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“I had to see for myself.”
Her smile returned. “You can see for yourself if you come closer.”
Jason did. No uncertain legs this time. Now that he knew Lilly was truly all right, he made it to her in just a few steps. He leaned down, put his arms around her and pulled her to him.
“I’m fine, really,” she promised.
He eased back so he could kiss her. Jason meant for it to be quick and reassuring, but Lilly obviously had other plans. She slid her arms around his neck and kissed him back. She lingered a bit and left them both a little breathless. That was fine. Jason preferred her kisses to breathing any day.
Lilly ran her tongue over her bottom lip and made an Mmm sound to indicate she liked the taste of him there. “How’s Megan?”
He had to get the goofy smile off his face before he could answer. “She’s out in the hall with Detective O’Reilly. I wanted a few minutes alone with you, first.”
“Uh-oh.” There was suddenly strain in her voice, on her face. “Bad news?”
Some of it, yes. But other parts were very good. “Klein is behind bars,” Jason said.
Lilly pumped her fist in the air. “Hallelujah. Did he happen to say why he wanted to kill me?”
Her question had come easily, but Jason didn’t have such an easy time with the answer. Every memory of what Klein had said and done would haunt him. “He did. He’s talking because he’s trying to make a deal to cut down his prison time.”
Lilly’s relief faded. “He won’t be getting out soon, will he?”
“Not for at least thirty years.” Forty, if the D.A. had his way. “Thanks to a tough interrogation, Klein admitted to trying to kill you and running Greg off the road that night.”
“I see.” She cleared her throat and blew out a choppy breath. “So, he killed Greg?” she clarified, wanting to be sure.
Jason nodded.
The relief returned to her face, but it was intensified. She even blinked back tears. Jason understood her reaction. For nearly two years she’d blamed herself for Greg’s death. For two years he’d blamed her, as well. That blame belonged solely on Raymond Klein’s shoulders.
“They can get Klein for manslaughter for Greg’s death,” Jason explained. “But they’ll charge him with attempted murder and kidnapping for what he did to you.” He paused. Heck, he wasn’t sure he could say this out loud, but he knew that Lilly would want to know. “Klein wanted you dead because he thought you would eventually remember that he was the one who ran you off the road that night.”
She flexed her eyebrows. Paused. “Well, at least it’s over.” Lilly stared at him. “It is over, isn’t it?”
He nodded. “Erica will be arrested as soon as she’s out of the hospital.”
“She was hurt?” Lilly immediately asked.
“Not badly. Klein shot her in the arm. Like you, she’ll make a full recovery, only she’ll be doing time while she’s at it. For attempted kidnapping, among other things. The D.A. isn’t pleased that Erica endangered the lives of a child and several police officers.”
Jason wasn’t pleased about that, either. In fact, it might take a couple of lifetimes for him to get over the sheer terror he’d felt when he’d realized that Megan could be hurt and that Lilly had been shot.
“More good news,” Jason continued so he could lighten the quickly darkening mood. “Corinne surfaced. She got scared and went into hiding when someone tried to kill her.”
“Let me guess—Klein was behind that, as well?”
“He was. He wanted to make sure she didn’t go to the police with the info she found in some old files. Klein wasn’t just altering bids, he was creating false contracts for repairs and maintenance to municipal and state buildings. He was getting paid a small fortune, too. And he’s the one who stole her car so he could try that break-in at the security gate. His attempt to kill Corinne will tack on another few years to Klein’s prison sentence.”
Jason considered that the end of his official update, and he took her by the hand.
“Oh, no. Not more bad news.” Lilly groaned.
“I hope not. I’m hoping you’ll consider it good news.” He rethought that. “Or I at least hope you’ll consider it.”
Because he was so close, he could see the pulse jump on her throat. “Okay, you have my attention.”
“Don’t say no until you’ve heard me out.” Jason gathered his breath and his courage. This was really going to hurt if she said no. “When Klein had his gun on you—”
