“And in the meantime, we’ve become a family. My fiancée has become his mother.”
“She’s not technically his mother, and you both know that.”
“Still...”
“I get it. Trust me, I definitely see this from your point of view, but the fact remains that Lori is his biological mother, and she does have rights.”
“Rights,” Gonzo snorted. “What about my son’s rights?”
“He has them too, and the court will take them into consideration.”
“So you see this going to court?” Gonzo asked, a sinking feeling invading his abdomen.
“I do, unless you and Lori are able to come to some sort of arrangement on your own.”
That was highly unlikely, Gonzo thought, as he hadn’t even spoken to the woman in months.
“How do you wish to proceed?” Andy asked. “I could set up a meeting with Lori and her attorney. Give you two a chance to hammer this out amicably.”
“Do you recommend that?”
“It’s always advised to keep things as friendly as you can for as long as you can. Perhaps you can work out something that works for both of you, short of going to court.”
“I don’t want anything less than full custody.”
“You need to be prepared for the fact that she wants the same thing.”
“She can’t possibly have as strong a case as I do as the parent who has cared for him all this time.”
“Maybe not, but she is the child’s mother, Tommy, and the court will be pleased by the changes she’s made. It shows that she has good intentions.”
“Where were her good intentions when she hadn’t even bothered to give my son a name months after he was born?” Gonzo couldn’t keep the bitterness from creeping into his tone.
“Should I set up the meeting?”
Gonzo thought about it for a long moment, weighing the pros and cons. “Yeah, go ahead. See if you can make it for after the election. Christina has enough on her plate between now and then.”
“I’ll see what I can do and be back in touch. Hang in there, okay?”
“I’m trying. Thanks, Andy.”
“No problem. Talk soon.”
Gonzo put his phone on the coffee table and reached for one of the teddy bears Alex slept with. The scent of baby shampoo and powder clinging to the bear brought tears to his eyes. Thinking of a long, protracted, expensive battle with Lori only added to his weariness. All he wanted was a peaceful life with Christina and Alex and any other children they might be blessed with. Was that too much to ask?
Apparently, he thought bitterly. He could never regret the one-night stand that had brought Alex into his life so unexpectedly last winter. At the time, he’d been stunned to learn he had a son with a woman he barely remembered. Now he couldn’t imagine a day, let alone a life, without the boy at the center of it. He’d fight for him with everything he had for as long as it took to ensure their family stayed together.
The thought of telling Christina that they might be in for a fight with the baby’s mother filled him with pain. They’d both submitted to the fantasy of letting Alex think of her as his mother. Why wouldn’t they when his real mother barely showed an ounce of interest in him?
Christina was amazing with him, as devoted to him as she was to Gonzo. They’d barely begun dating when Lori dropped the bomb on him about Alex, but Christina had rolled with it from the beginning. It was simple, she always said, she loved him, and she loved his son.
Gonzo got up and flipped on the radio, tuning it to WFBR, the station owned by the Feds. Then he went into the kitchen to brew a pot of coffee that would be critical to remaining awake after the night without sleep. He got busy on his laptop digging into Willie Vasquez’s life and listened to the hate spewing forth from angry fans on the radio. But all the while, his thoughts were on the little boy he loved and the looming fight to keep him where he belonged.
Chapter Four
Sam arrived home in time to catch Nick as he was about to leave for the Hill. When she came in the door, his gorgeous face lit up with that sexy grin she loved so much.
“This is a nice surprise,” he said, approaching her, his intentions obvious.
She held up her hands to stop him from getting any closer and started stripping out of her foul clothes right inside the front door.
“Scotty and Shelby?”
“Left ten minutes ago.”
Removing the holster that held her service weapon, she put it on a table next to her badge and cuffs.
Nick’s eyes widened and his mouth fell open as he took in the striptease. “To what do I owe this unexpected show?”
“I’ve been Dumpster diving.”
“Seriously?”
