The infant boy was sleeping in Thomas Watsons lap as the older man dozed in the recliner, and Niall was reviewing a chapter on pediatric medicine when he heard the ding of the elevator at the end of the hallway. He closed the book and set it on the coffee table, urging his waking father to stay put while he went to the door.
He heard Lucy McKanes hushed voice mumbling something as she approached and then a much louder, Oh, my God. Ive had a break-in.
Niall swung open his door and approached the back of the dark-haired woman standing motionless before her apartment door. She had turned silent, but he knew exactly what to say. Miss McKane? You and I need to talk.
Chapter Two
The man wasnt following me, Lucy chanted under her breath for the umpteenth time since parking her car downstairs. She stepped off the elevator into the shadowed hallway, trying to convince herself that the drunken ape whod offered to rock her world down on Carmody Street wasnt the driver of the silver sports car shed spotted in her rearview mirror less than a block from her condominium building a few minutes earlier. He wasnt following me.
Maybe if she hadnt spotted a similar car veering in and out of the lane behind her on Highway 71, she wouldnt be so paranoid. Maybe if her voice mail at work didnt have a message from her ex-boyfriend Roger that was equal parts slime and threat and booze.
Guess what, sweet thing. Im out. And Im coming to see you.
Maybe if it wasnt so late, maybe if shed felt safe in that run-down part of Kansas City, maybe if she wasnt so certain that something terrible had happened to Diana Kozlow, her former foster daughter, whod called her out of the blue yesterday after more than a year of no contactmaybe if the twenty-year-old would answer her stupid phone any one of the dozen times Lucy had tried to call her backshe wouldnt feel so helpless or alone or afraid.
Fortunately, the silver car had driven past when shed turned in to the gated parking garage. But the paranoia and a serious need to wash the mans grimy hands off her clothes and skin remained. He was not following me.
She glanced down at the blurred picture shed snapped through her rear window the second time the silver roadster had passed a car and slipped into the lane behind her on 71. Her pulse pounded furiously in her ears as she slipped the finger of her glove between her teeth and pulled it off her right hand to try and enlarge the picture and get a better look at the driver or read a possible license plate. Useless. No way could she prove the Neanderthal or Roger or anyone else had followed her after leaving the rattrap apartment building on Carmody, which was the last address she had for Diana. Not that it had been a productive visit. The super had refused to speak to her, and the only resident who would answer her questions about Diana was an elderly woman who couldnt remember a young brunette woman living in the building, and didnt recognize her from the old high school photo Lucy had shown her. Ape man had been willing to tell her anythingin exchange for stepping into the alley with him for a free grope.
None of which boded well for the life Diana had forged for herself after aging out of the foster system and leaving Lucys home. Lucy swiped her finger across the cell screen to pull up the high school photo of the dark-haired beauty shed thought would be familyor at least a close friendforever. Oh, sweetie, what have you gotten yourself into? she muttered around the red wool clasped between her teeth.
She glanced back at the elevator door, remembered the key card required to get into the building lobby.
Okay. The creeper didnt follow me, she stated with as much conviction as she could muster. And I will find you, Diana.
She was simply going to have to get a few hours sleep and think this through and start her search again tomorrow. Except...
Lucy pulled up short when she reached the door to 8D. The late-night chill that had iced her skin seeped quickly through the layers of clothing she wore.
Oh, my God. Ive had a break-in.
So much for feeling secure.
The wood around the locks on her apartment door was scratched and broken. The steel door itself drifted open with barely a touch of her hand. Lucy retreated half a step and pulled up the keypad on her phone to call the police. After two previous calls about Dianas failure to show up for lunch or return her calls, they were probably going to think she was a nutcase to call a third time in fewer than twenty-four hours.
Miss McKane? You and I need to talk.
Lucys fear erupted in a startled yelp at the succinct announcement. She swung around with her elbow at the mans deep voice behind her, instinctively protecting herself.
Instead of her elbow connecting with the mans solar plexus, five long fingers clamped like a vise around her wrist and she was pushed up against the wall by a tall, lanky body. Her phone popped loose from her slippery grip and bounced across the carpet at her feet. Her heart thumped in her chest at the wall of heat trapping her there, and the loose glove shed held between her teeth was caught between her heaving breasts and the broad expanse of a white tuxedo shirt. What the devil? Diana was missing, and she had no idea why her tall, lanky neighbor was glowering down at her through those Clark Kent glasses he wore.
Wow, she gasped, as the frissons of fear evaporated once she recognized him. No one else roamed the hallways this time of night except for him. She should have known better. Sorry I took a swing at you, Dr. Watson. She couldnt even summon the giggly response she usually had when she said his name and conjured up thoughts of medical sidekicks and brainy British detectives. Not when she was embarrassingly aware of his hard runners body pressed against hers. Nothing to giggle about there. The full-body contact lasted another awkward moment. I didnt hurt you, did I?
Of course not. Once he seemed certain she recognized him as a friend and didnt have to defend himself, Niall Watson released his grip on her arm and stepped away, leaving a distinct chill in place of that surprising male heat that had pinned her to the wall. I shouldnt have startled you.
I thought you...were someone else.
Who? Were you expecting someone?
I, um... She wasnt about to explain her paranoid suspicions about ape man or Roger and the silver car, so she covered her rattled state by stooping down to retrieve her glove and phone. Sorry if I woke you. Ive had a break-in. I thought this was supposed to be a secure building in a safe neighborhood, but I guess theres no place thats truly safe if someone is determined to get to you. Thats probably why I swung first. A girl has to take care of herself, you know. Id better call the police.
Niall Watsons long fingers reached her phone first. He scooped it up and tapped the screen clear. A 911 call wont be necessary.
Frowning at his high-handedness, Lucy tilted her face up. Why not? She was halfway to making eye contact when she saw the crimson spots staining his rolled-up sleeve. She stuffed her loose glove into her pocket, along with her phone, and touched her fingertip to the red stains on the wrinkled white cotton clinging to his long, muscular forearm. There were more droplets of blood on the other sleeve, too. Irritation vanished, and she piled concern for him onto the fears that had already worn her ragged today.