Return of the Prodigal Son Read online

  If that made him a fool in love, so be it.

  Right now he had more important things to deal with. He was about to give his word to Cory that he’d come back, while knowing that life, especially the reckless life he chose to lead, offered no guarantees.

  Chapter 14

  Andi poured herself a cup of coffee and walked to the window to watch her two children shooting hoops in the backyard. She and Donovan had sat with Cory and Taylor until they’d calmed down enough to accept the fact that he was leaving.

  When he drove away, she’d felt as desperately afraid and unhappy as Cory.

  In anticipation of the morning, Kieran poured coffeecake batter into a pan before setting it in the oven. Then he helped himself to the last cup of coffee and placed the empty pot in the sink.

  “So. How is your brother, Champion?”

  “He’s doing fine. His international business is flourishing. He’s in London now, and should be on his way home tomorrow.”

  “You’ll be glad to see him.”

  She nodded. “There have been so many changes in my life since he saw me last.”

  Kieran chose his words carefully. “Would one of those changes happen to be Donovan?”

  She could feel herself blushing. “Is it that obvious?”

  “Even a blind man could tell.” His voice gentled. “A word of warning, lass. Donovan’s a hard man to love. He doesn’t let anyone get too close.”

  “I know.” She turned to the window. “But there’s just something about him. Despite his toughness, there’s such goodness in his heart. I can see the changes in my children. Taylor adores this man who can tease and laugh and make her feel safe. Cory is pinning all his hopes on Donovan.”

  “How about their mother?”

  She turned to the old man. “I’ve lost my heart to him, Pop. I never would have believed this possible. I had a good marriage. I loved Adam. We’d built a fine life together. But with Donovan everything is different. There’s this dangerous side to him that makes him so exciting.”

  “Exciting, is it?” The old man’s lips thinned. “Maybe to a woman in love. But to his family that dangerous side has caused a good deal of heartache. Have you given any thought to what it would be like to be married to a man like Donovan? Never knowing where he was. Always wondering if he was alive or dead. Or if he’d ever come back to you. There’s a restlessness inside him. I’ve never understood it. Nor have I approved.”

  Andi touched a hand to his. “I couldn’t help noticing that. You realize, of course, that Donovan notices, too.”

  “If he does, he’s never let it stop him from doing exactly as he pleases.”

  Andi leaned against the counter and studied the handsome, weathered face. “He told me you were a wild man in your youth. He said you were one of the toughest cops on the D.C. force. And he said you and his father had always been his heroes.”

  The old man’s frown faded. “He did, did he?” He seemed to lose himself in thought for a moment before saying, “I’m sure I gave my family plenty of bad moments. But I knew that what I was doing was the right thing, even if it meant frightening those who loved me, and putting my own life on the line.”

  As soon as the words were spoken, he arched a brow and turned to her. “You’re a sly one, Andi Brady.”

  She smiled. “Now whatever do you mean by that, Pop?”

  “You knew if you pushed hard enough I’d end up defending him, didn’t you?”

  Her smile grew. “I’m told it runs in the family. Donovan said that no matter how far away he was, or how desperate the situation, he always took comfort in the knowledge that his family loved him.”

  “That we do, lass.” Kieran turned away and busied himself at the sink until the lump in his throat was gone. “I just hope he confronts this villain quickly and hurries back to us. We’ve a lot of missed time to catch up on.”

  Andi kept her tone casual. “Did he say where he was going?”

  “Not in so many words. But I have an idea that he was going back to his place.”

  Andi glanced at the keys hanging in a neat row by the back door. “I know I can count on you to keep my children safe, Pop.”

  “Of course. Didn’t I give my word to Donovan?” He turned and saw the direction of her gaze. “You’d be wise not to meddle in his business, lass.”

  “I never said I was wise, Pop. After all, I’m a woman in love with a man who lives on the edge. And that’s just about the most foolish thing I know.” She took in a deep breath. “Would you mind if I borrowed your car?”

