It was time to pull back from Sera. Dylan knew it, but he wasn't sure he could force himself to do it or if he was too far gone now. He was too caught up in her. And it could cost her her life now. Someone had trashed her place yesterday. The Cochrans had been trying to send a message that they could get to her. Worse, she blamed herself when he knew where the real blame lay.

She hadn’t forgotten to set the alarm yesterday, but he sure as hell had forgotten to run the diagnostics before they came home. And then once they were home, instead of being on alert, he'd been too caught up in her.

When he thought about how someone could have hurt her while they were busy going at it like rabbits in the driveway, it made him furious. His feelings for the girl had started to muddle his common sense and make him damn careless.

He scrubbed his hand down his face. Get your shit together, Donovan. He might not be able to keep from touching her, but he needed to stop the emotional pull she had on him, get his control back. No more living in la-la dreamland.

Right about now, he was done fucking around. It was way past time to get shit on solid footing. He made a call to DC and put a BOLO out for all Cochrans and their known associates. He was also going to start doing his job. Properly this time. No more careless make-out sessions and fucking in the driveway. As an FBI agent, he was here for a reason and it wasn't to fall into this girl’s life.

When he called the senator's office, he was put through immediately. "Yes, Agent Donovan. What's the problem?"

"We had a break-in at Sera's last night."

"Shit."

"I made the call to tell her what's going on." Not quite the truth but at least everything was out in the open.

Chilly silence froze the line for several long moments. "You broke protocol?"

"My hands were tied. And she's not an idiot.”

He could hear the exhaustion in her voice. "How did she take it?"

"Not well. She doesn't like being lied to."

"You have to keep an eye on her. Any sign of emotional instability and you call me."

"With all due respect, ma'am, she's not an angry, sullen teenager anymore. She's a grown woman who knows how to handle trauma."

Okay, so maybe that was a step too far, but she had to give Sera some room. "Do you think this is funny, Agent Donovan?"

"No, ma'am, it's not funny. But your daughter is an adult and is handling it."

"Do you think you know my daughter better than I do?"

The last thing he needed right now was to get in a pissing match with the senator. "You sent me to live with her, to protect her. To make sure she doesn't do anything to jeopardize the campaign. I'm doing that. I'm also getting to know her. She's not the same girl in the files you sent me. That girl you're talking about is nowhere to be found."

Not responding directly to what he said, finally, she asked, "Are the additional men in place?"

"As of yesterday, but they were on her, not the house. The system at the house did not detect an intruder."

"I don't care what you have to do, Agent Donovan. Make sure Sera is in DC next week. In one piece."

"Understood." There was no way of letting her out of his sight.

* * *

Still smarting from that morning's conversation with the senator, he opted to meet with his mother's friend Cassie in his office. That way he could still keep an eye on Sera. After hearing from Sawyer, he knew the intensive therapy center dealt with everything from severe depression to exhaustion. He wanted some insight as to why she would be there.

An older woman, nearing sixty maybe, knocked on his open office door. "Dylan? It's very nice to meet you. I'm Cassie. Your mother told me a lot about you."

"I-I'm sorry. I wish I could say the same about you, but I haven't seen her since I was eight."

She patted his hand reassuringly. "I know. Leaving you behind was a huge regret of hers. She talked about you and Derek all the time. Always pulled out pictures of you."

"She took pictures of us with her?"

Nodding firmly, she continued. "Oh yeah. Not a day that went by when she was with me that she didn't talk about you boys. I never had kids. Never really wanted them. But when she talked about you, I felt how much she loved you."

His gut twisted and he blinked rapidly to keep the emotion at bay. He'd been holding on to that shit for so long. "I doubt that."

She sighed. "I know what you think, but your mother didn't abandon you. She was sick."

He frowned and fixed the older woman with a glare. "I don't understand."

"She kept it hidden from everyone. But she'd been struggling with bipolar disorder since she was in her early twenties. I think it was mostly well managed with medication, but being married young, then having two young children, I think the stressors were too much."

Dylan's gut twisted. "D-did my father know?"

"I'm not sure, but things she said to me made it seem like he didn't. At least not at first. She'd always managed her medications well. She said there was one time she'd gone off them, I think when you were really small. She had to go home to her parents and let them take care of her."

Dylan's whole world tilted. He'd always considered his mother flighty and irresponsible. He'd always assumed she just wanted to run away from her life. It had never occurred to him that she might be ill.

"When I met her, she was off her meds and just trying to stay afloat. I took her in. Got to know her. Helped her find a doctor."

Fuck. He couldn't do this. Gone was his cool, rational mind. "Listen, Cassie—"

She shook her head. "I'm sorry. I know this is probably a long time ago and you've moved on. You don't need an old lady telling you ancient history. But she came to see me again about a month ago."

"Was she off her meds again?"

Cassie nodded. "She was really struggling after the split from her husband."

"Shit."

"Yeah, my sentiments exactly. I managed to agree to get her to check herself into a facility in Vegas. I would have sent her home, but I didn't think she'd go if I gave her an out."

"Why would you do that for her?"

"She was my friend and she came into my life at a moment when I needed to look after someone other than myself for once. She has a good heart and she's just lost." Cassie slid a pamphlet over to him. "This is where she is. I don't know if you want to see her or not, but I figured when that young man called asking about her it meant someone in the world was looking for her. When he told me it was you, I took the opportunity to meet you."

For once Dylan didn't have a calm, cool answer. He didn't know what the fuck to say. "I—" All he could manage to do was shake his head. It was like all the clarity he used as a shield was failing him now and he was lost. He was tired again. "Thank you. I'm glad she had a friend like you and she wasn't completely alone."