Twisted Innocence (Moonlighters Series Book 3) (18 page)

Holly stepped back behind the wall, trying to listen to what they were told. They would be allowed to go in because they were family. Only Cathy had been allowed to stay with him until now.

The woman behind the desk told them which room he was in. The double doors near Holly clicked and slowly opened when the receptionist disengaged the lock. Holly stayed against the wall, holding the grandchild they knew nothing about, as Creed’s parents flew past her, along with his sister. None of them even noticed her.

When the doors closed, Holly wanted to cry. It didn’t make sense, the emotion overwhelming her. It wasn’t as if she was in
love with Creed. She barely even liked him. She’d been angry with him for most of the last two days . . . yet there was an attachment there. They had things in common. Shame . . . regret . . . Lily.

She wiped the tears on her face and wondered if she should just take Lily home. There was nothing she could accomplish here if she couldn’t even go in. Still, her heart stumbled with anxious possibilities, and she couldn’t escape the feeling, however ludicrous, that her being here would somehow keep him alive.

“Holly, honey. What are you doing here?”

She turned and saw Juliet. “I wanted to . . . I’m worried he . . .” Holly’s voice broke off at the cliff-edge of her emotions, and she didn’t even try to go on. Juliet touched the back of Holly’s head, pulled her close, and pressed a kiss on her forehead.

“Is he all right?” she asked.

“I don’t know. I can’t get any information. Cathy’s back there but hasn’t texted in a while. His family just went back.”

“Honey, you shouldn’t have Lily here. There are germs—”

“I know that,” Holly said. “You think I don’t realize that? I haven’t touched anything except the hand sanitizer. I haven’t even sat down, because the chair handles—”

“Why don’t you let me take her home?”

Holly looked down at Lily. She didn’t want to let her go. Life seemed so dangerous right now, and she wanted her close. “I don’t know. Maybe he’ll . . . need to see her or something. Maybe it’ll make him fight harder.” Holly burst into tears, and she hated herself for it. “We shouldn’t have made him turn himself in there. Maybe if he’d gone to Southport, Miller’s men wouldn’t have had anyone there.”

“This is not our fault, Holly.”

“I know.” Holly smeared the tears across her face. “I’m just scared because nothing will stop them, and now they know he’s here.”

“When Cathy called she said they’re putting a guard outside his room. No one will get in.”

Holly didn’t trust the guards or the nurses or doctors . . . Anyone could pose as anything in here. An intern walked past, a name badge hanging from a lanyard around his neck. Anyone could fake a badge. Maybe they should instruct the guards not to let anyone in his room unless they recognized them.

Security policies had kept
her
from going back. If they did it right, maybe they would keep criminals out too.

She looked through the opening in her nursing cover again. Lily slept soundly now. Her little dream of puppies and kitties or gentle smiles of loving family members had eased now, and her mouth hung open. Holly should either leave here and take her home, or stay and let Juliet take her.

Holly let out a sorrowful sigh, took the nursing cover off her neck, and put it over Juliet’s head. Quickly, gently, she transferred Lily to her. “Just feed her the formula you have if she wakes up. I won’t stay here all night. Just until I know he’s going to be all right.”

Juliet made sure Lily was covered. She lowered her voice to keep from waking her. “What if he isn’t?”

Holly’s eyes filled again. “I don’t know.”

Juliet stared at her. “You went after him to make sure he stayed
out
of your lives. Now you don’t know?”

Holly wiped her nose. “I know it doesn’t make sense to you, but I spent time with him over the last couple of days, and he . . . he reminds me a lot of myself.”

“How do you mean, honey?”

“I mean, he’s made a lot of mistakes, and now the consequences are chasing him down, but he wants to change. There’s still so much potential. People can change. I did, didn’t I?”

Juliet’s eyes filled now, and she reached with her free hand and pulled Holly into a maternal hug. “I’ll take her home. She’ll be fine. Just stay in touch, okay?”

“Don’t touch anything on the way out. Do you have my key to get her seat out of the car?”

“No. I left it at home. She’s too little for Robbie’s car seat.”

Holly would have to walk Juliet out and help her get the seat out of her car, but she didn’t want to leave.

Just then, the double doors leading into the examining room hallway swooshed open, and she turned. Creed’s sister stepped into the waiting room, and her eyes fell on Juliet. “Are you Holly?” she asked.

