A Baby Before Dawn (9 page)

Hand in hand, they crossed Atlantic Avenue. Chase was keenly aware of Lily’s hand, small and warm within his. Midway down the block, he spied a six-level parking garage.

“This looks like a good place,” he said.

“What about the security guard?” Lily pointed to a windowed booth where a lone attendant read a book.

“That’s why they make back doors.”

“I was afraid you were going to say that.”

Chase was familiar with the garage; he’d parked here once or twice before, when he’d had business downtown. It was always packed with vehicles. The key was going to be finding one that was unlocked. People were so damn security conscious these days.

They crossed a quiet side street to an exit where a row of three mechanical arms stood in the down position. Ducking under the farthest arm, Chase led Lily to the rear of the garage where he went from car to car, checking each for an unlocked door.

He tried six cars before finding one that wasn’t locked. The four-door Toyota sedan wasn’t his vehicle of choice; he much preferred good old-fashioned American engineering and a gas-guzzling, muscle-car engine, but it would do in a pinch.

“No keys,” Lily pointed out. “How do we start it?”

He couldn’t help it; the way she’d used the word “we” made him grin. Standing there in her scrubs and swollen belly, she did
not
look like a car thief. “That’s the easy part.” He opened the passenger door for her. “Hop in and belt up.”

Lily settled herself into the passenger seat. Giving the parking garage a final sweep, he opened the driver’s side door and went to work on the ignition wiring beneath the steering column. “I never liked these foreign electronics.”

“Makes stealing a car so inconvenient,” she muttered.

Just then, the starter kicked and the engine turned over. “Ah, that’s my girl.” Chase slid onto the seat, strapped in and put the car in gear. “Next stop, Shane’s.”

Chase didn’t want to go there. He didn’t want to be indebted to his half brother. After what Shane had done to him eighteen years ago, Chase didn’t care if he ever saw him again. But he would have to put the old hurts of a ten-year-old boy aside. With Lily’s life at stake, neither of them had a choice.

“It’s out of the city,” he said. “You’ll be safe there. And it will give me the chance to get to the bottom of this.”

“Must be our lucky day.” Lily had reached into the console. Smiling, she pulled out a cell phone that was plugged into the cigarette lighter charging.

“Looks like I picked the right car, after all.”

The words were barely out of his mouth when he noticed the glint of headlights ahead. A car coming up the ramp at a fast clip. Too fast to be just another parking-garage patron.

“I think we’ve got trouble.”

“Is it them?”

“That would be my guess.”

The roar of an engine filled the garage. Tires screeched against the concrete floor as the car sped around the corner. It would be upon them in seconds.

“Here they come.” Chase rammed the car into gear.

Lily stared at the shifter in horror. “Why can’t we just duck?”

“If we don’t get out of here now, we never will. Hold on.” Praying he could get past the jammed streets, he floored the accelerator.

Lily was no fan of speed. She much preferred slow and steady and the assurance that she would get to her destination in one piece. Chase, on the other hand, didn’t seem to know anything but one speed when it came to any vehicle equipped with an engine: fast. For the first time since she’d known him, they were in full agreement.

The Toyota jumped out of the parking space so fast she was thrown against her seat back. Headlights came at them from the right. Chase spun the wheel left. Tires screeched as the Toyota slid sideways. The next thing she knew they were zipping along the up ramp at freeway speed.

A glance over her shoulder told her the driver behind them was no slouch when it came to speed, either. The car seemed to appear out of nowhere, gaining on them at an astounding rate.

“They’re catching us!” she cried, torn between wanting to get away and wanting to slow down.

“Not for long.”

At the top of the ramp Chase jerked the wheel hard to the right. The vehicle fishtailed, its left rear quarter panel slamming into the concrete barrier wall. The instant the tires grabbed purchase, he gunned the engine and they flew up to the next level.

“What are we going to do when we reach the top?” she asked.

“We go down and pray there’s not another car in the way.”

That left a little too much in the hands of Lady Luck for Lily’s taste, but she didn’t have time to voice her concerns. Chase took the car up another level, around another turn, tires screeching, engine revving so fast she thought it would blow.

By the time they reached the top, the car pursuing them had fallen behind, but only marginally. Chase kept his eyes on the rearview mirror and drove like a madman. An instant before they began their descent, he reached into the waistband of his jeans and pulled out a pistol.

“Take this,” he snapped.

“You’re kidding.”

“Put your hand out the window and fire off a few shots.”

Lily stared at him, incredulous. “I’ve never fired a gun before in my life.” But she took the gun.

Chase already had her window lowered. “We just want to slow them down.”

The weapon felt cold and deadly in her hand. Lily turned in her seat. Chase made a sharp right turn, throwing her against the safety belt.

“Do it,” he said. “Now.”

Lily was right-handed, but she couldn’t get a good angle, so she turned in her seat and put the weapon in her left hand. No time to aim. No time to think about repercussions. She pulled the trigger. The retort and the kick startled her so much she nearly dropped the weapon. But she didn’t. Gripping it with a hand wet with sweat, she fired off two more shots. Chase accelerated down the ramp, his eyes flicking from the rearview mirror to the garage ahead.

