After calling the department and telling them she had been released early and would no longer require the guard, she went to the bathroom to change. Her uncle arrived at midnight and with the help of the now off duty officer, she gathered up her things and left. A hospital administrator came in and talked to her about Patterson before she left as well. He seemed to think she was right about him, but did not come out and say so.
“Hungry, Caddy-did? Your aunt’s been cooking up a storm since you called.
She said that you needed to fatten up after all that hospital food. I got some of that chili left over, too, and there are a couple of subs in the icebox. I even picked up some of that tea you been drinking, that nasty unsweetened shit you drink by the gallon. I was supposed to pick up some ice cream too, but I didn’t know what kind. I know you like chocolate, but they got about fifty kinds. What the hell happened to just plain old chocolate is what I want—”
“Its okay, Uncle Paddy. I’m fine. As soon as this is over, I’m going back to Chicago and you and Aunt Dee can come and visit me for a few weeks. Okay?”
“You can’t keep doing this, darling. I’d miss you, and your Aunt D, she would be devastated if you were to go like your daddy. You have to stay safe. If not for me, then for her.”
When they pulled into the drive, she reached over and hugged him. She loved this man more than he could ever know. He had been her solid foundation in a rocky life and she felt she would never be able to repay him.
She had no more than walked in the door tonight when Aunt Dee was making her a plate. The food was delicious, but she just wasn’t all that hungry.
After playing with her food for an hour and trying to stay cheery for her aunt and uncle, she begged off and went to her room.
She walked into the large bathroom and stood in front of the mirror for several minutes just staring at her face. She had to do this. She had to do it now or she would never be able to. Cait took off her shirt and stared at the bandages that covered most of her chest. Peeling back the tape under her right breast, she watched what she was doing and not what she was unveiling. After taking several deep breaths, she looked.
The wound was an angry red and the stitches were dark against her pale skin. The bruises were fading, but still a few days from being gone. Reaching up gently, she touched the skin around the area and winced at the fierce pain still there. Toby had shot her here first and she remembered the pain like it was happening again. She had to lean against the sink to fight the wave of dizziness.
When she looked in the mirror again, she was crying and knew that she could not look at the other two now.
Pulling on her shirt again, she went to her room, sat on the big bed, and leaned back against the headboard. That’s when she remembered the file.
Reaching for it, she opened it and burst out laughing.
Inside were pictures of what she assumed was Spencer growing up. He had been as much a geek as she had been. She looked through them one at a time, then spread them out all over the bed and looked at the man he had become.
There were also pictures of him and who she assumed were his brothers, and quite a few of him and his little girl. There were a few with an older couple and some with the woman and another man. Devin was a sly man and she was going to kill him the next time she saw him. This really was playing dirty.
She picked up the one with him and Meggie. It had been taken recently. She could tell because Meggie had not changed that much. They were both looking at the camera and smiling; they looked happy. So very happy. She put all the other pictures away and set the one of the two of them near her bed and lay down. She was asleep within minutes.
~~~
Spencer paced his bedroom. He was so angry that he wanted to hit something or someone. Not really, he realized, but he did need to get rid of some of this somewhere. Pacing his room helped.
Damn it, it was not just about sex. It was...okay, it was sex, but it had been incredible sex. Pacing, so lost in thought he almost missed his phone ringing. He pulled it out and grimaced when he saw who it was.
“I just spoke with your girlfriend. Damn but she’s stubborn. We may not be best buds, but she likes me more than you right now,” Devin teased him. Too bad he was not in the mood to enjoy it.
“Devin, I swear if you don’t behave, poor Ronnie will be a widow very soon.
And she’ll have to raise that baby all by herself. Not that that’s not a bad idea, but I will murder you.”
Devin had been married less than six months and his pretty little bride and law partner was due in four months. Everyone was thrilled about it and the new baby, especially their mom.
