her feel like a woman.
It probably had something to do with all that testosterone emanating from him. Yes, he was a man. As alpha as they came. Tall, dark brown hair. Oh, and dangerous, too. Not the kind and gentle soul that Nadine had described. But Mattie saw the appeal.
Or rather, she felt the appeal.
And she gave herself a good mental tongue-lashing for it. There was no room in her life for Bo Duggan or any other man.
After she had another look to make sure no one was coming out of that van, Mattie stepped back, putting some distance between her and the hot, glaring cop.
And then she saw it.
The photo on the wall.
She probably hadn’t noticed it when she first came in because Rosalie had quickly ushered her to the living room. But Mattie saw it now. It was a picture of two babies.
A boy and a girl.
Both were around a year old. Both smiling for the camera. The boy had dark brown hair and was a genetic copy of Bo Duggan, right down to his already intense eyes.
And then there was the little girl.
Brown hair, as well, but hers was shades lighter than the boy’s. Green eyes, not so much intense but filled with curiosity. She was so beautiful.
So precious.
Mattie heard the sound escape from her throat. Part moan, part gasp. A paradox of emotions flooded through her. The unconditional love mixed with the heart-wrenching pain of how much time she’d already lost.
She felt the movement next to her. It was Bo, although she had to blink back the tears just to see his face.
He was scowling.
And worse, he was puzzled and almost certainly on the verge of demanding answers. Mattie wasn’t ready to give him those answers just yet. First, she had to lay the groundwork. She had to convince him—somehow—to help her.
“The van,” she reminded him, looking back out the window. It was still there. No open doors.
Bo returned his attention to the menacing vehicle, as well, and the silence sliced right through the foyer. “Who’s out there?” he asked.
She had to clear away the lump in her throat before she could speak. “I honestly don’t know.”
“But it’s related to you?”
“Maybe. But I don’t think so. I’ve covered my tracks well. Plus, as you said, the van followed you. There shouldn’t be a connection between me and you.”
Mattie prayed that that was true. It didn’t mean it was. Someone could have put one and one together and that would have led them to Bo. And to that precious little girl in the picture.
“Have you been followed before?” Mattie asked.
“No.” He was adamant enough about it, but there was something that made her keep pushing.
“You’re sure?”
He cursed under his breath. “Someone’s been looking into my personal info. And yesterday someone tried to break into my SUV.”
“Yesterday,” she repeated. Mattie didn’t like the timing. Yesterday was when she’d called Bo’s house and asked for an appointment to see him.
She caught some movement on the street and spotted the white police cruiser. It came to a stop behind the van.
“Wait here,” Bo ordered. But he didn’t just order it. This time he snared her gaze, and there was trouble in his eyes. Trouble that dared her to defy him.
Mattie stayed put. Besides, it was possible that whoever was in that van would want to shoot her on sight. She didn’t want to die, and she didn’t want bullets coming anywhere near the children.
Much to her surprise, the driver of the van didn’t slam on the accelerator and speed away. She watched as the person inside rolled down the window. Bo approached, his gun aimed and ready. The two uniformed officers who got out of the cruiser had their weapons trained on the van, as well.
When the window was completely lowered, she spotted the man inside. Scraggly salt-and-pepper hair. Long, thin face.
He was a stranger.
That didn’t mean he wasn’t a gun hired by someone who didn’t qualify as a stranger. It wouldn’t be the first time a gunman had been paid to come after her.
“Is everything okay?” she heard someone ask.
She looked over her shoulder and spotted Rosalie. The sixty-something-year-old nanny with the sugar-white hair was in the doorway of one of the rooms down the corridor. She had the little boy in her arms, his legs straddled around her thin hip.
Mattie’s heart lurched, and she waited. Breath held. Hoping to see the other child. And then hoping that she didn’t. Not at this moment with the van out there.
“The police are here,” Mattie relayed. “Bo should be back soon.”
Rosalie nodded and disappeared into the room, where she’d hopefully be safe with the children if bullets started flying.
Mattie forced her attention back on the van. The driver was smiling. His demeanor was almost apologetic. He even laughed about something one of the officers said. Bo didn’t share the laugh, but he did lower his weapon, and then he said something to the uniformed officers before turning to walk toward the house.
Mattie opened the door for him but stood to the side so that neither the officers nor the van driver could see her.
“The guy says he’s interested in buying the house across the street,” Bo announced. “That seems to be the lie of the day, huh?”
“You think he’s lying?”
“Maybe. But even if he’s not, those are fake plates on his vehicle. He’ll need to explain that to the officers.” He re-holstered his gun. “And speaking of explaining, let me check on Rosalie, and then I can call someone to stay with her while I take you down to headquarters.”
“No.” She grabbed his arm to stop him from heading to the nursery. “If you take me there, you’ll be signing my death warrant.”
He couldn’t have possibly managed a more skeptical look. “I’m a cop, not a killer.”
“There are others, though, who would love to pull the trigger.” Mattie wished she’d rehearsed this or at least figured out the best way to approach what she had to say. Of course, maybe there was no best way.
He shook off her grip and turned, practically trapping her against the wall. “Did you have something to do with the men who took the hostages at the hospital?”
“No. I told you that I was one of the hostages.”
“Madeline Cooper,” he said as a challenge.
“Mattie,”
