Carly Phillips - Cross My Heart

In another hour, reality could intrude. But not just yet. These last few moments were for her and Ty alone.

She nodded and forced herself to climb out of bed and hit the shower in the hall. She stood under the hot spray and waited for Ty to join her.

LOVE. Well, hell. It wasn’t like he hadn’t known he was in love with her. He’d just never let himself think the words. Did he know she’d always been in love with him? It wasn’t something he’d let himself think about, either, because as he knew, love didn’t solve everything. There was still long distance, the business she lived for, and the life she’d made for herself in New York. So though he floated for the minute, he also knew better than to think life was settled and perfect, either.

He straightened the bed as he imagined only a guy could, with lumps and messy pillows, and figured his mother wouldn’t notice. Then he grabbed his clothes and headed for the bathroom to join Lilly but the ring of his cell phone stopped him cold. He dug into the pocket of his jeans so he could answer, then rushed to pull on his clothes as he spoke to his mother’s date.

Less than a minute later, he stood in the bathroom talking to Lilly who stood naked under the stream of water, her hair soaking wet. “Mom’s in the hospital,” he said, breaking the idyllic afternoon they’d shared.

His heart pounded hard in his chest. Fear raced through him, as it had since he’d hung up on his call with Dr. Andrew Sanford.

Lilly dropped the bar of soap in her hand. “What happened?”

“Dr. Sanford said she was light-headed in the movie theater and next thing he knew, she’d passed out on the floor. He was following the ambulance to the hospital when he called.”

“You need to go. I’ll call a cab and meet you there,” she said.

He raised an eyebrow. “Did you forget someone is just waiting for an opportunity to catch you alone? I called Derek. It’ll take him five minutes to get here. I’ll wait for him outside and as soon as he gets here, I’ll leave. You can finish up and he’ll bring you over.”

She frowned. “Is your mother conscious?” Lilly asked.

He shook his head, unable to answer that one verbally.

“Then get out of here, Ty. I’ll be fine in the five minutes it takes Derek to get here. And I promise to wait for him, okay?”

Ty was torn, but Dr. Sanford had said her vitals weren’t stable-

“Go,” Lilly said, already shutting the water and reaching for the towel.

He nodded, then pushed open the sliding glass shower door and gave her a too-brief kiss before running down the hall and to his car, hoping he’d get to the hospital in time.

Ty paced the hospital emergency waiting room. Though he was immediate family, the doctors needed time with his mother, who, thanks to the paramedics, had regained consciousness on the way to the hospital. In all likelihood she’d had a heart attack, at least according to Dr. Sanford but since the man was a psychiatrist, Ty wasn’t convinced. He needed to know his mother would be okay.

He rubbed his hands over his eyes and checked his watch. He figured Lilly would be here with Derek any minute, which would ease one of his concerns.

He glanced up in time to see Dr. Sanford walk out of the back room where they’d taken Ty’s mother. “What’s going on?”

“They’ve stabilized her,” the other man said, placing a hand on Ty’s shoulder. “She’s out of the woods but she needs to be admitted so they can monitor her.”

Ty nodded. “Can I see her?”

“In a little while,” he promised. “They aren’t letting me in, either, in case that’s bothering you.” The older man spoke with the understanding of someone older, someone with kids of his own.

Ty tried not to squirm or show his discomfort with the conversation. “I appreciate you saying that, but I’m glad you were with my mother when she…you know.”

Dr. Sanford nodded. “I’ll come out as soon as I have something to report.”

While the other man headed back through the double doors, Ty stepped outside into the cool fall air and opened his cell phone, turning it on. He’d tried to keep it on while inside but even with vibrate mode, a nurse had caught him and made him shut off the instrument.

He glanced down at his phone and realized Derek had called him more than once. He dialed the other man’s cell phone. “What’s up?” he asked as soon as Derek answered.

“The cops came by to question me. Seems Dumont called them and reported a stalker outside his home.” Derek paused, then said, “I think he’s got a friend on the inside because this guy’s stalling me.”

“You’re telling me you haven’t left for Lilly’s yet?”

“No, but I bet Dumont has.”

“I’m on my way.” Ty slammed the cell closed and headed inside to tell Dr. Sanford he’d be back, and to keep him informed by phone of his mother’s progress.

Then he sped toward his mother’s house where he’d left Lilly alone.

LACEY PACED the floor, periodically looking out the window for any sign of Derek’s car. Derek had promised Ty he’d be there in fifteen minutes. Almost twenty-five had passed since Ty left for the hospital which was only five minutes away. Uncle Marc’s place was ten minutes by car. Derek should have been here by now. Five more minutes and she’d grab the car keys on the kitchen counter and take Flo’s car to the hospital herself.

She tapped her foot against the floor, then unable to stand around and do nothing any longer, she called for Digger who hopped off the couch and ran to her, tail wagging.

“Come on, girl. You need to go into the kitchen.” Lacey walked toward the room where they’d set up gates, locked the dog in for her own safety, and snagged Flo’s car keys.

With a last pat on Digger’s head, Lacey grabbed her purse, opened the front door and came face-to-face with her uncle Marc. Fear rose in her throat and she tried to slam the door in his face but his foot stopped her.

“Go away.” She pushed the door again but he was stronger.

“Lilly, we need to talk. I need to talk to you. It’s important.”

She shook her head. “I’ve seen your definition of talking. Hit and run and arson. Thanks but no thanks.” Her heart rate sped up and she grew nauseous just looking at him.

“It wasn’t me.”