The vehicle behind them spun left and then right, coming to an abrupt stop crossways on the ramp.

“Got ’em,” Chase said.

Even though the men pursuing them meant them harm, the thought of shooting another human being made Lily feel sick. As if realizing the route her mind had taken, Chase glanced her way. “You shot the engine block,” he said.

“Are you sure?”

“I saw the smoke. You did good.”

Unable to hold the gun any longer, Lily dropped it onto the floor at her feet. She felt nauseated. Felt like crying. Simultaneously, anger coursed through her. Because anger was safer than falling apart, she held on to it for dear life.

Chase’s voice curtailed her thoughts.

“Lean forward,” he said. “Put your head down, lace your hands over the back of your head.”

A few yards ahead, Lily caught a glimpse of the mechanical arm. No time to argue. No time to debate the wisdom of crashing through the arm at breakneck speed. Thinking only of the baby, she leaned forward and braced.

An instant later, the car crashed through the arm. Chunks of wood flew in all directions. The vehicle bucked wildly as it flew down the final ramp. The tires barked against asphalt as the car went over a dip and then screeched onto the street. Chase cut the wheel hard to the right. Lily looked up, certain they were about to go into a spin. But Chase fought the wheel and managed to maintain control.

They hit traffic at Atlantic Avenue, but Chase took the Toyota over the curb and onto the sidewalk, laying on the horn to get two unwitting pedestrians out of the way. He crashed through a closed newspaper kiosk to get around a stalled delivery truck. Canvas and paper and fragments of wood billowed past the passenger window. Lily held on for dear life as he jumped the curb a second time and took them back onto the street.

They didn’t speak until they reached the Charlestown Bridge on the north side of town. Stranded cars and delivery trucks were parked along the roadway like discarded Tonka toys, but the bridge was open. Chase took the loop to Interstate 93 and headed north toward New Hampshire.

“Should be clear sailing from here,” he said.

Lily didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. If she laughed she would surely become hysterical; if she cried she might not be able to stop. She wasn’t sure which would be worse. So much had happened in the past few hours. Her life had changed drastically. Not only because she’d faced death, but because a man she’d thought was out of her life forever was back, and her heart was telling her nothing had changed.

Too many emotions jammed her heart, overwhelmed her mind. All the old feelings were still there, like a dormant fever, waiting to erupt. He was a good man. He’d saved her life multiple times tonight. But he’d also been one to bring danger into her world. Most troubling of all was the knowledge that he’d introduced that same danger into her baby’s life, too.

How could she have such powerful feelings for a man who would undoubtedly bring worry and pain and possibly future danger into her life?

Lily didn’t know what to do. She didn’t know what to feel. Emotions coiled and churned inside her like a cauldron of acid eating her alive. As they sped past the state line into New Hampshire, the dam finally broke. Leaning forward, she put her face in her hands and began to cry. Not just a little, but great shaking sobs she felt all the way to her belly. She wasn’t sure why she was crying; tears never helped anything. But exhaustion and fear and adrenaline had a way of breaking a girl down. Combine that with her conflicting feelings for Chase and she had an emotional meltdown on her hands.

“Lily.”

Chase’s voice carried over her sobs, broke into her thoughts. But she couldn’t answer. Didn’t want to look at him. He was an astute man, and she wasn’t exactly sure what her expression would tell him.

“Honey, what’s wrong? Are you in pain? Is it the baby?”

Taking a deep breath in an effort to regain control of herself, she risked a look at him. If she hadn’t been crying, she might have laughed. Of all the harrowing experiences they’d weathered, he looked most frightened at this moment.

“The baby’s fine.”

“What is it, then?”

Not sure how to answer, Lily wiped her eyes and turned to the window. A breath shuddered out of her and the sobs subsided. But she couldn’t stop thinking about how close they’d come to getting killed. That because of Chase, a man she cared for deeply, she had come very close to dying before giving birth to their innocent child.

The thought broke her heart—and drove home the fact that she could not let herself get entangled with him again.

“Hey,” he said gently, “what is it?”

She jolted when he reached across the seat and covered her hand with his. “I can’t talk about this right now,” she said.

“Talk about what?”

“I don’t want to talk to you.”

That silenced him; she could practically feel his mind spinning through possible reasons for her behavior. But he didn’t release her hand. “Honey, if you’re hurting, you need to tell me.”

The statement almost made her laugh. Physically, she was fine. For the most part, anyway, considering the stress of the past hours. Emotionally, she was, indeed, hurting. She was frazzled and more confused than she’d ever been. Before this day, she’d known beyond a shadow of a doubt where she was going and who she was. She’d formulated a life plan for herself and her unborn child. Then Chase Vickers had waltzed back into her life and thrown her neat and orderly plan into total disarray.

“Lily, talk to me.”

She didn’t even look at him. Instead, she stared through the window at the eastern sky where the sun peeked through the dark clouds. A new day, she thought, and promised herself she would not repeat the mistakes of her past.

