"Did you know he had other children here?"
Arly looked uncomfortable. "That was years ago, Lily."
"And the men?" She took a stab in the dark, watched his reactions closely.
Arly held up his hand. "Anything to do with the military I don't see or hear. That's just the way it is, Lily."
"This is important, Arly, or I wouldn't ask. I think whatever this project he was working on at Donovans, something for the military, got out of hand and someone killed him for information he wouldn't turn over. I'm being asked to take over that project and find the missing information. I need to have all the pieces of the puzzle. Were there men here recently? Men he may have been working with?"
Arly stood up, paced across the room. "I've kept this job and my home here for over thirty years because I knew how to keep my mouth shut."
"Arly," Lily said softly, "my father's dead. Either your loyalty swings to me and you're working for me and you're a part of my family and my household or you're not. This is information I need in order to stay alive. You'll have to make up your mind which it's going to be."
"My loyalty swung to you the moment I laid eyes on you." He said it stiffly.
"Help me then. I intend to find out what's going on and who murdered my father."
"Let the police handle it, Lily. They'll find a lead eventually."
"Did he bring men to this place? Military men? And did they stay here for any length of time?" Lily's gaze was steady on her security man's face, not allowing him to look away from her.
Arly took a deep breath. "I was certain he brought three gentlemen in and I know they didn't leave that same day. I never saw them again, and I never saw them leave. He didn't take them to his office, but up to the second-story rooms in the west wing."
"Are you in my employ or that of the United States government?"
"Damn it, Lily, how can you ask me that?"
"I am asking you, Arly." Deliberately Lily reached out to take his hand, settling her fingers around his wrist. Lightly. Yet her fingers found his lifeline, searched for his emotions. Searched for the truth in him.
Arly instinctively attempted to pull away from her but she tightened her fingers.
She reached for Ryland. Can you read him?
No. I have no ability to do that, not even with you enhancing his emotions for me. He would have to be in the room, touching me, or me touching something of his to tune him in so clearly. Be careful, Lily, he's going to know you're acting out of character.
"I don't work for the government." There was heat in Arly's voice.
"Do you work for the Donovans Corporation?" Lily pursued.
Arly did jerk his arm away and stumbled backward, nearly tipping over. "What the hell's wrong with you? Do you blame me for this? Maybe it is my fault, maybe your father's disappearance is my fault too. I let him drive that old beat-up car he loved so much when I knew he could be a target of any number of whackos."
Lily dropped her head in her hands. "I'm sorry, Arly, I really am. Everything in my life is off-kilter right now. I don't blame you for Dad. No one could have made him stop driving his car. He loved that old thing. He just didn't see himself as rich or famous or working for something others might take exception to. You know that. It wasn't your fault any more than it was mine. But someone in this house is leaking information and we have to find out who it is."
Arly sat on the floor and regarded her with steady eyes. "It isn't me, Lily. You're the only family I have. You're it. Without you, I'm completely alone in the world."
"Do you know why my father brought me here?"
"I imagine he wanted an heir." He waved his hand at the huge house. "He needed to leave it all to someone."
She forced a smile. "I guess he did."
"You look tired, Lily, go to bed. I've reported the break-in and I'll handle the police. There's no need for you to talk with them."
"Arly, I want complete control of the east wing of the house. All the rooms on every story of that wing. I want security on the outside but not a single camera or motion detector on the inside. I want complete privacy. One place I can go where I have absolute privacy after I lock it down. And I don't want anyone else to know. You handle the work yourself."
He nodded slowly. "Will you at least consider a bodyguard?"
"I'll think about it," she promised.