Chapter 22
Sam made her way back down the long hallway, pausing just before Nick’s room to lean against the wall and collect herself. She couldn’t stop thinking about what Malone had said. Was she in love with Nick? Is that why she’d allowed things with him to progress even though she knew it was wrong and could get her into a shit load of trouble? Had she maybe always loved him? Way back to the first time they met?
With a soft groan, she tipped back her aching head. She hadn’t loved Peter but discovered that far too late. When Nick failed to call her after their night together—or so she thought—she’d been seriously depressed. Peter came to the rescue, offering a shoulder to cry on and a friend to lean on. It had been easy, too easy she later realized, to get swept up by him.
Now, on top of everything else she’d learned about him, she knew he intercepted Nick’s calls while pretending to offer comfort, proving he was an even bigger asshole than she had given him credit for being. He had robbed her of a lot more than four years of her life. He had taken her self-esteem, caused her to question her judgment, stolen her self-respect and left her confidence in tatters.
A smart woman would be leery of making another mistake after the whopper she’d made with Peter. A smart woman would go slow with Nick, would take her time, would make sure she was doing the right thing. As the clank of metal against metal reminded her she had a very angry man to deal with, she decided she clearly wasn’t as smart as she’d always thought.
Pasting a big smile on her face, she stepped into the room, her stomach aching from the tension. “Great! You’re all done.”
All but smoking with rage, Nick said, “Get these things off me, Sam. Right now.”
“I’d be happy to.” She dug the key out of her pocket and dangled it in front of him. “But before I do, let’s get one thing straight. I need you to stay out of my work stuff. Agree to that, and I’ll let you go.”
“How do you know I don’t plan to let you go once you unlock me?”
The question sent a surprising jolt of fear through her. “Well, I guess that’ll be up to you, won’t it?” she said with more bravado than she felt.
“Unlock me. Now.”
“Not until you agree.”
“I’m not agreeing to anything while I’m locked to a bed. If you want to unlock me and talk this through like rational adults, then that’s fine.”
She studied his furious, handsome face for a long moment. “You’re awfully sexy when you’re pissed.” Leaning down, she kissed the bandage over his left eye.
The kiss seemed to defuse him, but only somewhat.
“I’m sorry I locked you up.” When his face twisted with skepticism, she said, “I am sorry. But you have no idea how difficult it is to be a woman in this profession or the daughter of a fallen hero. The last thing I need is some guy on a white horse riding to my rescue as if I can’t handle things myself. As it is, I spend most of every day waiting for it all to blow up in my face.”
“Like it did today?”
“A joke?” she asked, incredulous. “You’re joking about a bomb?”
“Sorry,” he said with chagrin, “it was too good to pass up. Doesn’t mean I think it’s funny. Quite the contrary.” With his free hand, he captured one of hers and brought it to his lips. “Unlock me. I promise not to kill you.”
Knowing that was the best she was going to get and encouraged by the tender gesture, she released the cuffs.
He made a big dramatic show of rubbing his sore wrist for a minute before he got up to reach for his jeans and sweater.
Still uncertain about just how angry he really was, Sam stayed on the far side of the bed while he got dressed. She winced at the flash of pain that crossed his face as he slid his injured foot into an old running shoe the cops had brought from his house.
“Um, Captain Malone is going to take us…well… I guess to my house if you don’t mind.”
“I don’t mind,” he said in a testy tone.
Swallowing the lump in her throat, she added, “I’d appreciate it if you don’t discuss what happened earlier with him.”
“What? That my girlfriend or sex buddy or whatever you are was nearly blown to bits in my front yard? I shouldn’t mention that?”
She rubbed at eyes gone gritty with exhaustion. After an almost-sleepless night with him, she’d planned to catch a couple of hours on the plane if her nerves allowed it. “I’m asking you to do this for me. He was a lot cooler about me getting caught with you than I expected him to be. It would just be better if you stayed out of it.”
He came around the bed and backed her up to the wall. “You want me to stay out of it?”
“Um, yeah, that would help.” Only her hands on his chest kept him from completely invading her space.
“Let’s get one thing straight, Samantha. I’ve been the guy behind the guy my whole career, and that’s fine with me. But if you think, for one second, I’m going to ride shotgun in my personal life, you’ve got the wrong lapdog on your leash.”
