Dunbrooke Drive, 11:00 p.m.

Dan stared at his cell. He’d been resisting calling Jess for nearly an hour now. He just wanted to ensure she was okay but that would only annoy her. She didn’t like him checking up on her. She’d invited him to dinner on Saturday. What else did he want?

He exhaled a big breath. Everything. No point pretending. He wanted to explore every inch of her as if he hadn’t already touched every part of her. He wanted her with him at night when he closed his eyes. He wanted to see her face first thing each morning when he opened them once more.

Slow down, pal. The one thing he understood with complete certainty was that Jess would not be pushed. He had to let this happen in its own time.

The late news droned on in the background. The highlights from their press conference had been replayed a dozen times on every local channel. Jess was quickly becoming Birmingham’s new hero. He wondered if she had any idea how that was going to change her life.

He had to be careful of the advice he offered her these days. She’d given it to him straight when he’d taken her home from the hospital. Balancing the work relationship and the personal stuff was giving her a hard time. He hadn’t meant for that to happen. He had hoped they could find a way. But not at the expense of her peace of mind. Or her happiness.

That aside, he wasn’t happy with her new living arrangements. He would have much preferred she move into a normal apartment building or home. This over-the-garage place popping up out of the blue from someone she or Lily didn’t really know didn’t sit well with him.

He’d run a background search on George Louis. Lily had been wrong about the widower part. The man had never been married. He’d lived with his invalid sister until she died ten years ago. She had never married either. The two had moved to Birmingham thirty-four years ago. No records whatsoever, not even a parking ticket. Louis had worked with one of the city’s top architectural firms until nine years ago, when he retired shortly after his sister’s death.

There was absolutely no reason to suspect anything untoward. But this was Jess, and Dan couldn’t not worry about her safety.

Not with Eric Spears still out there somewhere. Jess’s old boss at Quantico kept Dan apprised of any updates. They had nothing. No idea where Spears was at this point. There was no record of him coming back into the country but that meant nothing—not when a man like Spears was involved. He had endless resources.

Bottom line, Dan needed to have a talk with Mr. Louis just to make sure he understood Jess’s situation. Maybe that was all he needed to get comfortable with her new living arrangements.

The thing was, as much as he wanted to be with her every chance he got, he wanted to protect her. For him, the problem with balance was that one ultra-sensitive issue. Jess was a strong, independent woman. He cramped her style on and off the job. Pushing her away with his need to protect was not his intent.

He tossed his phone onto the coffee table and puffed out a weary breath. Well, it had taken them two decades to get to this place. He shouldn’t be surprised that it was going to take some time for them to reach the next level.

The doorbell rang. Dan shoved off the couch and considered that he was shirtless and in his pajama pants but whoever was at his door needed to consider the hour and appreciate the fact that he was even answering. Could be Jess. Not too many others would have the nerve to show up at his door at this hour. If there was a department issue, he’d get a call.

He checked the security peephole. Sylvia? He drew back, puzzled. Maybe she’d learned something new from Gabrielle Grayson’s lab results. But they’d had this conversation already. She could not act in an official capacity on this case under any circumstances. He couldn’t prevent Leeds from allowing her to be involved as an observer, but that was as much leeway as the law would allow. Anything beyond that and the investigation would be jeopardized.

He opened the door. “Sylvia? Is everything all right?”

She surveyed his bare chest and lifted a skeptical eyebrow. “Make yourself decent. We have to talk.”

“Come on in.” He tried to be patient with Sylvia. He really did. But she went too far any time they were forced to interact. He gestured toward the living room. “Have a seat and I’ll go make myself decent.”

Dan refused to let his frustration get the better of him. There was no use fighting a battle he couldn’t win. The Baron family was by far the wealthiest in the city and her father carried the weight of a Senate seat. What was the chief of police to do except be accommodating, as long as it didn’t break the law? Truth was, they had a personal connection that he couldn’t pretend never existed. More of that baggage he carried around after three ex-wives.

He rummaged through his bureau and grabbed a tee. That was the best she was going to get. He dragged it on as he made his way back down the hall. She paced the living room. Whatever she had on her mind, she was worked up. Not unusual. The Barons were never satisfied with the status quo.

“Would you like coffee? Water? Bourbon?” If he recalled correctly, her favorite drink was bourbon.

“No thanks.” She stalled in the middle of the room and leveled her full attention on him. “Gabrielle called me the day before she was murdered. She wanted to talk but I didn’t have time. I told this to Harris but she doesn’t seem to have followed up.”

Dan set his hands on his hips. “Why did Gabrielle call you?” He hated that the question came out with a little more disbelief than he’d intended but it was done.

“Like I told Harris, she wanted to talk about Larry. Evidently there was trouble in paradise.”

“But you don’t know exactly what she wanted to talk about,” he countered.

Sylvia folded her arms over her chest and hiked up her chin. “God, you sound like Harris. I just told you she wanted to talk about Larry. To me. There was a problem. She was worried and now she’s dead. Do you get that?” she demanded. “You should be looking more closely at Larry and whatever problem he has or is involved in.”

Dan plowed his fingers through his hair. “Do you know how this sounds?” Surely she did. Sylvia was an extremely intelligent woman. “You’re the scorned ex-wife. You would love to see him go down for this. That’s what everyone will think.”

