Just then D.J. ran toward him. “I heard gunshots,” he yelled, looking more excited than scared. “What happened?”

Instead of answering, Mac turned to check on Emily and Jill. He saw them huddled together and drew his first steady breath since the trouble had started.

“You okay?” he asked.

Jill nodded.

He looked past her to where Rudy and a slightly wobbly Mr. Smith held the second stranger at gunpoint.

“Start with them,” he told D.J. “Arrest them all.”

JILL WATCHED the hospital elevators, tensing every time they opened. Wilma had promised Mac would arrive as soon as he took Emily home and finished up his preliminary paperwork. Three hours after leaving the beach in the ambulance with Kim, she was starting to go crazy.

Just as she was about to call the sheriff’s office again, the elevator doors opened and Mac stepped out. Even as she took in the bruise on his jaw and careful way he held his arm, she rushed toward him and threw herself at him.

“Are you all right?” she breathed, holding on as tightly as she could. “Is Emily?”

“We’re both fine.” He kissed the top of her head. “How are you?”

“Shaky, but otherwise okay. What happened? Is Andy still down in emergency or did they take him to surgery? Did you really arrest Rudy?”

He led her to a bench along the hallway wall and pulled her down next to him.

She touched the bruise on his face. “Does it hurt?”

“I’ll survive,” he said. “I find it ironic that I’ve been in more fights in the past couple of weeks than in the past ten years. It’s a pattern I’d like to break.”

He tucked her hair behind her ears, then brushed his thumb across her mouth. “How’s Kim?” he asked.

“In labor. She’s about three weeks early, but the doctor said the baby looks fine. I talked to Kim’s mother. She’s driving up from Los Angeles and should be here within the hour. The poor woman had no idea what was going on with her daughter. She feels horrible and wants to take Kim home with her.” She took one of Mac’s hands in hers and squeezed. “Kim keeps asking about Andy and I can’t get any information from the staff. How is he?”

The bleakness in Mac’s blue eyes told her the truth before he spoke the words. “He didn’t make it. They pronounced him dead on arrival at the hospital.”

She shuddered. “He was a horrible man, but to die like that.”

She didn’t want to think about it.

“I know.” Mac pulled her close. “Rudy’s friends have been arrested for murder and attempted murder. We’ll be tacking on a few other charges.”

“What about Rudy?”

“As much as I’d love to put him away, in this case, he didn’t do anything wrong.”

“You don’t sound happy about that.”

“I’m not.”

There was too much to think about. Too much to consider.

“What about Emily?” she asked. “She has to be in shock.”

“She’s with Tina and her family right now. I spent about an hour with her first. Fortunately she didn’t see that much, but the whole situation still scared the hell out of her. Hollis keeps paging me.” He grimaced. “I’m sure he thinks this is all my fault.”

“No, it’s not. He can’t blame you.”

“Want to bet?” He shrugged. “That’s the least of it. I’ve got a call in to Carly. This whole thing is bound to piss her off big time.”

Jill had a feeling he was right. “Does she know about the preliminary hearing?”

“She will after we talk.”

If Carly reacted badly—a circumstance Jill could see happening—then she could go directly to the judge in charge of the custody case and insist Mac give up Emily.

“We’ll fight,” she said, staring at him. “No matter what, you’re not going to be in this alone.”

He smiled sadly. “Your father stopped by the police station to tell me he wanted to represent me. Is that your doing?”

“He was interested already. I just told him there was an opportunity.”

“Thanks.”

He drew her close and kissed her. Jill let herself sink into his embrace and the feeling of his mouth on hers. This is what she wanted, she told herself. To be with Mac always. But when to tell him? Certainly not now. If the hearing went badly, would he even care about her feelings?

“I need to get back to the station,” he said. “Wilma volunteered to tell Kim about her husband, but we want to wait until after the baby’s born.”

“Good idea. Her mom will be here then. That will help. Although she’s going to be destroyed. In her own way, she really loved him.”

“I’m not sure what she felt was love.” He stood and pulled her to her feet. “You take care of yourself.”

“I will.

A LITTLE AFTER TEN the next morning, Mac lay stretched out on his sofa with his feet up on the coffee table. Emily was curled up next to him, still sleeping. She’d begged him not to put her to bed the previous night and he hadn’t had the heart to refuse her. So they’d watched Disney movies until after midnight, then she’d fallen asleep in his arms.

He wanted to believe everything would work out and that his life would return to normal, but he had his doubts. Andy might be dead, but that didn’t take away what Mac had done. Andy being so close to going over the edge offered something of a defense, but was it enough?

He didn’t want to think about what might happen and he couldn’t seem to think about anything else. Carly had already called twice to yell at him. She couldn’t get away until the following morning, but she would be in town in time for the hearing. Hollis had left nearly fifteen messages—thank God for caller ID—and Mac had been fielding calls from the local press. He’d taken the morning off to stay with Em, but at this rate, they weren’t getting much time together.

