Family Honor (29 page)

Mel ripped into it and sighed when she saw the slinky, sexy peach-colored teddy. "This is fabulous! I can't wait to try it on for you."

He shook his head. "Don't bother. I'll just be yanking it off again."

"Maybe later," she agreed.

"Last one." He offered her the small jeweler's box.

"Ooh, a ring? Yes, I accept!" she squealed.

"You suck," he teased. "There might be a ring in our future, but we should probably know each other longer than five days."

"Buzz kill." Mel pretended to pout, but her expression changed when she saw the diamond pendant. "Oh, Nate. It's exquisite. You shouldn't have."

He took the chain and fastened it around her neck. "I thought it was beautiful. It'll look even better on the sexiest neck I've ever had the pleasure of kissing."

Mel jumped up and examined herself in the mirror. When she turned to face him, she glowed with what he could only describe as the same happiness he felt. "It's perfect. Thank you so much, Nathan. I love … it." She batted her lashes coyly.

She approached him slowly, a seductive look in her eye.

He leaned back and smiled.

* * * *

They ate chocolates and did the dishes a few hours later, and ended up back in bed, lying facing each other in the dim, moonlit room.

"I need to tell you something about myself," Nate said. "It's a biggie, maybe even a deal breaker. I probably should have told you before now, but there never seemed to be a right time."

She ran a hand over his cheek. "What is it?"

He hesitated, but knew he had to tell her the story he'd never told anyone else in his life. "You know my mother died when I was two."

"I'm sorry about that. It's so sad."

"What you don't know is how she died. I didn't know for a long time, either. At some point in high school I started asking questions. I guess my folks figured I was old enough to know by that time."

"Your grandparents?"

"Yeah. I called them Ma and Pop. Anyway, this story is entirely from them, because obviously I don't remember any of it."

"Of course not."

"My mom was sixteen when she met a boy that her parents didn't approve of. I guess she fell hard for him. Started skipping school and all that. Eventually she dropped out and ran away with him. They didn't know where she was for months. She finally called them from Des Moines, which is about forty minutes from home. She was pregnant and the guy had left her."

"Jerk," Mel interjected. "Oh, sorry. I guess that's your father I'm talking about."

He smiled sadly. "I wish. Ma and Pop went to get her. She'd been hospitalized. She lost the baby about halfway through her term. They took her home and nursed her back to health. Said she was thin and scrawny, probably hadn't eaten a decent meal in months. It was no wonder she miscarried, really."

"How awful." Mel looked confused.

"It gets worse. When she recovered, they tried to get her back into school and a normal life. But sometimes, there's no going home again. She couldn't handle it. Wanted to be out on her own again."

"Since she handled it so well the first time."

Nate smiled. "They didn't hear from her again for three years. They hired a private investigator and he searched for a while, but she never turned up. Until she died."

Mel bit her lip.

"Pop got a call one day from the Des Moines police. It seems my mother had been working as a prostitute in the city. She'd had a few minor run-ins with the law, so they had her records on file. They told Pop some guy had picked her up off the street corner one night, and she never came home. Found her body in an alley the next day. She'd been strangled and stabbed."

Tears streamed Mel's cheeks. "No." She reached for his hand and held it.

"When the cops went to her last known address they found three working girls living in the small apartment, and two children. A baby and a two-year-old.
 
They took turns watching us when they weren't working."

She squeezed his hand.

"The Department of Children and Family Services took the kids and ran some blood tests. I don't know who the baby belonged to, but I was the child of Ellen Willis. DCFS gave the report to the cops, who tracked down Ma and Pop. They came and got me, and we went home."

"You were okay? You weren't hurt or abused or anything?"

He shrugged. "Not that I know of. I've thought about it a lot over the years. My earliest memory is pushing a wagon in the yard at Ma and Pop's. I don't remember anything before that. I considered getting some therapy, then I figured
what for?
It wasn't going to change anything. I turned out okay."

She drew him into her arms. "You turned out better than okay. You're an amazing man, Nathan Willis. Ellen must have done something right."

"Most of the credit goes to Ma and Pop. I'm fortunate they accepted me unconditionally." He pulled away and looked in her eyes. "We have no idea who my father is, Mel. Some John who either lived or passed through Des Moines, Iowa. Not much to narrow it down."

She held his face. "Your folks didn't care. You were Ellen's baby. They loved Ellen. They loved you."

He felt a tear escape and tried to shrug off her grasp to wipe it, but Mel wouldn't release him.

"I don't care either, Nathan. Who you are has little to do with DNA. It's more about the man you've become."

"I went a little nuts there at first. It wasn't an easy story for a kid to hear. I rebelled some, before it occurred to me that rebelling was what got my mother into the situation she ended up in. That's when I decided the army might be the way to go."

