Nowhere to Turn (15 page)

Dani placed a hand over her racing heart and clenched her teeth against the violence racing through her. Not at Adam or Simon but at Kurt. She remembered the day Kurt had held his weapon against her head and threatened to kill Simon should she take it upon herself to try to leave again.

She hadn’t known Simon had witnessed the event.

Oh my baby boy . . .

She stepped into the doorway. Adam’s eyes met hers and she knew
he knew
she’d heard every word. She tapped Simon’s shoulder. “Adam can show you how the gun works, but you can’t ever touch it unless he gives you permission.”

Simon blinked and Dani bit her lip on a smile. Poor thing, she’d shocked him with her easy acquiescence. He gave a slow nod. “Okay. I can promise that.”

Dani met Adam’s gaze. “I don’t expect you to . . .” She wasn’t sure what she was trying to say, but Adam seemed to understand.

“No worries. I’d love to spend some time with him.”

Dani relaxed. “All right then.” Having a positive male influence would do wonders for Simon. Learning how to properly handle a weapon would be good for him too. Kurt had instilled
such terror with his gun, having Simon develop a healthy respect would at least allow him to conquer one fear. It would be a start.

She returned to the kitchen to find Tori at the sink. “Want some help?”

“Sure.” Tori handed her the knife and picked up the remote to power on the flat-screen television on the wall. The news played quietly in the background while Dani helped chop vegetables for the evening meal. “Have you always wanted to work for the marshals?”

Tori glanced at her and ran the water to wash away the remains of the food. “Not always.”

“So how did you wind up doing it?”

“My family’s always been in politics. My dad was a judge and had several death threats over the life of his career. We had marshals in our home more than once.” She rinsed her hands and dried them, the look on her face thoughtful. And a bit sad. “My dad was a dirty judge,” she admitted softly.

Dani felt her brows raise. “What?”

“He was on the take from an organized crime family, the Raimondis. Adam helped put the family out of commission and uncovered my father’s dirty deeds, so to speak.”

Dani gaped. “I’m so sorry.”

Tori shrugged. “I am too. It’s been a year and it feels like a lifetime.”

“Poor Adam.”

“He was devastated. My father set him up. With his position as a US Marshal, he had access to a lot of inside info. My dad used him, used his loyalty to the family to convince him that he should get information. Adam went along with it for a while until he realized what he was doing was putting the very people he was guarding in danger. Adam would never have jeopardized his career if he’d known my father was one of the bad guys. He
thought he was just helping out his uncle, a man who’d put a ton of criminals behind bars. He never realized Dad was using him as a patsy.”

“Wow.”

“Adam was almost killed. My father put a hit on him. His own nephew.” She shook her head and blinked back the tears that had surfaced.

Dani didn’t know what to do.

Tori sniffed and gave a small laugh. “I guess you didn’t need to know all that.”

“No, it’s fine. Adam said he’d tell me the story, he just hasn’t had a chance to do it yet.” She studied her new friend. “And besides, I think you needed to tell me.”

Tori shrugged. “Maybe. But I think it’s only fair you know what kind of family we are.”

Dani stared into Tori’s glistening eyes and thought about the man who’d risked his life to help her. Who continued to do his best to keep her and Simon safe. “You and your family are my heroes.”

THURSDAY
DECEMBER 11

Simon stood at the rail of the houseboat and stared out across the water. A frigid wind blew off the water, but he didn’t care. He pulled his hoodie tighter and studied the area around him.

A lone fisherman cast his line as the small dingy rocked beneath him. A motorboat zipped past and Simon felt the houseboat shift slightly as the waves hit against the sides.

He hadn’t been bored the past two days, that was for sure. Adam had kept him pretty busy. It was too cold to swim, of course, but he’d learned how to fish. Not only catch them, but clean and
cook them too. He’d learned how to take Adam’s Glock apart and clean it and then put it back together. Maybe one day he’d even get to shoot it.

Simon had had more fun in the last couple of days than he’d had in his entire life. Even the threat of someone after them hadn’t kept him from enjoying himself. And his mother was losing that pinched look around her lips.

Two days had passed without another incident and he felt like he could almost breathe again. Like he had some time to figure out his feelings, process his thoughts. He’d spent a lot of time with Adam, unsure at first about the man, but Adam didn’t appear to be anything like his father.

Which made him like Adam. A lot. He wanted to trust him, but he kept waiting for the man to do something to show his true colors. His dad could be all nice and smiley, then lash out with a hard fist before you could blink. But it hadn’t happened with Adam. Yet.

Simon took in a deep breath, inhaling the smells around him. Someone was cooking steak. The scent made his stomach rumble. Boredom was beginning to officially set in, but he didn’t want to complain. He even missed school and his friends, especially Mitchell Lee. Blowing out a disgusted sigh, Simon pulled his Nintendo DS game from the back pocket of his jeans and turned it on.

Dani took a break from helping in the kitchen and watched her son hunch over the game. She monitored the games he played and refused to allow him to play the more violent ones. He was fine with that, thank goodness, preferring to solve mysteries and do puzzles.

Tori had arrived this morning with bags of groceries and a lot of chocolate. Dani liked her more and more each day.

“How’s he doing?” Adam asked.