  He sighed. “The third key ring from the left. There’s a full tank of gas.”

  She walked up to him and pressed a kiss to his leathery cheek. “You’re a softie.”

  “Soft in the head, you mean. You tell my grandson he’s a fool if he doesn’t appreciate you.”

  “I’ll do that.” She snatched up the keys and hurried out the door, before she had time to think about what she was about to do. For if she spent even a minute thinking this through, she’d lose her courage and give it up entirely.

  But as she’d admitted to Kieran, there was just something about being with Donovan Lassiter that made her feel reckless and bold.

  Whatever he was facing, at least this time he wouldn’t face it alone.

  Donovan left his car in a stand of trees and started up the gravel road on foot, his senses alert to anything out of the ordinary. He moved with the sureness of one who’d spent a lifetime staring down unknown peril. As he passed the rental house, he thought about the night he’d spent lying in Andi’s arms. She’d become very special to him. As had her children. Still, the thought of a lifetime commitment had him backing off. He’d spent so many years without roots, without permanence in his life. What gave him the right to think he should inflict himself on three people who had already had their lives shattered by violent death? He would probably be the worst thing that could happen to them. Still, the thought was tempting.

  As he approached his darkened house at the top of the hill he paused, listening.

  The night seemed almost too silent. No birds cried. No insects chirped. Even the breeze had died down, so that the leaves in the trees were as still, as motionless, as death.

  He made a complete turn around the house until, satisfied, he walked up the steps of the porch and opened the front door. He didn’t flick on the lights, choosing instead to cross the room in darkness. He paused at the wall of shelves to reach for the night binoculars, then walked to the window and stared out into the darkness.

  “You’re looking in the wrong place, Lassiter.” A man’s voice came from across the room. “I’m right here behind you.”

  Donovan didn’t bother to turn. “I just wanted to make sure you were alone.”

  “You don’t sound surprised to see me here.”

  “No more surprised than you are to see me.” He did turn then, and lowered the binoculars. “You knew, when you grabbed Adam’s children, that I’d be back to finish this.”

  “I was counting on it.” The man touched a hand to the wall switch, flooding the room with light. In his hand was a gun, aimed directly at Donovan’s chest. “I’d been so careful to leave no loose ends. I was home free. And then you had to come along and muddy the water. Which means, of course, that you’ll now have to drown in it.”

  Donovan studied the man, whose blond hair and unlined face made him completely unrecognizable from his photograph. “Quite an improvement over the old Neil Summerville. Plastic surgery?”

  The lips smiled, though the eyes remained cold. “Amazing what enough money can buy today. A new face. Hair implants. A brand-new identity.” His tone sharpened. “Why couldn’t you have left it alone?”

  “I was doing a favor for an old college friend.”

  “Champion Mackenzie. In all my research on Adam Brady, I never came across the fact that his brother-in-law had once roomed in college with a government spy. If I had, I’d have figured a way to have Mackenzie on that plane with him.”<
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  “A loose end.” Donovan kept his voice bland. “So, Neil, what excuse did you give Adam for missing the flight?”

  “I met him at the plane and told him I’d snagged a multimillion-dollar investor who wanted to meet with me that morning. I suggested that he go ahead to Chicago without me.”

  “Where did you hide the explosives?”

  Neil smiled. “I suppose, in your line of work, you have a need for all the little details.”

  “That’s right. So indulge me.”

  “In a satchel under the pilot’s seat. I wasn’t taking any chances on the pilot surviving long enough to bail out and possibly swim to shore.”

  “You knew the explosion would happen over water?”

  “Of course. I planned the timer that way, so they would never be able to recover more than bits and pieces of the plane or the bodies.”

  “I suppose you also planted some of your own belongings, so there’d be no question that you’d been aboard?”

  “Exactly.” Neil smiled. “You see, Lassiter? We think alike. You’d make a formidable criminal.”

  “So I’ve been told.” Donovan started to set the binoculars on a nearby table, and Summerville jumped back before taking careful aim with his pistol.