Sylvia laughed. “I don’t care what anyone thinks. But I do care that no one, not even the woman who stole my husband, deserved to die like this. You and Harris need to get your acts together. This murder had something to do with Larry. I heard the fear in her voice, Dan. Do you have any idea how much courage it must have taken for her to call me?”

That part he got. “Jess is investigating Larry. Anyone close to Gabrielle is a person of interest. You know how this works. She’s not going to ignore the possibility that Larry was involved. Coming here all worked up about this doesn’t lend any more credibility to your claim, Sylvia. You have to know that, too.”

She dropped into the nearest chair. “Maybe that was an excuse.”

Dan went on alert. “Is there something going on with Nina?” Just saying her name out loud resurrected memories he’d just as soon leave dead and buried.

Sylvia shook her head. “She’s not responding to the treatments the way we’d hoped. I’m not so sure she’s going to come around this time.”

Nina had been such a fun-loving, warm person. Or so it seemed. Dan had run into her at a fund-raiser. It had been nearly a decade since he and Jess ended their relationship. He’d decided it was time to settle down. Somehow he was always trying to find a way to get over Jess. Nina had presented the exact opportunity. She had been adventurous and his parents had fawned over her. She was a senator’s daughter after all. Only the senator’s family had been keeping a deep, dark secret. And Dan had almost paid the ultimate price for their vanity.

He forced away the memories that didn’t need revisiting. For years he had worked vigilantly to prevent himself from recalling those horrors whenever he thought of Nina.

“We’re considering moving her to a clinic in New York where they’re seeing better results with this intense therapy that has failed so miserably here.”

“How’s the senator handling this?” Dan could just imagine. Nina was his baby girl.

“Exactly like you think,” Sylvia admitted.

Nina suffered from paranoid schizophrenia. She’d shown the signs for years. The family had ignored them. Then, six months after she and Dan married, she went over the edge. How she’d made it through law school and started her own practice by the age of twenty-eight he would never fully understand. She’d tried to kill Dan with his own service revolver and he’d had no choice but to admit he couldn’t handle the situation. The family had resumed her care and the divorce was hastened along. Irreconcilable differences. That was all the world would ever know.

Dan had visited her every month for a while. But his presence only seemed to agitate her, so eventually he’d stopped going.

Then he’d stopped thinking about that side of her. He chose to remember the intelligent, vivacious woman he’d first fallen for.

“Is there anything I can do?”

Sylvia shook her head. “Afraid not, Chief. The demons in her head don’t want to let go and we just can’t seem to find a way to oust them.”

“I truly am sorry, Sylvia. I wish there was something someone could do to bring her back.”

“Me, too.” Sylvia straightened her shoulders and shoved her hair behind her ears. “So tell me about you and Harris. How long have you been in love with her?”

Dan held up his hands stop-sign fashion. “I’m afraid that topic is off limits.” He smiled in spite of himself. “Besides, I’m certain she would tell you that she doesn’t have time for that kind of stuff.”

“She’s the one from high school, isn’t she? The one you followed to Boston?”

Why bother lying? She’d only dig up the answers later. “Yes. Yes, she is.”

“So did she break your heart or did you break hers?”

He shrugged. “I think there was mutual damage.”

“I see.” Sylvia stood. “I hope you know what you’re doing this time.”

Dan frowned as he pushed to his feet. “We’re lucky to have her in the department. I’m damned glad she accepted the offer.”

Sylvia stopped at the door and turned back to him. “I wasn’t talking about the job. I was talking about the falling in love again.” She lifted one shoulder in a half shrug. “Or maybe you never really fell out of love.”

“Good night, Dr. Baron.”

“Make sure she follows up on this Larry thing,” Sylvia urged.

“You have my word.”

She searched his face a moment. “That means a lot, Dan. There are few men on this planet who are as good as their word, but you’re one of them and I appreciate that. I hope Harris does as well.”

And with that off-handed compliment, the senator’s elder daughter was gone. Dan watched her back her Lexus onto the street and drive away.

He closed the door and locked it.

The ego-driven male side of him wanted to argue that Sylvia was going overboard in her assessment, but he couldn’t do that. There was some part of how he had felt about Jess at seventeen that he had never gotten over. Through three marriages and countless relationships she had always been there, haunting him.

How she felt was far more difficult to measure. What her ex, Duvall, wanted was as clear as a bell. He hadn’t sent one of his underlings here to look into the Lopez family situation. He had come personally. Dan suspected the man was having second thoughts about having left Jess in the lurch.

If Jess was really smart, she’d tell them both to go to hell.

Dan chuckled. What a mess they had made of that aspect of their lives.

He checked the time. Almost midnight. Maybe he’d do a drive-by. If her lights were on, he’d call to see how she was doing.

He should probably just go to bed and forget the whole thing. Jess was, as she reminded him quite often, a grown woman who was highly trained in the art of self-defense.

But if he didn’t go he’d never get any sleep.

His cell chimed to alert him to an incoming text.

He grabbed it from the coffee table and checked the screen.

Night Burnett.

Jess. He smiled as he sent her a good night.

She was okay. Now maybe he could get some sleep.