Fatal Deception (18 page)

“Aw, now you’re hurting my feelings.”

“Let’s see what we can do.” Tracy led her into the bathroom where she’d laid out her makeup case.

“Any word on Ang?” Sam asked as she took a seat in the chair that Tracy had dragged in from the bedroom.

“Nothing but a whole lot of bitching. She’s in the beyond-uncomfortable stage of pregnancy. Sucks.”

The words “I wouldn’t know” were on the tip of Sam’s tongue, but she held them back, not wanting to make Tracy feel bad. As she settled into the chair, exhaustion seized her, and she wondered how she would possibly get through the long night of schmoozing.

Tracy produced a huge foam cup of coffee and handed it to her sister.

“Jesus, Trace, do you think of everything?”

“I try.”

“You’re so good to me.”

“That’s what big sisters are for.”

“I’m nowhere near as good to you as you are to me.”

“Seriously? What about all the years I was a single mom and you took Brooke on the weekends? I’ll never be able to repay you for that.”

“That’s true.” Sam took a big drink of coffee. “I don’t feel so bad anymore.”

“Ha! You got over that pretty quick.”

“How’re things with Brooke?”

“Awful. She’s so damned willful and mouthy.”

“Can’t imagine where she gets that from.”

“I know! I tell Mike every day that she’s just like her Auntie Sam.”

Sam laughed. “How’d that go so wrong on me?”

Tracy smiled as she worked with intense concentration. “That was a softball.”

“You’re okay, though, right?”

“I’m told it gets better, but I hate to say I’m counting the days until she graduates next June and goes away to college. We could all use a break from the war zone.”

Sam met her sister’s gaze in the mirror. “I know you’ve already got enough going on, but I need to talk to you about something else.”

Tracy paused in her application of makeup to the uninjured side of Sam’s face. “Okay.”

“Remember when Dad was in the hospital in April and I told you I’d reopened Fitzgerald?”

“What about it?”

“You said something then about what was going on between Mom and Dad at that time and how I was too young to remember. What were you talking about?”

“It’s all ancient history, Sam. Why do you care now?”

“Humor me, will you?”

“I don’t know anything for sure. I only have my own suspicions.”

“About?”

“Right around the time that Dad caught the Fitzgerald case, Mom accused him of having an affair. That was the first time she moved out.”

Sam tried frantically to process the idea of her father being unfaithful to her mother. It was her mother’s infidelity that ultimately ended their parents’ marriage, the day after Sam, their youngest child, graduated from high school. Sam, who’d always been closer to her dad, hadn’t seen much of her mother since then—and not at all after her mother caused a big scene at Sam’s first wedding. “Do you know if it was true?” Sam asked. “Did he cheat?”

“I don’t know for sure, but I suspect there was something going on based on the way he was acting. He was hardly ever home, but when he was, he was distracted as all hell. I vividly remember that.”

Sam wished she could recall, but she’d been so young.

Tracy handed Sam the makeup sponge. “Why don’t you do the bad side yourself? I don’t want to hurt you.”

Sam stood up to get closer to the mirror and dabbed the liquid foundation on the bruises above and below the white strip of bandage. “Damn, this stuff is amazing.”

“I had it left over from my theater days. It covers a world of sin.”

“Not much I can do about the eye that’s swollen shut, but the rest looks a little less evil than it did. Thanks.”

“Any time. Let’s get you into this gorgeous dress.”

“Knock, knock,” a familiar voice called from the bedroom.

“Come in,” Sam said.

Shelby Faircloth came around the corner into the spacious bathroom and stopped short at the sight of the gorgeous silk dress. “Oh. My. God. I think I just passed out for a second. Is that pink?”

“Absolutely not,” Sam said. “It’s champagne.”

“It’s pink.”

“She’s queer for pink,” Sam said to Tracy.

Tracy eyed Shelby’s pink suit and the matching sky-high pink heels that brought her almost to Sam’s shoulder. “I can see that.”

“She’s seeing pink in places where there is no pink,” Sam said.

“If there’s one thing I know, it’s pink. And that dress is
pink
.”

Sam assessed the dress more critically, still not seeing any sign of the dreaded color. “What’re you doing here, Tinker Bell?” Sam asked, reverting to the nickname she’d given Shelby during the planning of her wedding.