“Ronnie said the same thing. By the way, she said to call her. Some nonsense about giving you advice about women. Anyway, court is set for eight o’clock day after tomorrow. I’m suggesting all the parents of the kids be there with their children. We’ll let the judge see how serious we are about this. Can you and Meggie be there?”
Spencer was taking a light quarter this spring and then taking the summer off to be with Meggie. They were taking a vacation together, their first. But he would be there even if he had to cancel classes for the whole day.
“Yeah. Is O’Malley going to help you? Willingly help you, that is?” He hoped she would not just to piss off Devin, but knew that her testimony would help a great deal.
“No, not willingly, but she’ll help. She got her badge back; she should be notified about it in the morning. A friend of mine called me tonight to let me know. Spence, did you know that she has a Gold Shield—pretty impressive for someone as young as she is. Internal affairs cleared her, but the trial is still on. I’ll explain this weekend at Mom’s. You bringing her along with you?”
“I’ll ask her. O’Malley carries a gun; you think Mom will have a problem with that?” Their mom carried one in her car and sometimes in her purse. Being a parole officer could put her into some dicey situations. But O’Malley carried one all the time and he wondered how everyone would feel about that, especially Morgan, Nicky’s wife.
“I wouldn’t think so, but I would probably ask first. She wants to be called O’Malley then? I’ve never seen a person more determined to call someone by their last name like she does. Why do you think that is?”
“Yes. She calls me Grant, so it works for us. I think it might have something to do with working in the atmosphere that she does.” She was going to call him Grant at least until they were in bed together. Which reminded him, he had to pick up protection. Even though she was mad at him, it didn’t keep him from wanting her.
Spencer went to Meggie’s room to check on her after he hung up with Devin.
He marveled that she was all his. She was going to be staying with him forever now and he had never been so happy.
Her mother, Shannon, had not even put up much of a fight. She had just demanded that he pay her a lump sum of cash and then be done with it. Devin had drawn up the contract for them and even though he did not like the way Shannon had coldly done it, he was glad it was over too. It had been a long, five year battle.
Looking around her room, he grimaced. Boxes of stuff were everywhere and her windows still only had shades on them. He had wanted to have it decorated before they moved in, but his mom had told him to wait and let Meggie decide.
He looked over at the books of wallpaper samples the previous decorator had left and smiled. The woman, Desire, had left in a major huff two days ago when Meggie refused to let her do it her way. Desire had thought that she could get into Daddy’s pants too. Not going to happen.
Spencer wondered what O’Malley would do to the room. He thought of her and Meggie bent over swatches and laughed out loud. Nope, he thought, he could only see them bending over O’Malley’s gun and her showing Meggie how it worked and how to be safe around it. Meggie would be a willing pupil too.
Smiling, he left his daughter with a light kiss to her forehead and went to his own room.
~CHAPTER 7~
Cait was at the court house at seven-thirty. She was never late for work and found no reason to be late for this either. She hated court appearances; it was not so much the court itself, but having to dress in nicer clothes. She looked down at the clothes she had on.
She had lost weight. Not a lot, but enough that her clothes hung on her tall frame. Her pants were dark blue and light cotton; they looked good only because her aunt Dee had ironed them for her. Her shoes were her service shoes, but it was all she had with her, and she was not spending money on shoes she would wear the one time. She had put on a silk blouse her aunt had lent her because it was so hot out for this time of year, and a dark jacket over that. Her service weapon, another Glock, but a twenty-two this time, was in a shoulder holster under her right arm and there were two clips in the harness strap. She also had another Glock, a twenty-seven this time, strapped to her ankle. It, too, had two extra clips strapped to her other ankle.
The clips were interchangeable and most cops she knew carried the same combination of weapons for that reason. She was glad for their weight and comfort again. Her badge was on a chain around her neck and was currently tucked into her inside jacket pocket. There was also a pair of steel handcuffs, OC
spray, and a couple of knives tucked here and there on her body.
When Devin Grant approached her, she saw him hesitate slightly then move forward. Cait was used to that. Most men, even very strong men like the Grant men, were intimated by her status and the fact that she carried a gun. She could live with that.
