Alone.

A place where she had always been and a place she knew she would be for a long time to come.

TY HELD ON TO Lilly’s hand as he walked into the room where his mother lay sleeping. Earlier today Lilly had needed him but now he needed her. As he pulled a chair up to his mother’s bedside, he was reminded of the last time he saw her this frail and sick.

He’d come home from college when she’d had her first heart attack and subsequent surgery and she’d lain sleeping in a sterile room much like this one, hooked up to machines similar to these. He’d taken one look at her and realized she was all he had in the world and he stood to lose her.

He felt the same way now. Because despite the fact that Lilly had returned, despite loving each other, there were no promises exchanged, no guarantees made to each other. He knew they’d take things one day at a time until this trust fund issue was solved, but after that? Who knew.

The only constant in his life had been the woman whose frail hand he clasped in his.

“Ty?” He glanced up.

Dr. Sanford walked over to him, another man he’d never seen before by his side. “Ty, this is Dr. Miller. He’s our newest cardiologist. He has some things he’d like to explain to you.”

Ty listened as the young doctor who was also a surgeon explained that an angiogram showed his mother needed immediate surgery to reopen arteries that had closed off. More technical terms followed but the next thing he knew, he was signing a consent form and his mother was being wheeled out of the room.

Lilly placed her hand on Ty’s shoulder. “She’s going to be okay. The doctor said so himself.”

He glanced up and into her comforting eyes. “Did he? I barely remember the conversation.”

She smiled. “That’s why I listened carefully to every word. The surgery shouldn’t take more than an hour and she’ll be brought in to recovery where you can see her.” Lilly wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her cheek against his. “Then you’ll see for yourself, okay?”

He covered her hand with his. “I’m glad you’re here.”

“I felt the same way when you opened that closet door and found me. How did you know where I’d be?”

He leaned backwards, against her. “Because I showed you that hiding space myself and I couldn’t think of anyplace else you’d go that was safe.” And he’d refused to believe she was anything other than okay, despite her uncle’s bloody body lying at the front door.

Silence surrounded them until he couldn’t stand it another minute. He needed a distraction from waiting for the surgery to begin, let alone end.

He glanced at the clock. “We have time to kill. We should check on your uncle and see what, if anything, the police have found.”

Lilly straightened. “Now that sounds like a plan.”

Except the guard dog nurse at the desk had no new information on Dumont. Not even the fact that Lilly was a blood relative uncovered any more news. So, along with Molly, they settled in to wait.

Fifteen

Twenty-four hours later, Flo was recovering from successful surgery. Lilly’s uncle was still unconscious, the bullet having punctured his lung. The doctors expected him to recover, but they wouldn’t allow visitors for a while.

Lilly, Ty, Hunter and Molly sat in the waiting area of the hospital, having moved out of the emergency room wing. The police were on their way to talk with them. They had new information and the hospital was as good a place as any to bring together all interested parties and fill them in.

Molly looked pale and she hadn’t had much to say to Lacey or Ty since they’d met up here. Hunter had his intern doing research and he’d taken the day off to be with Molly, but she wasn’t talking to him, either. Lacey didn’t know if the other woman was upset over Marc’s condition or the fact that Marc was obviously involved in something bad enough to have ended up with him being shot on Ty’s mother’s doorstep.

Lacey was grateful when Don Otter, the chief of police, walked in the door and broke the silent tension.

“I’m glad you’re all here,” the chief said.

“Hey, Don.” Ty rose to greet the man and shake his hand.

The big man nodded.

“What brings you out so early in the morning?” Ty asked.

Don settled his large body into a seat and leaned forward, stretching the buttons over his shirt. “My men have been all over the site of the shooting. The footprints outside definitely belonged to a man. Some matched Marc Dumont’s shoe we confiscated from the hospital, the other prints are unknown. No fingerprints beyond the obvious, Flo, Lilly, Ty, etc. The bullet taken out of Dumont during surgery was sent to forensics and we should have answers soon.”

Lacey gagged.

Molly grabbed her hand.

How odd that the two women who felt so drastically different about Marc Dumont had formed such an unlikely bond, Lacey thought.

“Then we started interviewing the neighbors,” the chief said.

“Did anyone give you anything more on the car or the shooter beyond what we saw?” Ty asked.