Juliet shook her head.

Holly spoke up. “I’m Holly.”

Creed’s sister came toward her. “I’m Kelsey. My brother wants to see you,” she said. “His attorney—Cathy—said you were out here in the waiting room.”

Gratitude pumped through Holly’s heart. “He’s awake, then? Conscious?”

“Yes, but he’s really sick. They said some of his organs were shutting down when he was brought in. His kidneys, his liver . . .” Her voice trailed off, and she stared at Holly, myriad questions in her eyes. “Who
are
you?”

Holly met Juliet’s gaze, unable to meet Kelsey’s. “I’m just a friend.”

“Just a friend,” Kelsey repeated. “How are you involved in all this?”

Juliet adjusted Lily on her shoulder under the nursing cover and walked away, toward the chairs, swaying gently with each step.

“My sister’s his attorney,” Holly said. “I got her to represent him.” But Holly knew that wasn’t what Kelsey wanted. She wanted the rest of the truth, and Holly wasn’t ready to give it.

“Were you at the ball field a couple of days ago? I saw you there.”

Holly felt nailed. “Yeah. I was looking for Creed. I’d heard he was in trouble. I was just worried about him.”

Kelsey’s stare was skeptical. “So how long have you two known each other?”

Holly paused, looking at the floor. “About a year, give or take.”

Thankfully, Kelsey didn’t follow that trail. “Do you know who did this to him? Who poisoned him?”

Holly didn’t dare reveal what Creed had confessed to her. He may never want his family to know what had led to this. “No. He was at the jail . . . not under arrest. He had turned himself in and they had him in protective custody.” She wasn’t even sure that was what it was called, but it didn’t matter. “Can I go see him now?”

Kelsey seemed to shake herself out of the equation she was trying to solve. “Don’t stay long. He doesn’t have much energy, and he’s not out of the woods.”

Holly turned back to Juliet, and she signaled her to go on. Kelsey looked back at Juliet now, and her eyes lingered a moment too long, then she turned and went back through the open doors. Holly followed her up the hall to Creed’s room. Kelsey opened his door and stepped aside to let Holly in. Cathy
stood by his bed, Creed’s parents on the other side. Creed looked as colorless as a corpse, his eyes sunken in, his lips pale.

“Here she is now,” Cathy said, and motioned for Holly to come closer.

Creed reached out with the hand from which his IV line protruded. Holly took it in both of her own and looked down at him. “Creed, how do you feel?”

“Been better.” She could barely hear him, so she leaned down to get closer. “They got me, didn’t they?” he whispered.

She swallowed the knot in her throat. “I’m so sorry.”

He turned his hand and stroked her thumb as if she were the victim. “I’m worried . . . about you and Lily.”

She glanced up at his parents. Tears on their faces, they hung on every word. She turned back to Creed. “Do . . . do you think they’ll come after us?”

“I don’t know how much they’ve figured out,” he said.

Holly straightened and looked at Cathy. She could see the worry in her eyes. “They can’t poison all of us,” Holly whispered.

“Just . . . be careful. I want you to go home and be with Lily.”

Creed seemed to drift off to sleep, and Sandra, his mother, pulled his covers up, tucked them over his shoulders, felt his forehead. Then she looked up at Holly. “You’re the one, aren’t you?” his mother said. “The one his friend mentioned on the answering machine. The one who had his baby.”

Holly felt like wild game frozen by a flashlight beam, waiting for the fatal bullet. She couldn’t speak.

“Her name’s Lily?” his mother asked, tears filling her eyes. “A little girl?”

The Pandora’s box of Holly’s life seemed pried open, secrets blowing out in the wind. As hard as she tried, she would
never be able to catch them all to put them back in. She hadn’t expected them to know already, but of course they did. They’d heard that answering machine message, when Rio spilled the beans. That was what had led the police to her house in the first place.

“I think . . . it would be better if we discussed this when he’s awake. When he can be in on it.”

“Can we . . . see the baby?” his father asked.

Dread filled her heart. Holly looked toward the door, wishing for an escape. Lily was right down the hall in the waiting room. Could she—should she—tell them no, that they couldn’t see their grandchild?

Tears filled her eyes as she resigned herself to this. She nodded and went to the door. His parents told Kelsey to stay with her brother, then they followed her out into the cold, antiseptic hall to the double doors. Frank punched the green button, and the doors swooshed open.