“Yep. That’s where someone tossed Willie Vasquez after they stabbed him to death.”
All the color drained from her husband’s cheeks as he gasped. “No...”
“Afraid so.”
“Oh my God. Scotty...”
“I know. That was my first thought too.” She picked up her clothes and sneakers. “Sorry, but I’ve got to take a shower.”
“Sure,” he said absently, still processing the news. “Go ahead.”
“Come up with me.”
He checked his watch and then followed her upstairs to their bedroom where she dropped her clothes and sneakers into the washer located in their bathroom, dumped in twice the usual amount of detergent and set the water to the hottest setting.
Then she turned the water to boiling in the shower. “I’ll be quick,” she said to her husband.
“I’d rather you be thorough.”
That drew a laugh from Sam as she stepped under the hot water and got busy scrubbing every square inch of her body. The last time she’d scrubbed her skin so hard was after Clarence Reese blew his brains out while standing right next to her. Thinking about that awful day made her shudder as she turned her thoughts to the latest case.
Where to even begin figuring out who killed Willie when every person in the metropolitan area had motive after his blunder cost the home team an easy victory the night before?
As she worked conditioner through her long hair, she pondered that question and others, including whether she’d even be allowed to work the case. That was a battle she’d willingly fight as the most seasoned homicide detective in the city. Farnsworth would be crazy to trust such a potentially explosive case to anyone but her, and while the chief could be stubborn at times, he was far from crazy.
By the time she emerged from the shower, she was fortified and ready to do battle with her superiors on behalf of Willie Vasquez. Whoever killed the star ballplayer had better be ready to deal with her, because she was coming after them, and she would find them.
Nick was sitting on their bed when she came out of the bathroom wearing a white robe and her hair wrapped up in a towel.
Even though neither of them had time, she plopped down next to him and reached for his hand. “Are you okay?”
“I’m thinking about Scotty.”
“I have been too.”
“Is there any chance of him hearing about this at school?”
“I don’t think so. We’re keeping it quiet until we notify Willie’s family and figure out how to proceed.”
“I’m going to pick up Scotty at dismissal time so he won’t hear it from anyone else.”
“Do you have time to do that?” His schedule was insane as the campaign wound toward the election.
“No, but I’m going to anyway. I’ll let Shelby know.” He turned to face her. “There’s something else I need to tell you.”
“That sounds ominous.”
“It’s not really, but I have a feeling you’re not going to like it.”
She braced herself, preparing for whatever he might say. “Hit me.”
“I got a call from the White House this morning.”
“It still blows my mind to be married to someone who says things like that.”
His face lifted into the half grin that often made her want to swoon. Not that she actually swooned. Badass cops did not swoon. She only thought about it. “Focus, babe.”
She focused on his smoothly shaven jaw, the dark brown hair that curled at the ends, the sexy hazel eyes and the sinfully beautiful mouth. Taken all together, his features made for one hell of an appealing package. “Okay, sorry.”
“Nelson is taking a quick trip at the end of the week. He invited me to go along.”
His words permeated her brain. “A quick trip to where?”
“I’m not allowed to say.”
“Not even to me?”
“Not to anyone.”
“Is he going to Afghanistan?”
“I can’t tell you that, Sam. I’m sorry. I want to. I know you tell me stuff I’m not supposed to know all the time, but I can’t do it with the president’s security on the line. I hope you understand.”
Sam didn’t need him to confirm where they’d be going. Virginia had suffered significant losses in the war zone in the last year. It stood to reason that President Nelson would ask members of the commonwealth’s congressional delegation to go with him.
“How will you get where you’re going?”
“On
Air Force One
.” His eyes lit up as he said the words. “How freaking cool is that?”
“Pretty darned cool,” she said, even though her insides had gone cold at the thought of her beloved husband flying into a war zone on a gigantic airplane that bore the flag of the United States of America. “Won’t it be dangerous?”
