Love of a Marine (The Wounded Warriors Series Book 2) (22 page)

The door flew open. “Look, pal, so far you’re not in any trouble, but if you don’t stop this shit I’ll have to book you. Are we clear?”

“What the hell is—?” The door slammed and the officer walked away.

Cluny slumped back against the seat, stunned and confused. If he wasn’t in trouble, what was he doing in handcuffs in the back of a locked patrol car? How had the cops got to Graciella’s apartment so fast? He’d barely gotten his hands on Jamal when they were all over him.

A man approached the car and stood outside staring at him for a few seconds, then opened the front door and got in. “I’m FBI agent, Jim Harris. Here’s what we’re going to do. Two officers will take you inside the station and make a show of booking you, and then you’ll be put in a holding cell. You’ll cooperate and keep your mouth shut.”

“But, I…what…?”

“Jamal Mujahid is under surveillance by Homeland Security. We’ve been shadowing his movements and tonight we followed him to the lady’s apartment. If you don’t cooperate, and keep your mouth shut, you’ll blow our operation. Do you understand what I’m telling you?”

Homeland Security was watching his movements? “He’s under surveillance?” How the hell had Graciella ended up in the middle of this crap carnival? “But, my girlfriend…she doesn’t have anything to do with him.”

“We know that.” Harris cocked his head. “Are you ready to go in peacefully, Mr. McPherson, or do you need more time to cool off?”

“Shit, let’s get it over with. I’ve gotta get back to my girl. She’s probably scared out of her mind.”

Two LAPD officers escorted him inside. They put him through the booking process, making sure Jamal Mujahid saw what was happening. After Cluny handed over his watch, wallet, and keys, they fingerprinted him using a modern inkless scanner, and then took his jailhouse photos. Now he’d been moved to a different location in the building and the escorting officer removed his cuffs. He handed him a pair of disposable paper booties for his bare feet, and opened the door of a holding cell.

Cluny stepped inside and sat. “How much longer?”

The man shrugged, walked away then came back with a jail shirt and shoved it through the bars.

“What in hell am I supposed to do with this? Am I under arrest? Are they going to move me? Do I get a goddamn phone call?”

“I don’t know, man. Just relax. The watch commander will come in and talk to you.”

He cooled his heels for almost an hour. Nobody came. He had to keep it together, but he was ready to tear the next person he could get hold of limb-from-limb. He paced for a while, then gripped the bars on the small cell door. Growling with impatience, he raked his hair.

Voices! The door to the outer room opened.

A tall, uniformed man opened the cell door and stepped inside. He held out his hand. “Mr. McPherson, I’m Watch Commander Johnson. You’ll be free to leave soon. In the meantime, there’s someone here to see you.” He signaled to the guard who watched from the window in the outer door.

Gunny, bleary-eyed with a dark five o’clock shadow, stepped in the room.

Johnson motioned Dwayne inside the cell. “Mr. Dempsey will take you home as soon as the FBI completes whatever-the-hell they’re doing out there. Would you like coffee?”

“No.”

“I’ll leave you men alone then.” He exited the outer room and the guard outside closed the door.

Dwayne walked in, pulled Cluny into a hard hug and thumped him on the back. “How you doin’? You sure know how to top off a good party.”

Relief flooded through him. “Thanks for coming, Gunny. I’m still not sure what happened.” He slumped down on one of the benches and dropped his head. “I’m worried about Graciella. And Queen. I have to know they’re OK. This is a goddamn nightmare.”

Dwayne took the seat across from him. “They’re both fine. She called and asked me to come to her place. There are a couple of federal agents there who tried to explain what was going down. She was pretty shook up, had a couple of bruises, but otherwise she’s OK. Queen’s fine. She’s a pro.”

“Yeah, she got a good bite of that jerk’s junk and wasn’t about to let go.”

Dwayne chuckled. “He’ll probably be out of commission in that department for a while.”

“Permanently, I hope. How did Graciella find you? After they hauled me in here I remembered your home phone number’s unlisted.”

“She called the off-hours emergency number for Big D. They phoned my home and relayed her message. Soon as I called her back she started to cry, poor kid.”

Cluny looked into the face of his old pal. “What have I gotten her into?”

