“Have I told you lately how much I appreciate you?” he asked his sister.
“You tell me all the time. Don’t give the doctors trouble. Let them check you out, then get your butt home.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Beckett?”
“Yeah?”
“Make sure you wake Lily up to say good night when you get home. I promised her.”
He smiled. “I always wake her. She just doesn’t always remember.”
“And, um,” Sarah hedged, “Kim called tonight.”
The mention of Kim Dixon made Beckett’s smile fade. That explained Sarah’s suspicious tone when she’d answered.
A fist of anger and fear closed in his heart. Lily’s mother had only called three times over the last ten months, and each time it had been for money, not Lily. She hadn’t made any effort to visit their daughter in all that time. Kim hadn’t even alluded to missing her.
On the flip side, it had taken two months for Lily to stop asking for her mother. Three months to shake the neglect-induced illnesses she’d arrived with. And four months to stop waking almost every night with nightmares.
“What did she want?” he asked, his voice gravelly with anger and dread.
“I don’t know. I didn’t answer,” Sarah said, disgust in her voice. “I saw her number and let it go to the answering machine. If I talked to her, I would only have caused problems.”
Lily had quickly become a bright spot within his tight-knit family. She’d bonded with her cousins as if she’d been born a Croft, not introduced to Beckett only three years ago when she’d already been two years old.
Luckily, Kim’s relationship with the Raiders’ star running back was going well, which meant Beckett’s custody case had proceeded smoothly. If things between Kim and Henderson went south, Beckett knew she’d be back, demanding Lily—and not because she suddenly wanted to be a mother. She wanted Lily because having Lily meant she also had access to Beckett’s money. No Lily, no money. And Kim was all about the cash.
“I’ll take care of it,” Beckett said.
“You don’t think she… I mean, she couldn’t really…”
The heartbreak in Sarah’s voice stabbed at Beckett. Not for the first time, he recognized the price of bringing Lily into the family so completely. If Kim got custody back, his wouldn’t be the only heart broken. And seeing his family hurt would be a double blow.
“She probably wants money,” he assured Sarah. “And I’m doing everything possible to make sure she stays out of Lily’s life permanently.”
“Of course you are.” Sarah exhaled. “I’m sorry. I’ll see you when you get home.”
Beckett disconnected with his sister and thought a moment, then dialed his attorney.
Fred Henry picked up on the third ring. “Hey, Beck. Did you mean to dial my number, or is your vision crossed? You hit the ice pretty hard.”
“Not that hard. I just found out that Kim called my house tonight while I was at the game.”
“Uh-oh.” Fred’s voice dipped into a troubled tone. “How much did she want this time?”
“I don’t know. Sarah’s watching Lily tonight, and she didn’t answer the phone.”
“Smart. And where are you?”
“Georgetown University Hospital, but I’m fine. Listen, I don’t like her calling so close to the custody hearing. Can you put Toby back on her?” Fred’s investigator was amazing at digging up information. “I want to know how solid her relationship with Henderson is right now.”
“You got it.”
“Have you contacted her aunt yet?” Beckett asked. His mind filled with an image of the old woman who’d appeared on his doorstep dragging Lily by the arm. His daughter had been filthy and bawling and utterly distraught. The memory still stabbed his heart with a fiery dagger.
“The nursing home she went to closed, and the patients were scattered. They won’t give out information to anyone who isn’t next of kin, so Toby’s tracking her family to find out where she went.”