While she should have been pissed at a comment like that, she was ridiculously turned on. She looped a hand around his neck and brought him down for a kiss intended to make him forget all about being mad with her.
With his hands on her hips, he jerked her tight against him.
“I don’t want a lapdog,” she said when she finally came up for air. “That’s not what I’m asking you to be.”
“What are you asking me to be?”
“Do we have to decide that right now? It’s bad enough the whole town’s going to know we’re sleeping together.”
“Damage done,” he said with a bitter laugh that jangled her already frazzled nerves.
“That’s easy for you to say. Your job isn’t on the line.”
“No, it’s not. I lost my job when my boss got himself murdered. Remember?”
“I don’t want to do this. I don’t want to be sniping with you when we’ve got so many bigger things to deal with.”
“See what you just said there? We have so many bigger things to deal with? You just made my point.”
She studied the floor for a moment before she found the courage to bring her eyes back up to meet his. “I’m not used to we.”
He laughed, but at least the anger seemed to be gone. “And you think I am? This is all new ground for me, too, babe.”
“I’m sorry we’re being forced to go public before we’re ready.”
“Something tells me that nothing about you and me is going to be simple or easy. We may as well get used to it. At least you’re calling us ‘we’ now. That’s progress.”
Ignoring that, she said, “So you’ll be cool with the captain?”
“I’ll be cool.”
With her eyes fixed on his, she kissed him softly. “You really are super sexy when you’re all steamed up.”
“Is that so?”
She loved how embarrassed he got when she said stuff like that. “Uh huh.” After patting his face, she headed for the door.
“Samantha?”
She turned back.
“You owe me twenty-six minutes in handcuffs, and I fully intend to collect.”
Damn him! When all her attention and focus was needed to deal with the captain and whatever was waiting for her at home, all Sam could think about was being cuffed and at Nick’s mercy for twenty-six minutes. Her whole body tingled with anticipation.
Turning to glare at him, she was rewarded with a shit-eating grin that told her he knew he had rattled her.
“You really are super sexy when you’re all steamed up,” he whispered, earning another furious glare. When he tried to hold hands with her, she tugged hers free and jammed it into her coat pocket where she encountered the cuffs and her bra. Her head pounded, and she began to believe it was possible for a head to actually blow off a neck. As they approached the waiting area, her stomach took a nasty dip that caused her to gasp with pain.
“What?” Nick asked, taking her arm to stop her.
“Stomach.”
“Why don’t we get someone to look at that while we’re here?”
She tugged her arm free. “It’s been checked.”
“It needs to be checked again,” he said, rubbing his hands up and down her arms.
“It’s better.” She stepped out of his embrace. “No PDA in front of the captain or anyone else.”
“You’re not giving me orders, remember?”
“Nick—”
“Sam.”
With a growl of frustration, she marched into the waiting room several strides ahead of him.
Captain Malone put down the Time magazine he’d been flipping through and stood up. “Ready?”
“Yes, sir. Ah, this is Nick. Nick Cappuano.” Gesturing to Nick without looking at him, she added, “Captain Malone.”
While Sam’s stomach grinded, the two men sized each other up as they shook hands and mumbled, “Nice to meet you.”
“On behalf of the department,” Malone said, “I apologize for your injuries and the damage to your home.”
“Not your fault,” Nick said. “However, I’d like to know what’s being done to find the person who tried to kill Sam.”
Sam stared at him, her mouth hanging open. Was that how he planned to stay out of it?
“Let’s get you two out of here, and we’ll talk about it on the way.” He waved his hand and two uniformed officers appeared. “We’ve got press up the wazoo outside the E.R., so Officers Butler and O’Brien are going to get you out through the main door upstairs. I’ll get my car and meet you there.”
“Thank you, sir,” Sam said. The moment the captain was out of earshot she pounced on Nick. “That’s you staying out of it and being cool?”
“What? He knows we’re sleeping together. Wouldn’t I look like a jerk if I didn’t even ask? Do you want him to think I’m a jerk? Wouldn’t it be better for you if he likes me? If he can see why you’d risk so much to be with me right now?”
“Ugh!” She stalked after the uniforms, pretending not to hear him laughing behind her.
By the time they had parked in front of her father’s Capitol Hill home, Nick was the captain’s new best friend. They’d bonded over their shared concern for Sam’s safety as well as their passion for the Redskins, politics and imported beer. If Sam hadn’t already been on the verge of puking, she would be now for sure.