“From what the agents at her place told me, I don’t see that it has anything to do with you.”

“I went out to the car to get Queen. Graciella probably thought it was me at the door. She wouldn’t have opened it if she’d been there alone.”

“You’re not responsible for everything that goes wrong in the world, McPherson. They’re after that Jihad guy.”

“Jamal.”

“Yeah, him. He’s on a terrorist watch list. They’ve been hoping he’d lead them to one of the big boys. So far, no dice.”

Cluny socked a fist into his open hand. “I wanted to kill him for the way he was knocking Graciella around. What if he shows up again? What if she and Santos were alone in the apartment? How are they going to protect her?” Was he the only one worried more about protecting them than nailing some bozo on a watch list?

“What about her and the boy staying at your place for a while? You’ve got plenty of room.”

He shook his head. “I doubt she’d go for it. She has a business to run. Except for a small pension from the Navy, it’s her only source of income. Anyway, we’re just getting comfortable together. Having them under my roof twenty-four-seven could put the stink eye on our connection. I don’t want that. I love her. I want to marry her, but it’s too soon to ask for that commitment.”

“I suspected you’d seriously fallen for her. How do you think she feels?”

“She’s cautious. Her first priority is Santos. I’m pretty sure she wants to see where our relationship could go, but she’s wary of getting in too deep at this point. I don’t blame her. She’s done a good job managing life on her own since Marv was killed.”

Yes, Cluny loved her. He’d never been surer of anything in his life, but was it fair of him to bring all his shit to her doorstep? He didn’t want her to commit out of pity. Perhaps he should back off, let things cool down.

The watch commander entered the room and walked through the open cell door. “You’re free to go, McPherson. The FBI asks you to return to Mrs. Jefferson’s apartment and sit down with them.”

“What for?”

“I’m not in the loop, my friend. I’m purely on a need-to-know basis with the feds. My guess is they want your cooperation to make sure you don’t throw a monkey wrench in the works and blow their investigation.”

“I don’t give a rat’s ass what the feds want. All I care about is safety for her and her boy.”

The commander put his hand on Cluny’s shoulder. “Piece of advice? Sit down with the feds and listen if you’re really concerned and not just wanting to be a macho cowboy.”

Dwayne laughed. “Officer, that’s tough, because we
are
Wyoming cowboys and retired Marines to boot. I’ll try to keep him reined in.” He gave Cluny a light smack on the back. “Come on, Macfearsome. I’ll drop you at her place and then get on home. I left Marla alone with a tent full of kids in the backyard. They’ll be waking up hungry any time now, and I’m in charge of breakfast.”

Cluny pulled off the jail shirt and tossed it on the bunk. “Where’s my stuff?”

“Follow me. It’s up front. All you have to do is sign for it and you’re on your way.”

* * *

Graciella’s apartment, early Thursday morning

Graciella rushed into Cluny’s arms the second he walked through her door. “Querido, I’m so happy to see you. Thank God you’re safe.” His embrace warmed and comforted her in the deepest places of her body and soul. She clung to her man, reluctant to let go, even for a moment. “I love you, Cluny.”

He held her away so he could look directly into her eyes. “Baby, that makes me so happy. I wasn’t sure you felt the same as me.” He hugged her hard and kissed the top of her head. Queen leaned against his leg.

She stepped away from Cluny when he bent down to pet and talk to Queen then preceded him to the living room where two men in suits, who looked the part of FBI agents, introduced themselves.

“Amor, I’m going to make breakfast for you while you talk to these men.” She went the short distance to the kitchen and returned with a steaming cup of coffee for him.

“Thank you, sweetheart.” He gestured to the two men. “I need to get my shirt and shoes on, gentlemen, if you’ll excuse me?”

“Sure, go right ahead, sir.”

She stared at his back when he walked down the hall to her bedroom, not willing to take her eyes off him for a second. Would the road ahead be an easy one for them? Deep in her heart she wanted to try to work things out and develop a long-term relationship with this special man. He was worth it. Removing pans from the cupboard and eggs from the refrigerator, she set about cooking breakfast for the man she loved.

