Second Chances: A PAVAD Duet (25 page)

Marianna’s youngest son
pulled on Ed’s shirt. “Yes. Can I see the baby? Uncle Fin said
Daniella gets to be my cousin. I don’t have any other
cousins.”

Matthew crowded close to
his grandfather’s side. “Cool. Daniella is
my
cousin, too.”

“
She certainly is.” Ed
pulled the blanket back so the children could see her wide-eyed
gaze. “Isn’t she pretty?”

“
She looks kind of
wrinkly.” Bobby scrunched up his nose as he looked at her. Ed
smirked seeing the familiar expression. The boy’s mother did that
when she was thinking.

“
All babies do.” Ed ruffled
the dark hair on the boy’s head before looking back at Marianna.
The desire was clear in her eyes. He shifted the baby and Marianna
smiled in that sweet way women did with babies and stepped closer.
He passed her the baby.

“
Oh so small. It seems like
forever since Bobby was this little.” She almost cooed the words.
Ed’s gut tightened inappropriately. She did that to him quicker
than any other woman ever had. Even in just the short time he’d
known her.

“
Probably because Bobby was
a nine-pounder, Mari.” McLaughlin laughed, pulling Bobby up to rest
on his hip.

“
True. But James and
Timothy didn’t even weigh five pounds each.” Marianna rocked the
baby gently. “I could hold them at the same time easily
enough.”

Ed looked at her for a
moment, wondering exactly what it was like responsible for three
infants and a preschooler, as well as three children in elementary
school. She would have been alone and scared of her ex-husband—the
one person who
should
have helped her.

He tucked the blanket
around the baby, deliberately letting his hand linger on
Marianna’s. Her skin was nearly as soft as the baby’s. He wouldn’t
mind touching more of her. 

“
Makes you nervous when
they’re that small,” he said, “Took me nearly two months before I
was comfortable holding Georgia as an infant. She was just over
five pounds and I’d repeatedly been told not to hold her like a
football.”

“
The way I’ve heard it from
Aunt Carolyn, you fumbled me a couple of times, Dad,” Georgia
said.

“
Your first Easter…my
sister had dressed you in one of those silly frilly girl dresses.
The kind with all the horrible ruffles and the little white socks
with all that fishnet material. That dress was slick. You slid
right out of my arms.” Ed shook his head, remembering the guilt and
panic he’d felt. She’d landed in the middle of the kitchen floor,
flat on her back.

“
No lasting damage,
although there is a funny looking scar on my hair line,” Georgia
smirked.

“
No damage to you, but I
felt guilty for years!”

“
Is that why she got
everything she wanted?” Hellbrook asked, settling Matthew on his
shoulders where the boy could see over the crowd.

“
Of course,” Ed
said.

“
So what are we going to do
first?” Ana asked.

“
All of it!” Matthew
yelled, “Come on, Grandpa, let’s go!” 

It was a good day, Ed
decided several hours later, despite the fact that Hellbrook and
Georgia had been called away for a case--even though it was a local
one. The baby was back in her mother’s arms, and he’d somehow wound
up packing Marianna’s youngest son while McLaughlin packed Matthew.
The twins held each other’s hands under the watchful eye of their
mother. She walked beside Ed, her shoulder bumping his
occasionally; it was nice, the feeling of being with a woman in a
relaxed family setting, even with the McLaughlins along with
them.

He eyed her out the corner
of his eye as he had a radical thought—what would it be like to ask
the beautiful doctor out on a
real
date? Just the two of them? Or was he starting to
lose his mind?

Later that night, Marianna
opened the door and let Ed in, feeling underdressed and vulnerable
in her pajamas. He still wore a suit coat and tie and carried a
black leather duffle in one hand. "Director Ed, is this absolutely
necessary?"

"I wouldn't be here if it
wasn't."

Marianna still had a hard
time getting her mind wrapped around the fact that Kelly had been
shot outside Smokey's Bar earlier that night
or
that Ally had gone home to find
her house had been ransacked. Ed had told her on the phone
that
he
would be
coming to her house to protect the Brewster children, on the off
chance that there was a connection between the shooting and the
burglary. On the off chance that the children could be a target.
He'd even threatened her; told her that it would best if it was
someone all the children were familiar with instead of some unknown
agent. Marianna had found herself giving in, then found herself
angry at the both of them; him for giving her orders and her for
giving in so easily.

"Whomever is responsible
for this did a real number on Dr. Brewster’s home. If it was the
ex-husband I want to make damned sure those kids are safe. Even if
it wasn't the ex, I am going to make sure those kids are safe." He
kept his voice as a whisper while she led him into the kitchen.
What was she supposed to do with him?

"I doubt it was Jack
Brewster," Marianna said. "He isn't the kind of guy who would ever
dream of breaking into someone's home, especially Ally's. He just
always...well...he always just
assumed
with Ally. Assumed she'd do
what he wanted, would take care of his needs. Everything. And if
there was something in the house he wanted—he’d assume she’d give
it to him."

"So you don't think this
was revenge against Dr. Brewster or Kelly Reynolds?" He sat the
duffle on the island between them.

"No. Would you like
something to drink?" Marianna handed him a package of cookies
before opening the refrigerator.

"Milk would be fine. So if
it wasn't the ex-husband, who do you think would want to shoot Dr.
Reynolds and write the word
bitch
in the middle of Dr. Brewster's bed?”

"They did that?" That was
much more personal than just a random burglary, and now Marianna
understood why they felt there may be a threat to the children.
"Any other indicators that this was personal?"