  Donovan merely smiled. “Just tired of holding these.”

  “You make another move, I’ll blow you apart where you stand.”

  Donovan’s smile widened. “Isn’t that why you came here?”

  “That’s right. After I eliminate this loose end, I’ll go back to my new life, with my new lover and a portfolio worth millions.”

  “You had this planned from the beginning, didn’t you, Neil? That’s why you invited Adam to join your firm. So you could set him up for the fall.”

  “Here was a guy with some of the best money connections in the country, and he was miserably unhappy with the family business. Add to that the fact that he was more concerned with being a doting husband and father than he was with all the little details of his investment clients, and you had a man born to be the perfect patsy.”

  His voice lowered. “Now you, on the other hand, looked completely invulnerable. All my sources said that Donovan Lassiter had no weaknesses. I couldn’t figure out how to get you to back off this investigation. And then, when I followed you home from D.C., I found your Achilles’ heel. The lovely widow Brady and her two kids.”

  Donovan thought about that feeling he’d had of being watched. It was the first time he’d ignored his instinct to investigate further. But being with Andi had clouded his mind. “Would you have killed them?”

  Neil threw back his head and laughed. “Without a moment’s hesitation.” He lifted the gun and took careful aim. “The same way I’m about to kill you, Lassiter.”

  Both men looked up when headlights swung up the lane and a car came to a lurching stop. A door slammed, and hurried footsteps signaled the approach of someone racing across the porch.

  The door was pushed open, and Andi paused to catch her breath. As she did she let out a sigh. “Oh, Donovan. I was so afraid I’d be too—”

  She stopped when she caught sight of the stranger across the room. Her gaze flew to the gun in his hand, then back to Donovan. “Is this the man who kidnapped my children?”

  “Little fool.” The man turned slightly, aiming the gun at her. “You couldn’t leave well enough alone, could you? Now your two brats are going to be orphans.”

  Her eyes widened. “I know that voice. But it doesn’t match the face and—”

  “Plastic surgery.” Though Donovan hadn’t moved a muscle, his mind had already raced ahead, looking for a way to deflect Summerville’s attention away from Andi and back to him. “Neil was tired of his old life. And apparently tired of his old wife, as well.”

  The man shrugged. “It pained me to know that, as my widow and legal heir, she would get the house and the business, such as it is. But now I’m free to live my life as I please.”

  “What about your children?” Andi’s voice betrayed her depth of her shock and pain. “They’re grieving for a dead father, while you’re…enjoying this so-called freedom.”

  “It couldn’t be helped. Not if I was going to pull this off and start with a clean slate.”

  Donovan turned to Andi, hoping to keep the conversation going. “With the authorities believing Neil was dead along with Adam, he achieved two things. The investigation into his business was halted. And with no one looking for him, he’s free to spend the millions he stole from Adam’s clients, without having to flee the country.”

  “You see, Lassiter, we do think alike.” Neil’s tone hardened. “That’s why I knew I had to eliminate you. Otherwise, you’d have dug up all my skeletons.”

  Andi shook her head. “How did you know that Donovan was investigating the crash?”

  “Being rich gives me a few added benefits. Enough money to the right people, and I get a message whenever someone goes into the Brady-Summerville files. It would take someone with top government clearance to dig as deeply as Lassiter did.”

  “But I don’t understand why you took my children.”

  “When I found out who was doing the digging, I made it my business to learn all I could about Donovan Lassiter. With his record, I realized that he wasn’t going to give up until he got to the truth. Something I couldn’t allow. So I followed him home, hoping to put an end to him that night. Only he didn’t go home, Mrs. Brady. He went to your bed.” Summerville sneered. “That’s when the light went on. I realized the spy had just revealed a weakness. Knowing his background, I figured he’d come after the kids, and I’d eliminate him and them, along with the ex-con I’d hired to drive the truck. It was all so simple, and was going as planned, until the stupid con panicked at the first sign of a police helicopter and ruined all my plans.”

