Forbidden Territory & Forbidden Temptation: Forbidden Territory / Forbidden Temptation. Paula Graves

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      That smile carried her softly into sleep.

      * * *

      LILY OVERSLEPT, WAKING with bright morning sunlight slanting through her bedroom window. The digital alarm clock read seven twenty-five. She was going to be late for work.

      She sat up quickly, gasping as pain rocketed through her entire body before settling in a hot ache in the back of her neck. Okay, work was out.

      She reached for her phone and called Carmen Herrera’s office number. “Carmen, it’s Lily. I’m so sorry, I overslept and I haven’t even had a chance—”

      “Lily, thank God you’re okay!” Carmen interrupted. “Lieutenant McBride called me this morning to let me know about the accident so I could arrange for a substitute for your classes. He said you were a little banged up.”

      Lily glanced at her reflection in the dresser mirror. Shadows circled her eyes, almost as dark as the vivid bruises slanting across her shoulder and chest where the shoulder belt had left its mark. “I’m a little bruised and sore, but I should be fine by Monday. Thanks for getting someone to fill in.”

      She hung up the phone and eased her sore legs over the edge of the bed. Jezebel glided in from the hall and wrapped herself around Lily’s ankles, meowing.

      “I bet you’re hungry, aren’t you, Jezzy?” She put on a bathrobe and hobbled down the hall to the kitchen, wondering if McBride had already left for the office.

      But he was waiting in her kitchen, the morning paper spread out in front of him, a mug of steaming coffee sitting to one side. He looked up when she entered. “The nice cat has been fed. The psycho one refused to eat anything I gave her.”

      Lily glanced at the four open cans of cat food on the counter, her lips curving with amusement.

      She picked up the tuna, Jezebel’s favorite, and emptied it in one of the cat bowls. Jezebel went straight to it and started eating.

      “Spoiled brat,” McBride murmured.

      “Thank you for calling in for me.” Lily poured herself a cup of coffee and joined McBride at the table before taking a sip. Strong and hot, the coffee burned going down, making her eyes water.

      “I figured you’d be too sore from the accident to deal with a bunch of eight-year-olds.” His gaze dropped to her throat. “Do those bruises hurt much?”

      “Not too much.” She lifted a hand to her neck. He was being too nice to her. It made her feel self-conscious.

      “I hope you don’t mind, but I found your sisters’ phone number in your address book and called to let them know you’d been in an accident. I talked to the one named Rose.”

      Lily bit back a smile at the look on his face. Two minutes on the phone with Rose had probably confused the hell out of him. Her ebullient sister was Lily’s polar opposite.

      Her smile faded. It hadn’t always been that way.

      “She said she would be here before noon.”

      Lily frowned. “I don’t need a babysitter.”

      His expression became shuttered. “She insisted. Besides, I’ve got to get out of here soon—I have a meeting at nine. I’ve called for a patrol to come by your house every thirty minutes, just in case there’s any trouble.”

      She set her coffee cup down, her stomach clenching. “Are you expecting trouble?”

      He gave her a considering look. “You tell me.”

      Ah, there was the McBride she knew. Suspicious by nature. “I didn’t imagine the phone call from the kidnapper. You heard him. You also saw that car run me off the road. Unless you think I arranged that, too?”

      His only answer was a slight narrowing of his eyes.

      “Because it makes so much sense to risk life and limb on the off chance that you left Andrew Walters’s hotel room right after I did, and took the same detour I took.”

      “Well, you do claim to be a psychic,” he pointed out.

      “I don’t claim to be anything.” She picked up her coffee cup and took it to the sink, emptying the dark liquid down the drain. She’d had about all she could take of McBride and his coffee for one day. “All I’ve ever said is that I see things other people don’t.”

      “Potato, potah-to,” he murmured in her ear.

      She turned and found him inches away. “What do you want from me?” Her own voice came out soft as a whisper.

      His half smile faded. “I want you to stay away from Andrew Walters. His life is turned upside down, and he’s clinging to anything that’ll make his world stop shaking. Including you.”

      “What are you suggesting?”

      “Walters thinks you can find his daughter. That makes you the most important person in his life right now.”

      Lily frowned, not liking what he was implying. “Look, I know you didn’t like finding me at Mr. Walters’s hotel, but I assure you—”

      “What do you think will happen to Walters if you don’t deliver Abby in the end?” McBride asked.

      A flicker of uncertainty ran through her. What if she couldn’t? Was she giving the man false hope?

      “You’re telling Andrew Walters that his little girl is all right, that there’s still a chance he’ll find her again. Do you really know that?” McBride edged closer. “What happens if tomorrow we find Abby’s body in a ditch somewhere? How much harder is that going to be for the man?”

      Her throat tightened, his soft words painting vivid pictures in her mind. “Stop it.”

      McBride suddenly looked tired. “I don’t mean to hurt you, Lily. But there are too damn many odds against her.” His voice was so flat and faraway, she hardly recognized it. “So please, don’t give Walters any false encouragement. Okay?”

      “Am I supposed to pretend I never heard of Abby Walters?” Tears blurred Lily’s vision. “She’s a scared little girl who saw her mommy die, and now she’s all alone with two very bad men. I won’t abandon her in that dark place.”

      McBride took a deep breath. “Then come to me instead of Walters. Tell me about your visions.”

      Wariness flitted through her. “Tell you?”

      “I promise I’ll look into everything you tell me.” He looked queasy, but his gaze remained steady.

      “Mr. Walters expects me to stay in touch.”

      “I’ll tell him you’re part of my investigation and you’ll be reporting to me now.” McBride took a step back. “Deal?”

      She licked her lips, realizing that he’d just played her—and that it had worked. She would do what he asked. “You won’t ignore what I tell you?”

      “I’ll СКАЧАТЬ