movement caused her blouse to stretch tautly across her breasts, and Jason tried not to notice the faintest shadow of her nipples beneath the lacy fabric of her bra. After a moment, she sighed. “Okay, fine. I’ll stay in a hotel if you insist, but I’d like to stop by the house first. I want to see where my father was shot.”
Jason hesitated. He was sworn to protect her at all costs. And not just from physical danger. Seeing her father fighting for his life in a hospital was bad enough. Witnessing the evidence of the violence that had sent him there, splattered across her front porch, was another thing altogether. He didn’t want her exposed to that kind of ugliness.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
He watched as her eyes narrowed and she tipped her chin up in a gesture that he remembered too well. “I’m not a child anymore, Jason.”
He hadn’t even seen the crime scene, although he had a good idea of what to expect. But she had been sheltered and pampered her entire life. Neither her expensive education nor her law degree would have prepared her for the rawness of what he suspected awaited her at her father’s house. But he was beginning to understand that she was right—she was no longer a child, and there were some things even he couldn’t protect her from.
“Fine,” he said in a clipped tone. “Let’s go.”
With a satisfied nod, she pushed past him and strode into the hallway, leaving him with no choice but to follow her. Just outside the hospital room, he paused to withdraw a small surveillance earpiece from his pocket and insert it, ensuring communication with the rest of his team. As he adjusted the earpiece, he didn’t miss how the two guards sitting outside the hospital room followed Caroline’s progress with their eyes. Not that he blamed them. She was a beautiful woman, and her hips swung enticingly with each determined stride. She’d taken about ten steps when she stopped and turned.
“Are you coming?” she demanded. “How are you going to protect me if you can’t even keep up with me?”
Without waiting for a reply, she continued toward the exit. Jason exchanged a knowing look with the two guards before following her. As he reached her side, he acknowledged soberly that while he could protect Caroline from whatever dangers might lie in wait outside the hospital, he wasn’t sure he could protect her from himself.
3
AS THE CAR drew up in front of her father’s house, Caroline could feel Jason’s eyes on her. She knew that he was unhappy with her request to view the crime scene. She couldn’t explain to him her need to see where the horrific event had happened, to be able to visualize what had occurred when her father had answered the door. She hoped, too, that maybe she could help the investigators. Perhaps she would see something they had overlooked.
But whatever she had expected to see, it wasn’t the police cruisers and unmarked vehicles parked in front of the house and in the driveway. Several news vans were parked along the street, and it was only the quick action of the police that kept the reporters from mobbing their car as they pulled up to the curb.
Although it was just past six o’clock, it was still light outside, and Caroline could see the yellow police tape that surrounded the residence.
The sight of so many law en
forcement personnel seemed incongruous, given the affluent neighborhood of mansions and meticulously manicured lawns. Crime in this area was virtually unheard of, and Caroline couldn’t believe anyone would have the nerve to commit such a heinous act in full view of the street, the neighbors and anyone else who might be watching. Of course, it had been close to midnight when the crime had occurred, so the likelihood of any witnesses was slim to none. Her father had always preferred to stay up until the wee hours of the morning.
“Maybe it was just a random act. He liked to stay up late, so maybe someone saw his light on and just chose him arbitrarily.”
She didn’t realize she’d said the words aloud until Jason thrust the car into Park and turned toward her.
“Everything indicates he was targeted.”
“But why? He’s a good man—the best. Why would anyone want to hurt him?”
He didn’t answer, shifting his attention toward the house. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
Caroline followed his gaze to where several officers stood near the wide front porch, watching them. She recognized Deputy Black, who had followed them to the house in a separate car. Unlike the other men, he stood vigil near the sidewalk and scanned the surrounding area as if on alert for any unseen threat.
“I need to do this,” she finally answered, reaching for the door handle.
As she approached the porch, she was conscious of Jason’s protective bulk close by her side. The other officers stood back and allowed them to pass. Caroline climbed the steps slowly, aware that her heart was thudding hard in her chest. The front door was open, and she could see two more men standing inside the house. Nothing could have prepared her for the sight of the blood.