He thought about that for a second, probably trying to find a way to answer her question without giving anything away. “Maybe a little, but the trip is top secret. No one will know. Even the reporters that come with us won’t know where we’re going until we’re there.” Tipping his head, he eyed her. “What’re you thinking?”
“It scares me to think of you flying into somewhere dangerous.”
“I’ll be on the most secure airplane in the world, babe. Nothing to worry about.”
“Sure,” she said. “Whatever you say.”
He put his arm around her and drew her in close.
She nuzzled her nose into his neck, drinking in the scent of the cologne he’d recently applied. It was one of her favorite smells in the entire world. “Would you stay home if I asked you to?”
“Would you stay home today if I asked you to?”
“Yes,” she said with a sigh, his point clear. “But you’d never ask me to.”
“No, I wouldn’t.”
“It scares me.”
“It scares me every time you walk out that door, knowing there’re people out there who hate you just because of the badge you carry. Not to mention your psycho ex-husband who hates you because you love me. It scares me to know that you can nearly get shot in the face when you stop to buy a bagel.”
Nick pressed a line of kisses over the fading scar on her face, earned during a robbery she walked in on over the summer. When she’d jumped the guy from behind, he’d pistol-whipped her face, laying open her cheek.
“I don’t like it when you pit your much bigger fears against my smaller, mostly insignificant fears.”
His chuckle rumbled from his chest as he pressed another kiss to the top of her head. “I’m not a hundred percent sure I can go yet. It’ll take some juggling of campaign events.”
Was it wrong of her to hope he couldn’t get out of them? “But you want to go. Right?”
“Babe... It’s the president and
Air Force One
. Yeah, I want to go—but not just because of the super cool plane. Where we’re going, why we’re going... It’s important or I’d never do it.”
“I understand.”
“Do you really?”
“Not yet, but I’ll try to get there by the time you go.”
“While you were in the shower I was thinking about Scotty. With Willie being murdered, I might need to stick around for him.”
“It’s a quick trip, right?”
“They said we’d be gone about forty hours total.”
“I can handle things here for forty hours.”
He squeezed her again and kissed her. “You’re the best wife ever.”
“We both know that’s not true.”
“You’re the best wife I’ve ever had.”
Sam laughed and slugged his arm as she got up. “I walked right into that. Can you and your detail give me a lift to HQ on the way to the Hill?” It was out of their way, but she knew he would do it if he could.
“Happy to, but where’s your car?”
“Cruz is meeting me there with it. I didn’t want to stink it up.”
“So how’d you get home?”
“I stunk up a patrol car.”
“You’re all heart, babe.”
“Aren’t I?”
“I’ll wait for you downstairs.”
“I’ll be quick.” In the bedroom across the hall that served as her closet, Sam found a clean pair of jeans folded neatly on a shelf that was now devoted to jeans. The unusual organization stopped her short. Who had done that? Ugh, Tinker Bell!
Sam needed to tell Shelby to expend her organizational energy elsewhere. She liked her mess exactly the way it was. She pulled on a wool sweater and found socks and a pair of hiking boots to complete her ensemble. If she would be putting in long hours, she’d be doing it in comfort.
She ran downstairs and heard Nick talking to someone. He was in the kitchen with Shelby, going over one of her famous lists.
“Morning,” she said to Sam. “Coffee?”
“Yes, please.” It was rather nice to have freshly made coffee waiting for her. She’d give Shelby that much credit. “No organizing my closet, Tinker Bell.”
“I didn’t do hardly anything in there.”
“The jeans were folded.”
“Oh my God,” Nick said, scandalized. “You didn’t!”
“I did,” Shelby said with a teasingly glum expression. The tiny blonde wore a pink sweat suit that resembled high fashion on her. “My apologies. It won’t happen again.”
“Good,” Sam muttered, not amused by their teasing. “Ready to go?” she asked Nick.
“Whenever you are. I’ve got Scotty after school,” Nick said to Shelby. “I’ll take him back to the office with me for a couple of hours.”
