The Return of Connor Mansfield. Beth Cornelison

the dead?

      Connor went to a local medical lab that same afternoon, requested his blood be analyzed for bone marrow matching and gave the lab directions to send his contact information along with the results of his test to Savannah’s doctor in Lagniappe, flagged for comparison with Savannah’s blood. Roughly thirty-six hours later, his cell phone buzzed while he was in a morning meeting. Seeing the name of Savannah’s doctor on his caller ID, he excused himself from the meeting to take the call.

      “Mr. Orlean, this is Dr. Allison Reed in Lagniappe, Louisiana. I received a set of test results yesterday from a lab in Dallas that you asked be compared with a patient of mine.”

      “Yes, ma’am. Darby Kent’s daughter, Savannah. Am I a match for a bone marrow transplant?”

      “As a matter of fact, you are a fairly good preliminary match.”

      Connor gave a silent fist pump, and his heart rate leaped. “That’s great!”

      “I have to ask, how did you know you might be a match?” Dr. Reed asked. “What prompted you to send us your results?”

      “I...” He hesitated, knowing he couldn’t tell the doctor he was Savannah’s father without blowing his cover. “I didn’t know. More like hoped I’d be a match, I guess. So what’s the next step? What do I need to do?”

      “I understand that you are in Dallas, but if there was any way you could come to Lagniappe, I’d like to have a face-to-face consult with you and do a few more blood tests.”

      “Go to Lagniappe?” His heart sank. Returning to his hometown, even for a little while, meant risking someone recognizing him. Meant putting his new identity on the line. Meant putting his life—and potentially Darby’s and his family’s lives—in danger if one of the Gales’ henchmen spotted him. “Can’t I have the blood tests here? Can’t I make the marrow donation here, should it come to it?”

      “Well, yes. Technically you can, but I really prefer to have at least one face-to-face consult. And if we are able to go ahead with a transplant, I’d much rather have my team harvest your marrow here. I take a very hands-on approach.” She chuckled. “My husband has other names for it. But I work best when I can oversee every phase of a transplant.”

      “Oh.” Connor pinched the bridge of his nose. Hell.

      “Is there a problem? Is there a reason you can’t come to Lagniappe, Mr. Orlean?” Dr. Reed asked. “Because if you’re not fully committed to the possibility of being Savannah’s donor, it would be better that we not raise the family’s hopes—”

      “I’m committed,” he interrupted. “I’m absolutely committed.” He’d figure out a way to get to Lagniappe, whatever it took. Maybe the U.S. Marshals, who’d set him up with his new identity, could provide him a cover or a disguise to get him in and out of Lagniappe when needed. “When do you need me there?”

      “Can you be here Friday?”

      “I’ll find a way.”

      “Good,” the doctor said. “In that case, I’d like you to get more blood drawn tomorrow. I’ll send you the address of the center where you should go. They’ll start a more detailed DNA study and send me the results in time for your consultation here Friday.”

      Connor clenched his teeth, dreading the meeting with the U.S. Marshals, fearing what might happen if his cover was blown. But he had a daughter. A sick little girl who needed him. He would go to Lagniappe—hell, he’d eat glass or take a bullet to the gut in order to save his daughter’s life.

      Chapter 2

      “I need to go back to Lagniappe.” Connor cast a side glance to the men on his couch as he paced his small living room in Dallas. “Just for a day or so.”

      “You can’t do that, Sam,” Deputy U.S. Marshal Gerald Raleigh, a fiftyish man with thinning hair, a long, jowly face and the body of an aged football player, countered. “The program only works if you—”

      “My name is Connor. Not Sam,” he argued, feeling peevish.

      Raleigh sighed. “Connor Mansfield is dead. You’re Sam Orlean now, and if you want to stay alive—”

      “I understand what going back there means. But I found out today that I have a daughter.”

      Raleigh exchanged a startled glance with his partner, Deputy U.S. Marshal Jamal Jones. “How did you hear about your daughter?”

      Connor stiffened and faced Marshal Jones. “You knew about Savannah?”

      Jones, an African-American of approximately Connor’s age, with closely shaved hair and a short Vandyke, didn’t answer, but the twitch of muscle in his jaw and self-conscious lift of his chin said all the federal marshal didn’t.

      Raleigh dragged a hand over his face. “How did you find out?”

      Connor bit out a curse. “You knew, and you didn’t tell me? What right did you have to keep something like that from me?”

      “For exactly this reason,” Raleigh said. “That part of your life is over, Sam, and knowing about your daughter would have only made it tougher to—”

      “She’s sick. Or did you know that, too, and not tell me?” He divided a glare between his handlers and ground his back teeth until his jaw ached. “She has cancer and needs a bone marrow transplant. I may be her best chance for a match.”

      Jones shook his head. “I’m sorry, Sam. But Gale’s men are still a threat to you. They could be watching Darby Kent’s house, waiting for you to show up. We’ve been monitoring Darby since you entered the program, in case Gale or his men made a move on her. That’s how we knew about the baby.”

      Connor shook his head, confused, a chill coiling in his gut. After everything he’d sacrificed to protect Darby, could Gale’s men still be watching her?

      “Why would they watch Darby if they believe I’m dead? She had nothing to do with Gale’s prosecution. You said you tied up all of the loose ends. I’m officially dead, right? So why—”

      Jones raised a hand. “Connor Mansfield, witness for the state, is officially dead. And as long as you stay dead, there is little chance Gale can find you. You are safe, and Ms. Kent will be safe.”

      “But if you suddenly come back from the dead,” Raleigh added, leaning forward and poking the coffee table for emphasis, “your cover is blown, you become a target again and you put Darby and her daughter in the line of fire.”

      “Our daughter. She’s my flesh and blood, too!”

      “Exactly.” Raleigh spread his hands. “So why would you put her in danger by returning from the dead? Think about her safety—”

      “I am thinking of her!” Connor shoved his hands through his hair, gritting his teeth in frustration. “Savannah could die if she doesn’t get my marrow!”

      Jones stood and jangled the keys in his pocket. “You don’t know that you’re a match.”

      “What if I am?” Connor blew out a heavy sigh. “I have to try to save her. I can’t sit here, knowing she needs me, knowing I might be the one who could save her life and not do anything!”

      “I understand your frustration and concern, Sa—”

      “Do you?” Connor spun to face Raleigh. “Do you really understand? Giving up the woman I loved to enter the program nearly killed me. Not a day goes by I don’t think about chucking it all and going back, consequences be damned. Darby’s safety is the only reason I haven’t gone back before now. My life means nothing without her.”

      “Sam, I know it is hard to leave behind—”

      “You had no right to withhold the truth from me!” Connor jabbed a finger toward Raleigh, punctuating his point. “If I’d known I had a daughter