Page 48 of Dragon Charmed

Chapter 18

Even with everything weighing down on her shoulders, she couldn’t help but smile as Dr. Murphy checked Lily. Lily wore Ian’s stethoscope, and when he helped her place it on her chest, she smiled. But when she put it on Ian’s chest, her eyes widened at the thumping. Ian chuckled at her expression.

Evelyn was close by, watching Ian like a hawk. She was such an amazing woman, taking in this little girl when Mia dropped her off in the middle of the night and continuing to put her safety first over a year later. And Tessa understood that need. She had always been protective of Megan, but when Bella was born, her protectiveness grew. Now that same need was wrapping itself around Lily too.

Sienna came into the room and stood next to her. “It looks like Dr. Lily is giving Ian the exam.”

Tessa smiled. “She is. Did they send you in here to see if I’m behaving myself?”

Sienna sighed. “Tessa, nobody blames you.”

“I blame me. I could have brought him here. He could have hurt Lily or Bella.”

Sienna placed her hand on her arm. “But you didn’t. Marcus checked your car and their luggage. There are no trackers.”

“Thank God. I didn’t see anyone following us when we came to the house, so I prayed there weren’t any trackers to lead them here.” Whoever them was.

“Jonas didn’t find anything online for Ben Wells that would fit his age and general description.”

Tessa didn’t think Jonas would. She had only been able to guess at his age, and his brown hair, eyes, and beard could match anyone. “What about his cell number?”

“No name registered to it. It’s a burner phone.”

“Can Jonas track it?”

“Possibly. It will depend on if Ben has it turned off or not. But if he uses it, Jonas should be able to get a general location.”

Tessa sighed. “Or he might have ditched it.”

“True.” Sienna smiled. “Look.”

Tessa turned and chuckled. Lily was using a tongue depressor on Ian, and he said, “Aahhh.” This little girl was sneaking her way into Tessa’s heart. She couldn’t bear the idea that Ben was working for someone who would want to hurt her. “I have an idea. Gather the troops and I’ll be with you when Ian is done examining Lily—or maybe that’s the other way around.”

A few minutes later Dr. Murphy finished up, and Tessa led him to the office where Sienna and the others stood talking. Bella was in the playpen across the room. They quieted when Tessa and Ian entered.

“How is Lily?” Megan asked.

“She’s in good health and is curious about everything, which to me means she’s an intelligent little girl.”

“What about her powers?”

“I saw the birthmark like Bella has. But there isn’t anything physical that points to her having some sort of precognitive ability.”

Tessa let out the breath she’d been holding. “And her voice?”

“I asked her if she could talk, and she didn’t respond. I could only do a cursory examination of her throat. I don’t feel or see anything initially that would cause her not to be able to speak. If it is something physical, I would need to use a scope to check her throat. We’ll go down that road if we have to, but I don’t want to stress her out right now. She’s been through enough lately.”

“Thanks for coming to check on her,” Tessa said.

“Of course. If you need anything, you know how to reach me.”

Sienna showed him out, and Tessa walked over to the couch and back again. Bella held up her hands, and Tessa picked her up and kept pacing. “Sienna filled me in on our lack of information regarding Ben.”

“She mentioned you have an idea? Honestly I’m scared to ask what it is,” Eric said.

She wasn’t going to rise to Eric’s teasing. She had a plan to put in place. “I’m going to call Ben and set up a meeting with him.”

Megan stepped toward her. “Why would you do that?”