Holly stepped through and saw Juliet, still standing and rocking, holding Lily with the ease of a woman who loved the baby she held. Holly went straight for the hand sanitizer, filled her palm with foam, then turned back to Creed’s parents. “I’m worried about the germs in here. She’s only five weeks old.”

Both of his parents foamed their hands, then rubbed them until the alcohol dried. Holly went to Juliet, and her sister carefully surrendered Lily.

A sudden wave of fear blew like the air conditioner in the ventilation overhead. Lily was exposed now, to germs and bacteria and viruses and family. Holly turned around, letting them see her. Their eyes were appropriately awestruck as they looked her over, Sandra’s hands out ready to scoop her up.

Swallowing hard, Holly lay Lily in Sandra’s arms. As tears shimmered in her eyes, Sandra breathed in Lily’s scent, her lips lingering on the feathery hair. She brought the baby to her shoulder, expertly supporting her head. Frank touched Lily’s back. “All that hair,” he said with a cracked voice.

“Like Creed,” they said together.

Holly met Juliet’s eyes. Juliet looked down at the floor, and Holly saw the tension on her face. She, like Holly, was clearly wondering if this was wise.

“She’s beautiful,” Sandra whispered. “So she really is our granddaughter?”

Again, silence. Holly wasn’t ready to make that final admission, not to people who would want to entwine themselves in Lily’s life. As she grappled for the right words for her evasion, she heard Cathy’s voice behind her. She hadn’t seen her following them out.

“Mr. and Mrs. Kershaw, there are things that Creed and Holly need to work out. Right now, we need to focus on his health and his legal issues.”

Sandra’s chin trembled. “It’s just . . . if there’s a bright side to all this . . . I’d like to know it.”

Holly understood that, and she desperately wanted to accommodate the woman, but she just wasn’t ready.

Cathy took charge. “We’ll talk about that later. I just got a text from the DA’s office. In light of what’s happened, they have agreed to give Creed immunity on the drug charges, in exchange for information.”

“And the murder charge?” Frank asked.

“Not the murder,” Cathy said, “but he hasn’t been charged with that yet. It’s my hope that what he tells them will lead them to the real killer, so that may not wind up being an issue.
But I need to run out and get the documents, then bring them back and get his signature.”

“Thank heaven,” his father said, touching his wife’s shoulder. He turned back to Cathy. “We can pay for your services. We’ll do whatever we can to help him.”

CHAPTER 38

W
hen Holly arrived at the hospital the next morning, Creed had been moved to a room on the third floor. He was sitting up in bed, sipping broth, an IV still dripping fluid into his veins. Color had returned to his face, though he was still weak. He seemed glad to see her and asked about Lily.

“Juliet’s keeping her for a couple of hours. She’s going to interview some babysitters today. Hopefully she’ll find one we both like so we can help with the Miller hunt full-time.”

“My mother would probably love to babysit her,” Creed said.

Holly wasn’t ready for that. She looked down at the floor. “So . . . have your mom and dad talked to you about Lily?”

“Yeah, they asked me if she was mine. Of course I told them she is.”

Holly sighed, but she didn’t argue. It was true, after all.

“Their getting to meet her . . . it softened the blow of everything else. Mom said it was God’s way of making all
this bearable to them.” Creed shook his head. “I can see the disappointment in their faces about the trouble I’m in. The confusion. I told them the truth, that I didn’t kill that guy. They’re scared to death. I can’t believe I’m putting them through this, but they’re still here supporting me, no matter what.”

Holly nodded. “That’s what families do.”

He considered Holly for a long moment. “When Lily grows up, are you going to tell her about all this? That her daddy was a drug dealer? That he was accused of murder? That he ran with some people so horrible that they tried to kill him?”

He clearly didn’t expect to be around to tell her himself. “I don’t know what I’ll tell Lily,” she said, “but we have plenty of time to decide on that. Maybe what I’ll tell her is that her dad’s testimony led to the conviction of some major drug dealers in the area.”

Creed closed his eyes. “That would be good.”

“Or maybe you can tell her that yourself.”

When he opened his eyes and let his gaze settle on her, she looked away. She wasn’t even sure she meant that. Did she really want him to be around when Lily was old enough to understand? She honestly didn’t know.