Assumed Identity

chapter Ten



Jake pulled a T-shirt on over his jeans and reached for the pair of socks he’d laid out on the sofa. “Hey, you.” One of the socks had tumbled over the side onto the blanket where Emma lay beneath an arched baby entertainment center. But instead of batting at the plastic animals dangling overhead, she’d found the plain white sock and was noshing on that as if it was her favorite toy. “Trade you.”

He knelt down to gently pry the sock from her fingers. She fussed a little, and while he was beginning to learn that the soft coos and protesting noises were just her way of communicating, Jake still got a knot in his stomach at the sound of distress and quickly guided her hands up to the blue cat hanging over her head. When she buzzed her lips in satisfaction, Jake smiled.

Jake Lonergan, babysitter. Not a job title he ever would have imagined for himself.

He tilted his head toward the soft humming coming from the shower in the master bedroom. “Your mama’s pretty skin must be pruning by now. Good thing you and I ate breakfast before she got in there.”

Emma’s blue eyes looked right at him and he imagined her smile was a “yes” to his conversation. With the Carter girls both temporarily occupied, Jake finished dressing.

He’d already showered and come back to the family room in his shorts and jeans to watch Robin sleep for a few minutes until he heard Emma fussing over the baby monitor and he’d leaned down to wake Robin with a kiss. He could see she was tired, despite a smile and a “Good morning.”

If surviving his nightmare and a round of lovemaking with him on a couch didn’t wear a woman out, then single parenting did. She’d pushed her hair out of her eyes and glanced at the antique clock on the mantel with a weary sigh. “Is she awake already?”

Jake heard the words coming out of his own mouth even before he’d fully thought them through. “If you get a bottle ready for her and trust me to change a diaper, I’ll feed Emma breakfast while you take a bath or whatever you need to do.”

“Really?” Robin had sat right up, clutching the sheet to her naked breasts. “A long, hot, private shower where I don’t have to have Emma in her carrier in the bathroom with me? You’d do that?”

“If you trust me with her.”

“Always.” Robin had gathered the sheet around her like a sarong, stretched up to kiss him and run down the hallway to the nursery before he fully comprehended what his offer might mean to the woman.

“Take your time,” he’d called after her. A man couldn’t turn down a response like that any more than he’d been able to turn down Robin’s whispered request a couple hours earlier. She’d rolled over on the sofa just before sunrise and asked if he had another condom in his bag. Making love that second time had been slower, sweeter, saner, yet no less earthshaking than that first wild ride on the sofa had been.

For a man who didn’t want to care about anything or have any connections to anyone, he was already in pretty deep with these two.

The phone in Robin’s kitchen rang before he got the first sock on. With a quick glance down the hallway to verify that the water was still running in the shower, he got up and went to the kitchen to answer it. “Yeah?”

“Is this the Carter residence?” The man’s voice sounded familiar, but Jake wasn’t taking any chances that this was one of those harassing phone calls like Robin had received at her shop.

“Who’s asking?”

“Spencer Montgomery, KCPD.” Jake carried the cordless receiver back to the family room so he could keep an eye on Emma. “I take it this is Mr. Lonergan?”

“Yeah.” He didn’t bother explaining why he was at Robin’s home this early in the morning. Nor was he going to tell the detective that she’d been soaking in the shower for the past twenty minutes. “She isn’t available right now. Can I take a message?”

“Actually, I’m looking for you.”

Spencer Montgomery didn’t strike Jake as a man who did polite chitchat, either. “What do you need, detective?”

“I just got a call from the DEA asking about you. The database search I ran on you flagged in their system.” Jake pulled out his beat-up black satchel and unzipped the pocket that held the badge with J. Lonergan emblazoned on it. “Your picture in the morning paper put you on somebody’s desk.”

“Morning paper?” Jake slipped the badge into his jeans pocket and opened the Kansas City Journal that he’d pulled from Robin’s mailbox during his early morning reconnaissance of the place.

“Check page three. You’re getting to be a regular legend in the city.” Yeah, like a Bigfoot sighting.

Jake tucked the phone between his shoulder and ear and spread the paper open on the coffee table. “Ah, hell.”

There he was, in black and white. The bastard who’d taken his picture from the speeding car must have been Gabriel Knight. Or someone who’d sold the picture to the reporter. Is this the city’s unsung hero?

The detective gave him a few seconds to let the image and caption below it sink in. “Looks like the Ghost Rescuer has finally been unmasked. Although it doesn’t look like Gabe Knight got a very flattering picture of you.”

There were no flattering pictures of him. Jake quickly skimmed the article. Still no name listed, but if a blurry, nighttime photograph was enough for Spencer Montgomery to recognize him, then it wasn’t unreasonable to suspect that someone who knew him well would recognize him, too. It wasn’t exactly a forgettable face. Worse yet, with Robin’s Nest Floral Shop painted on the awning behind him, they’d know exactly where to come find him.

Or who they could use to get to him.