  He took careful aim with the gun. “Now I’ll just have to improvise.”

  Andi felt her heart contract.

  She turned to Donovan. “Neil is right. Because of my meddling, my children will now be forced to grieve the loss of both their parents. It’s breaking my heart to know I’ve let them down. But I’m not sorry I’m here with you, Donovan.”

  “Andi, don’t…”

  She held up a hand to stop him. “If these are our last minutes alive, I need to tell you this. These past weeks have been so amazing. I’ll always be grateful to my brother for bringing you into my life. I appreciate all you did for us. Not just because you proved Adam’s innocence, but also for what you did for my children. Cory was hurt and angry and defiant. He was lost, and you helped him find himself. And Taylor.” Andi felt tears fill her eyes and blinked furiously. She wasn’t about to allow any tears to mar her last words. “She was so shy and frightened. And thanks to you, she’s begun to trust again. As for me.” She felt her lower lip quivering and bit down hard. “I never thought I could feel this way again. My heart is so filled with love. You did that, Donovan. And for that, I’m so grateful. If I have to die, I’m glad you’re here with me to give me the courage I need.”

  He shook his head. “You don’t need anyone to give you courage, Andi. You’re the bravest woman I’ve ever known.”

  “This is all very touching.” Neil Summerville’s voice had them turning toward him as he leveled the gun. “Now it’s time to say goodbye.”

  Chapter 15

  “You don’t want to do that, Neil.” Donovan moved very deliberately, placing himself in front of Andi.

  “Always the hero, aren’t you, Lassiter.” The gunman gave a chilling laugh. “But you won’t be able to play hero once you’re dead.”

  “You’re the one who’s dead, Neil.” Donovan touched a hand to his chest. “I’m wearing a wire. Everything you’ve said has been recorded for posterity.”

  “You’re lying.” But even as Neil shook his head in denial, his face drained of color.

  He strode forward and reached a hand to Donovan’s shirt. That was all the distraction Donovan needed. His fist shot out, catching Neil
in the midsection. As the gun clattered to the floor, Donovan’s fist connected with Neil’s jaw, sending him reeling backward, slamming against the wall.

  He paused to clear his vision, then lunged forward, ramming his head into Donovan’s chest with enough force to send them both tumbling to the floor, where they rolled around and around, grunting with pain each time another blow landed.

  Neil Summerville was in excellent shape. His workouts with a personal trainer were paying off. Though most men would be winded, he seemed to grow stronger with each exchange of blows. But even he was no match for the kind of street fighting Donovan had mastered. When Donovan drove him back against the floor under a barrage of fists, Neil could feel his strength ebbing. He reached out blindly until his hand closed around the cold metal of his gun.

  “Had enough?” Donovan lifted a fist, intent upon finishing the job.

  Neil raised his hand and took aim. “Yeah, Lassiter. I’ve had enough. And so have you.”

  “No!” Andi’s shout seemed to echo around the room at the same moment that the shot roared like thunder.

  Neil gave a hiss of pain and slumped to the floor. Broken glass rained down on him.

  Donovan looked up to see Andi holding tightly to what was left of his binoculars.

  Blood streamed down the front of his shirt, and she couldn’t look away. “Oh no.” She bit back a cry. “Donovan, you’ve been hit. Oh, my God, you’re bleeding.”

  He shook his head. “He had a lousy aim, thanks to your little distraction. This is just a bloody nose.” His eye was beginning to swell almost shut, and her image was beginning to fade a bit. Still he managed to grin up at her. “Couldn’t you have found something else to use on him? Do you know what those binoculars cost Uncle Sam?”

  They slipped from her fingers as she dropped to her knees beside him to cradle his face in her hands. “Oh, Donovan. My poor, sweet Donovan.”

  The door burst open and half a dozen men came streaming inside, all of them holding guns.

  Andi let out a scream until one of them had the presence of mind to hold out a badge.