Once the food was ready, she carried the plate and silverware to him. One of the agents eyed the three eggs, sausage, and toast as she set it in front of Cluny. She’d interrupted the conversation, but from what she’d heard, they were repeating what they’d talked about with her while waiting for him to return from police custody. “May I get you gentlemen anything?”

“No, ma’am. We’re just about to leave. I reiterated to Mr. McPherson that we had instructed you to avoid contact with Krystal Jefferson and her parents during this phase of the investigation. They’ve received the same instructions, and our office in New York has been in touch with Ms. Jefferson. For her safety, she’ll be under close watch.”

“I’m glad to hear that. She’s made some foolish choices, but I’d hate it if anything happened to her. Her parents have already lost their only other child, my late husband.”

The two men got to their feet, gathered their briefcases, and prepared to leave. “We’ll show ourselves out. Don’t get up, Mr. McPherson. Enjoy your breakfast. We hope this will all be over soon.”

Graciella followed them to the door and shot the deadbolt. She was relieved to have them out of her apartment.

“Cluny, Queen hasn’t been out of here since they took you.”

“That’s OK, baby. I’ll take her out soon as I finish. Sit down. I need to ask you something.”

Curious, and not a little unsettled, she sat across from him. “Take your time. I’ll make more if you’re still hungry. It’s been quite a night.”

Her heart tripped when he winked. “In more ways than one.” She leaned back against the couch cushion and watched him devour the last of the sausage and eggs. Finally, he set the plate on the coffee table and leaned forward with his forearms on his knees. He had something on his mind and she could see he struggled with how to voice it. Maybe he was going to suggest they take a break from each other. That would probably be the wise thing to do, but something she did not want.

“Baby?” He gazed into her eyes. “Gunny made a suggestion when he came to spring me this morning. At first I thought you wouldn’t go for it, but there’s no way to know unless I ask you outright. So here goes.” He twisted his hands as they dangled between his legs. “Would you consider moving yourself and Santos into my house in Spring Grove until this crap blows over? I know you have your business and all, but I’m not convinced the police can protect you. Take your time to think about it, you don’t have to answer right now.”

Flooded with happiness over his concern for her and her son, she went to him and sat on his lap. Laying her head on his shoulder, she said, “I can’t sleep in your bedroom, amor. It wouldn’t be proper.”

“Does that mean you’ll come?”

“Yes, I have to think of my son’s safety.” She would take Marla’s advice and stop borrowing trouble. She wanted to be with Cluny and didn’t feel she and Santos were secure in this apartment anymore.

He squeezed her hard. “What a relief. You can have the guest bedroom, and I’ve got an air mattress we can put on the floor in one of the other empty rooms for Santos. Bring as much of your things as you want. I’ll bring the van if you need more than you can carry in our cars.”

“That wouldn’t be a good idea. The name of your company is on it. Let’s go get Santos and you can come back here and help us pack up what we’ll need.” She looked at her watch. “Oh, no, I just remembered you were supposed to open your business about now.”

“I called Chief. He’ll handle it today.”

“Does that mean you don’t have to be someplace else for the next couple of hours?” She brushed her lips on his ear.

“I know where I’d like to be, baby.” He laid a sizzling kiss on her lips.

“You read my mind.”

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Same afternoon

On the way to Dwayne and Marla’s, Cluny thought about what a lucky man he was to have this remarkable woman sitting beside him, the woman who’d made love with abandon, and who was presently caressing his leg.

Graciella broke the silence. “What do you think we should tell Santos, querido?”

“Tell him about what?”

“Why we’re going to stay at your house for a while.”

“The truth might be a good place to start.”

She sniffed and removed her hand from his leg. “Says the wise father of many children.”

Oh boy.
Tread lightly, McPherson.
“Sorry, you asked my opinion.”

She put her hand back on his leg, squeezed, and sighed. “I’m more unraveled than I thought. I didn’t mean to sound witchy.”

He covered her hand. “Like you said, baby, it was quite a night.”

She leaned across and kissed his cheek. “Yes, one I’ll never forget for many reasons. I love you, Cluny. I don’t know how this arrangement will go, but please have patience with me.”

Queen whined from behind them.

Graciella laughed. “You too, Queenie. We’ll be encroaching on your territory.”