Jake closed the paper and pushed to his feet again. “Who called from the DEA?”

“A Charlie Nash. You know him?”

Jake tried to envision a name and a face. But all he came up with were blanks. “No.”

The running water at the back of the house finally stopped. He could imagine Robin’s sleek, wet body stepping out of the shower. He could see her pale skin blushing pink as she toweled herself dry from head to toe. She was a practical, cotton pajama kind of woman, but he couldn’t imagine anything sexier than Robin Carter naked.

And now he had to leave her.

That would be what the cagey, self-preserving survivor in him would do. The DEA knew he was in Kansas City? Then he had to go. If he was on the DEA’s radar, he must be wanted for something.

Emma squealed at his feet, excited by the red and blue animals swinging over her head. Jake knelt down beside her to still the hanging toys. She batted at his big finger and he turned it into her palm, letting her latch on and pull it to her mouth for a sweet, slobbery lick. She buzzed her lips against his skin and they both smiled.

Right. Like he could leave this one alone and unprotected with a clear conscience.

A sense of inevitable doom sank like a rock in Jake’s gut. The violence from his past was closing in, and now these two women might get caught in the retribution for whatever horrible things he’d done.

“Agent Nash says he’s flying in later today from Houston. He wants to meet with you.”

Montgomery had to be giving him a heads-up for a reason. Maybe he was fishing for information, too. “Did he say why?”

“Nash said it had to do with an investigation he couldn’t discuss with me.” Jake stood at the detective’s telling pause. “Why would the DEA be interested in you, Mr. Lonergan?”

“I honestly don’t know.”

Jake pulled out the badge and traced his thumb over the letters that could have been carved in Cyrillic, for as much as they meant to him. He considered the passports in his bag that said he’d been in and out of the country several times—to countries with known drug trafficking. A tough guy—a killer—like him would be just the kind of enforcer any one of those cartels hired. His chest hurt. Two weeks ago, news like this would have sent him packing to a new town where he could hide until whoever was tracking him lost their lead and gave up.

But two weeks ago, he had no ties to anyone. Two weeks ago, he hadn’t given his word that he’d keep the Carter girls safe.

Two weeks ago, he hadn’t been in love.

Ah, hell.

“Lonergan?”

“I’m here.”

“Does Robin Carter know what kind of man you are?”

After yesterday and last night, he didn’t suppose there were any more secrets between them. “Yeah.”

“Do I need to advise you to walk away?”

“Wouldn’t do you any good.” If the DEA could track him down, that meant others could, too. It also meant that whoever was terrorizing Robin might become harder to identify if there were more than one threat circling around them. “Montgomery?”

“Yes?”

“I promised Robin I’d provide protection for her until these threats stop and you catch the man who attacked her.”

“I’m listening.”

“If something should happen to me, would you be willing to supply back-up? I need to know they’ll be safe.”

The detective held things pretty close to the vest, so it was hard to get a good read on whether he was an ally or an enemy. But Jake was betting that Montgomery would put solving his case ahead of whatever suspicions he might have about Jake. “You can call me. I have a feeling Ms. Carter is important to our task force investigation.”

“Thanks.”

“What should I tell Agent Nash when he shows up?”

“Tell him I’m busy.”

Jake disconnected the call and set the phone on the coffee table. He pulled out his go-bag and armed himself. Knife. Gun. Spare magazine in his pocket.

“Jake? Did I hear the phone?” Robin appeared at the end of the hallway, wrapped up in a fuzzy white robe and towel drying her hair. “Has something happened?”

“Are you sure you have to work that wedding today?”

She draped the towel over her shoulder and went straight to Emma to pick her up. She hugged the baby protectively against her chest. “It’s my job. The Vanderhams are good customers. You didn’t answer my question. Did the person who’s been harassing me find my home number?”

Thus far, the sicko calling Robin and sending her those threats had acted anonymously. Even the night she’d been assaulted, and when she’d been locked inside that refrigerator, the coward had waited until she was alone to attack. Surely, he wouldn’t change his MO now and try something with all the people who would be around her at a wedding.

“No.” He threaded the knife sheath onto his belt while she waited for an explanation. He’d promised to answer her questions, but wasn’t sure if telling her the DEA was now looking for him would inspire the kind of trust he needed from her if the threat escalated and he needed to take action to keep her and Emma safe. He opted for a half truth. “Detective Montgomery called while you were in the shower.”

“Did he find the man who attacked me?”

“Not yet. But he did stress that you were important to his case. He wanted to make sure you had sufficient protection.”

“I have you. Right?”

Damn straight. He tucked the Beretta into the back of his belt, wanting quicker access to it than what the ankle holster allowed. “Can you take care of Emma now?”

“Of course.”

“Good.” He dropped a hard, far-too-brief kiss on her mouth and headed for front door. “Then I’m going to walk the grounds and check the car, make sure everything’s as secure as it needs to be while you get dressed.”