She suspected they were using the small talk to mask the underlying tension that surrounded them all as they contemplated what could have happened that morning and the staggering array of implications they were left to contend with. For that reason, and that reason only, she decided not to kill Nick for defying her.
Her stomach clutched when she saw the chief’s car parked on Ninth Street. No doubt he and her father were in there concocting a plan to lock her up somewhere until she testified.
As they approached the house, Sam glanced at Captain Malone. “Um, sir, could you give us just a second?”
“Sure. I’ll see you in there.” After he had gone inside, Nick turned to her. “I know what you’re going to say, but I was just trying to make conversation—”
She went up on tiptoes to plant a kiss on him.
Startled, he said, “What was that for?”
“Just wanted to.”
“Are you intentionally trying to keep me off balance?”
“It’s not intentional, but if it’s working…”
“I figured I was in for another tongue-lashing—and not the good kind.”
She smiled. “I just wanted to tell you that my dad has some feeling in his right hand, so when I introduce you…” She shrugged. “If you wanted to squeeze his hand, it’d mean something to him. And to me.”
Nick put his arms around her, drew her in close and kissed the top of her head. “Thank you for telling me.”
“He’s going to be all wound up about the bomb and stuff, so he might not even notice you. Don’t be offended by that.”
“I won’t.”
“I hope you didn’t use up all your charm on the captain,” she said, rubbing her belly, “because my dad’s the one who counts. You know that, right?”
“Of course I do. It’s going to be fine, babe. Don’t worry or your stomach will start up.”
She eyed him with amusement. “Starting to see the pattern?”
“Yep. Let’s get this over with before you work yourself into a full-blown episode.”
“Might be too late,” she muttered. Taking one last deep breath, she led him up the ramp to the front door and stepped into a room full of cops.
Celia pounced on her. “Oh my God, Sam!” Her tears dampened Sam’s cheek. Stepping back to run her hands over Sam as if to take inventory, Celia said, “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine.” She did a little spin. “See? Everything still attached and working.”
Celia raised an eyebrow. “You lied to me last night when you said you were going to work.”
Sam squirmed under her future stepmother’s stern glare. “Um, yeah, I do that every now and then. Lie, that is. Is that going to be a problem for you?”
Celia cast an appreciative glance at Nick over Sam’s shoulder and smiled. “If he’s the reason, I guess I can forgive you. This one time.”
Sam introduced her to Nick, and when she couldn’t avoid it for a second longer, she met her father’s steely stare from across the room. She went over to him and bent to kiss his cheek. “I’m sorry you were worried.”
“I went past worried about three hours ago, but we’ll get to that. Who’ve you got with you?”
Knowing her father was already fully aware of who Nick was, Sam nodded to Nick anyway. “Dad, this is Nick Cappuano.” As instructed, Nick squeezed Skip’s right hand. “Pleased to meet you, Deputy Chief Holland.”
“Excellent sucking up. I’d say someone prepared you well to meet her old man.”
“I wouldn’t know what you mean, sir.”
Skip’s eyes danced with mirth. “That from this morning?” he asked, referring to the bandage over Nick’s eye.
“Yeah, but I’ll live.”
Sam re-introduced Nick to Chief Farnsworth.
“Detective Higgins, ma’am,” the other cop said to Sam. “Explosives.”
“I’ve seen you around,” Sam said, although she couldn’t believe he was a detective. With his sandy hair cut into a flat top over a baby face, he barely looked old enough to be out of the academy. “What’d you find?”
“Two EDs on your car.” For the benefit of Nick and Celia, he added, “Explosive devices—one on the ignition and a backup. Only one detonated. Both of them go, we’re not having this conversation.”
Sam swallowed hard and didn’t object when Nick’s hand landed on the small of her back.
“That’s not all,” Higgins said. “When we did a sweep of the other cars in the area, we found two more attached to a black BMW.”
Nick and Sam gasped.
“Registered to you, Mr. Cappuano.”
As if all her bones had turned to mush, Sam sank to the sofa. “Why?” she whispered. “Why would they target him?”
“We were just discussing that when you came in,” Chief Farnsworth said. “If it’s Johnson or their pals, the best theory I’ve heard yet is ‘you take mine, I’ll take yours.’ Revenge, pure and simple. Johnson wanted you either dead or decimated. How would they’ve known his car?”