“I had to drop off some paperwork to Nick for my new job.” Shelby clapped her hands and let out a squeak. “I can’t wait until Monday.”

“What’s Monday?” Tracy asked.

“They’ve hired me to run their lives,” Shelby said with barely contained glee. “I’m so excited!”

“What a great idea,” Tracy said. “I could use some help bailing her out of one scrape after another.” Tracy gestured to the carnage on Sam’s face.

The three women shared a laugh.

“I’ll take all the help I can get,” Sam said.

“Nick said you were up here primping, and then I discover the dress is pink,” Shelby said with an exaggerated sigh. “Put it on. I need to see that gorgeous thing in action.”

“Hang on.” Sam gave up trying to convince Shelby she was seeing things. “There’s torture-chamber underwear that goes on first.”

“Oh,” Shelby said with a shiver. “Underwear.”

“She’s not right in the head,” Tracy called after Sam as she crossed the hallway to her superdeluxe closet.

“I’ve been saying that since before the wedding,” Sam said as she rolled on thigh-high hose and wrestled her way into a corset-contraption that the designer had provided. “No one listens to me.”

“Be quiet and put your panties on,” Shelby said.

Sam slid on the thong that matched the corset. When she turned to go back to the bedroom, she found her husband blocking the doorway.

His eyes blazed a path down the front of her as he took in the getup.

“Don’t give me that look,” she said, holding out a hand to stop him from coming in. “We so don’t have time for that look.”

Nick stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. “I need one quick feel to tide me over until later, when I’ll spend a lot more time examining every delicious detail.”

Sam released a nervous laugh and pressed her hand to his chest to keep him from getting too close. “It won’t be my fault if you make me late.”

“So noted,” he said, taking her hand from his chest and pulling her in. He put his arms around her and ran his hands from her shoulders to her waist and below to cup her buttocks. When he drew her tight against him, his arousal pulsed between them. His lips found her neck, and Sam tipped her head to give him better access. “How am I supposed to function tonight knowing what’s under your dress?”

Sam bit her lip to keep from crying out when he hit the spot on her neck that made her crazy. She slid her hands into his tuxedo jacket and took a good long feel of her favorite chest and rock-hard belly. “Why did you come back upstairs?”

“Forgot my phone in the bedroom.”

A knock on the door startled them.

“Are you fooling around in there?” Tracy asked. “If you mess up my makeup job, Nick, I’ll shoot you.”

“Go away,” Nick growled.

“The car will be here in fifteen minutes,” Tracy reminded him.

“She’ll be ready.”

“Nick...” Sam laughed and shuddered as his industrious hands set her nerve endings on fire. “Come on. We really don’t have time for this.”

“I hate that there’s always something demanding our time.”

She placed her hands on his smooth face and compelled him to look at her. “It makes the anticipation that much sweeter.” On tiptoes, she pressed her lips lightly to his, gasping when even that slight contact sent pain radiating through her injured face. “You’ll have hours to anticipate what happens when we get home and you have me all to yourself.” She let her hand drop below his belt to squeeze his erection.

He groaned. “You’re not helping anything.” Grabbing her hand, he brought it up to his lips. “Besides, you’re injured. I shouldn’t be pawing at you like a crazed beast.”

“I love the way you want me so much,” she assured him. “Don’t ever stop.”

“No worries there, babe.” He stepped back from her and made a visible effort to gather himself. “The longer we’re together, the more I want you. It’s like a fever.”

She did her best to smile at him. “I can get your phone for you.”

“Probably a good idea. I can’t show my face in the hornet’s nest with such a visible ‘problem.’”

The doorbell chimed through the house, making Nick groan. “Who the hell is that now?”

“Could it be the car service?”

“Probably. Jeez, you’ve got my whole brain scrambled.”

“I told you not to touch me. This is what you get.” Sam laughed at his tortured expression and scooted out the door ahead of him.

Shelby and Tracy were gabbing up a storm when Sam stepped into the bedroom.

“Ah,” Tracy said, jumping up from her perch on the bed. “Finally! Is the grope session over?”

“For now,” Sam said, blushing despite her iron will not to. She never had been able to dodge her older sister’s penetrating stare. She hoped the makeup would cover her blush.