She and Emma followed him right to the door. “You’re doing it again. What did Detective Montgomery say? Why are you arming yourself like this?”

“You can’t change a man overnight, Robin.” As soon as the harsh tone left his mouth, Jake regretted it. He pulled his hand from the doorknob and touched her damp hair, apologizing. “You can’t...fix me. I got a feeling something bad is coming. You have to let me do what I know how to do.”

* * *

“OVER HERE, LEON.” Robin waved the man carrying the second part of the Vanderhams’ altar arrangement up to the front of the church. The younger man tilted his head to peek through the stand of red and white roses to find the step, and Robin hurried down to help him. She grabbed one end of the arrangement’s brass base and helped him steer around the pulpit. “This goes inside the ring I’ve already set up. Careful.”

He heaved it onto the center of the altar. “Don’t let those cascading ones get caught underneath.”

“Got it.” It took several more minutes to make sure all the flowers were set properly. Robin pulled out a couple of broken red stems. “We’ll need to replace these. Run out to the van and bring in the box of spares.”

“Um...” Leon nervously ran his fingers inside the collar of his uniform. “There’s nothing else in the van. I must have forgotten that box.”

“You forgot? I specifically wrote that down on the manifest. How many things have to disappear before—?” A muted rumble of thunder rattled the stained-glass windows and Robin shivered. Lordy, she was jumpy today. And she was already running behind schedule setting up for the ceremony.

“I’m sorry, ma’am. Do you want me to drive back to the shop and get some?”

Robin eased a calming breath through her nose. “No, I’m sorry. There isn’t time for that.” She glanced over at Emma in her carrier on the first pew, sleeping peacefully through the hubbub. Oh, to be stress-free like that right now. She turned to Leon and apologized again for snapping at him. “We’ll make do.”

True, setting up for the Vanderhams’ renewal ceremony required a lot of work in a short time frame, but that wasn’t why she was so short-tempered this afternoon. She glanced to the back of the church where Jake stood outside in the lobby by the front doors, keeping an eye on both the interior and exterior of the building. Beyond the church’s open front door, the overcast sky threatened rain, driving some early arrivals inside the lobby, where they mingled, waiting until her staff cleared the sanctuary. More people for Jake to watch and worry about, she supposed. Maybe that explained the grim impatience lining his features.

His ice-blue gaze met hers. He held up his wrist and pointed to his watch. Right. He was antsy about something she was certain he hadn’t shared with her. That hyperalertness made her edgy, too. Maybe she should give Detective Montgomery a call to find out just what he had discussed with Jake to send him into commando mode.

She turned back to Leon and smiled. “I’ll pull stems out of the back and fill in where they’ll show in the wedding pictures.” What was one missing box of long-stemmed red roses, anyway? In her mind, the decorations already looked like the floral blanket awarded to a Kentucky Derby winner, so it wasn’t like she didn’t have enough flowers to work with. “I’ll take care of this. Go ahead and start cleaning things up. The wedding starts in an hour.”

Leon quickly gathered up all the discarded tissue paper that had been wrapped around the arrangements. She couldn’t blame him for being eager to leave. “Anything else?”

“Maybe check with Mark to see if he needs help?” She nodded toward the offices turned dressing rooms on the far side of the lobby. “He should be delivering the bouquets by now.”

“Yes, ma’am. Do you want me to go ahead and close up the van and move it?” He was looking toward the front doors, too, where a couple had just stepped in with an umbrella. “It’s starting to rain.”

“Sure.” She watched him drop the wad of tissue onto the plastic drop cloth they’d put down to protect the carpet while they set up. He’d rolled up the plastic about halfway down the aisle when Robin realized something was off. “Wait.” She counted off the sprays of roses and carnations decorating the end of each pew. “You said the van was empty?”

Leon’s green eyes narrowed. He was getting defensive again. “Yeah?”

She pointed to the remaining rows of undecorated pews. “Where are the rest of my flowers? Does Mark have them in the back somewhere?”

“I can ask him.”

“Never mind. You finish here and take care of the van. I’ll find Mark.”

Robin cursed the ticking clock and hurried down the aisle ahead of Leon. As soon as she stepped onto the marble tiles in the lobby, Jake moved from his post. He wrapped his hand around her elbow and pulled her away from the people coming in the front door.

“Are we done?” he asked. A couple of twentysomething women pointed to Jake, although he didn’t seem to notice. But when one of them whispered the phrase, “Ghost Rescuer,” his grip tightened and his shoulders expanded with a controlled breath. “I’m ready to leave anytime.”

“Not yet.” Robin pulled her arm from his grasp and searched the gathering crowd. “I promise I’m moving as fast as I can. I need to find my assistant.”

“Bow-tie guy?”

Robin swung her gaze up at the apt description. “Yes. Mark. Have you seen him?”

He pointed to one of the two closed doors at the south end of the lobby. “Ladies’ dressing room.”

“Thanks.” When Jake fell into step behind her, Robin turned and braced a hand at the center of his chest, offering him a wry smile. “Ladies’ dressing room,” she emphasized.

