Passion & Lies Read online

  “This little one sounds fine. We’ll have to have a pediatrician check her over but her lungs sound healthy.”

  “Can I stay with her?”

  “Yes, we’re going to transport them now and you can ride along.”

  Dane climbed into the ambulance and looked back at Jenna. “Thank you.”

  “Call me if you need anything.”

  Dane pulled his phone from his pocket and texted Miguel.

  Dane: Headed to hospital with Lacey. Smitts is a dead man walking.

  Miguel: Spoke to Jakey. On way to hospital now.

  Dane dialed Alex.

  “Hello.”

  “Alex, I need you to find Molly. I don’t know if she’s at home or with Lacey’s parents but I need you to get her and bring her to the hospital.”

  “HOSPITAL! Is Lacey alright?”

  “No. The baby came early. We’re in an ambulance on the way. Help me, Alex.”

  “I will find her and I’ll be right there.”

  Dane hung up and looked over at Lacey and his daughter. Lacey needed to be ok, he couldn’t do this alone.

  DANE PACED BACK AND forth watching the doctors examine his daughter. He was practically incapacitated with worry for Lacey.

  “Ready, Daddy?”

  Dane turned and the doctor had his little girl all bundled up in a blanket with a cute little pink hat on her head. “Is she ok?”

  “She’s perfect.” The doctor handed her to Dane. “I know that you’re worried about her mother but right now your baby needs you to be strong.”

  “I’m trying.”

  “I’ll go and check on your wife.”

  “She’s not…thank you.” Wife…maybe he should have asked her to marry him instead of suggesting they move to his house because it’s bigger. He looked down at the baby. “You have the biggest eyes I’ve ever seen on a little person.” Dane pushed back her knit cap and sure enough she had golden blonde hair like Lacey. “Well, you’ve got dark eyes like your old man but you’ve got your mommy’s beautiful hair. I wonder if you’ll have big feet like her?” Dane chuckled. “Your mommy, she’s a beautiful woman. Her name is Lacey. She’s tall and yet she still wears these stilettos. No stilettos for you…nope. Your old man is going to dress you so that no boy will ever want to take a second look at you.”

  “Mr. Carlton?”

  “Yes.”

  “The doctor asked me to let you know that they’ll be taking Ms. Benton upstairs to the maternity ward.”

  “Is she alright?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then why are you taking her there?”

  “That’s where women who’ve just given birth go.” The nurse smiled.

  “Can we go too?”

  “You sure can. I just need to get you a bracelet and I’ll get an orderly to bring in a bassinet to bring the baby up in.”

  “I can carry her.”

  “It’s hospital policy. If the baby leaves the room, then she needs to be transported in a bassinet.”

  “Ok, but I want to stay with her.”

  “You can, I promise.”

  “Thank you.”

  Miguel was pacing in the waiting room while Miles spoke to Beck and Jakey on the phone.

  As soon as Miles hung up Miguel was behind him. “Any word on Smitts?”

  “No, but if Dane gets his hands on him before we do there won’t be anything left of him to interrogate.”

  “Can’t say I’d blame him.”

  “Me either but if we want to find out why he’s doing all this then we need him alive.”

  “Then we can fucking kill him.”

  Simmons came walking in. “Where’s Dane?”

  “He’s with his baby.”

  “I can’t believe this. If anything happens to Lacey I’ll never forgive myself. I want to skin that kid alive.”

  “It’s not your fault.”

  “You guys have been nothing but loyal to me. You’ve even saved my ass and this is the repayment I give you.”

  “Excuse me, Eden’s calling.”

  Miguel walked over and patted Simmons on the back. “None of us blame you. We all knew the risks when we signed on.”

  “Once we get Scotty, I’m putting in my resignation, taking my wife and disappearing.”

  “Good for you but I do expect a forwarding address.”

  “You got it.”

  Dane stood at Lacey’s bedside holding his daughter. “How long before she wakes up?”