She took the can of soda he offered. “He’s all right. I think he’s a little bored, but if it wasn’t for your care and attention, he’d be climbing the walls by now. As it is, he hasn’t played that game since we’ve been here.” She slid her eyes to him. “Which is a great thing in my book.”

Adam smiled. “He’s an awesome kid. You’ve done a good job in spite of what you’ve had to live with.”

“Thanks.” She sipped on the cola. “How much longer do we need to stay here?”

“Getting tired of us?”

“Not at all,” she protested, then relaxed when she caught the twinkle in his eye. “No, I’ve just got to figure out how to have a normal life with my son and get started on it as soon as possible.”

“That’s understandable, but we don’t want you leaving until we’ve figured out why someone broke into your home.”

She nodded. “I’ve been thinking about that.”

“Have you come up with any idea of who it might have been?”

“The only person I can think of is Stuart. He had the combination to the safe, the alarm code, but . . .” She shrugged. “Something bothers me about that.”

“What?”

“Stuart knew the safe was empty. I cleared it out the day Kurt died. Why would he go looking there?”

“It’s six months later. Maybe he figured you put everything back.”

“Hmm. Maybe. You’re probably right.” But she couldn’t help wondering if she’d missed something. “What have you guys been up to?”

“We finished going through the contents of the bag.”

Adam and David had been in the kitchen at the table working and muttering between themselves while Dani and Tori were
cleaning up breakfast dishes. She thought that bag might have had something to do with all the discussing. “And?”

“There are a couple of interesting things in there. Starting with this.” He pulled his hand from his pocket and held up a small key.

“What’s it go to?”

“I don’t know. We were hoping you might have an idea.”

She held it in the palm of her hand and studied it. “It looks like a locker key or something. Maybe a key to a padlock.”

“Any thoughts on places where Kurt might have a locker?”

“Not really. He didn’t share that kind of thing with me.” She couldn’t help the bitterness that leaked out. Dani drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “He went to the gym a lot.”

“The one in his office building?”

“Yes. And he also used to go to the one at the country club occasionally.” She pursed her lips. “That was one place he didn’t mind me going.”

“Why not?”

“Because it was exercise, keeping my body in shape. He used to taunt me about getting fat. I finally pointed out that he wouldn’t let me do anything or go anywhere. If I did nothing but stay at home, then yes, I would probably get fat.”

“What a—”

“I know.”

“So he let you go to the gym?”

“The exclusive one with the country club and it had to be with a personal trainer. One that would report in to Kurt.” She appreciated the outrage she saw flickering in the depths of his eyes. She gave a small shrug. “Brianna was a good woman. She helped me work out my anger and frustration and even taught me a few self-defense moves during some kickboxing workouts.” Not that she’d ever dared use them on Kurt. He had the gun. “I don’t think she really liked him.”

“Then I think I like Brianna.” Adam took the key from her. “All right. I think we’ll see if this fits anything at the FBI office gym and then try the country club one.”

“You might ask some of the agents he worked with about a storage unit or locker or something, but if they’re in on the illegal activities Kurt was in on, then . . .” She shrugged.

“Yeah. I thought about that too. I’m also checking into any property he or your in-laws might have owned where he could store things.” He sighed. “I’ll get someone to pull his bank records and credit card statements to see if he was making regular payments on any storage facilities.”

She nodded. “Okay.”

“For now, though, is there anyone you met that Kurt worked with that you believe was a straight arrow?”

Dani tilted her head and stared off into the distance. “Maybe Ralph Thorn?”

“Why him?”

“He just seems like a good man. I met him several times. At a family cookout one time. He was at all of the holiday dinners and parties held at the office. Last year at the Christmas party, he came over and talked to me before Kurt interrupted.” She shook her head. “I got the feeling Kurt didn’t like him.”

“And that’s enough for you to trust him?”

She felt a flush creep into her cheeks. “It sounds stupid, I know, but . . .” She shook her head. “After Kurt was killed, there were so many people who came by my house. It seemed like swarms of people stopped by. I vaguely remember a few of them, but Ralph and his wife stand out in my mind.”

“Why’s that?”

“He and his wife came by the house the day after Kurt was killed. They asked me if I needed anything and were very kind.
They prayed with me. Being in their company just gave me a sense of . . . comfort. A sense of peace.”

Adam nodded. “Okay, I’ll check him out.” He looked at Tori. “What’s your partner doing these days?”

“Working just like the rest of us.”

“Would he have some time to come over and keep you company?”

“I can ask him.”

“If you don’t mind.”

“Not at all.” Tori pulled her phone from the pocket of her jeans and stepped aside to make the call.

Dani frowned. “What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to see Ralph Thorn.” He paused. “And my mother. She’s having surgery today.”

“Oh! I didn’t know. I’m so sorry.”

He gave her a slight smile. “I didn’t tell you. I’m still processing the information myself. My sister told me that Mom has breast cancer. She’s having a mastectomy.”

“And you should be there with her. If you don’t go, this may be one bridge you’ll never be able to rebuild.”

Adam swallowed and looked away, but not before she thought she saw a sheen of tears in his eyes. He cleared his throat. “I won’t leave you unprotected.”

“And I won’t let you throw away your family,” she whispered. “Go.”

He nodded. “I’ll go, but first I need to make some phone calls to make it happen.”

While Adam made arrangements, Tori finished her call to her partner. “Nate says he can be here within the hour.”