No wonder he was so eager to follow her. The two women weren’t the only ones who’d noticed the big man dressed in jeans and a black T-shirt at the formal event. Robin observed at least two other groups chatting and pointing. Either they recognized Jake from that unfortunate picture in the newspaper this morning, or they were simply curious about why a man like him was attending a Kansas City society event. At least she’d convinced him to return his weapons out of sight beneath his pant leg, or else they’d really be talking. Or calling 911.

“Sorry about all this.” She knew the spotlight was the last place where this man wanted to be. She gave him a way out for a few moments. “I left Emma sleeping up front. Do you mind getting her so she’s not by herself?”

“Where will you be?”

“Tracking down someone who’s not doing his job. Don’t worry. I won’t leave the church.”

Robin dodged out of the way of flinging raindrops as a man in a pinstriped suit shook off his umbrella just inside the front door. Brian Elliott. Of course he’d show up at a gathering like this. Half his investment business was to see and be seen by Kansas City’s wealthiest and most influential people. She recognized the woman with him as his executive assistant. Robin exchanged a polite wave and kept moving. She didn’t need the kind of drama or delays Brian could bring into her life right now if she stopped for a conversation.

She’d been through two of the three carved-panel doors earlier in the day, helping the groomsmen pin on their boutonnieres and delivering the rosebuds Chloe Vanderham’s hairdresser was pinning to her hair. Robin knocked on the last door, expecting to step inside to find gushing bridesmaids and Chloe’s mother helping the bride get into her celebration gown.

Instead, she found three women in pink dresses and the mother of the bride standing in a circle around Mark Riggins, talking over each other as they looked at the pictures he was showing them on his phone.

“That’s pretty.”

“How about something for a dinner party?”

“All I need is the color palette or theme you want.”

“I can get it for that price?”

“Mark?” Robin interrupted. “What are you doing? We’re not finished in the sanctuary.” She nosed her way in to Mark, dispersing the group. “Do you have the rest of those flower sprays?”

Mark shut down the internet connection on his phone, but not before she’d gotten a glimpse of the bouquet he’d been showing them. He tucked the phone into his shirt pocket and patted Robin on the shoulder. “Relax, boss lady. Chloe ordered twelve sprays of roses. I put up twelve sprays.”

“I’m sure it was twelve down each side,” she argued in a hushed voice.

“Twenty-four?” He shook his head, gently correcting her. “Your order said twelve.”

No. Robin was certain that Chloe’s ruby-red excess had demanded flowers on each and every pew. She knew she’d been distracted with the assault and subsequent threats, but she’d also been a successful businesswoman for several years now. Success didn’t happen if she made costly mistakes like writing orders incorrectly.

Still, in front of the client wasn’t the place to decide whether she was losing her business acumen—or whether she was losing it, period. Robin inhaled a deep breath and tugged Mark toward the door. “Then come help Leon clean up. The ushers are already out there, ready to seat people.”

One of the attendants in pink stopped them on their way out the door. “Mark, do you have another card?” She hurried after them, waving a business card. “I can share them with my friends.”

Business card?

“May I?” Robin borrowed the woman’s card and read the decorative script. Mark Riggins: Affordable Flowers for Any Occasion. “What is this? This is your own website.”

Mark glanced over his shoulder at the guests in the lobby and tried to push Robin back into the dressing room. “It’s just a mockup of a card I designed.”

Robin planted her feet in the doorway and held her ground. “You’re working for me, but promoting your own business at a Robin’s Nest Floral event? Oh, my God. You never talked to the distributor, did you? Have you been stealing my product and selling it as your own?”

Three pink ladies and a glaring Chloe Vanderham gathered to watch the confrontation.

“You’re overreacting.” Mark pulled his card from Robin’s hand and handed it back to the attendant. “Can we have this discussion in private?”

“How is finding out that you’ve been stealing from me and my shop overreacting?”

With a noisy huff, Mark grabbed Robin’s arm and dragged her into the empty office next door. “You’re making a scene.”

A public argument at an event like this wouldn’t be good for her business, either. Robin shoved her fingers through her hair and paced across the small office to the edge of the desk there. “Please, Mark. We’ve been friends for a long time. Do you deny it?”

He locked the door and followed her to the desk without denying a thing. “It’s not that big a deal. I’ve borrowed a few items from the stockroom. I had some successful events while you were gone with the baby. It’s good publicity for your shop.”

“No, it’s good publicity for your online floral company.”

“Well, clearly I can run the business without you. I’m ready to branch out.”

“But you don’t run the business.” Robin had to put some space between them before she either smacked him or burst into tears at this betrayal. “You’re not responsible for paychecks. You don’t pay the bills. I do.”

She barely heard the soft knock on the door. “Robin?”

“That’s stealing, Mark.” She looked up into those gentle features that had been a part of nearly every working day for almost a decade now. “It hurts me to say this, but I have to fire you.”

