With a heavy heart, Brett pulled into the driveway of Spring Mountain’s caretaker’s cottage. He focused his thoughts on getting to Naomi and making sure she was okay. He couldn’t let his thoughts turn to Cassandra and her betrayal. When it wasn’t the early hours of the morning, he would call Dan and tell him to terminate the contract with Frank and his firm. He would finish filming the TV show because he didn’t want to let the kids down. Anything else Cassandra had arranged for him, he would pull out of.

But first he had to deal with the fallout from the exposure of his visits.

He was grateful Sue, the director of Spring Mountain, had allowed him to park his car at the caretaker’s place so the press wouldn’t know he’d arrived. The man would escort him into a side entrance. He couldn’t believe Sue wasn’t angrier with him, but she knew he wouldn’t have deliberately exposed Naomi like this.

He got out of the car and was immediately greeted by the caretaker. Brett held out his hand.

“Thanks so much for meeting me, Bob. Sorry to drag you out of bed.”

“Not your fault, son.” Bob took Brett’s hand and gripped it tightly. “Let’s go before one of those wolves comes sniffing around here.”

Wolves. That was an apt name for them. He hoped Naomi was okay and no one from the media had snuck past the security and somehow made their way to her room.

The moment they reached the side entrance, Sue opened the door.

“Sue, I’m so sorry you got dragged out of bed to deal with this crap from the press.”

“Well, it’s not unusual to be called out to attend to something here, but this is the first time the press are the cause of an early wake up call.”

“I’m not happy they’re here. Why the hell would they turn up in the middle of the night?”

“I think they were hoping to catch you when you came tomorrow morning for your usual visit.”

“Is Naomi okay?”

“As far as I know, she’s still sleeping. They don’t know what room she’s in and security has been doing a great job at keeping them from entering the facility.”

Brett was in the middle of saying how grateful he was for everything Sue and her staff, particularly the security crew, were doing to keep the situation under some sort of control when a nurse hurried up.

“Sue, someone found out what room Naomi is in and knocked on her outside sliding door. Security got them away, but they woke her up and she’s scared.”

“Bastards,” Brett ground out as he rushed past them and headed for Naomi’s room. He had to settle her down. His anger at Cassandra grew. How could she do this?

He reached the room, and even through the door he could hear her crying. He knocked gently. “Naomi, it’s me, Brett. Open up, sweetie.”

“No! Go away.”

Brett rested his forehead against the wood. He knew the door wasn’t locked and he could easily open it and let himself in. But it was something he’d never done and he had no plans to start doing it now.

He tried knocking again.

“I won’t hurt you, Naomi, you know that. Please let me in? Dean sent me to check up on you.” Never before had he used Dean’s name as a way to get into her room but desperate times called for desperate measures.

Slowly the door opened and relief poured through him like water over ice. He slipped through the small gap. “Good girl,” he said as he pulled her into a hug.

“I’m scared, Brett. Someone was knocking on my door. It’s still dark outside.”

“I know sweetie, but you’re safe now. You’re not going to be bothered anymore.”

“Are you sure? I want to go home, Brett. I don’t like it here. Where’s Mommy and Daddy? Where’s Dean?”

Shit.

It had been years since Naomi had asked to go home. Her asking for Dean or her parents was pretty normal. He also knew that in a few hours she would forget what he told her.

“He’ll be here soon. This is your home now, remember?”

“Yeah.” She yawned. “I’m tired.”

“It’s pretty early. Why don’t you go back to bed? I’ll stay here until you fall asleep. You’re safe now, sweetie. Nothing’s going to happen.”

He led her over to her bed. She climbed in and snuggled up with her stuffed dog.

“Night, Brett.”

He laid a hand on her head. “G’night. Sweet dreams.”

Within seconds, she was out. God, he wished he could join her in the Land of Nod. He was exhausted, but he knew it was going to be a long time before he’d be able to sleep.

Confident Naomi wasn’t going to be disturbed again, he slipped out of her room and closed the door softly. He looked up and saw Sue waiting for him. Dread landed on his shoulders like a heavy winter coat.

“What’s wrong now?”

“Nothing, but I wanted to know if you planned on talking to the press.”

Talking to a bunch of sleazy reporters had been the farthest thing from his mind. His one and only priority had been to make sure Naomi was okay. Now that he had that under control, he would think about the problem they posed. Familiar with the way they worked, he knew they wouldn’t go away until they got some answers.

There was no way he wanted to bring up his past and relive the accident and Dean’s death all over again, but maybe he had to.

“I will. I’m not sure what I’m going say. It will have to be soon, though, I know.”

“I’m sorry, Brett, I can’t have the press hanging around all day. It’s too unsettling.”

Brett understood. She had a facility full of people with various ailments that didn’t need the disruption of having the press hanging around.

“Okay, I’ll talk to them now.”

“Thanks. I’m going to post some extra security around Naomi’s room just to make sure no one can get to her.”

“Thanks, I appreciate it. I’ll pay for the additional security.” He held up his hand when she opened her mouth to object. “No argument. I’m the reason you’ve got this problem. I’ll go get rid of the press.”

He had no idea what he was going to say, but he would do whatever it took to get them to leave.