PART 3

My first instinct was to call the police.

My second was to hide Lily.

The second instinct won.

I turned to the pediatric charge nurse.

“Can you take her to the children’s playroom? Don’t let anyone except me near her.”

She looked at my face and didn’t ask questions.

Lily squeezed my hand.

“Are you coming back?”

“I promise.”

She smiled.

“I knew Daddy picked the right person.”

Those words nearly broke me.

As soon as Lily disappeared down the hallway, I called Thomas.

Straight to voicemail.

Again.

Voicemail.

Then my phone buzzed.

One message.

Parking Garage. Level 3. Five minutes. Come alone.

Against every professional instinct I had, I went.

The parking garage was almost empty.

Rain echoed against the concrete ceiling.

Thomas stood beside an old pickup truck, looking nothing like the confident man I used to know.

His beard was untrimmed.

His shirt was wrinkled.

His eyes…

He looked terrified.

“You have sixty seconds,” I said coldly.

He nodded.

“I deserve that.”

“You left a little girl with me.”

“I know.”

“You involved me in something dangerous.”

“I know.”

“You’d better start talking.”

He looked over both shoulders before speaking.

“Her father isn’t dead.”

My heart skipped.

“The man in the picture?”

Thomas nodded.

“His name is Daniel Harper.”

“I watched him die.”

“No.”

Thomas shook his head.

“You watched another man die using Daniel’s identity.”

I stared at him.

“What are you talking about?”

“Daniel was an undercover federal witness.”

The words didn’t even sound real.

“He was supposed to disappear after exposing a financial crime network.”

“And Lily?”

“She’s his daughter.”

I folded my arms.

“If that’s true, where is Daniel now?”

Thomas lowered his eyes.

“I don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know?”

“He called me three days ago.”

“You’ve been in contact with him?”

“He begged me to protect Lily if anything happened.”

I felt anger boiling inside me.

“Why you?”

“Because…”

He hesitated.

“…I owe him my life.”

Before I could ask another question…

A black SUV entered the garage.

Thomas’s face drained of color.

“They found me.”

He grabbed my shoulders.

“Listen carefully.”

“If anything happens to me…”

“Take Lily to Boston.”

“Find Detective Rachel Monroe.”

“She knows everything.”

A car door slammed.

Footsteps echoed across the concrete.

Thomas whispered one final sentence.

“They’re not after the money anymore…”

“They’re after the only witness left.”

He looked toward the hospital.

“Lily.”