“I think you looked less scary in the hospital holding a gun on Spencer than you do now. I never realized that how a person dresses—especially you—could convey so much authority and respect. You wear your job well, Detective.”
“How’s the murder going? You know that it’s more than likely someone close to him, probably the wife.” She didn’t know what to say to the statement about her clothing and chose to ignore it for now.
“The wife made a full confession late last night based on your information.
Thank you. She said that William was asking for a divorce and since she had signed a pre-nup, she would get nothing more than what she went into the marriage with. She said she wanted her fair share and since she was the guilty party, and she wouldn’t get squat. She was having an affair with William’s seventeen-year-old son. We’re still trying to find him.” Cait nodded. Nerves made her pace and she had been pacing a lot this morning. Between the pacing and worrying with the necklace around her throat, she was a bundle of nerves. She was glad for the distraction of the case to think about. Her mind rarely shut down and it didn’t now either.
“You do know that the kid is either dead or she has him stashed somewhere?
He wouldn’t have been in on it though. He’s probably in Venezuela if there is a house there that William owned. I would check there first.”
“Okay, I will. Why Venezuela? Not that I don’t believe you, but why that particular place, I guess?” He had pulled out a pad of paper from his jacket pocket and was making notes. She didn’t know why, but she found she liked that. But she was still pissed at him, so kept the compliment to herself.
“There was a paperweight on the desk and several pictures that had references on and in them. The paperweight was something small. Those sorts of things are what you remember, but not the details of why. She would have seen them there and it would have been in the forefront of her mind when she was planning her move.”
The bailiff came out to tell them they were next and Devin led Cait inside.
She was just being seated when a lovely woman sat down next to her and smiled.
“Hello. You must be Spencer’s detective. My, you are as beautiful as he said.
I’m Ronnie Grant, by the way, Devin’s wife. Sorry I’m late. Morning sickness is hell.”
Cait nodded. She was not sure she liked to be referred to as Spencer’s anything, but said nothing. A minute later, Spencer walked in with a group of people and Meggie. Her breath caught in her throat.
He was dressed in a suit this time, but it was pressed and neat. His hair was combed, but still looked mussy, like he had just been tumbled by a woman. He had on dark glasses and when Meggie pulled them off for him and tucked them into his pocket, he smiled and Cait’s body clenched. Christ, she thought, a smile like that could hurt a girl if it was directed at her.
Cait turned around and noticed that Ronnie was smiling at her. Cait flushed at the knowing grin.
“They can make your panties wet when they do that, can’t they? Sorry. I got pregnant and I can’t seem to control my mouth anymore.” Cait thought she was right. In both the panties and her mouth observation, but again, didn’t say anything. She turned back to the front and tried to ignore the man and the child behind her. It was not as easy as it sounded.
The judge came in before Ronnie could say anything else and Counselor Clamp, the teacher’s attorney, called Ms. Ames to the stand.
~~~
Spencer tried to listen to what was going on, but all he could think about was the woman seated two rows in front of him. When she had turned around and looked at him, he could see the desire flare in her face and eyes, and he nearly leapt over the seats to get to her. He wondered what Ronnie had said to her to make her blush and decided to take Ronnie up on her offer of advice.
Meggie tugging on him brought him from his wonderings. Good thing, too; his cock was hurting again and this was no time to have a hard-on.
“Can I go up with Aunt Ronnie and Mal?” she was asking him. He started to say no, but if he could convince O’Malley to see him, then he needed to see how she reacted to his daughter, and nodded for her to go.
Spencer thought she would just go up and sit on the empty chair next to O’Malley, but Meggie, never one to be shy, crawled up into O’Malley’s lap. He could not see either face, but Ronnie turned and winked at him and he felt himself relax somewhat. Yeah, he was going to talk to Ronnie.
Spencer was just becoming really bored when O’Malley stood with Meggie and came back to him. Concern was all over her face. He looked around the courtroom to see what might be her worry, but saw nothing.