He raised his hands in a placating gesture and closed the gap between them. “We can work together. Let me develop an online presence for you.”

“No.” She swatted his hands away when he grasped her shoulders. “How can I trust that you won’t keep cheating me?”

A louder knock shook the door in the frame behind her. “Robin. Is everything all right?”

Jake. Of course, he’d be worried about her being out of his sight. “I’ll be right out.”

Angry color was creeping above the neck of Mark’s bow tie. “Would you keep your voice down? We both have clients here.”

Of all the nerve. Robin pointed two fingers at him. “You owe me at least two thousand dollars. Either you repay every cent or I’m going to press charges.”

Mark snagged her wrist and squeezed it in his grip. “Press charges?”

“I’m giving you the option because of our friendship, but you know I’ll do it.” She tugged against his hold, but he wasn’t letting go. “Do you know how stressed I’ve been with all the crazy stuff happening around me? I trusted that you were taking care of my shop when I couldn’t be there. I thought you had my back.”

“I wasn’t hurting anybody.”

The sharp crack of splintering wood spun them both around as the door swung into the room and Jake stepped inside. He looked from Robin to Mark, who instantly released his grip on her, and back to Robin. “Everything okay?”

Mark sputtered beside her. “You just broke a door in the church. Who’s paying for that? Me, I suppose?” He tried to make a quick exit, but Jake was blocking the open doorway. He glanced over his shoulder at Robin and his slender shoulders sagged. “Add it to my tab.”

It wasn’t until she nodded that Jake stepped aside. “I’ll have my lawyer contact you.”

When Mark turned and walked out into the crowd of curious onlookers, Robin followed him to the door and clung to the splintered frame around the lock, scarcely aware of the organ music turning the guests’ attention back to the sanctuary. She drew in a heavy breath, wishing she felt better about knowing the truth. “One mystery solved.”

“Mark was cooking the books?” Jake came up behind her, cupping her shoulders. Robin leaned back against his solid strength. “Do you think he could have attacked you?” Jake asked against her ear. “Maybe to get you out of the way so he could recover any proof of his embezzlement?”

“I don’t know. Mark doesn’t seem like the violent type. Sneaky, yes—but swinging a baseball bat?” She turned when she could feel Jake stewing about something behind her. “What? Do you recognize Mark from the attack?”

“No, but...” Answer the question, Jake. No more secrets, please. He squeezed her hand where it rested against his chest. “Stay here.”

“That’s not an answer.” The crowd parted as Jake moved through it. He caught up with Mark Riggins on his way out the side door to the street. Something Jake said—or maybe the hand clamped over Mark’s shoulder—convinced him to turn around and come back into the office where Robin waited. “What are you doing?”

“Not a nice guy, remember?” Jake shoved Mark into the room, closed the door, then pushed Mark back against it, pinning him to the carved panels with a forearm pressed against his throat.

“Jake.” She tugged at his arm, but it wasn’t budging.

“What, you haven’t humiliated me enough?” The forearm caught beneath Mark’s chin and lifted him onto his toes. “Robin, call off your thug before he breaks my neck. That’s going to leave a mark.”

“I can do something worse if you don’t answer my questions,” Jake threatened. “Understand?”

Mark nodded.

“Jake?” Robin was more worried about Jake getting into trouble than Mark’s comfort. “You said he didn’t attack me.”

“A few nights ago, I followed you around the corner from Robin’s shop and saw you selling an envelope of photographs to a man wearing gloves.”

“You followed me?” Jake’s arm and Mark’s common sense quickly silenced that protest. He nodded.

“What pictures?” Like those horrible threats she’d been receiving in the mail? Mark had something to do with that? She didn’t know her friend at all, apparently.

“Who were those pictures of?” Jake prompted. “Robin?”

Mark glanced at Robin as his cheeks turned red from a dwindling oxygen supply.

“Tell him,” she ordered.

“Emma. They were pictures of Emma. I’m so sorry.”

“You sold pictures of my daughter?” Robin felt her own face heat up. She was livid. He got a break on cheating her business. But exploiting her daughter? “To some stranger?”

“Not lewd ones. Nothing illegal. Just pictures of her sleeping, or in her swing.” Mark didn’t seem to know whom he should be more afraid of. “The guy wanted them for his sister. She lost a baby and was really sad. He thought the pictures would cheer her up.”

“What guy?” Jake demanded.

Another terrible thought had Robin turning about the room. “Where’s Emma?”

“I left her with Shirley, the lady from your shop,” he assured her before resuming the inquisition. “What guy?”

“I don’t know his name. He came to the shop a couple of times while you were on maternity leave. Bought flowers. Paid cash. Left pretty quickly when he found out you weren’t there.” Mark’s face was as red as the checks on his tie now. “I was getting the money to pay you back. To get some cash back into the accounts before you figured out what I was doing.”

“Can you describe him?” Robin asked, as anxious to get eyes on her daughter as she was to find the truth. “The police can ask you these questions, too.”

