Always The One. Tara Randel

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СКАЧАТЬ believed him. One thing she remembered about Derrick—he was always up-front. If he didn’t know, that was the truth.

      “Let me see it.”

      “It’s in a safe place.”

      Convenient. She pressed her lips together, then said, “Let me get this to my mother. I’ll be right back.”

      He nodded, his eyes distant as if he were lost in thought. She went back to the living room. The pang of fear that attacked her whenever her mother was so still tweaked her heart. With relief Hannah realized her mother had only dozed off. At least she’d put the teacup on the table next to her chair first. “Mom,” Hannah said softly.

      Her mother roused. “Did I fall asleep again?”

      “Yes. It’s okay.” Hannah set the plate on the table. The treatments had wiped her mother out. Her last infusion had been the day before so now they would hope for the best.

      “Just rest.”

      Her mother’s lids fluttered closed again. Hannah tucked the afghan around her slight form. She was the one person in the world who meant everything to Hannah, other than Derrick had been once upon a time.

      “Your mom told me she has cancer,” Derrick said as Hannah walked back into the kitchen.

      Drained by the worry over her mother and Derrick unexpectedly showing up, she pulled out a wooden chair and sat. “Lung. When the doctor made the diagnosis, he surgically removed the tumor and started her right away on radiation and chemo. Now we wait for the results.”

      “I’m sorry, Hannah.”

      She pressed her trembling lips together. Nodded.

      “Are you the only one taking care of her?”

      She would have laughed out loud if she wasn’t so close to tears. Yes, she was her mother’s caregiver. Her father had made sure of it. “I’m afraid so. Carol, our next-door neighbor, has been wonderful, checking in when I work or taking Mom to the doctor if I can’t make an appointment.”

      “I wish I had known.”

      “So you could do what? Derrick, why are you here?”

      “I’ve been searching for you since the night you left.”

      She found that hard to believe. “Why? You had to know.”

      “How can you ask me that? Especially after what we meant to each other.”

      She refused to answer.

      “I had no idea the depth of trouble your family was in. And even when I pressed my father, he never gave me any details.”

      Her voice trembled. “That was a long time ago. Things are different. I’m not the same girl I was back then.”

      “I get that, but it doesn’t change how I feel.”

      “It should.”

      He moved closer. “I want to help you and your mom any way I can.”

      “Help?” Her voice rose again and broke off with a croak. “You’re why we’re here in the first place.”

      “You alluded to that but I’m not making the connection.”

      “Those gems? The ones I asked you not to tell anyone about? They were my father’s downfall.” She fisted her hands on her thighs. “Because you told your father.”

      “But not to get your dad in trouble. I was concerned when I heard your father on the phone begging someone to leave his business alone. I just asked my dad some questions.”

      “And as police commissioner, he called the proper authorities.”

      His expression didn’t change but his eyes wavered.

      “You knew,” she said.

      “Suspected. But I didn’t want to believe it was related to your leaving.”

      “We ran in the middle of the night, Derrick. Only had time to pack our barest belongings. Lived in a motel somewhere for weeks until my father went to court. Then we were given new identities. Started over in Illinois before moving multiple times since.” The weight of the years pressed on her. “Now my mother is sick. How does that seem right or fair?”

      He reached for her hand, paused for a long, drawn-out moment, and pulled back. Disappointment swept over her. After years apart, did she still want Derrick to comfort her?

      His astute gaze roamed her face. “Why did you shoot me with pepper spray?”

      “I had this feeling I was being watched. The one thing they don’t tell you when you become part of WITSEC is that you’re always looking over your shoulder. You never feel completely comfortable or let your guard down.” She shook her head. “I tend to be a bit suspicious anyway and my overreaction this afternoon proves it.”

      “Has something happened to make you jumpy?”

      “Not recently. Like I said, I’m overly attuned to my surroundings. I was right in being concerned, but since it was you, not some bad guys, I made a mistake.”

      “Somehow I don’t think that happens often.”

      She briefly met his gaze and looked away. “So now what?”

      “If you’re still concerned about your safety, I can help. I have contacts through my job.”

      “Which is?”

      “I’m an FBI special agent.”

      She closed her eyes and groaned. “I don’t want any more help from government agencies.”

      “Then how about from an old boyfriend?”

      It would be so easy to fall into his arms. Let him carry the burdens she’d been laboring with for so long. Go back to the days when the biggest decision she had to make was what color lip gloss to use or which jeans to wear. As much as she might want the reprieve, it wasn’t possible. This was her reality now. Not glamorous or flashy, but she had a good job. A few friends she trusted. Her mother would get well. She had to.

      Squaring her shoulders, she met Derrick’s gaze. Recognized that look. The one that said “I’ll take care of everything for you.” Yeah, well where was he when she’d needed him? When she’d been scared to death the night the US Marshals took them from the only home she’d ever known? When her father left, thinking his absence was the best solution for all of them? When she’d had to change her mother’s name and her own and find yet another job in a new city? Or when she’d cried alone at night after her mother’s diagnosis?

      Did he think he could just show up out of the blue and things would go back to the way they were? After he’d changed the entire trajectory of her life because he’d posed questions when she’d asked for his silence? Yes, they’d been children back then. Their dreams had been just that, dreams. But she’d needed him when the world was falling down around her, when things were off-kilter and СКАЧАТЬ