Fatal Deception (39 page)

“Why then?”

“Jimmy’s a good guy, but he hadn’t been through what we had, you know? He wasn’t part of her life with Steven, and I was, so she held on to me. Probably longer than she should have. Your mother grew to hate her, which I never understood but accepted as a fact of my life with her. Sometimes I think she felt that my relationship with Alice justified her behavior at the end.”

“Thanks for telling me all this. It helps to fill in some blanks.”

“Who else knows about this, besides McBride and Tyrone?”

“Nick.”

“Is it too many people? Do you want me to come clean? I’d do it to save you the heartburn. Cameron has always known there might come a day when I couldn’t protect him anymore.”

“What about Alice?”

“I love Alice, and I always will, but I love you more. If you want to do something with what you found out, I won’t stop you, and I won’t hold it against you.”

“None of the people who know would ever speak of it, so I don’t see any reason to undo what was done years ago. But there is one thing I’d like to say, because I need to get it off my chest.”

“I’m listening.”

Sam was glad she was resting on his shoulder and not looking at him for this conversation. “You put me in a very difficult position by ordering me to leave this alone. I understand now why you did it, but that doesn’t mean you can use our bond to bend me to your will. You’re the one who taught me the job always comes first. You all but forced me to choose between you and my job on this one, and I didn’t appreciate that.”

“You’re absolutely right, and I was absolutely wrong.”

“Really?” Sam hadn’t expected such easy capitulation.

He snorted out a laugh. “Surprised you, huh?”

“Yeah, you could say that.”

“I was scared of what would happen to Alice if it got out. I was also scared about what my sins might do to your career if people found out what I did.”

“Your intentions were honorable.”

“I’d like to think they always were, but sometimes life gets in the way.”

“You don’t have to tell me that.” Sam raised her head and met the blue-eyed gaze that was exactly the same as hers. “So we’re okay?”

“You bet we are.”

“Good.” Sam returned her head to his shoulder, flooded with relief. “I hate when we disagree. It makes me physically ill.”

“Believe it or not, I hate it just as much.”

Sam stiffened when she saw her mother coming down the hallway.

Brenda caught sight of Sam snuggled up to him and stopped in the doorway, propping her hands on slender hips. “Still two peas in a pod, huh?” When neither of them replied, she shook her head and continued on her way.

“You really ought to make peace with her, Sam. She’s your mother—the only one you’ll ever have. I’d hate for you to have regrets someday.”

“I’ve been angry with her for so long I don’t remember not being angry with her.”

“Maybe it’s time to let it go and move on. What happened between us was a long time ago. And you’ve spent enough time married by now to know it takes two people to make a marriage work, and it takes two people to mess it up. I wasn’t entirely blameless.”

Sam tried to imagine what it would be like to have Nick taking care of a murdered friend’s wife for whom he had obvious tender feelings. For the first time, she could see that it hadn’t always been easy for her mother to be married to Skip. “I’ll think about it.” Sam got up and kissed his forehead. “I’ve got to get back to HQ. I’ve got a couple of Arnie Patterson’s flunkies sitting on ice waiting for the lawyers the Pattersons aren’t sending.”

Skip’s mouth fell open in shock. “The Kavanaugh murder is tied to
Patterson
?”

“Yep, and I’ve got the lackeys screwed, glued and tattooed. Still hoping to nail Patterson and his sons too, but that’s not a sure thing by any stretch. Either way, it’ll fuck up his campaign. How do you like them apples?”

“Holy shit. This is gonna be huge!”

Sam smiled. “Malone said it’s always huge when I’m involved.”

“That’s my kid.” Skip’s eyes danced with delight. “I’m so freaking proud of you, Samantha Holland Cappuano.” In a whisper, he added, “So freaking proud.”

Blinking back tears, she bent to kiss his forehead. “That means everything to me, Dad. Everything.”

He grinned at her as best he could with one side of his face paralyzed from the stroke he’d suffered after he was shot.

“Let me go see what my husband has done with your wife.” In the hallway, Sam saw Nick standing with Celia by the elevators. They were engaged in an animated conversation, and Sam’s insides melted a little when Nick tossed his head back and laughed at something Celia said. God, she loved him so damned much.

He caught sight of her and smiled.

