Chapter Thirteen

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

"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?"

"About me endangering Megan."

Jason knew where this was going and tried to stop her, but Lilly was obviously determined to be heard.

"It's not only irresponsible of me to stay at your house," Lilly conceded, "it's selfish. And it's wrong."

Oh, how a few days could change things. A week ago he would have jumped at the chance to have Lilly far away from Megan. Now he wasn't jumping. Well, not that kind of jumping, anyway. "Please don't tell me you're even thinking about leaving."

"I shouldn't be just thinking about it. I should be doing it."

"No, you shouldn't."

"You think I want to do this?" she asked. "It'd break my heart to leave, but if this is the way to keep Megan safe, then I'll start packing as soon as we get back."

Jason glanced at her. "And you're letting Erica's opinion convince you to do this?"

She turned in the seat to face him. "Erica only stated the obvious."

Okay. He had some talking to do here. He only hoped he was persuasive enough. "Think this through, Lilly. If you leave, what's to keep this monster from trying to use Megan to get to you?" Jason didn't stop there. "And what if your ploy works? What if by leaving, the killer comes after you and succeeds? What then? Greg's already dead, so you've essentially made Megan an orphan."

"She has you," Lilly pointed out after she swallowed hard.

"She has you, too, and it'll stay that way. There's no safe place. Not for Megan. Not for us. The only thing we can do is work together to catch this guy. That's it."

Lilly shook her head, turned back around in her seat so they no longer had eye contact. "I want to agree with you, because I want to be with my daughter, but I think we have to consider my leaving as the right thing to do."

Jason didn't miss that be with my daughter part. He couldn't blame Lilly for not including him. Heck, he couldn't even include himself.

Not for a real, permanent commitment anyway.

But maybe something else.

Less than a half hour earlier, Lilly had admitted that she was attracted to him. He was attracted to her. They even cared for each other. To what extent that caring was, he didn't know. However, he did know that they both loved Megan.

Maybe that was enough.

Maybe with Erica's legal threat, it had to be enough. This was definitely a united-we-stand kind of situation.

"We could get married. For Megan," he suggested. Jason didn't even look at Lilly. He kept his attention fastened to the road. However, he had no doubt he'd just shocked her to silence.

Unfortunately he didn't know how to continue after that. Since they'd kissed and come close to having sex, such a proposal might seem an insult. Of course, offering her a real relationship would be a lie. He cared for her. But they weren't in love with each other.

Still…

He glanced at her to see if she was dumbstruck at his pseudo-proposal, but instead she had her attention fastened to the side mirror. There wasn't alarm in her eyes, but just the fact that she was staring at it had Jason whipping his gaze at the rearview mirror.

There was a car behind them.

Not a maroon four-door. Thank God. It was dark green, and it had heavily tinted windows so he couldn't see the driver inside. It was the only other vehicle on the road. And it was following a little too closely for his comfort.

Hell.

Was this yet another threat? Was this the person who was after Lilly? And had he already let him or her get the advantage by getting so close?

Testing a theory he didn't want to prove correct, Jason sped up a little. So did the other car. And then he knew for a fact that this was not going to be fun.

"Is your seat belt on?" he asked Lilly.

"Yes." He didn't have to see her face to know what she was feeling. He heard the fear and the concern in her voice. He tossed her his phone. "Call for backup and get down on the seat."

The words had hardly left his mouth when the car behind them sped up. But it didn't just involve speed. It was a lurching motion, and the vehicle rammed into them, jolting their SUV forward so that Jason had to fight to maintain control.

His adrenaline level was already high, but that sent it soaring. He went into combat mode and hoped his training and blind luck would be enough to get them through this.

There was another ram. Harder than the first. Then another. Jason cursed. His SUV jerked to the right when he strayed onto the rim of the sidewalk. He corrected and then corrected again so that he wouldn't broadside a car parked on the otherwise empty residential street.

He forced himself to stay focused. Forced himself to rely on his training. Especially since it might be minutes or even longer before backup arrived. He scanned the area to make sure there were no more im mediate threats or innocent bystanders who could be hurt. It was as clear as it possibly could be: no bystanders, which also meant no witnesses. Whoever was in that car behind them probably knew that.

"Should I try to drive so you can shoot at him?" Lilly asked.

He didn't have to think about that. "Too risky." Jason wasn't just referring to discharging his firearm in a residential area, either. He was referring to Lilly. Her body probably wasn't strong enough to make the switch to the driver's seat, much less keep control of the SUV.

And speaking of keeping control, Jason latched on to the steering wheel to brace himself for the next slam. It wasn't a moment too soon. The car behind them crashed into the back bumper, and Jason let the forward momentum careen him into a side street. Fighting with the steering wheel, he spun his vehicle around, screeched to a stop and drew his weapon.

"Get down on the floor!" he shouted to Lilly.

Thankfully, she listened, though by getting onto the floor, it didn't mean she was safe. Not even close. Bullets could easily penetrate the metal and glass, and she could be hurt.

Or worse.

Jason was counting heavily on that worse not happening.

Using the meager cover of the steering wheel and the dash, he ducked down just slightly in the seat and slid his finger over the trigger. He was ready to fire.

Ready to kill, if necessary.

But he didn't get a chance to make that kind of life-and-death decision. The other vehicle didn't wait. The driver slammed on the accelerator and sped away.

Jason threw off his seat belt and jumped from his SUV. He aimed his weapon and got off one shot. The bullet hit the back tire, but the driver kept on going.

He re-aimed and was ready to deliver a second shot when he saw a female jogger move onto the sidewalk right next to the escaping car.

Cursing, Jason lowered his weapon. He wasn't finished. He was going after the SOB responsible, and one way or another, this would end now.