“I don’t know. Brown hair. Business suit. Too buttoned-down and uptight for my tastes.” Robin tugged on Jake’s arm again, and this time he let Mark go. She grabbed Mark by the scruff of his starched collar herself and opened the door. She swept her gaze through the lobby, searching the line of waiting guests for one in particular. “There.” She pointed to Brian Elliott, leaning down to hear a comment from his assistant. Mark knew Brian, didn’t he? She’d dated Brian Elliott for almost two years before she’d broken it off. What other man in a suit showed up at her shop on a regular basis? “Is he the man you sold the pictures to?”

“No.” With Jake flanking his other side, she didn’t think Mark was lying. “Are you going to tell the police about this?” Mark dropped his voice to a pleading whisper after she released him. “Please. Yes, I was skimming business away from you—but I wouldn’t do anything to hurt Emma.”

Brian’s questioning gaze found hers across the lobby, but she quickly shook her head and turned away. She never answered Mark. She was deep in thought, thinking through all the men she knew. And how far too many of them, like every male guest here, wore business suits. Robin looked from acquaintance to acquaintance, from stranger to stranger, in the lobby, wondering if any man here had an interest in her and her daughter.

While she was distracted by wary suspicion and fear, Jake scooted Mark along his way toward the door again. “Get out of here. And if you’re thinking of skipping town before you pay the lady back, I will find you.”

Mark scuttled away, ignoring the curious looks and questions from the people he passed. He even blew off Leon when he stormed past him out the door.

Robin jumped at the brush of Jake’s fingers against her back. “Now, can we go?”

She had a very bad feeling. Like the answer to whoever had threatened her was right here under her nose. Only she wasn’t seeing the right picture. Only one thing would reassure her now. She spotted Shirley chatting with one of the ushers next to the table where Emma’s carrier sat. “Emma?”

Jake guided her through the line of guests to the table set up beside the vestibule doors. “I’ll get your coat and her bag. Be right back.”

Robin thanked Shirley and dismissed her as Jake fetched their things. It almost made her smile to see that he’d set Emma’s carrier on the Vanderhams’ gift table. Emma truly was a gift in Robin’s life, and the thought Mark taking pictures, of a stranger wanting to buy those pictures—of anyone wanting to separate Robin from the child who’d given her her first taste of true love—filled Robin’s eyes with tears, instead.

But the smile won out when Emma saw her and squealed a happy laugh.

“Hey, sweetie. Are you watching all the people...?” Robin’s voice trailed away when she saw the moisture on Emma’s cheek. But Emma wasn’t crying. Robin immediately wiped off the cool wetness. There was a smear of something on her pink-and-white blanket, too, as though someone with a dirty wet hand had touched it.

“Jake?” Her knees wobbled. Who had touched her baby? She looked back and forth. There were lots of people coming in from the rain with wet hands or moisture on their clothes. Who could resist that sweet face, sitting there and cooing, as the guests dropped off their gifts and cards and wandered past? Only, she had a feeling this wasn’t some curious, cooing auntie who’d touched her child. “Jake?”

“What’s wrong?” Jake draped her raincoat over her shoulders and positioned himself between Robin and the clamoring crowd.

“Ms. Carter?” a woman’s voice called over the white noise of all the conversations in the crowded vestibule.

Robin ignored them all and lifted the soiled blanket away from her daughter. “Oh, my God.” The breath seized up in her chest. Robin tossed the blanket aside and reached for the hand-sewn doll that had been tucked into the carrier with Emma.

“Where did that come from?”

Robin shook her head. “It isn’t hers.”

She picked up the doll. Like the blanket and Emma’s cheek, it was soaking wet. Robin turned the unwanted gift in her hand. If she had found it in a craft store, she would have admired the even stitching and calico fabric. But everything about this gift was a vile incursion into her family, a threat that had literally touched her daughter. Who brought a doll to a wedding? This couldn’t be accidental. “Who did this?”

She glanced up at Jake for answers, but he was searching the crowd, too.

“Ms. Carter?” Chloe Vanderham was pushing her way through the crowd.

When Robin saw the venom in her expression, she turned away from the impending confrontation. Her hand bumped against the carrier and the doll fell onto the table. The calico pinafore flipped up and Robin saw the name embroidered across the doll’s chest.

Hailey.

“Robin?” Jake caught her when her knees buckled and wound his arm around her waist to keep her upright. “Stay with me. We’ll figure this out.”

“That’s her birth name. Hailey is Emma’s birth name. Bill Houseman—he said it was a matter of life or death that I talk to him.” Robin’s vision clouded over. She had to put her hands on Emma to make sure she was safe. “I never did.”

Chloe Vanderham was upon them now. She drummed her ruby-red nails on the white tablecloth beside the baby carrier.

Robin didn’t care that her client was unhappy. “Did you see who was with my daughter?”

“Are your people done?” Chloe wore a dressing gown over her long slip and petticoats. “The rain is already ruining my day, and all your drama is turning it into a disaster.”

