Cowboy Undercover

“He’s here. But you came to see his father, right?”

“After I say good-night to my boy,” she said.

“No can do,” McCord said and started to reach for her arm to prevent her from climbing the stairs. She dodged his grasp, walked to the study and yanked open the door.

Jeremy glanced up from his seat behind his desk. He was on the phone.

“Wait outside,” he barked, his gaze traveling from Lily to McCord. “I’m in the middle of something important.” He turned in his swivel chair so that his back was toward them. McCord grabbed Lily’s arm and pulled her out of the room. He closed the door and pointed at a chair set against the wall.

Could she get past him and run up the stairs? Charlie was up there, so close now she could almost feel him in her arms.

“Don’t try it,” McCord said, accurately reading her body language.”

“Please, Mr. McCord. Charlie is my child.”

“I don’t want to hurt you,” McCord said and firmly pushed her down onto a chair. He planted himself square in front of her. “But that doesn’t mean I won’t.”

Chapter Three (#u49f9d473-d715-5b58-9abc-52c4cefbee93)

For twenty-one minutes, according to the clock in the foyer, Jeremy kept them waiting. Lily had no choice but to accept the fact she wasn’t getting past McCord, but that didn’t keep her gaze from repeatedly traveling to the second floor and the open balcony railing that surrounded it. She was so nervous and stressed her hands trembled in her lap and she had to clench them together to keep herself from exploding. More than once, she caught McCord casting her a distasteful glance.

What exactly had he been told about her?

At last Jeremy’s voice told them to come into his study.

“You can leave,” he told McCord as they entered. McCord turned and left, closing the door behind him.

Looking straight at Lily, Jeremy trotted out what she called his campaign smile. “Well, look who came home,” he said. He did not get to his feet. His sandy-colored hair showed a few gray streaks, his eyes were so blue she knew he wore contact lenses to boost the color. He was dressed for the office in a custom-made gray suit. It was one of the more expensive worsted wools, which probably meant he had been in court that day.

Was he handsome? Not in the way Chance was, not with classic features, broad shoulders and a devilish smile that ignited the color of his eyes. But he was commanding. His cold eyes could look warm when he put in the effort and he knew how to twist words more adroitly than a clown manipulating balloons into giraffes.

She stepped to the far side of his desk. “First of all, this is not my home. Secondly, of course I came. You stole my son.”

“The law sees it the other way around.” He nodded at his phone. “I should warn you. The police will come as soon as I ask them to. They have a warrant—”

“I know about that.” She’d had twenty-one minutes to cool her heels and face reality and what she’d decided was that she was going to have to do the whole thing the legal way and that meant going through the system. “Listen, Jeremy,” she pleaded. “Just let me see Charlie. I have to know he’s okay.”

Jeremy chuckled. “How very melodramatic. Of course he’s okay. He’s back where he belongs and no longer at the mercy of his unpredictable mother.”

Lily’s chin tilted. “You might be able to fool other people, Jeremy, but you can’t fool me. I’m the one who lived here. I’m the one you set up to look like a lush. I’m the one you knocked unconscious. And then there’s that minion you sent to kill me, Jodie Brown.”

“You’re delusional,” he said. “I think you always have been. Well, you know what they say drugs and alcohol will do to a person.”

“I found the barbiturates in your desk.”

“So what? The prescription is in your name, prescribed by your physician to relieve anxiety. I was very troubled when I discovered you were mixing them with booze. I even talked to him about it. He was going to hospitalize you for observation, but you disappeared about then. I swear, getting custody of Charlie was a walk in the park.”

“If it was such a walk in the park then why did you employ Jodie?”

“I knew nothing about what he did,” Jeremy insisted.

“Did you kill him when he failed?”

“I believe he died in a drunk driving accident. Surely you’re not blaming me for that, too?”

“You think you’ve covered all the bases, don’t you? Let’s try this one. I know about your affair with Valentine Richards.”

He leaned back in his chair, a man in his domain, a confident man who could lie without effort. “I suppose you found out about her when you snooped through my files.”

“It doesn’t matter how I know about her. You were cheating on me. I wonder what your precious community would think of you if they knew that.”

“As usual, you have it wrong. Valentine was an intern in my office. Sweet girl. Lost her grandmother while she worked here. I wanted to cheer her up so I sent her flowers.”

“You hate flowers.”

“But she loved them.”

“I love them, too. That never made a difference to you.”

“Are you jealous?”

“Oh, please. I just find it interesting that you’ve finally met someone who makes you think beyond yourself. Maybe you’re ready to give me a divorce now.”

“No,” he said.

“Why?”

He smiled. “Because you want it so badly.”

“I don’t need your permission,” she said.

“If you’re hiding from me, it’s going to be tricky to show up in court. And oh, then there’s that nasty warrant.”

Bantering with Jeremy was wasting time. Maybe that was the point. Maybe the police were about to arrive. If that was the case, then she was going to at least see Charlie before it was too late. She walked across the room, grabbed the doorknob and advanced on the staircase.

Jeremy caught her arm and pulled her around. She stumbled on the stair and fell against him. A visceral wave of distaste filled her body as she struggled to stand on her own. He slapped her face so hard her neck snapped to the side. She put a hand up to her stinging cheek and stared into his flat eyes. “Get away from me.”

He lowered his head until his mouth was close to her ear. “I could kill you tonight and explain it away however I want. No one on earth would give a damn, not even Charlie, not after a while.”

“You never give up, do you, Jeremy. Stop trying to bait me. It doesn’t work anymore.”

Pounding footsteps from the top of the stairs broke a stalemate. They looked up to see a young woman rushing across the open mezzanine. She stopped short at the head of the stairs and looked down at them.

“What’s going on?” Jeremy said.

“It’s the boy,” the woman responded.

Lily tore herself from Jeremy’s gasp and ran up the stairs. Jeremy was right behind her. “What about Charlie?” Lily demanded as she reached the quivering woman who glanced at Jeremy, then back at Lily.