She nodded. "I believe that was a good move."

He looked into her eyes. "DNA does matter though. My father hired prostitutes. Maybe he did other weird shit. We'll never know."

"We don't need to know. I don't care. Are your Ma and Pop still alive?"

He smiled. "Oh yeah. Griping that I don't come home often enough. Patiently waiting for me to bring home Miss Right."

"Did they like Rita or what's her name, Connie?"

"Carol. They didn't meet Rita or Carol. I never took either of them home. I never told either of them that story. You're the only person I've ever told."

A pleased expression crossed Mel's face. "I'm glad you told me, because I want to know everything about you. But it doesn't change a thing."

"I wanted you to know before things got too serious. If it does matter, just say the word and I'll understand."

She blinked. "Before things got too serious? Um, as you said last night, that ship has sailed. This is as serious as it gets." She reached for his hands and threaded their fingers through each other. Raising both hands above his head, she pressed them into the pillow and straddled his body. "If you told me that story to scare me off, it didn't work. I want you now more than ever. And you know what else I might want?" She rubbed her body against his.

He eyed the gorgeous breasts wiggling in front of him and some thoughts came to mind. "I can think of a few things."

She grinned. "You'll never guess this because I've never said it to anyone before tonight, either." She lowered her face until they were almost nose to nose. "I think I might want a little dark-haired boy who looks just like his daddy. And a pretty little girl with her daddy's eyes. We could name her Ellen."

Nate held his breath. Kids had never been part of his mind-set. The concept had neither occurred nor appealed to him. Suddenly, it was doing both, and the idea was terrifying. "Well, I don't know."

Mel gazed at him levelly.

He smiled. "I think she should have her mama's eyes. There's nothing prettier in this whole wide world."

She exhaled and let loose a low, seductive chuckle.

He jerked his hips so she could feel his rampant erection.

Mel released one hand so she could reach for a foil packet on the nightstand.

Nate took advantage and flipped her onto her back, straddling her in return. "Gotta keep your guard up, Detective." He took the packet from her and ripped it open with his teeth.

"Prick," she teased.

"Yeah, I got one. You want it?"

"Oh yeah." She watched him sheath himself and gripped his arms as he drove forward.

Nate held her close, cradling her in his arms. "Thank you, Mel. Thanks for accepting me for who I am."

She slid her arms around his waist. "I love who you are."

They pulled away and grinned at each other.

"That was freaking close," he said.

She rolled her eyes. "I know, right? What was I thinking?"

* * * *

Nate showered quietly the next morning but Mel never stirred from her sleep. He gathered their clothes from the floor and piled them neatly on the dresser. Before he left he took her gun and set it on the nightstand next to her, leaving her phone in the kitchen so it wouldn't ring and wake her. He pulled the bedroom door shut and crept out.

He was halfway to the department when he remembered he'd left his back-up gun in the bureau drawer. He had his Glock, so it didn't really matter.

The homicide bullpen was quiet, a few people working, but most not in yet. Nate poured a cup of coffee and stood in Reeder's doorway. "Morning."

"Hey Willis. Any progress?" The captain had a bottle of antacid on his desk. Either it was always there, or it was already a bad day.

"Some." Nate nodded. "I'm expecting a call from one of my analysts. I hope that'll shed some light on things."

"Keep me posted. This is nasty business. I don't like it at all."

"I don't either. I'd rather be busting bad guys than cops."

"IA sent me a memo. Curtis' hearing is tomorrow at one p.m."

"Tomorrow." Nate inhaled. "That's not much time."

"They can't keep this out of the press any longer. The media already knows we picked up someone in the slasher case, and had to let him go. It's going to get uglier from here on out."

"Understood." Keeping the press at bay was one of the most frustrating parts of his job, too.

"If you talk to Curtis, have her call me. She'll need some character witnesses to speak on her behalf at the hearing. We need to get together and pick some names."

"I will." He ducked out of the office and entered the war room before many more people showed up. He glanced at his watch, knowing it was still too early to call Mel. They were up late into the night and she needed her rest. Besides, once she woke she'd have nothing to do but worry. The longer she could sleep, the better.

Stone joined him. "Morning."

"Henry," he acknowledged.

"How's Mel?" He took a seat.

Nate shrugged. "Keeping her spirits up so far. Reeder just told me her hearing is tomorrow afternoon. We've got twenty-four hours to crack this case. After that, Mel is screwed."

Stone frowned. "As much as I hate to say it, I like Tanner for this. He's the only one with means and motive that I've come across so far."

"Maybe." Nate nodded, and his phone rang. He punched the talk button. "Willis."