“I’m sorry, but this isn’t her doll. There have been threats.... Did anyone see who gave it to her?” Robin looked all around, but now people seemed less interested in broken doors and spotting folk heroes from the newspaper, and more interested in getting away from the temperamental bride-to-be. Thunder rumbled overhead, punctuating Robin’s disappointment. She splayed one hand over Emma’s tummy and held on to Jake with the other. She wasn’t going to find any more answers here today. She wasn’t going to feel safe, either. “We’re finished.”

“Good. Now, please, both of you—” Chloe glanced down at Emma. “All of you—leave.” She snapped her fingers and nodded to ushers in their black tuxedoes. “Get everyone seated. More guests are coming in. And tell Paul I’ll be late coming down the aisle.”

“I’m sorry. I...” But Chloe was already sweeping back into her dressing room with a huff. “Take me home, Jake.” Robin reached for the vile doll. “I need to get Emma out of here.”

“Wait. Don’t touch it again.”

“I’m throwing it away.”

“Don’t.” He wrapped the doll up in the discarded blanket and closed his fist around it. He picked up the diaper bag that had fallen to the floor. “Do you have a plastic bag in here? The police may be able to get some kind of DNA off it.”

Robin nodded. “Do we need to call KCPD? Or is it time I used Bill Houseman’s card and ask him what he knows about this?”

“We’ll send the cops after Houseman. Right now, I think we need to get out of here and find someplace friendlier and quieter where we can—”

“Talk things out?”

That firm mouth almost twisted with a grin. “Something like that. Let’s go.”

After bagging up the doll and blanket, Jake hiked the diaper bag onto his shoulder and cupped his hand beneath Robin’s elbow while she covered Emma with a clean blanket and picked up the carrier. Robin was thanking a gentleman for holding the side door open for them when Jake pulled her back inside.

“What are you doing?”

“This way.” He lengthened his stride, pushing a broad path through the guests in the lobby.

“But the SUV we rented is parked out back.” Robin had to quicken her pace to keep up with him. “I don’t mind a little rain.”

“We’re taking the scenic route.”

“No, we’re not.” Robin tried to slow down, but he simply pulled her against his hip and cinched his arm around her to keep her moving at his speed. She was starting to learn how to read these sudden defensive maneuvers of his. “What did you see? What’s happening?”

The rain hit her face and soaked through her hair to her scalp. Jake barely gave her time to pull the blanket over Emma’s head before pulling the carrier from her grasp and hurrying them into a jog around the corner away from any main entrances.

“Jake,” she protested as they crossed a gravel alleyway and entered the rear parking lot. “You’re scaring me. I thought we agreed that you’d let me in on whatever’s going on in that mind of yours.”

“The empty place that can’t remember anything? Or the scary part that thinks we’re being followed.”

“Followed?”

He punched the remote to unlock the car and set Emma in the backseat. “Get this thing attached.”

With a soft curse, Robin moved in front of him and situated Emma in her car seat while Jake turned a slow 360 degrees behind her. She tried to steal a few glances around them, too, but saw no one. Just empty parked cars. “Who’s following us? Mark? I’d be happy to tell him he’s fired again.”

“It’s not Riggins. It...may have nothing to do with you.”

“What?”

“You get in, too.” As soon as she finished, Jake pulled her back and shut the SUV’s rear door. In the same fluid movement, he opened the passenger door and lifted her onto the seat. “I thought I recognized someone in front of the church.”

Robin latched on to his hand before he could pull away. “You said you don’t remember your past.”

“Not that far back. Ever since that Ghost Rescuer stuff hit the papers, I keep seeing someone watching me. And I don’t think he wants my autograph.” He set the diaper bag in her lap. “Is your cell phone in there?”

“Yes.” While she unzipped the bag and pulled her phone out, she tried not to let his vigilant sweep of the parking lot and streets beyond unnerve her too much. “Who is it? The Rose Red Rapist? Does he think you can stop him? Is it a reporter? The man Mark sold the pictures to?”

“I don’t know.” Once she had her phone in her lap, Jake dropped the car keys into her palm and curled her fingers around them.

Rain drops beaded on his face as he stood just outside the door and his icy eyes searched her face. “Jake?”

He brushed the damp hair off her cheek and tucked it behind her ear. “Just remember. I tried to be a good guy for you and Emma.”

She turned her cheek into his palm. “You are.”

He nodded, but she didn’t think he looked like he believed what she did. When she opened her mouth to argue the point, he leaned in and kissed her. He stamped his possession on her lips and she gladly accepted the claim. The kiss was hard and brief, and filled with something more poignant than goodbye.

“Lock this tight and stay put,” he ordered as he pulled away. “Call 911 if anything spooks you before I get back. If you don’t see me in five minutes, drive to KCPD and show Montgomery the doll.”

“If I don’t see you...?” She reached for him, but he was already closing the door. “Where are you going?”

