before he could do that, Willa lifted the PDA and a second later, there was a small burst of light.
She took his picture.
She typed in something. Paused. And added something else. Notes about him no doubt.
Don’t Trust Brandon Ruiz maybe.
Well, she would have to learn to trust him. At least temporarily.
“You’re going to have to leave this place and come with me,” he told her. Willa started to object, but Brandon talked right over her. “You don’t have a choice. The baby’s safety is at stake, and I won’t let you endanger my child.”
There. That was the gauntlet.
“Your child?” she said, mocking him.
“Oh, no, we’re not going back to that part about my ambivalence toward fatherhood. We’ll do what’s best for this baby. And what’s best is for you not to be here.”
Willa didn’t say a word, not even to demand more information. She was no doubt trying to figure out how she could escape. That attempt would probably come when she tried to excuse herself to go to the bathroom. Or to get something from the kitchen.
But that wasn’t going to happen.
“We’ve received an intelligence report that there’s going to be another hostage situation,” Brandon stated as clearly as he could.
Her bottom lip started to tremble. “Where?” Her voice was all breath.
“We don’t know that. Or when. Or who will be involved. All we have is that it’ll take place at an undisclosed hospital and that the person responsible has hired two computer techs to break into some files.”
She caught her bottom lip between her teeth to stop the trembling. From what he’d been told, Willa didn’t have any actual memories of the hostage situation she’d endured, but she had read reports. Heck, she’d probably memorized them and knew she didn’t want any other person to go through what she had.
“You could put guards at all the hospitals,” Willa suggested.
He shook his head. “Too many of them. We can put them on alert, of course, and warn them of the potential danger, but we’re not even sure this attack will happen at a hospital in the state. It could happen anywhere.”
She waited a moment. Mumbled something. “How can I help?” she finally asked.
Brandon took a deep breath. Even though he still had to be mindful of her attempted escape, step two had been a success. Now, it was time for the grand finale.
Well, part of it anyway.
The last step wouldn’t happen until SAPD was sure this new hostage threat had been squelched.
“We think someone masterminded the situation with the maternity hostages,” he continued.
“But you caught the two gunmen and the man who hired them. I read about it.”
“Yes, his name was Gavin Cunningham, and last week he committed suicide in prison. In his suicide note he indicated he hadn’t worked alone, that someone had helped him set up the entire maternity hostage situation.”
The breath rushed from her mouth. “Who helped him?”
“We’re not sure. That’s where we’re hoping you can fill us in.”
“I get it,” she said almost immediately. “You want me to resume my therapy so I can remember if the gunman who held me said anything about the identity of his boss.”
“Yeah.”
Among other things.
“But I might not remember,” she pointed out. “Or maybe the gunman didn’t say anything to me at all. I could be putting myself out there for no reason.”
“You wouldn’t be just putting yourself out there, Willa.” Brandon tried to keep his voice level and calm. “I’d be with you. You’d be in my protective custody.”
She rolled her eyes. “Let me guess—that wasn’t your idea. It was Lieutenant Duggan’s.”
Brandon evaded that. “Bo Duggan lost his wife during that hostage situation. She died after giving birth to their twins. He’s, well, eager to solve this case once and for all.”
She stayed quiet a moment. Then, she said, “No.”
“No?” Brandon challenged. Well, there went his calm and level voice.
“No,” she insisted. “I won’t go with you into protective custody. And I won’t work directly with Lieutenant Duggan, SAPD or even you.”
She pointed to her laptop. Don’t Trust the Cops was scrolling across the screen in bold white letters on black background.
She had a reason not to trust cops, or anyone else for that matter. But he had to get her past that because she had no choice. Willa had to trust him.
Even if he didn’t deserve that trust.
“I’ll restart my therapy on my own,” she continued.
“I can’t take any memory-activating drugs because they might harm the baby, but maybe hypnosis will work if I try it again. I can do the hypnosis sessions here.”
Brandon shook his head. “No, you can’t.”
That got her back on her feet. “Now, just a darn minute. You might be my baby’s biological father and my former boyfriend, but that doesn’t give you any say in my life.”
He got to his feet as well. “This badge does.”
She pulled back her shoulders and looked as if he slapped her. “You’re pulling rank on me?”
“I don’t have a choice, Willa.” He’d practiced this on the drive over, but he didn’t think practice would make it sound any better than it had when he’d first said it. “We didn’t just get intel about another hostage situation. We learned from a deep-cover agent that an assassin has been hired.”
Her shoulders went back even further. “An assassin?”
He nodded and relied on the words he’d rehearsed. “An assassin hired to come after you.”
Oh, man. She didn’t just pale, every drop of color drained from her face. Willa slipped her PDA into the pocket of her sweater, sank back onto the sofa and buried her face in her hands.
Brandon went in for the kill. He had to tell her the final part of this covert briefing. The detail that would put her back in police custody.
And maybe right back in danger.
“That’s how we knew where to find you,” Brandon said, hating the sound of his own voice and the words coming out of his mouth.
Words that were unfortunately true.
“We