He glanced down at her and stroked her beautiful blond hair. Funny how when she’d been little he’d assumed that the worst he would have to deal with was her rolling her eyes at him when she turned thirteen and beating the boys off with a stick. He’d never thought he’d screw up so badly that he might actually lose her.

He told himself not to anticipate the worst, but the instruction didn’t stop the pain from ripping through his heart. He’d already let her down too many times and it was about to happen again. If he lost custody of her, she wouldn’t understand anything more than the fact that her father had once more disappeared. He doubted he would get a second chance to set things right.

He heard footsteps on the porch, then someone knocked. He thought about ignoring it, but when he heard Jill’s voice, he straightened and shifted Emily from his lap to the sofa.

“What is it, Daddy?” she asked.

“It’s Jill. You go back to sleep.”

She rubbed her eyes and yawned. “Okay.”

He stood and walked to the front of the house. When he pulled it open, he saw Jill was not alone and nearly slammed the door in her face.

“Wait,” she said. “You want to hear this.”

He looked past her to where Rudy stood. “You have nothing I want to hear.”

“I understand you’re upset,” the other man said. “I came to apologize and tell you I’m leaving.”

Mac stared at him for a long time before stepping back. As Jill walked in, he nodded toward the living room.

“Em’s in there. Would you please take her upstairs? She’s still upset about what happened yesterday and I don’t want her to see Rudy.”

“No problem.”

Jill hurried into the other room. He heard murmured voices, then saw the two of them going up the stairs. Only then did he nod at Rudy.

“You have five minutes,” he said.

“Fair enough.” Rudy stepped into the house and glanced around. “Nice place.”

Mac folded his arms over his chest and waited.

Rudy shrugged. “You’re not happy with me. That makes sense. In your place, I’d be plenty pissed off, too.” He shoved his hands into his slacks’ pockets. “I first came to town to see if Jill was okay. You know, after what Lyle did. After a couple of days I realized I liked the area. I’d thought about leaving Vegas and this little place seemed perfect. Then I met Bev.”

One corner of his mouth turned up. “She’s an amazing woman. I thought it was a sign—the town, meeting her, wanting to ease toward retirement. You were difficult, but I had the mayor in my pocket and I knew there was an election coming up and I could make sure you didn’t win.”

Mac did his best not to react to the information. None of it was news.

“The gambling was a mistake,” Rudy said with a grimace. “I don’t know why I did it. Knee-jerk reaction, I guess. I wanted to piss you off.”

“It worked.”

“The thing is I felt kinda bad afterward. Then Bev and I went away and I realized I’d been looking for her all my life. She’s a really decent woman. Special. She didn’t know what I did, and I knew if she found out, she’d be furious. Especially about the gambling. But I didn’t want to leave. It was a serious dilemma.”

“Then your friends showed up yesterday.”

Rudy nodded. “That was bad. People could have got ten hurt. People like your daughter, or Jill or Bev. So I did some thinking and I’ve realized I’m not right for Los Lobos. I need to be back in Vegas where I understand how things work and there aren’t any surprises like yesterday.”

He drew one hand out of his pocket and handed Mac a card. “I’m leaving in a couple of hours. If you need to get in touch with me for anything, here’s how to reach me.”

Mac took the card but didn’t look at it. “The gambling?”

“All shut down. I feel kind of bad about the mayor—the money I gave him. I’d like to give you the same amount for your campaign.”

“No, thanks.”

“Yeah, I figured you’d say that.” Rudy looked him over. “You’re a good man. I don’t meet very many in my line of work. If you ever need anything, just call.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Rudy nodded, then walked out of the house.

“What did you think?” Jill asked from the stairs.

“I’m not sure. Is he really leaving?”

“Uh-huh. He’s all packed up.”

He glanced toward the ceiling. “Emily?”

“She fell right to sleep.” Jill walked down the stairs and over to him. “Bev’s going with Rudy. We talked most of the night. While she now understands who and what he is, she still loves him and wants to be with him. She’s moving to Las Vegas. At first I felt kind of strange about it, but the longer I thought about it, the more right it seems. How crazy is that?”

“Pretty wild.” Looking at Jill made him ache inside. “She’s selling the house?”

“I guess. We didn’t talk about it.”

Why would they? Jill wouldn’t want it; her life was somewhere else that wasn’t here.

He dropped Rudy’s card on the entry tabletop, then cupped Jill’s face in his hands. As he stared into her eyes, he told himself it was for the best. He had nothing to offer her—certainly nothing of value.

“You’ll be happy,” he told her.

“What?”

“In your new life. Away from here. In time this will all seem like a bad dream. I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow at the hearing. I know that whatever is decided, I’m going to keep fighting for Emily. We both deserve that.”

Jill smiled at him. “I’m glad.”