LITMIR.BIZ

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dropped it from the wheel and out of view.

      Just as well.

      She didn’t need to be pondering his marital status anyway. She turned away and watched the lush scenery as they drove around the area. After fifteen minutes, Derrick pulled up to a long row of garages for houseboat owners. He pressed the remote clipped on the visor, sending the end door rumbling up. Once inside, he sat staring ahead, as if unsure how to proceed. The awkward silence grew, and she searched for something to say. But what could she say?

      Sorry I bailed on you, on us, but now that I need you, please be there for me.

      Hardly.

      He drew in a long breath and exhaled as if he needed to fortify himself just to look at her before swiveling to face her. “If I’m going to help you, I need to ask a few questions.”

      “Okay,” she said hesitantly. Did he intend to ask about their past?

      “Tell me about tonight. About your friend. Give me exact details.”

      She rubbed hard calluses on her fingers from playing violin, the feeling familiar and comforting as she recounted the terrifying ordeal on Lilly’s boat as matter-of-factly as possible. “I can’t be positive the woman he shot was Lilly, but she’d never willingly leave Sophia alone.”

      “Must’ve been hard to lose her like that.” He lifted a hand, reaching for her as if he planned to touch her then dropped it to his knee.

      “I keep hoping she survived.”

      He lifted his hand again, and she was surprised at how much she wanted to feel his comforting touch, but he dug out his phone instead. “Kat’s husband, Mitch, is a homicide detective. Dani has already called him about your attack. If you give me Lilly’s address, I’ll have him head over there instead of to the mall.”

      “Homicide?” she asked, hating the finality of the word. “But what if I was wrong and Lilly’s alive?”

      “Even if she survived, which from the scene you described is not very likely, the investigation will be handled as an attempted murder, which means Mitch will work the case.”

      His brutal honesty when she wanted comfort felt like a slap in the face, and she jerked back.

      “Look.” His eyes softened. “I’m sorry for being so blunt, but I don’t want you to hold on to unrealistic hope.”

      He was right. She had to face this just like she’d faced Jon’s death and the attack in San Diego. Like she’d faced leaving Derrick so long ago. With courage and bravery. Sophia was counting on her. She had to be strong.

      She rattled off Lilly’s address and Derrick phoned his brother-in-law. She listened to his conversation and heard the professional lingo of a former cop roll off his tongue. She pictured him as an officer who would be compassionate, caring, yet hard-nosed and one who would fight for justice. For the downtrodden, as he’d chosen to do early in life after the drunk driver who killed his birth parents got off with a slap on the wrist. He’d even majored in criminal justice in college.

      Though she hadn’t been in touch with him since college, she’d kept tabs on him through mutual friends. She knew about the years he’d served as a police officer—and the decision he’d made to leave that career behind after his adoptive parents were killed. Along with his twin and his three adopted siblings, he’d formed a private investigation agency, first to find the people responsible for their parents’ deaths, and then to help others in need. And now he was helping her.

      “Thanks, Mitch.” He disconnected and stowed the phone. “He’ll check out Lilly’s house. We can wait inside to hear back from him.” Derrick paused and seemed to consider his next words carefully. “I don’t think we were tailed, but we’ll pretend we’re on a date again while we walk in. Just in case.”

      She opened her mouth to protest, and he flipped up his hand. “Don’t worry. I won’t kiss you again. But I am going to put my arm around you, and you’ll have to suffer my touch one more time.” He jerked open his door and quickly climbed out as if he needed to get away from her.

      She shifted Sophia to her shoulder, and as she stepped down from his SUV, she grabbed his jacket. When she joined him at the door, he took the jacket and covered Sophia then slipped his arm around her back. His warmth seeped into her body and, she hated to admit, the attraction she’d felt since the first day she’d seen him in psychology class seeped into her heart.

      He didn’t seem to notice. His eyes alert and watchful, he hurried them through the lot and across the gangway to a floating home much larger than Lilly’s boat. Inside, Gina took a moment to look around. She’d once thought floating homes were cramped like a boat, but in Derrick’s home, floor-to-ceiling windows made the room look large and inviting. The spacious kitchen with full-size appliances and connected to a large family room made it feel like a regular house.

      He crossed to a gray sectional and shoved a padded ottoman into the corner. “Your daughter should be fine on the sofa as long as one of us is in the room.”

      “About that,” she said, feeling a need to clarify. “Sophia is my niece—Jon’s daughter. His wife died in a car crash when she was seven months pregnant, but they were able to save Sophia. I stepped in to help raise her. When Jon also died a few months ago...” Feeling no need to elaborate, she quit speaking.

      “I’m sorry for your loss.” His words carried an understanding that came from losing his parents when he was not even eleven years old.

      “Thank you,” she said and quickly moved on before she started getting weepy. “I’m thinking the man who attacked me tonight is the same man who killed Jon. I was hoping you’d help me find him.”

      Derrick ran a hand over his damp hair that curled at the edges and seemed to mull it over. She caught sight of his bare ring finger and immediately squelched the joy that knowing he was single brought.

      “Since this is going to be a long discussion,” he finally said, “I’m gonna put on a dry shirt and get one for you before we get started.” He didn’t wait for agreement before turning away. As he climbed the stairs, he pulled out his phone and called his sister Dani.

      True to course, he phoned his twin whenever he had a big decision to make. Apparently he hadn’t changed after all. After her unexpected reaction to discovering he was single, she’d best watch herself or she’d find herself falling for him all over again.

      And she’d be hurt again. After so much pain in her life already.

      She pressed a kiss on Sophia’s downy curls. A moment of sadness lingered for all they’d both lost. Her sister-in-law dying, Jon’s murder. Now Lilly.

      Tears Gina had kept at bay since last night burned at the back of her eyes, and she hugged Sophia tighter. When she heard Derrick pad down the stairs, she forced down her grief.

      If she’d learned anything from her father’s lack of affection and from men who couldn’t put her first in life, it was never to let them see her vulnerability.

      After settling Sophia on the sofa, Gina watched as Derrick came into the room wearing a body-hugging T-shirt and a deep scowl. One hand shoved in his pocket, he carried a worn flannel shirt in the other. When he got close enough, he tossed it to her as if he hated to think of touching her again.

      “I’ll keep an eye on Sophia while you change. There’s a bathroom down the hall.” He tipped his head at a hallway near the far end of the family room.

      She clutched the nubby fabric that smelled just like him and hurried to the bathroom, where she stripped off her shirt. Her eyes drifted to the mirror and fixed on the large purple bruise on her shoulder courtesy of last night’s attack. She quickly slipped into Derrick’s shirt and hugged the comforting fabric close. She didn’t like their past issues adding turmoil to this already difficult situation. Still, she lifted her head and prayed that Derrick would stay close by so the man who’d put this ugly bruise on her shoulder and likely killed Jon and Lilly wouldn’t come anywhere

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