  “Could be anytime. She did suffer a concussion when she banged her head.”

  “Thank you.”

  “If either of you need anything just press this button here or poke your head out the door.”

  Alex poked her head in. “Can I come in?”

  “Alex, hey, did you find Molly?”

  “Molly is in the waiting room with Miguel. I wanted to come in and see how you were both doing first…and sneak a peek at this little one.”

  Dane turned so that Alex could see the baby. “Oh Dane, she’s beautiful.”

  “Alex, what if Lacey doesn’t wake up or…”

  “Or she does, and you live happily ever after.”

  “I need to go talk to Molly.”

  “Do you want me to bring her in?”

  “I want to explain about Lacey before she comes in and sees her. That’s the right way, right?”

  “It would be better that way, yes.”

  “Would you mind staying here with the baby? I don’t want her to be alone.”

  “I’d love to…does she have a name?”

  “No. Alex, I’m so scared.”

  “Dane, Lacey is going to wake up and everything is going to be alright.”

  “When I saw Smitts standing behind her…my blood ran cold.”

  “How did you manage to get Lacey away from him?”

  “My lady gave him a shot to the nuts.”

  “Lacey did that?”

  “She’s an amazing woman, Alex.”

  “Anybody who can work for Miguel has to be.” Alex winked.

  “Here. Support her head. I’m going to talk to Molly.” Dane leaned over and kissed his baby girl.

  Alex took the baby and sat down on the chaise next to Lacey’s bed. “That father of yours, he loves you so very much.”

  “DANE!” Molly came running and hugged Dane’s legs. “Is my sister here?”

  Dane knelt down. “She is.”

  Molly grabbed Dane and hugged him. “I love her already!”

  “Listen, Molly, your mommy is taking a long sleep.”

  “I bet she is so tired from getting my sister out of there.”

  “She is. So we can go into her room and see your sister but I just want you to remember that your mommy needs to sleep.”

  “Ok, I can use my church voice.”

  Dane ran his hand over his face and then smiled at Molly. “Yes, you can.” Dane stood up.

  Miguel grabbed him and hugged him. “Congratulations!”

  “Thanks, Migs.”

  Miguel whispered. “Everything’s going to work out.”

  Dane nodded. Molly grabbed his hand. “Let’s go, I can’t wait any longer.”

  “Come on. You too, Migs.”

  Alex had loosened up the baby’s blanket so that when Molly came in she could see her little hands and feet. “I wonder what your mommy and daddy will name you?”

  “OH MY GOD!” Molly ran over to her sister.

  Dane turned to Miguel. “So much for the church voice.”

  Miguel smiled. “You did good. She’s a real beauty.”

  “She gets that from her momma.”

  Molly stared down at her sister as she visually inspected her. “Can I touch her?”

  “Right after you go use those disinfectant wipes on your hands.”

  “Ok.”

  Miguel grabbed the wipes and handed them to Molly.

  Alex stood up. “Sit down.”

  “You’re leaving?”

  “We’ll be outside. You need
to bond with your girls.” Alex leaned up and kissed Dane on the cheek.

  Dane sat down and Alex placed the baby into his arms. “Here you go, Daddy.”

  Molly held her hands up. “All clean!”

  “Climb up.”

  Molly climbed up onto the chaise. Dane grabbed a pillow and placed it on Molly’s lap. “Ready?”

  “Ready.”

  “Molly, meet your little sister.”

  “What’s her name?”

  “I don’t know. Mom didn’t name her before she went to sleep.”

  “Well I think that we should call her Lilly because that is my mommy’s favorite flower.”

  “As long as your mom approves when she wakes up.”

  “She will.” Molly smiled. “Hello, Lilly, I am Molly, your big sister and I love you the mostest.”

  Dane smiled. “What about me?”

  “I love you too, Dane.”

  Dane kissed Molly on her forehead. “I love you, Molly.”

  “This kid looks sleepy.”

  Dane smiled. “Babies sleep a lot.”

  “I’m kind of tired too.”

