for being tough but fair, and she lived up to it every day. In a city where law enforcement viewed most of the media as egotists and liars, Lily had everyone’s respect.
And here she was with a tip about the baby.
“Miss, you can call Mr. Johnson Monday at his office. I’m sure he’ll talk with you.”
“It’s Saturday night. I can’t wait until Monday,” Lily said sweetly. “In fact, I’ve got an hour until deadline. I have to see one of the Johnsons right this minute.”
“Impossible,” the butler said sternly. “Now remove yourself or I’ll have to take appropriate steps.”
Mel sighed again. He could deal with Lily now, or he could wait until later, but deal with her he’d have to. He walked up to the door. “I’ll take care of this,” he said softly to the butler. “Thanks.”
He opened the door, stepped outside and closed the door behind him.
“Mel?” Lily showed genuine surprise. “The baby’s okay, isn’t he?”
Mel was struck first by Lily’s intensity. She was a woman who gave her heart and soul to her work. He noticed her beauty and her word choice almost as a simultaneous second.
“He? You must have one helluva source at the department because I haven’t phoned in the gender of the baby to anyone.”
He’d caught her off guard, and he was pleased to see her flush. Lily Markey had a very powerful source. Someone way high on the food chain in law enforcement was feeding her facts. And he’d nailed her on it.
“Oops,” she said, biting her bottom lip in a way that said she was a silly child. Only Mel knew she wasn’t silly, and she wasn’t a child.
“Oops is right. With a clue like that, I might be able to figure out who your source is.”
“Unlikely,” she said, recovering her balance. “Now tell me about the baby. Will the Johnsons keep hi—it?”
“How did you know—”
“I’ve been to numerous cocktail parties thrown by Rose and Preston. Everyone in their circle knows how much they want a child.” Lily waved one graceful hand in the air, dismissing the personal knowledge she’d obtained.
“Even a Washington Post political reporter?” Mel didn’t bother to hide the sarcasm in his voice. Sane people, especially those who lived in the fishbowl of Washington politics, would gnaw off an arm before allowing a media person to know any of their personal business. Especially something as private as a desire for a child.
“I’m not an ogre. I can understand the desire for a child.”
There was a defensive tone in Lily’s voice and Mel wondered if he’d hit a nerve. “I thought it was newspaper policy that you had to eat at least three of your young to prove you were tough enough.”
To his surprise she laughed. “Old policy. The newspaper revamped with a kinder, gentler policy. Now we just have to eat three police detectives.”
“Touché,” he said, laughing also. He couldn’t help but notice that Lily, though reputed to be cold and heartless, had eyes that danced with merriment when she laughed. With her auburn hair and green eyes, she seemed more Irish lass at the moment than big-city reporter.
He changed his mind instantly when she opened her mouth. “So, what about the baby? Will the Johnsons keep it?”
“That’s to be determined by DHR,” he said, stepping back into his official role.
“What are you doing here? I thought criminal action was your bailiwick?”
“It is. There’s nothing more criminal than abandoning a child.”
“Abandoning?”
He narrowed his gaze at Lily. She acted as if he’d said the baby had been abused.
“I thought it was left here at the Johnson home. During a big party. That doesn’t seem to constitute abandonment. I mean, it isn’t as if someone left him out in the freezing cold in a Dumpster or—”
“That baby was abandoned as surely as if the mother dropped him in an alley like an unwanted kitten.”
“I beg to differ. I—”
To Mel’s surprise, Lily halted in mid-sentence. She bit her bottom lip again, as if to force herself to shut up.
“Why does it seem to me that you’ve got a personal stake in this baby?” He was only playing a hunch, but his hunches were one of the reasons he was considered one of the top three detectives in Washington, D.C.
“It’s just a terrific human-interest story.”
“I thought politics was your beat.” He felt that strange tingling that made every one of his senses come alive.
“It is. The Johnsons are political.”
“An unwanted baby isn’t exactly what I’d consider your normal turf.” He paused. “What are you doing here, Lily?”
She hesitated. “I’ll tell you, Mel. I got this tip from a friend. A close friend. I was asked to pursue the story, as a personal favor.”
He nodded. That made a little more sense. “Well, there’s no story here yet.”
“Level with me. The baby’s okay, right?”
There was worry in her voice though she did her best to hide it. “Yes. He seems fine. The Johnsons have called a doctor to check him out. It would appear the infant will have every benefit that money can buy. At least for the short amount of time the Johnsons can keep him.”
“What do you mean? They want him, don’t they?”
“You may know the Johnsons, but you aren’t familiar with the law. A person can’t just find a baby and keep it because she wants it. The baby will have to go through the system.”
“But the Johnsons would make terrific parents.”
“That’ll be for DHR and a judge to determine. I’m afraid the baby is going to spend the first few months of his life in an institution.” He heard the bitterness in his tone even though he’d thought he was long over it. He saw that Lily, too, heard it. She gave him a speculative look but said nothing else.
“Could I speak to the Johnsons?” she asked.
“Give me your card. I’ll leave it with them. Right now, I can honestly tell you that they’re interested only in the baby.”
Lily smiled. “That’s good to know.”
“Yeah,” Mel said. “It is.”
He took the business card she offered and watched as she strode down the walk with long, bold steps. She was tall, slender and athletic. Just the kind of woman that could rock his world.
He turned back to the house and found that he
