Black Jack (30 page)

joke. It’s a very well-respected medical facility.”

Her mother wanted to have her committed? Did she really think that Lilly would allow her

to do such a thing?

But her mother was serious, and Lilly knew it. Angelica had decided several times when

Lilly was younger that she might need therapy or counseling. Both of which meant that Lilly

wasn’t doing as Angelica wanted and might need to be convinced by a harrowing stay in

Ridgemore’s clinic.

Lilly had heard rumors of the clinic, and she had seen the few friends she’d had who had

been sent there. They returned much too quiet, too restrained. They no longer trusted their

friends, and made choices on what their parents considered acceptable rather than what they

themselves wanted.

“You’ve obviously been through a very trying time, dear.” Angelica touched her arm gently,

her blue eyes darkening with remorse and sadness. “Whatever happened during the six years

you were away was traumatic enough that you chose to block it out of your mind. I only want

to help you to become better. Jared thinks—”

“Jared thinks, my ass,” she snapped. “What’s his problem? Is he scared he’s going to have

to share the Harrington inheritance or something?”

“My God, Lilly, listen to your language!” Her mother gasped. “You sound like a street

tramp rather than a lady.”

Lilly pushed her fingers through her hair and fought for a way to tamp down her

frustration. She had no doubt her mother was looking into having her committed. It was

popular among the upper classes to force children into asylums for drug or alcohol addictions,

even for something so minor as consorting with people the parents considered too common.

Defiance was often diagnosed as a mental problem that needed advanced psychiatric help.

Such treatment did nothing more than create greater problems than before.

“Mother, there’s nothing wrong with me, mentally,” she said as she stared at her mother in

disbelief. “I’m perfectly fine, I promise you.”

She tried to pass her mother, to put as much distance between the two of them as possible

right now.

“Lilly, we need to discuss this.” Her mother’s fingers tightened on her arm. “This is a

serious issue, and one that must be addressed.”

“And does Uncle Desmond agree with you?” Lilly snatched her arm back. “Tell me,

Mother, how long do I have before Ridgemore’s ‘friendly’ assistants arrive to drag me to his

asylum?”

“How common you sound,” Angelica said. “You are not the child I raised, Lilly. You need

help and you know it. As always, you have Desmond wrapped around your little finger, just as

you had your father. Neither of them dared to disagree with you then, and Desmond wouldn’t

risk it now.”

As far as Lilly was concerned, Desmond was anything but “wrapped.” As normal, her

mother did love to exaggerate.

Lilly shook her head in disbelief. She couldn’t comprehend this. Her mother had been strict

when she felt it was necessary, and Lilly knew Angelica had often agreed with her friends

when they sent their own children away. But Lilly had never believed, never even imagined,

her mother would seriously consider such a thing for her own children. She had threatened in

the past, often. She and Lilly’s father had argued over it. But a part of Lilly had never thought

she would actually do it.

“You made a mistake warning me, Mother,” Lilly assured her. “Trust me, there’s not a

chance in hell I’m going to allow you to have me committed.”

“No one allows it, dear,” Angelica promised her. “You may think you can make such

disastrous decisions on your own, but you are a member of royalty, which means you can be

forced to adhere to our rules.”

And she was right. Angelica could very well force her daughter into an asylum, unless her

uncle Desmond blocked the move. As head of the family, Angelica couldn’t force Lilly into

anything without his help.

She had to fight the tremors threatening to rush through her body now, the fear that her

mother would do something so horrible tearing through her. This was the part of her mother

that her father had always shielded her from.

Lilly shook her head, disbelief still warring with fury as she stared at the mother she had

always loved.

“Father would have never let you do something like this,” she whispered painfully. “And

you would have never truly considered it when he was alive.”

“Oh, really, Lilly,” her mother spat. “Surely you remember the arguments your father and I

had? The screaming matches? They were all about you. He treated you more like his lover

than his daughter.”

Lilly recoiled in shock and disbelief. That hadn’t been true! Her father had loved her. He

had taught her to protect herself. He had trained her to protect the Crown. He had trusted her.

But there had been nothing indecent in her father’s love for her.

“You’re crazy!” Lilly stared at her mother in horror. “You’re the one who needs to be

committed, Mother, not me. You’ve lost your mind if you think you can make such an

accusation or that I will allow anyone to lock me up. I’d kill them first.”

“You should see yourself,” her mother sneered. “You’re at the edge of violence and unable

to control yourself in the least. I’ll be damned if I let you destroy yourself or the Harrington

name further.”

“That’s enough, Angelica.” Lilly swung around to face her uncle as he glared at her mother,

the battle of wills heating the foyer with tension.

“You know it’s the truth as well as I, Desmond,” Angelica snapped. “Harold spoiled her

atrociously. She believes she can do whatever she chooses now and embarrass her family.

She’s not some common little whore ripping around the countryside. She’s related to the

Queen, for God’s sake.”

“I’m sure the Queen really doesn’t give a damn what I’m doing at this moment or any

other,” Lilly snapped back. “I do know I’ve had enough of this conversation.”

Turning from her uncle and her mother, Lilly headed for the winding staircase.

“Dr. Ridgemore will be here tomorrow to speak with you.” Her mother’s words had her

freezing in her tracks. “Please try to look presentable, if you don’t mind.”

Lilly turned and looked at her uncle. “Are you going to allow this, Uncle Desmond?”

His expression was filled with disbelief as he stared at Angelica. “Hell no, I won’t allow it.”

He glared back at his wife.

“You think you’re the only one who has the right to make a decision here.” Angelica’s head

lifted arrogantly. “Jared can overrule you, Desmond, as you are not her legal father, and I

promise you, he will.”