"Dr. Brewster's bedroom was
damaged more than any other room in the house, and while the damage
to Dr. Reynolds' room was extensive, it didn't feel
as
personal as the damage
done to Dr. Brewster's. The main living areas of the house, living
room, dining room, etc. were ransacked but not to nearly the same
extent. The children's rooms were barely touched." His hand bumped
hers when she handed him the milk.

"Leading you to believe
that it was personal against Ally, therefore it must be the
ex-husband." Marianna understood his reasoning. "But I seriously
doubt it was Jack. He is such an apathetic man, he rarely
considered his family at all. And if he was angry with Ally--he'd
be right there demanding she give in to whatever he wanted--all
without raising his voice. This act of rage, of violence...he'd
consider it very much beneath him."

"So who else,
then?"

"I have absolutely no
idea." And Marianna didn't. "Ally's the sweetest person I've ever
known. Kind. Nobody could ever conceive of hurting her."

"She is a nice woman, isn't
she? Dan and I believed it would be less of an ordeal for the kids
for me to be here, rather than someone they'd never met hanging
around with a gun."

"What am I supposed to tell
the kids about why you are here?"

"How about that I brought
an urgent file for your attention and we've worked on it until now?
They already know I am your superior and that you hold a high
position in the lab, it's not inconceivable that I seek you out
even during off hours. I'm not leaving until Reynolds arrives
tomorrow to retrieve the Brewster children." He paused, frowned
before running a hand over his face. He looked exhausted, and she
felt a sudden wave of real fear. If he and Agent Reynolds truly
felt there could be a threat to the kids, enough that they thought
it warranted an
armed
federal agent guarding the children--it was a potentially
serious situation. And she'd offered him milk and cookies like a
comforting mother. Oh, God, he must think she was an
idiot.

"Have you heard anything
else about Kelly?"

"Sleeping peacefully, was
the word last I heard. Her sisters and Dr. Compton and Agent
Tompkins are at the hospital with her, now."

"And Ally? How's she
doing?"

"She's frightened, probably
more than she will admit. But Dan will take care of her, see that
she's safe."

"That's good. I'd hate to
think of her alone, tonight. And she seems to like Kelly's
father."

"He's a good man to have on
your side, and a good friend. And he seems just as taken with Dr.
Brewster." He frowned again, his face closing up.

"You don't think it's a
good thing." Marianna felt instant hostility, and the urge to
defend her friend.

"Truthfully? I'm not
certain it is. Dan has been hurt more than enough for a lifetime.
And while your friend is a wonderful woman, I’m not sure
she
is what Dan needs
right now. I'd hate to see him get attached and something go
wrong." He twirled the milk glass in his strong hands before
setting it down on the counter. "But then again, this is just
speculation on our part, right? They could just as easily be
becoming very good friends, and nothing more."

"But you don't think that's
possible, do you?" Marianna was torn between curiosity and
irritation that he'd automatically assumed Dan would be the one to
get hurt. "For them to be just friends?"

"No. Because I saw the way
they've looked at one another." He looked directly at her, his eyes
dark and shadowed. Predatory. "He watches her like he wants her,
and she looks back."

Marianna swallowed,
suddenly understanding why he'd looked so much like a jungle cat
intent on prey. He wasn't talking about Agent Reynolds and Ally,
not with that last comment.

She
was Ed Dennis's prey.

Now what was she going to
do about it?

Ed hated questions without
answers, doubly so when it involved his people. He’d spent six
weeks turning over every rock and digging up everything he could
think of to find who had threatened Dan’s daughter and Dr.
Brewster. And still he had nothing. Nothing solid, nothing
concrete. Nothing at all, dammit.

He hadn’t stopped looking,
but he was half afraid it was time to turn over the search to
someone with less
responsibilities than he
had. Mick Brockman, maybe. The IA agent assigned to PAVAD as
liaison might not have been well-liked by most of the PAVAD
division, but Ed knew the big man would be like a dog with a bone.
And Ed needed that tenacity.

He felt like he’d failed
his best friend once again. He’d searched for Dan’s kids over the
past fifteen years and found nothing; now that Dan had his family
back, Ed couldn’t find who it was threatening Dan’s
daughter.

Every avenue he’d followed
had stalled, and until they had more information to go on, Ed
didn’t think there was much more he could do. Ed leafed through the
files again, running over what he knew so far. Pitifully little. It
was almost as if the person responsible
knew
enough about forensics to cover
his tracks. And everything seemed to center around Dan’s oldest
daughter, with Allison Brewster on the peripheral. But something
about that nagged at Ed. Was it
just
about Dan’s daughter, and
Allison Brewster was a part of it by association? Or was it about
Allison, as well? And was it a recent development, or was this
something that had been carried down from Indianapolis? He had to
admit that made the most sense to him. It hardly seemed likely that
it was something that started in St. Louis.

He looked up when someone
knocked on his door. He knew who it was immediately; she had a
quick and distinctive knock. “Yes, Len?”

Her face was tense, and she
held a note in her hand. “I just got a call from Lt. Bowman,
regarding one of our agents.”

His attention sharpened.
Her demeanor told him immediately that he was going to like what
she had to say. His first thought was of his daughter and
son-in-law and he tamped down a run of anxiety. He knew where
Georgia was; he’d spoken with her a few hours earlier in the
cafeteria. “Specifics?”

“
Agent Merrick Cody, with
Evidence Recovery. She’s been assaulted. I don’t have any other
details, other than her hospital room number.”

“
So she’s alive, then?” The
woman’s face immediately flashed into his mind, as well as what he
knew about her. Did she have any family around?

“
Critical, sir. From what
Bowman said. It took them several hours to identify
her.”