She signaled for him to bring Celia back.

When they strolled over to her, Sam hugged Celia. “Congrats, Granny.”

“Thanks, Sam. I couldn’t be more excited if little Ella were my own granddaughter.”

“Of course she’s your granddaughter. Don’t be silly.”

“That’s sweet of you to say. Did you and your dad kiss and make up?”

“Yes, we did.”

“Oh, good,” she said. “He suffers so terribly when you two are at odds.”

“I can hear you, Celia,” Skip said as he rolled his chair into the hallway to join them.

Celia flashed him a saucy grin. “I only speak the truth, my dear.”

“We’ve got to get going,” Sam said. “We’ll see you tomorrow.”

“See you then,” her dad said.

When Nick tossed an arm around her, Sam leaned into his embrace.

“Everything okay?” he asked.

As the familiar scent of him surrounded and comforted her, Sam realized she’d gotten through a difficult hour in large part because of the strength she drew from his love. “Everything is perfect.”

“Good.”

“I need to stop at HQ very briefly, and then I’m all yours until seven o’clock tomorrow morning.”

“Oh, I like the sound of that. As I recall, we have an important conversation to finish.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

As they stepped into the elevator, he slapped her lightly on the ass. “Liar.”

Even as she tried to form a protest, every nerve ending in Sam’s body was tuned in to the spot where his hand had connected to her flesh.

“Mmm,” he said, nuzzling her neck. “This is gonna be
so
hot.”

Sam reached for him at the same instant he reached for her, his hands seeming to touch her everywhere at once, inflaming her to the point of combustion. She wanted to kiss him so badly she burned with the need, but her face was still too sore.

“God, I miss kissing you,” he whispered harshly as he cupped her breasts and pinched her nipples until they were hard and throbbing.

She squeezed his cock and made him groan. “Me too.”

When the elevator dinged to indicate their arrival in the lobby, they broke apart. Breathing hard, they stared at each other, equally dazzled by the power of their desire. “We probably gave the hospital security guys one hell of a show.” It appalled her that she hadn’t considered that before the grope session.

He grabbed her hand and all but dragged her off the elevator. “The stop at HQ had better be very quick, you got me?”

“Yeah,” Sam said, rattled and undone to realize she loved dominant Nick as much as she loved sweet, tender Nick. “I got you.”

* * *

Because it was too hot to wait outside, Nick came into HQ with her. As they made their way to the pit, Captain Malone waylaid them. “Lieutenant, the lab report is back with a match for Jerry Smith’s DNA with the skin found under Victoria’s nails.”

“Yes,” Sam said, pumping her fist. “Fan-fucking-tastic!”

Smiling at her choice of words, Malone said, “We’ll be filing formal murder charges in the morning.”

“You can add kidnapping to the charges against Smith,” Hill said as he joined them. “I tracked down two associates of Bobby Ray’s who’ll testify that they met Smith in a bar, and when Smith said he had a kid who needed to be watched, Bobby mentioned his mother.”

“Excellent,” Sam said, feeling positively giddy as all their ducks lined up into a neat little row. “With that testimony, we won’t even need forensics to tie Jerry to Bobby’s murder.”

“I was thinking the same thing,” Hill said. “Why do you think they didn’t kill Maeve too?”

“Maybe even scumbags like Jerry Smith have scruples when it comes to defenseless kids.”

“Maybe so. Great work, Lieutenant. You called the Patterson connection, and you were spot-on.”

“Thanks,” Sam said, unnerved by the praise coming from a man who admired her in more ways than one, especially with her husband standing right next to her. No doubt he’d have something to say about Hill handing out compliments, but she didn’t have time to worry about that now.

“What do you say we move our guests to their accommodations for the evening?” Like Gonzo had been earlier, Sam was tuned in to how much fun her job could be at times like this when they had their suspects nailed from every possible direction, and everyone knew it—except for the suspects.

“What’s your plan, Lieutenant?” Malone asked, looking a little gleeful himself.

“We’re going to house Jerry and Porter together for the evening. Cruz set up manned surveillance. We’re hoping one of them will be stupid enough to speak freely. My money is on Jerry.”

“Remind them of their rights,” Malone said.

“I’ll do it when I get them in the cell, so it’ll be recorded.”

