style="font-size:15px;"> “Damn,” he muttered. “Ruined my best shirt.”
But his mind churned with the threats the man had made.
I want you to be alive when we kill her.
The words echoed in his head like some terrible mantra. He hadn’t mentioned a name, but Chase knew the bastard was talking about Lily.
Jerking open the door, he slid behind the wheel. The engine had died. He turned the key and pumped the gas, but the motor only wheezed like a sick cow. Frustrated and more scared than he’d been in a very long time, he rapped his palm hard against the wheel.
“You picked a hell of a time to let me down, Irma.”
Chase threw open the door. Ignoring the blare of horns and throngs of stranded motorists, he broke into a dead run toward the only woman he’d ever loved.
IT WAS GOING TO BE a long night.
Lily Garrett rushed down the wide corridor toward Examination Room Two, her footfalls hushed on the tile floor. The hall was dimly lit, the only light coming from overhead emergency bulbs powered by generators that had kicked on automatically when the blackout hit.
She glanced at the wall clock to see it was just after four in the morning, and wondered vaguely when the power would be restored. An emergency room nurse at New England Medical Center, she’d been hard at it for sixteen hours. Her feet felt every hour she’d been on them. Being seven-and-a-half months pregnant wasn’t helping matters. Her stamina wasn’t what it used to be. Her body simply didn’t move as quickly as it once had. To make matters worse, the baby had chosen tonight of all nights to kick a field goal every minute or so.
As always, the thought of the child growing inside her made her think of Chase. For months she’d done her utmost to get him out of her mind, working many a night to the brink of collapse. When she wasn’t working, she spent much of her time with friends. Anything to fill up that great big hole in her life where he’d once been. But despite her efforts, he always found his way back. He was the kind of man a woman never forgot. The kind of man a woman went to her grave loving, no matter how many times he hurt her.
Damn Chase Vickers and his addiction to adrenaline.
Her decision to walk away hadn’t been an easy one. It wasn’t until she’d found out she was pregnant that she’d stuck to her guns and totally cut him out of her life. What kind of father would he make? The kind that turned a woman into a widow and left a child emotionally traumatized.
At any given time he was running off to war zones all over the globe. Any woman who loved him would always be left at home, wondering when he was going to come back. Wondering if he would come back. And she would inevitably pray that when he did, it wasn’t in a body bag.
Not Lily. She and her baby were better off alone. It wouldn’t be easy. But even as a single parent, she would be able to give her child stability. Chase Vickers didn’t know the meaning of the word.
Shoving thoughts of him aside the way she had every day for too many months to count, she yanked open the privacy curtain of the exam room and stepped inside. Four people had arrived a few minutes ago, victims of an elevator that had plummeted two stories when the power failed. The three women suffered various broken bones and bruises. But the man had sustained a closed head wound and was in serious condition.
Lily rushed to the gurney where the frazzled- looking emergency room doctor and respiratory therapist worked frantically to stabilize their patient. Operating on instinct, she noted vitals, called radiology for the second time and watched the emergency team work.
A firm hand on her shoulder turned her around. “Lily, if you don’t take a break, it’s going to be you flat on your back.”
She looked into her friend’s eyes and smiled. Karen Turner was a veteran nurse and damn good at what she did. With four children of her own and her first grandchild on the way, Karen knew the ropes when it came to pregnancy, too. She never hesitated to speak her mind, and Lily loved her for it.
“I mean it, kiddo. You’ve been here since noon,” Karen said. “That’s sixteen hours, honey. Go to the break room. Lie down on the cot for a while.”
Acknowledging the ache in her lower back, Lily nodded. “If I wasn’t so tired, I might argue with you.”
Karen laughed. “We got things under control here. Now scoot.”
“Only if you let me bring you a cup of coffee.”
“Sweet and black, honey.” She grinned. “Just like me.”
Smiling, Lily left the emergency room. The closer she got to the nurse’s lounge, the more she realized she’d overdone it. Again. Her ankles hurt. Her swollen belly felt tight. Her back ached. But with casualties pouring in because of blackout- related accidents, she couldn’t leave.
Deciding to make a stop at the cafeteria first, she veered right and headed toward the bank of elevators. The kitchen was closed at this hour, but she could at least get something from one of the vending machines.
The elevator doors chimed open and two orderlies hustled out. Lily stepped inside and hit the button, taking that precious time to massage her aching back on the ride down to the basement. Thoughts of a turkey sandwich on rye, and maybe a chocolate cupcake for dessert, enticed her as the doors slid open.
To her surprise the foyer was deserted. Beyond the double doors, the cafeteria stood in near darkness, the only light coming from auxiliary bulbs and four Exit signs, which switched on automatically when the power failed.
The darkness was odd even at this hour. New England Medical Center was a large, bustling hospital and teaching facility, like a self-contained city that never slept. The cafeteria was usually busy, but perhaps the generator had been diverted to handle the rush of incoming emergency patients or operating facilities.
“I just hope the vending machines work,” she muttered as she dug a couple of bills from her pocket and started for the nearest source of food.
She’d just fed a dollar into the machine when a sound behind her spun her around. Lily wasn’t nervous about the dark, and she was hardly ever frightened. But standing alone in the shadowy cafeteria, gooseflesh raced down her arms.
“Is someone there?” she called out.
When no one answered, she shook her head and turned back to the vending machine. “You ate my dollar,” she muttered.
The shuffle of shoes against tile made her turn again. In the dim light coming from the kitchen behind the serving counter, she saw the unmistakable silhouette of a man dash past the doorway.
The gooseflesh she’d felt earlier transformed into a chill. Before her pregnancy, she might have confronted him, demanding to know what he was doing there. Now, however, Lily was much more safety conscious. Before reacting, she always took into consideration the well-being of her unborn child.
The hospital was generally a secure work environment. But she knew many times blackouts brought out looters—and worse. Better to get back upstairs as quickly as possible and notify security.
Never taking her eyes from the kitchen area, Lily backed