  “Me too.”

  “Maybe we should take a family nap.”

  “Family. I guess we are a family, aren’t we?”

  “Families have a mommy, daddy and children. We have all that so we must be a family.”

  “Yeah, we’re a family.” Dane held Molly and Lilly in his arms. He’d never felt so loved.

  Lacey woke up, grabbed her belly and was about to scream when she heard snoring. She turned and saw the most beautiful sight she had ever seen. Dane had a tiny little bundle on his chest that he was holding like his life depended on it and Molly cuddled up on the other side with her arm draped across him. They were all sound asleep.

  She sat up and the nurse walked in. “You’re awake.”

  “I just woke up.”

  “How are you feeling?”

  “Sore but I think I’m ok. How is my baby?”

  “She’s perfect. Good luck prying her from his hands.” The nurse laughed.

  “How long have they been here?”

  “They’ve been asleep a few hours.”

  “Well then it’s time to get up because I want to hold my little girl.”

  The nurse put down the side of the bed and helped Lacey up. “I’ll check in on you later.”

  Lacey leaned down and she gently placed her lips onto Dane’s. Dane opened his eyes. “You’re awake.”

  “I love you too.”

  “I’m sorry, that guy, he was after me and…”

  “Dane, we can talk about that later. All I want to do now is hold our baby.”

  Dane moved his hand. “She’s beautiful.”

  Lacey picked her up and looked at her and the tears immediately began to roll down her cheeks. The baby popped her eyes open and looked right up at her mommy. “She has your eyes.”

  “Take off her hat. She has your blonde hair.”

  “I bet Molly was excited to meet her little sister.”

  “Speaking of Molly, she named her sister for us.”

  “Oh, she did, did she?”

  “After your favorite flower. I told her that you’d have to approve of it.”

  “You learn quickly.” Lacey winked. “Lilly is a beautiful name.” Lacey sat down on the bed with Lilly and started nursing her.

  Dane watched Lilly latch on as if she was a pro. The thought that just a few hours ago he could have lost them both made him sick. He knew that Lacey didn’t want to talk about what had happened but there was something that he wanted to make sure she knew. “Lacey, I know that you don’t want to talk about what happened but I want you to know that the woman that I was with, she’s my therapist and she was just stretching my fingers. I swear, I could never look at another woman.”

  “I know.”

  “You know?”

  “Dane, when you told me that you loved me that meant the world to me. It gave me the courage to fight off that beast. If I ever had a doubt before, I don’t now.”

  Dane smiled. “I’m still scared but I had to tell you. I was prepared to tell you when I came home but then your parents…OH MY GOD…I never called your parents.”

  “We can call them later. Right now I just want to hold this precious baby and stare at the man I love and my little Molly.”

  “I got it!”

  “Got what?”

  “Smitts’ biological father was killed in India while on mission with Tamarak’s unit.”

  “Let me guess, Simmons killed him?”

  “Ding! Ding! Ding!”

  “That explains why he’s a target but what about us?”

  “Maybe we’re just collateral damage, Migs.”

  “I don’t know. You didn’t work with Dane back then, Jakey, and he has it out big time for the both of you.”

  “I’m going to bring Simmons and Miles in to go over this. Maybe they’ll find something I missed. I already uploaded the information to Beck.”

  “What about Dane?”

  “I say we give him the night off to spend with his family.”

  Miguel smiled. “Wow, I never thought that I’d hear those two words, his and family in the same sentence.”

  “Maybe it’s a night for miracles.” Jakey laughed.

  Dane kissed Molly. “Mommy’s awake, Sleepyhead.”

  Molly bolted up like a rocket. “Mommy!”

  “Hey, Baby, why don’t you come up here and sit with me.”

  Dane helped Molly up onto the bed. “Why don’t I take Lilly so that the two of you can have some alone time to cuddle.”

  “Lilly! We’re keeping her name?”

  Lacey placed her hand on Molly’s cheek. “Yes, I love the name you gave your sister.”