“To introduce myself.”

Robin watched Jake head toward the corner of the building. The rain made dark stains on the shoulders of his T-shirt. He shifted his gun from his ankle holster to the back of his belt. He looked dangerous and determined and she wanted him back with her now. So she felt safe. So she knew he’d be safe, too.

Once he was out of sight, she checked her watch and marked the time. Five minutes.

What did he mean by I tried to be a good guy for you and Emma? Had he decided not to be a hero? What was he planning to do with that gun, anyway? Why was he kissing her goodbye?

She knew how to be alone. She knew how to take care of herself—and Emma. But that didn’t mean she wanted to be alone. She’d opened up her heart to the secretive, wounded beast who was different from any other man she’d known. He was passionate. Protective. Moody. He could be gentle as a lamb or ferocious as a lion. She trusted him. She needed him. She might even love him.

No. There was no might about it. “He needs us, Emma,” she whispered out loud. “And we need him.”

Emma squealed her agreement.

But what kind of woman put her faith in a man who was so—?

“What the...?” She saw the young woman coming up behind the SUV in the side-view mirror and the internal debate stopped. Strange. Despite all the cars parked around them, there wasn’t another soul around. And suddenly this woman was here, standing in the rain when everyone else had dashed inside. Where had she come from? What did she want?

Robin’s pulse kicked up a notch as the woman’s sunken blue eyes locked on to hers in the mirror. There was something familiar about the dripping swing coat and straight dark hair. But she couldn’t place her as one of the Vanderhams’ guests. The woman touched her fingers to the rear fender of the SUV and trailed them along the wet black metal as she walked along its side.

Was she homeless? Had she been in accident?

“How do I know you?” Robin breathed. Even the rain falling around her seemed familiar. Outside the shop. The night of the assault. “That’s it.”

Recognition dawned, but brought little comfort. This was the same woman she’d seen watching the shop from across the street that night. Watching her. No. “Oh, God.”

Watching Emma.

Robin scrambled to turn around in her seat. “Get away from my baby.”

The woman stopped beside Emma’s window. She smiled as she braced both hands against the glass and looked inside the vehicle. “Do you like your new toy? Mama made it just for you.” Her eyes widened like saucers in her gaunt face. “Where is it? Where’s your dolly?” Robin was on her knees, facing the woman when she smacked her palm against the glass. “What did you do with it?”

The sharp sound startled Emma, and after a beat of silence, she burst into tears.

With Robin temporarily forgotten, the woman tapped on the window, trying to get Emma’s attention. “No, baby. Stop crying.” She felt all around the window, looking for a way to get in. “Baby? Don’t cry.”

“It’s okay, sweetie.” Robin reached over the back of the seat to take Emma’s hand. But she only got louder and redder and more upset. “Back away from the car, please. You’re frightening my daughter.”

“That’s my baby! You don’t deserve her.” Giving up on the window, the woman grabbed the door handle and rattled it. Thank God it was locked up tight. “I want my baby!”

When she reached for the front door handle, Robin leaned back and hit the horn. “Jake!” Please come back. She honked three more times and Emma’s unhappiness grew louder. “It’s okay, sweetie. We’ll be okay.”

“Hailey!” Emma’s birth mother? The strange woman was a stranger no more. “Stop crying, baby.”

Tania Houseman tried all the doors, rocking the SUV as she fought to get inside. Five minutes had passed. With the celebration in full swing inside, and the rain falling steadily outside, it seemed no one could hear Robin’s pleas for help. “Leave us alone. You’re not supposed to be here.”

She pushed up higher in the seat to follow Tania’s uneven walk as she staggered away from the car. Was she leaving? Was this freak encounter over? Robin lost sight of Tania for several precious seconds as she stooped down.

When she finally stood back up and turned toward the car, she held a fist-sized rock in her hand from the alley. “Hailey!”

Robin didn’t think. She simply acted. She dove over the back of the seat and threw her body over Emma as Tania hurled the rock at the window.

The blow chipped the glass and Tania disappeared from sight again. While the disturbed young woman reloaded, Robin unbuckled Emma from the car seat and pulled her into her arms. She hunkered down as close to the floorboards as she could get, in case the window shattered. “Shh, sweetie.”

Emma’s cries filled the car as Robin flipped open phone and pressed 9.

“You should have died in that alley,” Tania yelled. She pounded at the glass with another rock. “You don’t deserve her.”

The glass splintered into a web of cracks and Robin pressed 1.

“I’m taking my baby.” Tania raised the rock again.

A big black figure swooped up behind her, grabbed her arm and shook the rock loose. Robin whispered a grateful prayer as Jake twisted Tania’s arm behind her back and pushed the woman’s face up against the window of the SUV.

“Is the kid okay?” Jake shouted through the glass.

Robin could only nod.

“Call Montgomery.” Jake pulled Tania Houseman’s coat down her arms, and twisted the sleeves to anchor her arms behind her. “I think we found your stalker.”