“Which amounted to nothing useful,” Lacey said in frustration.

“You were running for your life. Nobody’s holding lack of detail against you,” Hunter said. “Besides, we have a car color. I wouldn’t call that nothing.” Hunter shifted his gaze to the chief of police.

The man nodded his agreement. “And one of the neighbors reported the same car color you did, along with some new information.”

“What did they see?” everyone asked at the same time.

The chief chuckled. “Ty, your mother’s best friend and the neighbor across the street-”

“Mrs. Donelly?” Ty asked.

The other man nodded.

“Viola Donelly said she was sitting in her study that overlooks the street reading the latest John Grisham novel when a tan car pulled up in front of her house.”

“Did she see the man get out of the car? Did she see who shot Marc?” Molly asked.

“Unfortunately no,” the chief said. “But Viola managed to catch the first few numbers of the license plate,” he said, obviously pleased. “We traced it back to Anna Marie Costanza, of all people.”

Molly’s gaze jerked toward Hunter.

Lacey knew what the other woman was thinking. Hunter believed Anna Marie had told her brother about Hunter’s court case, and her brother, the trustee, had talked the judge into moving the date, keeping Hunter too busy to get involved with Lacey. Then her brother, the trustee, had paid Dumont a visit soon after he’d met with Lilly. And not long after that, Marc Dumont was shot while paying Lacey an unwelcome house call.

Lacey doubted she could explain it all to the police, but somehow, Ty summed it up for the chief in a clear, concise manner.

The big man scratched his head. “You’re saying you think Paul Dunne’s involved in the shooting?” the chief asked, surprised.

“And the attempts on Lilly’s life,” Ty said.

Molly jumped up from her seat, more animated than she’d been all morning. “Did Anna Marie ever say she lent her car to her brother, Paul?”

The chief shoved his hands into his front pants pocket. “Why?”

“Because she does that often. Anna Marie doesn’t drive the car much except to work. She says she likes to keep the engine running smoothly, so she has Paul drive it about once a week.”

Which meant Paul could have followed Uncle Marc to Lacey’s. But why would the trustee want Uncle Marc dead, Lacey wondered.

The chief shook his head. “She said her car was stolen.”

Hunter narrowed his gaze. “Had she reported it?”

“No.”

“And didn’t you find that suspicious?” Ty pushed the subject.

“We did, yes. But we don’t have the car, so we can’t dust it for prints. And even if we could, we now know finding Paul’s fingerprints wouldn’t amount to squat. There’s a good reason for them to be there.” Chief Otter shrugged. “Listen, guys, I see you have your theories and Ty, I trust your judgment, I really do. But in this case, you’re accusing an upstanding citizen of our town without a shred of proof. And that means we have to be careful.”

“Then search his house or his office. I’m sure you’ll find something.” Lacey pounded her fist against her thigh. “I don’t know what the link is between Uncle Marc and Paul Dunne but there is one. I’m sure of it.” Her voice cracked and she turned her head away in embarrassment.

Ty came up behind her chair and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

“I’m sorry, but there’s no probable cause for a warrant. We’ll keep looking into it and when Marc Dumont regains consciousness, the hospital knows to call me immediately. Maybe he’ll reveal something of interest.”

“I’m not holding my breath,” Lacey muttered.

Ty squeezed her tight. He must have known a search warrant was asking for the impossible.

The chief apologized and went to check on her uncle’s status, leaving the four of them alone.

Lacey rose and started to walk away, unable to speak without screaming in frustration. She just couldn’t believe they’d hit a brick wall. Again. Three incidents and they were no closer to finding out who wanted her, and now her uncle, dead.

“I have an idea,” Molly said, stopping Lacey in her tracks.

Lacey pivoted. “I’m listening.”

“Anna Marie wouldn’t talk to the police but maybe she’ll talk to us.” Molly gestured between herself and Lacey. “She’s a good woman. She might be protecting her brother but there’s no way she knows she’s hurting people in the process. I really believe if we talk to her, she might break down and give us something to go on.”

Lacey nodded, slowly warming to the idea. “I like how you think.”

“I don’t,” Ty said. “I don’t want either of you going to question Anna Marie. If her brother is involved you’re putting yourselves in the direct line of fire.”