America's Bravest (52 page)

Taking the envelope from Tony, she ripped it
open. Her hand started to shake, and after Tony read over her
shoulder, he lunged for Kessler. Jesus. Max catapulted out of his
chair in time to catch Kessler as he was thrown back. Brody and
Felicia grabbed Tony.

Gabe circled his arm around Sydney and drew
her back.

“What the hell are you doing?” Kessler asked,
shrugging off Max and watching Tony.

“You can’t have her kid,” Tony shouted.

“I don’t want to take Daisy away from
her.”

“That’s what the paper says.”

“Because Sydney won’t even talk to me about
her. I only want visitation rights.” He stared at Sydney. “And you,
of course.”

Max slid an arm around Kessler’s chest and
yanked him back. “Over my dead body.”

Gabe shook his head, and the others eyed Max
suspiciously.

“Who the hell are you?” Kessler asked, again
freeing himself from Max, though it wasn’t that easy this time.

“I’m a friend of Sydney’s. You and I met the
other night.”

“How close a friend?”

“Yeah,” Brody said, stepping up to Sydney,
too. “How close?”

“Close enough to not let you hurt her,
Kessler.”

“I don’t
want
to hurt her.” He threw
up his arms, then slapped his thighs. “I want another chance with
her and I want to see my daughter regularly.”

“You have it all planned out, don’t you?”
Sydney said, and for the first time ever, Max saw the sheen of
tears in her eyes. Never once had he seen her cry.

“No, I don’t have anything figured out. I
just want a break here.”

Felicia moved in close to him. From where he
stood, Max could see the fire in her eyes. “You missed your chance,
buddy. You abandoned a twenty-year-old girl to have a baby by
herself.”

“That’s not the whole story.”

“I
know the whole story,” Tony, who
had calmed down, spat out. “And it’s worse.”

Sydney turned her head into Gabe’s shoulder.
“Just get him out of here.”

“All right, I’ll go. But now you’ll
have
to deal with me.” Casting a scathing glance at them
all, he added, “Jesus, she doesn’t need a posse to defend her from
me.”

Once again, Tony riled, but Gabe stepped in.
“Enough. Leave my firehouse, Kessler.”

The man stalked out. Gabe turned to Max. “I
think you’d better leave, too, Max.”

Right then the PA went off. “Rescue 7, Quint
and Midi 7, go into service.” Holy hell, there was a call for this
group.

Gabe grasped Sydney’s shoulders. “Are you
good enough to come with us?”

Raising her chin, Sydney nodded. “Yeah.
Temporary lapse.”

The captain studied her a minute. “Okay,
let’s go.” To Max, he said, “Max, you’re skipping this one. I don’t
know what’s going on with you and Syd, but we’ve had enough drama
today. Leave now so we can lock up.”

There was no time to talk to Sydney. No time
to decide how he felt about the sordid scene he’d witnessed. The
group was gone in a flash and they took Sydney with them. Max left
the firehouse hurt, angry and more than a little concerned about
her.

oOo

When Sydney pulled into her driveway that
evening, the last thing she wanted to do was get dressed up and
meet the other female firefighters for their night out. What she
wanted was get in bed and pull the covers over her head. Her mother
was over at her sister’s, and Daisy was with Tony’s family, so
Sydney would be alone. She got out of the car, thinking about what
had transpired after the shift ended. Gabe had called his cousin
Paulie, a lawyer, and they’d stopped at his office on the way home.
Paulie had read the papers, said they were pretty straightforward
and asked for her side of the story. When she finished, he gave her
a reassuring smile. “I don’t think you have anything to worry
about. He was married to another woman, tried to pay you off, and
left you alone afterward. The most he’d get is visitation.”

On the way home, Gabe had asked, “Would that
be so bad?”

Remembering Paulie’s opinion, she felt a
little better as she headed to the side door where she spotted a
large envelope nestled again the wood. Whatever it was, Sydney
couldn’t handle much more today. She’d been embarrassed big-time
about the scene with Ken, and she had a lot of explaining to do to
her crew. But besides the fact that Ken wanted to see Daisy, Max
had witnessed the entire ordeal. If there had ever been a chance
for them, it had fled with the morning’s fiasco.

Picking up the manila envelope as if it was a
minefield, she went inside and plopped down at the kitchen table.
In the empty house, she heard the refrigerator turn on and the
batting of a tree limb against the door. The light she’d left on
cast the room in an eerie glow as she stared at the envelope. Oh,
hell, she couldn’t resist opening it.