“I suppose I’d better get used to this kind of thing,” Shelby said.

Sam detected a hint of wistfulness in her tone.

“They’re all over each other every chance they get,” Tracy said.

“Hello,” Sam said as she stepped into the dress Tracy held for her. “I’m in the room.”

“I only speak the truth.”

Shelby giggled at their sisterly banter.

After Tracy zipped Sam into the dress, she turned her to face the full-length mirror.

“You look gorgeous, Sam,” Shelby said. “Pink is definitely your color.”

“It’s not pink.” Sam had to admit that she looked pretty damned good, despite the puffiness on her face.

“One thing is for certain, they’ll notice the dress and your killer bod before they see your face,” Tracy said.

“That’s comforting,” Sam said. She went into the bathroom to brush her teeth—carefully—and comb her hair one last time. Since they so rarely got to spend an evening together during campaign season, Sam had left her hair down the way her husband liked it best. Emerging from the bathroom, she gave her sister a quick hug. “Thanks a million, Trace. As always, you came through for me big-time.”

“My pleasure, hon. You’re stunning. Go knock ’em dead.”

In deference to the special occasion, Sam slid her sparkling engagement ring on over the wedding band she wore all the time and fastened the diamond key necklace Nick had given her as a wedding gift.

She grabbed Nick’s phone off his dresser and led the other women downstairs, stopping short when she found Agent Hill standing in her living room. He and Nick were eyeing one another like wary dogs about to tear each other’s throats out.

And then Nick noticed her, and his full focus was on her.

Later, when she was alone and had time to process it, she would pick over the moment of unguarded awe Hill sent her way when he first laid eyes on her in the slinky dress. Luckily, his usual flat mask was back in place before anyone else noticed. But Sam had noticed, and the observation left her reeling as she tried to figure out what it meant.

Chapter Twelve

Nick walked over, put his arm around her and kissed the top of her head. “You look amazing.”

“Thanks.” In a low tone that only he could hear, she said, “Don’t you dare lift your leg and pee on me.”

He drew back from her and looked down at her, puzzlement marking his face. “Huh?”

Sam decided she’d deal with him in the car. “What’s up, Hill?”

“I’m sorry to bother you at home, but I’ve come from the Kavanaugh’s house, and since I was close by, I wanted to let you know we’ve had a rather significant break in the kidnapping case.”

Sam was instantly on alert and right back in cop mode. “Speak. Quickly.”

“Crime scene detectives found records of a GPS locating device Victoria had implanted in the baby the day after her birth.”

“Are you serious?” Sam asked. “Who does that?”

“Perhaps a mother who’s concerned about the very scenario that later unfolded.”

“Did Derek know about it?”

Hill shook his head. “The IT division has traced the signal to a house in Bellevue,” he said, referring to a rough neighborhood in the city’s southeastern corner.

“I’ll let Cruz know,” Sam said. “He can oversee our team.”

“Already done. He’s notified SWAT, and we’re mobilizing in fifteen minutes.”

Sam stood perfectly still as she fought the overwhelming desire to be part of the team that would hopefully recover Maeve Kavanaugh. The weight of her husband’s hand on her shoulder reminded her that she had somewhere else to be tonight. “Good. Keep me posted.”

Hill seemed almost surprised that she didn’t want to be part of the mission.

Sam watched his eyes shift to her right and realized he’d noticed Shelby and Tracy. “My sister, Tracy, and our, um, new assistant, Shelby Faircloth. Agent Avery Hill.”

Hill nodded to the women. “Ladies.” To Sam, he said, “You have an assistant, huh?” The touch of amusement in his honey drawl irritated her.

Sam wished her usual scowl was available. “Don’t you have a raid to get to?”

“On my way. I’ll let you know how it goes.” To Nick, he nodded and said, “Senator.”

Nick said nothing as Hill let himself out. Then Nick turned to his wife. “So he had to come to our house to tell you that? Is your phone not working?”

She handed him his phone. “It was down here in my purse, and I’m glad he came to tell me they might’ve found Maeve. Aren’t you glad too?”

His expression was positively thunderous. “Of course I am.”

Wow
, Sam thought. When she thought he couldn’t get any sexier, jealous Nick proved otherwise.

“Oh. My. God.” Shelby fanned herself with her hand. “Who the hell was that?”