“Is there anyone else who wants my trust fund badly enough to put me in foster care to scare me so I’d come begging for you to help me and sign my birthright over to you? Is there someone else who’d inherit if I were dead?” She kicked uselessly at his foot which remained wedged in the door.

Where the hell was Derek?she wondered, panic racing around inside her.

He leaned his shoulder against the door frame. “Lilly, please, listen. It looks like I want you dead and I understand why you think I’m behind these things, but it isn’t me. I can explain. Just let me inside-”

“So you can kill me in the house and not on the street?”

He shook his head. “You always were a stubborn one,” he muttered. “Fine, we’ll talk here.”

Before he could say another word, a car screeched down the street. Her uncle turned, and a loud bang echoed around her, like the backfire of a car.

“What was-”

Her uncle jerked, falling backwards onto her, nearly knocking her over. “Uncle Marc?” she asked.

Then she saw the blood.

Lacey screamed and glanced up from her uncle’s body to the sight of the car door opening. She didn’t stop to see who was climbing out. Unable to shut herself safely in the house because her uncle’s prone body blocked the door, she scrambled over him and ran back inside.

Digger barked from inside the kitchen and Lacey ran in her direction, nearly tripping over the gate in her rush to get to the dog. At the edge of the kitchen was a door leading to the backyard. Just as she flung the door open and let Digger run out, she heard the sound of footsteps inside the house. Outside she’d be easy target practice but inside, she realized she had a chance.

Beyond the small alcove where her old bed used to be was a pantry door that Lacey used to use as a closet. It wasn’t a full walk-in, but it was large enough for her to crouch inside, and not be seen. In seconds, she was able to duck into the alcove, jump behind the couch and slip into the small closet.

Whether or not she was spotted remained to be seen.

She hated tiny, dark spaces because they reminded her of the old places she’d slept during her early days in New York City. The bugs, the rats, the awful smells. She shuddered, wrapped her arms around her knees and waited.

Loud knocks and thuds sounded outside the door. Whoever had shot her uncle was looking for her. Shaking, Lacey hugged her legs tighter. She brought her hand up to the locket around her neck, thought about the man who’d given it to her, and she prayed the guy outside wouldn’t think to look for her in here.

As she sat huddled in a ball, once again she was reminded of old times. This time she recalled her first real apartment in New York. The one with the broken lock. She’d drag her dresser in front of the door to keep the drunk next door from making good on his promise to join her at night. She’d sit huddled in bed, listening to him banging around his apartment. Only when he’d pass out and it grew silent, would she catch a few hours of sleep each night.

The same fear and nausea filled her now, only worse because instead of a drunk who made rude suggestions, outside was a man with a gun who wanted her dead. And she didn’t know why.

Footsteps sounded louder. He’d obviously left the kitchen and she realized he’d walked toward the couch that blocked her hiding spot.

Shaking, she held her breath as the footsteps grew closer.

Closer.

She waited for the door to creak open before she shut her eyes, kicked her feet out, hoping to come in painful contact with any part of his body, and let out a scream.

THE KICK to his shin took Ty off guard. He sucked in a sharp breath. “Lilly!” He called her name loudly.

She didn’t acknowledge him in any way. Her eyes were wide and unfocused, and she looked ready to barrel out of the closet and tackle him to the floor. His leg throbbed where she’d nailed him with her boot and he wasn’t about to take a hit to the stomach or the groin next.

“Lilly!” he said again, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her until she opened her eyes and focused. On him.

“Ty?Ty.Oh my God.” She threw herself into his arms, shaking and sobbing hysterically. “I thought you were him. When you opened the door, I thought you were him.”

“Shh.” He ran his hand down the back of her hair, his body trembling as badly as hers.

“Uncle Marc!” She pushed herself away from him and ran for the front door.

Ty grabbed her hand, yanking her back. “He’s alive. I checked him when I got here and the police and ambulance are on their way.”

“What about him? Where’d he go? The guy who shot Uncle Marc?” She visibly gagged at the recollection before steadying herself.

Ty exhaled a long breath. “Derek pulled up at the same time I did. The guy had just run out the back door. He probably heard us pull up, panicked and ran.”

“I don’t understand how you knew to come back.” She wiped the moisture off her face with her hands.

“Derek reached me on my cell phone at the hospital. Dumont called the police and reported a stalker. Obviously it was a ruse to get Derek waylaid so your uncle could come here to find you.”

Ty still recalled the panic he’d felt getting the call, but that was nothing compared to the gut-wrenching fear he’d experienced when he’d pulled up here and seen Dumont lying in a pool of blood, the front door wide open and Lilly nowhere to be found.

“He got away.” Derek walked in from the entry off the kitchen, breathing heavily. Frustration was etched all over his face. “The bastard went through the back bushes before I even got outside.”

“Where’s Digger?” Lilly asked, panic-stricken. “Where’s my dog?”

“Safely in the kitchen,” Derek promised her.

She slumped against Ty in relief.

“Did you get a look at the guy or his car?” Ty asked her.

She shook her head. “I never saw him at all. I think the car was a tan sedan of some sort. That’s all I saw before he shot Uncle Marc.”

Ty nodded. “I noticed the same color car parked in front of the neighbors’, but nothing more. Derek?”

“Same here.”

Ty’s frustration grew since they’d lost their last link to finding out who the guy was.

Lilly grabbed Ty’s hand suddenly and pulled him toward the front door.

Derek followed close behind.

She bent down beside her uncle who lay facedown with a bullet in his back. He didn’t move.