Inside she found a tape recorder, labeled,
“Interview seven.”

Huh! She was supposed to be interview seven
with Max, but Gabe had kicked him out of the firehouse today. She
pressed play.

“Maxwell Delinsky here.” The deep baritone
startled her. “Today I’m interviewing my alter ego, Max. So let’s
start.”

Sydney’s hand clapped over her mouth.

“Tell me Max, why are you acting like such a
jerk these days?”

His voice was the same, of course, but held a
different tone. “Because a woman has turned my life upside
down.”

“Who?”

A snort. “As if we both don’t know. Sydney
Sands.”

“Ah, I like her.”

“I do, too. I think…I
know
I’m in
love with her.”

Sydney gasped. “Oh, my God.”

The tape continued, alternating egos.

“You have a hell of a way of showing that
emotion.”

“I agree. I’ve been erratic, contradictory,
stupid and selfish.”

A muffled sound, then, “Maybe not that bad.
But you have behaved poorly.”

Sydney laughed out loud at his humor.

“I never meant to hurt her.”

“Why did you?”

“Because I have a hang-up about
infidelity.”

Well, that was news. Max had never spoken
about the topic.

“Why, Max?”

I…um, oh, God this is hard. But I’m going say
it. My wife fell in love with another man.”

Sydney said aloud, “No way!”

“I think you’re exaggerating there, Max.”

“No, I’m not. She didn’t get involved
physically, just emotionally. She admitted she loved the guy.”

Anger rose in Sydney. But when he explained
about the chemo, Max being absent, her mindset changed.

Maxwell
echoed her thoughts. “You
jerk. Couldn’t you give the woman a break? Look what she was going
through.”

“Actually, I did give her a break. I forgave
her completely, quit my job and spent all my time with her and
Amber. The year before she died, we’d never been closer.” His voice
broke on the last word.

Tears welled in Sydney’s eyes. “Oh, Max.”

“I know it’s no real excuse, but when I found
out about Sydney’s past, her situation coalesced with my past and I
freaked out.”

“So,” his alter ego drawled, “what do you
want now?”

“That’s easy. Only one thing.”

“Yeah? What?”

“Sydney.”

oOo

Several beautiful women entered a private
room in the Lakeside Restaurant all dressed up. Blacks, reds and
pinks were proudly donned, stilettos and some strappy sandals
graced their feet and every woman’s hair was styled and chic.

Dressed in the same blue dress she’d worn to
Max’s party, Sydney walked in at eight-thirty, unable to appreciate
the tables set in white and black, the subtle lighting and the soft
music piped in. She didn’t want to be here. She’d tried to reach
Max right up until she had to leave the house. Since she couldn’t,
she planned to stay for dinner and then head over to his place.

He loved her! Her heart rate sped up at the
thought. And that explanation, oh, Lord, how hard did Annette
turning to another man have to be for him? She knew what his wife
meant to him. Oddly, she wasn’t jealous of what they’d had
together.

Felicia approached her wearing a
copper-colored clingy dress with her hair spiky. “I thought maybe
you weren’t coming tonight. Today was pretty rough.”

“No one misses these events. Besides, I
wasn’t going to let that man take anything else away from me.”
Sydney scanned the crowd. “We have extra women tonight.”

“Yeah, it’s a regular family affair.”

Staring across the room, she said, “I
recognize Jenn Malvaso. She looks great in the red one-piece thing,
despite having had a second baby. Isn’t that Mitch’s wife with
her?”

“Yeah, we invited the police.”

Megan Hale Malvaso wore black and sequins.
Her blond hair fell down her back and she and Jenn were laughing
together.

Sydney glanced at the others. “I don’t know
the two women they’re with. The dark-haired one and the
blonde.”

“I only know one. Let’s go over; I’ll
introduce you.” She touched Sydney’s arm. “If you’re sure you’re
all right.”

“I’m great. I can’t stay much past dinner,
though.”

“What’s going on?”

“I’d rather wait to say, Licia, but it’s
good.”

“That’s enough for me.” They headed toward
the group.

Jenn was speaking. “And then Grady said if
the baby pooped all over him again, he was calling my mother.”

“Men!” Megan shook her head. “Mitch depends
on Sabina, too, when he’s with Sabby.”

“Wait till you have two babies.” Jenn caught
sight of them. “Hey, Licia.”