“Good,” Malone said. “Try not to enjoy this too much.”

“Why not?” Sam asked with a cheeky grin she instantly regretted. “How often do we get to have genuine fun on this job? Did you hear Porter pissed himself?”

Hill laughed at that news.

“Sure did,” Malone said with a chuckle. “Beckett has been bitching about the stink all night.”

“Let’s go rescue him,” Sam said, heading for the pit. She was dismayed to find Lieutenant Stahl skulking around the nearly deserted area. “What’re you doing in here?”

“I was cutting through, not that it’s any of your business. And speaking of your business, the department counsel tells me she can’t get five minutes of your time.”

“She’ll get my time when I close the Kavanaugh case and not before. What business is it of yours, anyway?”

“Everything is my business, Lieutenant.” His beady eyes narrowed as he spoke, making Sam’s skin crawl.

“Step aside,” she said. “I have work to do.”

“What’s he doing here?” Stahl asked, nodding to Nick. “He’s not authorized to be back here.”

“He’s authorized to be anywhere that I say he’s authorized to be, so fuck off and let me do my job.”

His face turned the shade of purple that Sam had become accustomed to from him. “You need to watch yourself, young lady. That is no way to speak to a superior officer.”

“So put me up on charges. You don’t seem to have anything else to do with your free time.”

“I might do that.”

“Fine. Now move so I can get to work.”

Stahl glowered at her for a good long time before he waddled off to bother someone else.

“Jesus,” Nick said. “Is he always so pleasant?”

“That was actually one of our friendlier exchanges.”

“I hate to think you have such formidable enemies here.”

“It’s only him, and he’s hardly as formidable as he thinks he is.” She unlocked her office. “You can wait in here, but by all means please resist the urge to clean.”

“I’m unable to resist that urge.” He patted her bum. “And a few others, so you’d better hurry up before my urges get the better of me.”

“Stop it,” she growled, giving him a little shove. “Don’t get my motor running here, for Christ’s sake.”

“Urges. I have them. I need you to control them.”

“Stay,” she said. “Don’t clean. I’ll be right back.”

“Hurry.”

She told herself she was hurrying because she wanted to, not because he’d all but ordered her to. She didn’t take orders from anyone, except her higher-ups in the department, and only when absolutely necessary. Why, then, did the thought of Nick bossing her around in bed make her so hot her skin felt like it was on fire? She shook her head to rid it of salacious thoughts. No time for that now.

Stepping into interrogation room two, she nearly gagged at the stench that greeted her. Porter was pacing back and forth like a caged animal. When she entered, he stopped and turned to her. “I hope you’re prepared for one hell of a lawsuit, madam.”

“You can call me Lieutenant, Mr. Gillespie, and on what grounds do you plan to sue the department?”

“Police brutality! I was hauled out of my home, humiliated in front of the media, strip-searched and held here like a common criminal for hours!”

“And what part of that was brutal? I’m not seeing it.”

He stared at her as if she was insane, and the wild look in his eyes had her wondering if he was having some sort of breakdown. “
All of it!
”

“Mr. Gillespie,” Sam said in her best condescending tone, “I realize that being a criminal is all new to you, but everything you’ve experienced is common procedure. If the first words out a suspect’s mouth are ‘I want a lawyer,’ then our hands are tied until the lawyer shows up. Suspects being charged with felonies are strip-searched as a matter of procedure, and we can’t control where the media chooses to camp out on public premises. So I’m afraid your lawyer, if he or she ever gets here, will agree that you have no case against us. I’m sure he or she will be far more concerned about the accessory to murder and kidnapping charges, and you should be too.”

“I will tell you the same thing I told that other officer who dragged me in here—I had nothing to do with any murder or kidnapping.”

“We’ll be happy to discuss that with you when your lawyer arrives. Any idea when that might be?”

Porter glowered at her. “No.”

“Were you permitted to make a phone call?”

“I was offered it, but I chose to wait.”

“Would you care to make that call now?”

“Yeah, I guess. I can’t imagine what’s taking so long.”

Sam nodded to Beckett, who left the room and returned a minute later with a phone that he plugged into a wall jack. He pushed the speaker button and got an outside line before he gestured for Gillespie to make his call.