  “Yay! Lilly Benton, my sister.” Molly smiled.

  “Molly, Lilly’s last name is going to be Carlton.”

  Dane looked over at Lacey.

  “Unless Dane doesn’t want her to be a Carlton?”

  “I’d like to give her my name.”

  “But why? Why can’t she have the same last name as me?”

  “Honey, you and Lilly have different dads so you have different last names.”

  “Dane, can I have your last name too? Please? My daddy always said that he wanted me to be happy and that would make me so happy.”

  “Molly…”

  Dane’s heart was breaking looking at Molly’s sad little face. “Yes, but only if your mommy changes her name too?”

  Lacey’s eyes practically bugged out of her head. “Dane…”

  “Where is that baby?” Eden and Faith came barging into Lacey’s room carrying balloons, flowers and cookies.

  “Cookies! I’m starving.” Molly slid down off the bed.

  Eden opened the cookies and handed one to Molly. “This one is for the big sister.”

  Molly smiled. “Thank you.”

  Dane was still half hoping that Lacey would respond to what he said. He was pulled from that thought when Faith started to pry Lilly from his hands. “She’s precious, Dane.”

  “Her name’s Lilly.”

  “Hi, Lilly. I’m you’re Auntie Faith.”

  “How are you feeling, Lacey?”

  Lacey looked away from Dane and over at Eden. “I have a bit of a headache from this bump on my head, but I couldn’t be happier.”

  “I’m going to grab a cup of coffee and let you all visit.” Dane leaned over and kissed Lacey. “I’ll be right back.”

  “LACEY, YOU HERE?” DANE walked over and picked up Lilly. “Hey, Princess.”

  “I’m changing; I’ll be right out.”

  Dane looked down at the Lilly’s birth certificate. “So Lilly has a middle name, I see.”

  Lacey opened the bathroom door. “I was going to make sure it was ok with you before I handed it in.”

  Dane kissed the baby. “Lilly Dana Carlton. Who knew that your old man was capable of making such a precious little person.”

  Lacey smil
ed. “I can’t wait to go home.”

  “Before we go home I need to talk to you about something.”

  “You don’t want to do this?”

  “No, yes. Wait! I want this. You, Lilly and Molly.”

  “Then what is it?”

  “I have security outside the door, on the house and at Molly’s school. That man from the bar wants to take me out and I don’t want you or the girls to be in harm’s way.”

  “But someone is going to find that creep and put him in jail, right?”

  Dane looked away for a minute. “We’re trying to locate him now and when he’s found he will be dealt with.”

  “We?”

  “We.”

  “Oh God.” Lacey closed her eyes for a minute and then she sat down.

  Dane sat down next to her. “Look, Lacey, I’m trying to stay out of it because of you and the girls but I can’t promise you that if he comes for me that I’m going to back down.”

  “Ok.” Lacey got up and started packing up her things.

  “You said ok but you don’t mean it.”

  “I don’t want you chasing some killer but I also don’t want any of us dead; so I’ll just pray that someone else catches him first.”

  Dane put Lilly down into her car seat and buckled her in. Then he turned to Lacey. “Come here.”

  Lacey hugged Dane. “My God.” Lacey stepped away.

  “I always carry a gun. You just never noticed because I usually have it concealed. With my hand I need to have easy access.”

  “Are you even capable of shooting a gun right now?”

  “I can shoot with my left hand if need be.”

  “Make sure you don’t let Molly see it. She’ll freak out.”

  “I promise and I have a gun safe so please don’t worry.”

  “Don’t worry, he says.” Lacey laughed.

  Dane wrapped his arms around Lacey. “My whole world changed the minute I looked into Lilly’s eyes. I know I have a lot to learn about life and family. I also know that you hate what I do but it’s also part of who I am.”

  “I know. I guess I’ve gotten used to you being on the disabled list.” Lacey kissed Dane’s hand. “Let’s get our little girl home.”

  “Ready, Molly?”