“You all know Sydney Sands.”

The women she knew greeted her. One of the
others stepped forward. “I’m Lisel Woodward.”

“Oh, my God, Lisel Loring, the Broadway
sensation!” Sydney was star struck.

The face that had routinely stopped shows
gave a little smile. “In another life.”

“Mom and I scraped for months to see
Longshot
. You deserved the Tony nomination.”

Felicia nodded to the blonde, who was smiling
broadly. “I’m Felicia White and this is Sydney.”

The woman moved in. Up close, she had the
most angelic face Sydney had ever seen. She was small, compact and
absolutely lovely. “Hi, I’m Faith Ruscio. I crashed tonight because
I had to get away from my twins. Lisel was over to our condo
today—she lives next door—and took pity on me. I hope it’s okay I
tagged along.”

“Sure, the more the merrier.”

“Eve’s here, too. Over there talking with the
new female battalion chief.” Lisel scowled. “She’s stumped by the
fact that there hasn’t been another arson lately.”

“We all are. We…” Megan cut off when her
phone rang. Whipping it out of her clutch purse, she checked the
caller. “I’m sorry. I have to take this. It’s from the precinct.”
She stepped away.

“Faith, how’s Rick doing with the twins?”
Jenn asked.

“Happy as a clam. But his sisters had to come
and help out tonight.”

Instantly, Sydney was jealous. The woman
looked happy as a clam, too.

When Megan returned, she was white-faced.
“I’m sorry I have to leave. That was Ryan, Licia.”

Felicia gripped Sydney’s arm. “Is he all
right?”

“Yes,
he
is.”

All the women tensed. Most of their men were
in dangerous positions. “Who isn’t?” Jenn asked.

Megan faced Sydney. “Ryan said to tell you
Max Delinsky’s been attacked. He was checking out an office
building to see if he wanted to rent space and…well, somebody
attacked him.”

Sydney froze. “Max? My Max?”

“Yes, honey, and it’s pretty bad. He’s at
Hidden Cove Hospital.”

“Oh, my God.”

Felicia said, “I’ll drive you.”

“I’ll meet you there.” Megan was already
starting off.

“Come on, Syd. Let’s go.”

Still she couldn’t move. Something happened
to Max?
No, please, not now.

oOo

His head pounded, his jaw felt like it was
broken and the rest of his body ached as Max pushed himself up in
the hospital bed to answer Ryan O’Malley’s questions. The room was
small and stuffy, housing him and Ryan and Cal, who stood by his
bedside, his shoulders tense, his face hard. It had been a hell of
a day.

“Let’s wait till Megan gets here to start the
interview,” Ryan said.

“I’m here.” A vision appeared in the doorway.
Despite the gravity of the situation, Ryan whistled.

“You clean up good, Hale.” Then his eyes
widened even more. “And Lieutenant White. You make my mouth
water.”

“Not now, O’Malley,” she quipped, but there
was a small smile on her face.

Max was shocked to see another woman behind
the two officers, dressed in a beautiful blue dress he’d seen
before, with her hair all puffy and tons of makeup on. Were those
high heels? He’d swallow his tongue if it wasn’t swollen. “Oh,
man!”

She rushed to Max, her heels clattering on
the tile floor. Megan’s brows rose as Sydney sat on the bed and
took his hand. It was bruised and he winced. “Oh, Lord, I didn’t
realize…” She set it gently on the mattress. “I’m sorry. You must
be in so much pain.”

“I’m better now, thanks to modern medicine.
And the fact that you’re here.” He glanced up. “Can I have a few
minutes alone with Sydney?”

“I’m sorry, Max.” This from the police
captain. “We’ve found that if a victim answers questions right
away, we get better information.” She nodded to Sydney. “It won’t
take long.”

Sydney started to rise, but Max tugged her
back. “Stay.”

“What happened, Max?” Ryan asked. “Cal knew
you went to look at the office building but that’s all.”

Without thinking, Max shrugged his shoulder,
making him moan. “I got a call from a realtor who worked in the
office I hired to scope out rental property for my business. They’d
found a perfect place for us. I didn’t feel like going because”—he
smiled at Sydney—“anyway, I stopped at the address on the way home.
The door was ajar and so I went in. I didn’t get ten feet and
someone hit me over the head. When I fell, he kicked me in the
stomach and ribs. Then he bent over and punched my face.” Max
shivered at the memory of the blinding pain.