Jared. Her brother. Oh God, the brother she had known and loved all those years ago would

have never allowed her mother to do something so heinous.

“We’ll see about that,” Desmond said. “I’ll call Ridgemore myself, Angelica. You don’t

have the power to stand against me on this.”

Angelica was nearly shaking with rage as Lilly quickly moved up the stairs. Her voice

lifted furiously.

“You think I have no power? Do you believe I will spend my life arguing with you over

that child’s destructive tendencies? I’ll be damned if I will. She will learn to behave like a

lady once and for all. Nothing else will be acceptable.”

Lilly knew she had to get out of here.

She hurried to her bedroom and the large walk-in closet. There, she jerked the hidden

backpack from inside one of the heavy pieces of luggage she had stored it in and threw it to

the side. Pulling a change of clothes from the racks, she quickly dressed in jeans, a T-shirt,

and hiking boots. She threw a light leather jacket over the backpack, slung the strap over her

shoulder, then went quickly to the balcony.

Within seconds she was over the railing and hurrying toward the garage. But rather than

enter the cavernous parking area, she moved past it, sprinted into the heavy foliage

surrounding the stone wall, and within minutes was jumping lithely to the sidewalk beyond.

She had no idea what the hell was going on, but one thing was certain—she had seen too

many of her former friends become casualties to their parents’ determination to force them

into a certain mold. They had married men they hated because of the threat of disinheritance

or worse. They had turned away jobs, turned away friends.

Nowadays such enforced confinement was supposed to be illegal. Yet it wasn’t. Lawyers

and doctors conspired with parents. They drugged, rehabilitated, and mercilessly berated

young women, and sometimes men, until they did as they were ordered. Until they became

robots no longer searching for happiness but seeking only to stay out of that brutal, medicated

environment.

Fear sent a chill of horror racing up her spine at the thought. She had to get away. She had

no vehicle, and it would take forever for a cab to arrive.

Before she knew what she was doing she dialed a number. She stared at the phone, listening

to it ring. Who the fuck was she calling?

“Where are you?” The young feminine voice was cautious.

Lilly gave her the location quickly.

“Get out of sight. I have a tracking beacon on your cell phone, leave it active. Someone will

be there soon. Disconnect now.”

The line went dead.

Lilly flipped the phone closed before ducking behind a stone fence, using the hedge that

bordered a vacant property for cover. And she waited.

She glanced at the phone and the number she had dialed. She had no idea who it was, but

she recognized the voice on the other end. It was familiar. It was someone she could trust. She

hoped.

God, where was Travis?

She tried his cell phone number again. His house number. Voice mail was the only option

she was given.

“Travis. Help me,” she whispered into the phone.

She had no idea who was coming for her or how much they could be trusted. All she knew

was that at this point, she would prefer to fight her way free of terrorists than to go against her

mother and Dr. Ridgemore.

Cynthia Danure, the stepdaughter of one of her mother’s friends, had told Lilly years ago

exactly how she herself had ended up under Dr. Ridgemore’s care. How her mother had

assured her he was just there to talk to her. He had come with several assistants and a medical

van. Cynthia had been taken away sedated and hadn’t returned for six months. By then, the

young man she had been in love with had been framed for stealing and incarcerated in a

prison for two years.

The young man had been bright, with big dreams and a will to see them through, but he’d

been unfortunate enough to be stubborn. He’d gone looking for Cynthia, certain his lover

wouldn’t simply run away.

Lilly wouldn’t be caught in that trap. She had no idea how firmly Desmond would stand up

to her mother, or whether her mother was right when she said that Desmond couldn’t stop her.

She knew she was being betrayed by her mother and her brother. Whatever they were after,

whatever they had in mind for her, it was definitely something she couldn’t survive.

Something she wouldn’t allow.

The phone rang. The display showed the number she had dialed nearly twenty minutes

before.

“There’s a white Ford Taurus pulling around, Lilly,” the voice on the other end informed

her. “Get in the car.”

She waited until the Taurus eased in closer, then stepped from behind the bushes and ran for

the passenger door. The car didn’t stop. The door flew open, though, and Lilly jumped inside,

slamming the door closed as the vehicle accelerated.

“Well, it’s bloody damned time you remembered us, bitch.” The bright smile, dark brown

eyes, and easy affection on the other woman’s face at least gave her a measure of hope that

she hadn’t stepped from the frying pan into the fire.

Lilly sighed heavily. “I’m going to assume I know you. And I’ll assume I’ve not just fried

my ass by calling. But could you please at least give me your name?”

The other woman’s wide, almond-shaped eyes became wider, gleaming with concern as she

shot Lilly a quick look.

“Raisa McTavish,” she introduced herself. “Code name Raven. We’ve been waiting for

your call. I assumed all your memories had returned when you contacted Shea.”

Lilly shook her head before checking behind them quickly.

“We’re not being followed,” Raisa assured her. “Besides, Nissa is behind us a fair ways to

ensure no one even tries. So, what made you desperate enough to remember the number if you

haven’t remembered us yet?”

Lilly pressed her fingers to her forehead and fought the pain building there. “I have no clue.

I haven’t been able to contact Travis and things were getting a bit insane in the Harrington

household.”

Raisa gave a light laugh. “Your mother is such a witch. I never understood how a person as

compassionate as you actually came from the same genes.”

“Perhaps Father diluted them.” The pain was beginning to build. Lilly had never seen her

mother as an evil person until now.

“Well, your father was definitely a hunk,” Raisa purred. “For his age, he was damned fine-

looking. It was a shame he died. You once said he taught you most of what you knew.”

“He was a good man.” He would have never betrayed his children. Never would he have