he was trying to protect her, a stranger. However, she didn’t have the bad blood with him that Genevieve apparently did. They only had a severe case of dislike of each other.

      She hoped it continued.

      Mia needed all the emotional barriers she could get to make herself immune to this man that her body seemed interested in. Because she could still feel the tingle of his touch on her breast.

      Damn him.

      He glanced at her and took the final turn into her secluded neighborhood. “But you’re right about one thing,” he continued. “Maybe that’s how Genevieve is connected to Brighton.”

      Now, it was Mia’s turn to shake her head. “I don’t understand.”

      “Genevieve could have been the one who arranged to have the semen transported from Cryogen to Brighton. That’s how she intended to get pregnant.”

      “And then somehow I got the semen by mistake?” Mia shook her head. “That seems like a huge blunder for a medical center to make.”

      “We’re talking about Brighton,” he reminded her. “They made a lot of mistakes. Some intentional and some because they were trying to cover up their crimes.”

      He took the turn into her driveway. Her house wasn’t a typical burbs kind of place. Mia had bought the three-bedroom ranch-style house because of the privacy. The house was positioned amid several sprawling oaks, shrubs and hedges. Tonight, amid those oaks and in front of her house, she could see a woman.

      Mia’s heart started to race.

      “It’s all right,” Logan assured her. “That’s Collena Drake.”

      Mia got a better look at the woman when they came to a stop directly in front her. The tall, too-thin blonde seemed oblivious to the winter wind. She wore a black coat, unbuttoned, and her bare hands were exposed. The wind whipped at her shoulder-length hair and her clothes. She seemed pale and frail. As if she wasn’t all there.

      “Collena,” Logan greeted as he stepped from the car. “I’m glad you came.”

      After checking that Tanner was still asleep in his carrier in the backseat, Mia also got out, and Logan made introductions that Collena dismissed by dropping a little bombshell.

      “Ms. Crandall, I’ve been going through the Brighton files, and I don’t think the things that happened with your insemination were accidental.”

      Okay. Even though Mia and Logan had just played around with that theory, it was a different thing hearing it confirmed. “So, what went wrong?” Mia asked.

      Collena Drake opened her mouth to answer, but that was as far as she got. Mia saw the woman’s eyes widen, and she tried to figure out why Collena had that reaction.

      Mia caught just a glimpse of the car out of the corner of her eye. A slow-moving gray car. The same vehicle from the parking lot of the pediatric clinic. This time, the passenger’s side window was lowered about halfway. Not enough, though, to see inside the darkened interior.

      Everything happened fast.

      Almost a blur.

      Logan yelled for them to get down. But he didn’t wait for her to comply. He dived at Mia and knocked her to ground. He didn’t stay there. He came up, with his gun drawn and ready to fire.

      But it was already too late.

      There was a thick, heavy blast from the open window of the gray car. The brutal sound tore through the otherwise quiet community and slammed right past where Mia had just been standing.

      But Mia was no longer there and the bullet hit Collena Drake instead.

      And the gunman continued to fire.