“Did you ever find another earring?”

“Yes. In the toe of the same golf shoes. He must have dug them out of the garbage after I threw them out. I came across them in the back of the closet, on his side with all his old sneakers. There were three mismatched earrings in there. The original one with rhinestones, and two others. All pierced, dangling. Only one of them was made of real gold. The others were costume jewelry.”

“Did you think he was having affairs?” Patrick asked. “When he went away on those trips?”

Lily shook her head, tears flooding her eyes. “No,” she said. “I thought he was killing women.”

Patrick's silence was deafening, but his eyes were so kind. After a minute, he handed her his handkerchief.

“I'm so sorry,” he said, “for how scared you have been.”

Lily buried her face in her hands.

“He's very careful and methodical,” Patrick said. “We looked into every trip he took, every city he visited. He had an explanation for everything.”

“Everything?”

Patrick paused. “There was nothing we could nail him for, Lily. Let's just say he has a nasty history.”

“Patrick, what if he comes after Rose?” Lily asked.

Patrick glanced over, surprise in his blue eyes. “What do you mean?” he asked.

“I mean, what if he decides he wants her in his life? What if he decides to try for custody?”

Patrick blinked slowly. His gaze was gentle, but he seemed to be looking at Lily as if he thought she were kidding, or half mad.

“It's not ‘if,' Lily,” he said softly. “It's ‘when.' You know that, don't you?”

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Probable Cause rocked in the wake of a passing cabin cruiser, causing Patrick to bump against the chart table. He glared at the cruiser's transom, tempted to untie the lines and go charging after it and tell the captain to slow down. The truth was, he'd been feeling pent up for days.

Seeing Edward at the hospital had just made things worse—knowing what Lily had experienced and was still going through, and realizing that Marisa was still in exile so far north, far from her home and worried about her sister. He really wished he'd been able to nail that creep on something, years ago. He hated the fact that Lily and her family were in limbo, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

His cell phone rang, and he answered.

“Hello?” he said.

“Patrick Murphy, was I surprised to hear from you!”

“Jim Hanley?”

“You bet. How are you?”

“I'm great, Jim. Retired now.”

“Catching fish instead of bad guys?” Jim asked, laughing.

“That's about the extent of it,” Patrick said. “How about you?”