Critical Condition. Sandra Orchard

he’s already struck again. Don’t you see? That’s why I can’t stay quiet.”

      That’s what Zach was afraid of. Maybe the smartest thing would be to tell her he was a cop.

      “Do you realize you’re the first person who’s taken my concerns seriously?”

      Zach lowered his voice. “I’m sorry you’ve been made to feel that way. And I am concerned, especially if this person has figured out you’re a witness.” He recognized the moment his implication sank in.

      Tara’s determined expression wilted, but then she suddenly bolted to her feet. “My daughter.”

      Zach’s heart skidded to a halt at the thought of a killer going after her child. “Where is she?”

      “The hospital daycare. You don’t think—?” Tara raced to the elevator without finishing the thought he could guess all too well.

      He rushed after her.

      The elevator doors closed before Tara reached them. She slapped the button, and when they didn’t reopen, she took off down the stairwell.

      “Tara, wait,” Zach called after her. He’d wanted to scare some sense into her, not scare her senseless. He had to tell her who he really was.

      At the bottom of the stairs, he caught her arm and hauled her to a stop. “You need to calm down.” He gripped her shoulders. “You don’t want your little girl to sense your fear, do you?”

      The air swooshed from her lungs. “No, but—”

      “Shh.” He touched his fingertips to her lips, and a jab of awareness pinged through him. What was he doing?

      Her eyes grew even larger, if that were possible.

      Instantly, he dropped his hands to his sides. He wanted to tell her she wasn’t in any danger, but after hearing her account firsthand, he wasn’t so sure anymore. “I need to tell you something.”

      A door above them banged open.

      Instinctively, Zach stepped between Tara and the stairs. A couple of housekeepers hurried down a flight and exited on the next floor. “Let’s talk outside,” Zach suggested.

      “Not until I get Suzie.” Tara’s voice edged higher.

      Zach cringed. This wasn’t a conversation he wanted to have in front of her daughter. “She’ll be safe in the daycare.”

      Tara glanced at her watch. “My shift finished ten minutes ago—she’ll be expecting me.” Tara yanked open the stairwell door and strode to the daycare center.

      Zach waited in the hallway, debating whether he should call Rick before disclosing his true occupation. But one glimpse of the rosy-cheeked tot Tara swept into her arms had him deciding he’d rather remind Rick, after the fact, that he’d given Zach that option. When Tara emerged carrying the girl on one hip, Zach gave the child a goofy grin. “Hey, Suzie, my name’s Zach. How old are you?”

      The tot smushed her baby finger and thumb against her palm and proudly displayed three fingers.

      “Three, wow! You’re a big girl.”

      Her golden ringlets bobbed as she stretched herself taller, straining the seams of her yellow jumper.

      “Careful, honey,” Tara singsonged in that sweet, high-pitched tone women seemed to use with anyone under two and a half feet. “Mommy’s wrist is sore. Remember?”

      Suzie thrust her arms into the air and flung herself toward Zach.

      Swallowing his surprise, he scooped her into his arms. “I got you, you little munchkin. We’re giving Mommy’s boo-boo a rest, are we?”

      “I’m sorry.” Tara reached for the child.

      “That’s okay. I don’t mind carrying her for you.”

      A strange expression flitted across Tara’s face, followed by a manufactured smile. Her arms dropped to her sides. “Thank you.”

      Considering her contradictory response, he didn’t know whether to apologize or say “you’re welcome.” So he led the way to the back exit. A mirror hung by the door. Zach tapped Suzie’s reflection. “Who’s that?”

      She splayed her palm on her chest and gave herself a huge smile. “Me!”

      “You,” Zach agreed with a chuckle, mesmerized by the chocolate gaze so like her mother’s.

      Suzie lunged for the glass, almost toppling out of his arms. He caught her just as her chubby fingers smacked against his startled reflection. “Dak!”

      His heart suddenly felt too big for his chest. “That’s right. My name’s Zach.” He glanced at Tara’s reflection, but she seemed intent on avoiding his gaze. He half expected her to make an excuse, take back her daughter and leave.

      But she opened the door and led the way to a picnic table at the edge of the daycare’s playground. Clearly, she was desperate for a compatriot to her cause. She dug a notepad and crayons from her oversized handbag and then patted the seat beside her. “Come and draw, honey, while the grown-ups talk.”

      Suzie bounced in Zach’s arms, apparently a three-year-old’s signal for put me down.

      He swooped her onto the seat, airplane-style, and earned himself another giant smile.

      “You’re very good with children.” Tara’s timid smile came slower than her daughter’s. “Suzie usually doesn’t take to men.”

      Zach shrugged off the compliment and snagged the seat opposite them.

      Now that Tara had her daughter at her side, the panic in her eyes had waned. Of course, if it waned too much, she might shoot off her mouth again, and he couldn’t afford to take that risk. A killer wasn’t likely to let her live if he figured she could identify him. “What I’m about to tell you is for your ears alone. Understand?”

      A flicker of confusion crossed her face, but she nodded.

      “You can’t discuss it with your colleagues, your friends, not even your husband.” Oh, man, what was he thinking?

      “My ex-husband walked out on us a long time ago.” She ducked her head, as if embarrassed at admitting something so personal to a practical stranger. Oddly, she didn’t feel like a stranger to him.

      “I’m sorry.” Zach looked at Suzie, his heart cracking at the thought of the fun daddy things she was missing out on in her young life. He stopped himself before considering what Tara was missing, too.

      She was a witness. A contact. Nothing more.

      Exhaling sharply, he glanced around to make sure no one was listening in. “My name is Zach Davis.”

      Her gaze dropped to the name on his hospital badge—Zach Reynolds—and she scooted closer to her daughter.

      “I’m a cop, working undercover to investigate the deaths you reported.”

      Her face lit up. “You are? Why didn’t Detective Gray tell me?”

      “The fewer people who know, the less likely my cover will be compromised.” He leaned across the table and lowered his voice. “You are the only one at the hospital who knows why I’m really here, and we need to keep it that way.”

      “I won’t tell anyone.... I promise. In fact, I can help you.”

      “I’d appreciate that.” Zach breathed his first full breath since considering whether to tell her. Tara’s inside knowledge could prove invaluable to closing this case quickly.

      “Cop,” Suzie parroted. With the purple crayon clutched in her chubby fist, she drew a circle on her paper, jabbed dots in the middle and scratched two lines from the bottom. “Dak, cop,” she repeated gleefully.

      Zach’s heart sank. He sent a prayer heavenward. This assignment