It was a strain Julia refused to bear. Bad enough that she had to worry about her sister on the job. She refused to worry about a husband, too.
When she’d found Tuck’s badge in the hotel room, she’d lost it. Images of her mother trying not to cry as she sat by the phone had flooded her memories, bringing her to her knees on the bedroom floor of the hotel. She couldn’t get away from Tuck fast enough. She refused to be one of those wives who waited night and day for “the call.”
All Julia had wanted was a safe home with someone who would be there to love her. A father who put his family ahead of his work. A man who wasn’t destined to die of gunshot wounds earned in the line of duty.
Just a glimpse of that all-too-familiar badge had been enough to make Julia run. She’d departed the hotel, leaving a note that she was sorry and that their marriage had been a mistake. Annulment papers had been easy to obtain, and within forty-eight hours she wasn’t married.
Of course, there were still consequences she never could have anticipated. Consequences like the precious baby girl cradled for the first time in her father’s arms.
For a long time he stared down at the baby. “I have a daughter.” He shook his head, his eyes widening. “I have a daughter. What did you say her name was?”
“Lily. Lily Amelia.” She looked down at her hands. “You said your mother’s name was Amelia. I thought it was pretty.”
She’d named his daughter after his mother. Tuck touched a finger to the baby’s rounded cheek, marveling at how soft and smooth her skin was. “You had no right,” he whispered. The baby had been born four months ago. Four months he could have been getting to know her. “You had no right to keep her from me.”
“Agreed.”
Anger and regret made a resurgence through him. “Then why?” He glared at her. “Why now? There must be something you want, or you wouldn’t have contacted me.”
Julia stepped forward. “Like I said, we need your help. We’re in trouble.”
“The same trouble that took your sister’s life?”
She flinched, her lips trembling. “Yes.”
“Who was behind the murder?”
“I don’t know. My sister and I had gone to the casino. She was on vacation, visiting me.” Julia swallowed hard before she could continue, her words coming out in a rush. “Jillian was making a video of me on the path outside the casino—the one that leads to the marina. She wanted to get the lake in the background. I was turning to get in a better position when I saw movement by the docks.”
She pressed a hand to her mouth, her eyes widening. “When I looked closer, I could see a man being held at gunpoint and then shot in the chest down by the water. Jillian caught it all on her camera without realizing what was happening. I was too shocked to say anything. It happened so fast.” She stared up at Tuck, all the horror she must have witnessed reflecting in her watery blue eyes. “But then the murderer glanced our way. I don’t think he saw Jillian, but he definitely saw me.”
Tuck’s hands tightened around the baby. “What happened?”
“I told my sister.” Julia’s head moved back and forth as if she were in a daze. “She went after him.”
“Where were you?”
“She made me promise to go home and wait for her. To take care of Lily until Jillian came for me.” She stopped talking, tears dripping down off her chin. “My sister never came back.” Julia’s words thickened. “God, I shouldn’t have let her go.” Her eyes filled with tears and overflowed, rivulets of grief running down her face.
With the baby in his arms, Tuck could do nothing to comfort her. Nor should he want to, given their history together. She’d lied by omission. Something as important as a child of his own wasn’t a fact you kept from a father.
Besides, she hadn’t come to him for comfort—she’d come to him for help. She’d said she was in trouble, and it was up to him to get to the bottom of it. “Did you notify the authorities about your situation?”
“Yes, I called you.”
“No, I mean did you call the sheriff?”
“No.”
“Why the hell not?”
Julia gave him a watery smile. “Because Jillian told me not to. I never saw my sister after I left her in front of the casino, but I did hear from her one more time. I was waiting at home when I got a text message. The attachment was the video Jillian made of the murder. It’s just enough someone with the right equipment might be able to make out the murderer. The message told me to take Lily and run—and not to trust anyone, not even the police, and definitely not the FBI.”
“Dam—” Tuck clamped his lips closed, frowned and held out the baby. “Maybe you’d better take her.”
“She’s yours.” Julia stepped back, her hands held up in surrender.
“And yours.” He continued to hold the child out to Julia. “Take her.”
Lily whimpered, squirming in Tuck’s hands.
“You’re scaring her.” Julia hesitated, her arms rising then falling to her sides. “Please. You hold her. I feel so shaky right now, I’d probably scare her even more.” She dug in a pocket and pulled out her phone, her hands trembling so badly, she almost dropped it. “She must have sent the text as she was…d-dying. Why wouldn’t she trust anyone in law enforcement? My sister works…worked for the FBI. She was a special agent, like you.”
Tuck’s brows rose. “Your sister was FBI?”
“Yes.” She looked down at the floor, but not before he had a chance to see that her blue eyes were glazed with unshed tears.
Her grief tugged at Tuck’s heart, when he had no business reacting to anything about her. He didn’t know her, other than the one night they’d spent in bed. One night.
Apparently, one night was all it took. His gaze shifted to the baby in his arms. He was amazed by the fact he was a father. One night, and a beautiful baby was conceived.
Lily’s dark eyes blinked up at him. She looked so much like a Thunder Horse, it hurt to think of her in any kind of danger. Tuck’s jaw hardened. “Let me call a friend of mine and see what’s happening with the investigation. We’ll take it from there. But I’m not making any promises.”
Julia’s eyes widened. “You won’t tell them about me and Lily?”
“I won’t say a word.” He hugged Lily close to his chest. A wave of protectiveness made his arm tighten around the tiny bundle. He’d do anything to keep this child safe.
“Are you sure you can trust the man you’re about to call?” Julia chewed on her lower lip, the movement capturing Tuck’s attention. She was so beautiful, with her blond hair and blue eyes.
“I’d trust him with my life.”
She leveled her gaze at him. “What about the life of your baby?”