T
HE SLAMMING OF A CAR DOOR
jolted Lily awake. She wasn’t sure how long she’d been sleeping, but it was fully light. The car was parked in a neat gravel lot surrounded by lush maple and sycamore trees. A manicured lawn stretched to a tiny Victorian-style cottage nestled within another copse of trees.

She glanced over to see Chase slide behind the wheel. Though he’d been up the entire night, he looked rested, relaxed and…breathtakingly handsome.

Not wanting to go there, she sat up and looked around. “What time is it?”

“Almost eight.”

“Where are we?”

“Midway to Shane’s house. I haven’t been able to reach him on his cell, so I thought we’d stop and get some rest, eat and shower up.”

The thought of a shower appealed to her immensely. Even more appealing was the thought of food. Having not eaten a meal since before her shift at the hospital, she was famished. And exhausted. Aside from a couple of catnaps, it had been almost twenty-four hours since she’d had any real rest. As Chase crossed in front of the car and opened her door, Lily didn’t miss the fact that he scanned the quiet, tree-shrouded road, and she wondered if either of them would be able to relax long enough to sleep.

He offered his hand, but Lily didn’t take it and struggled from the passenger seat on her own. He pretended not to notice the slight. Thunder rumbled in the distance as they stepped onto the small wooden porch of the cottage Chase had rented from the manager of the cottage colony about a quarter mile up the road. Lily glanced over her shoulder to see dark clouds billowing and she knew before long they would get rain.

Chase used the key and swung open the door. Lily smiled at the sight of the charming room. It was small but tastefully decorated with dark antique furniture. Two full-size beds were covered with cream and navy matching comforters. On the center night table, a fake Tiffany lamp cast a circle of warm yellow light. A print of a Monet seascape hung on the wall above a tiny round table.

The room smelled pleasantly of sandalwood and lemon oil. Lily walked past the beds and spotted a dozen votive candles on the vanity. None of them were lit, but she could smell the vanilla from where she stood. Under the right circumstances, she might have enjoyed staying here. But the circumstances were anything but ideal.
Except for the man
, a traitorous voice interjected.

“I thought I’d run out and get us some food.”

Lily turned to find Chase standing just a foot away, watching her. She acknowledged the worry in his eyes, and promised herself she wouldn’t let his concern for her get to her no matter how handsome he was. No matter how powerful her attraction to him.

“I’m starving,” she managed after a moment.

“I wish I could offer you more than a burger and fries.”

“Believe me, a burger and fries will not be a hardship.”

He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “Do you need anything else? Toiletries? There’s a drugstore in town.”

“A strawberry shake.”

A smile emerged and it changed his entire face. His topaz eyes shimmered like some tropical sea on a sunny day. Laugh lines appeared on either side of his chiseled mouth. Lily found herself thinking of the kiss they’d shared back in Boston and an emotion she did not want to acknowledge stirred deep inside her.

“I’d forgotten about your weakness for ice cream,” he said.

Returning the smile, she pressed her hand to her abdomen. “You know. Hormones.”

He glanced toward her belly. For a moment, Lily thought he was going to cross the distance between them, perhaps set his own hand against the place where she carried his child. She held her breath, not sure what she would do if he did so. Would she step back? Or would she share the moment with him? Or maybe step into his arms the way she had seven-and-a-half months ago…

The sound of car tires crunching over gravel made her jump. A cold finger of fear skittered up her spine when Chase went to the window, parted the drapes and peered out. When he turned to her, his face was solemn. “Just a family pulling into another cottage down the road.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah.” He offered a dry smile. “Screaming kids. There’s no hit man alive who would brave that in the name of cover.”

The humor was lost on Lily. Her imagination had already gone into overdrive. “What if those men followed us? What if they find—”

“No one followed us,” he interjected. “I promise.” He glanced toward the door. “Look, I’m going to go pick up the food. Why don’t you lie down and relax for a while.”

Lily didn’t want to admit she was frightened to stay here alone. She’d always prided herself on her independence. But the past several hours had proved to her she was light-years out of her element. This was the one time when she welcomed his protection.

As if reading her thoughts, he stepped forward and set his hand against her cheek. “You’ll be fine for a few minutes,” he said gently. “I promise. I’ll be right back.” He grinned. “Think strawberry shake.”

Lily managed to smile back. “I’m going to hold you to it.”

“Wouldn’t have it any other way,” he said, and slipped out the door.

After watching him pull away, Lily didn’t waste any time and headed directly for the bathroom where an antique claw-foot tub beckoned. She turned on the faucets and stripped. On the vanity, she found a sample-size bottle of scented bath crystals, shampoo and a fancy little soap made in Paris. The small, everyday items seemed ridiculously luxurious in light of the past hours, and she took full advantage.

After lighting the candles, she found a fluffy white robe hanging at the back of the door and draped it over the towel rack near the tub. Steam rose from the water as she stuck her toes into the bubbles to test the temperature. Sighing with pleasure, she stepped into the tub and sank into bubbles until they tickled the bottom of her chin.