“He’ll enjoy that.”
“What kid wouldn’t?” Sam asked. “All that legislating and backstabbing.” She shivered. “So exciting.”
As Shelby giggled behind her hand, Nick shot his wife a playful snarl and headed for the living room. “Let’s go, Lieutenant.”
Taking advantage of a second alone with Shelby, Sam lowered her voice. “You asked out Agent Hill?”
Shelby seemed shocked by the question. “How do you know that?”
“Yes or no. Did you?”
“Maybe. Now tell me how you know.”
“He might’ve mentioned it to me.”
“You saw him? Where?”
“At work. Duh. Where do you think I saw him?”
“I bet he looked good enough to eat.”
“I refuse to dignify that with a response. You may be hearing from him.”
“Oh my God. Seriously? Tell me everything he said.”
“As fun as that return to high school would be, I’ve got to get to work. Keep him far, far away from here. You got me?”
“Why don’t you like him?”
“Come on, Sam,” Nick called.
“Far away. That’s all I’m saying.” Sam left the room before Shelby could continue the conversation. She grabbed her coat, strapped on her weapon, shoved her badge and notebook into her back pocket, and put her cuffs in her coat pocket before she ran out the door.
Nick was already in the black SUV with the tinted windows. One of the agents waited for her at the curb, holding the door for her.
When she got in, Nick was on the phone with Christina.
Sam buckled in as they pulled away from the curb. Even though she’d made fun of the lack of excitement at his office, she loved watching him in senator mode. He consulted with his chief of staff about the invitation to join the president for a quick trip.
“I’ll tell you when I get there,” he said, glancing at Sam.
“Why does she get to know where you’re going, but I don’t?” Sam asked.
Nick held the phone away from his mouth. “Because she has a security clearance, and you don’t.”
“I need to get me one of them.” Agent Hill had rubbed his top-secret clearance in Sam’s face, using it as an excuse to insert himself into the Kavanaugh investigation. Despite his staring issues, he wasn’t a bad guy and had been invaluable to her during that case. Not that she’d ever tell her husband that. He saw red where Agent Hill was concerned.
She checked the clock on her phone. It had been an hour since they found Willie, and it would be a while yet before Lindsey had anything for her. So she would start at Willie’s home address and then head for the ballpark with Hill. As always, the media would be on her like white on rice the second the word got out about Willie’s murder, but she could handle the reporters. She’d stonewall them the way she always did for as long as she could.
Nick ended the call with Christina and tucked his cell phone into his suit coat pocket. “What’re you thinking about over there?”
“Where to start to find a murderer when everyone in the city had a motive.”
“That’s a tough one, but you’ll figure it out. You always do.”
“If I’m allowed to run it.”
“Why wouldn’t you be?”
“Farnsworth doesn’t want me on the streets with Arnie’s people running loose.”
“Can’t say I disagree with him, babe. A lot of Arnie’s followers are among the affectionately termed ‘loony fringe.’ I wouldn’t put it past them to take a shot at you looking to vindicate him.”
“Be that as it may, Arnie’s ass is staying in jail. We’ve got him screwed, glued and tattooed.”
Nick chuckled. “I’d never heard that expression until I met you.”
“See how I’ve broadened your horizons?”
His hand landed on her thigh. “Speaking of broadening horizons... Have you given any more thought to what we talked about the other night?”
She’d thought of little else until she found Willie Vasquez dead in a Dumpster. “Some.”
“And?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“Do you want to talk about it some more?”
“At some point.”
“I’m not pressuring you, babe. You know that, right?”
“I don’t feel pressured.”
“Good.” He squeezed her thigh and removed his hand. “I’d never want that.”
Her body tingled at the reminder of their most recent interlude in the loft he’d put together to remind them of their honeymoon in Bora Bora. Their sex life had heated up even more than usual over the summer, and they’d been doing a lot of experimenting ever since. “I know.” She paused for a moment, choosing her words carefully. “I need to tell you something.”