“I’ve been in it,” Sam confessed. “Recently. And I’ve had the feeling someone was watching me a few times.”
“Detective Cruz suggested a link to O’Connor rather than Johnson,” Malone said. “Worth looking into, especially since they targeted Nick, too.”
Farnsworth turned to Nick. “Do you know of anything Senator O’Connor was involved in that had ties to terrorists or terrorism?”
“He was on the Homeland Security Committee, working mostly on the immigration issue, but he was briefed on counterterrorism initiatives. We both were.”
“I want to take apart that bill he was sponsoring, line by line,” Sam said. “Maybe I’ve totally missed the boat on this. I’ve been thinking jilted lover, but they don’t tend to plant bombs.”
“No,” Malone agreed. “They tend to dismember.”
“Which is why I’ve focused most of my attention on his love life.” Sam got up to pace. “We’ve uncovered a slew of recent ex-lovers, a few with complaints about some of his, um, fetishes.” She sent a sympathetic glance to Nick since he was hearing this for the first time. “But maybe Cruz is right. Maybe the Lorena Bobbitt was intended to throw us off.”
“He was dismembered?” Higgins squeaked, his baby face gone pale.
“A detail we’ve managed to keep out of the press,” Farnsworth said with a pointed look at his detective.
“Yes, sir.” Higgins got up to leave. “I need to get back to the lab where it’s safe.”
Sam rolled her eyes. “Run back to your cave, Higgins, and leave the dirty work to those of us in the field.”
“You can have it. I’ll send you details on the EDs when I have more, but I can tell you they were crude and you got lucky, Sergeant. Damned lucky.”
“Yeah,” Sam said. “I know.” She saw him out and turned to find every man in the room focused on her.
No doubt sensing a battle royal in the making, Celia stepped into the kitchen.
“Before you all get going,” Sam said, “I have something I want to say, and I want you to listen to me without interrupting.”
When they agreed with their silence, she pushed her fist into her aching gut and took a second to look each of them in the eye—Dad, her hero and her rock; Chief Farnsworth, beloved friend and respected leader; Captain Malone, boss and mentor; and Nick, quickly becoming more important than anyone. All of them cared about her. She had no doubt about that, just as she had no doubt they’d go to any lengths to keep her safe.
“I’m sure you two have cooked up a plan to toss me into a safe house for the weekend,” she said to her father and the chief, “but that’s not going to happen.” Before they could protest, she held up a hand to stop them. “I’m going to continue to work this case until I close it, and I’m not going to let punks or terrorists or whoever strapped an ED to my car and Nick’s take me off the streets. The minute they think they have that kind of power over me, I’m done on this job and you know it.”
Pausing, she made eye contact with each of them again. “I know you’re worried, and I know you care. But if you care about me at all, don’t ask me to be a coward. I won’t deny that bomb scared the shit out of me.” She let her gaze fall on Nick. “When I saw your face covered with blood, my heart almost stopped. So I’m going to get them. If for no other reason than they hurt you, and that’s simply unacceptable to me.”
Nick’s hard expression softened into a smile that engaged his eyes and filled her heart with emotions she had never experienced quite so strongly before.
To Farnsworth, she said, “Let me do my job. I’ll take every precaution I can. I’ll run things from here, stay as close to home as I can, but I won’t hide out. I dare any of you to tell me you wouldn’t rather go down in the line than run scared from scum who think they can take us out like yesterday’s garbage.”
A full minute of silence ensued, during which she noticed Farnsworth and Malone watching her dad and understood they were going to take their cues from him.
“I’d like to see that immigration bill,” Skip finally said. He glanced at Nick. “I’m a political junky in my spare time. I might catch something in there we can use.”
“I’ll get it for you.” Nick checked his watch as he stood up. “My staff should be back from Richmond by now, so let me make a call. What format do you prefer?”
“A fax would work. We can pop it right into my reading device. I can see two pages at once that way. Skip rattled off the number and followed Nick into the kitchen.
“I’m going to go lean on the lab to speed things up with the boomer,” Malone said as he pulled on his coat.
Sam was left alone with the chief. “I know what you’re going to say.”
“Do you?”
She squirmed under the heat of his stare. In a rush of words, she said, “I’m sorry I lied to you about Nick. But I was so afraid you’d take me off the case, and after Johnson I needed it. You know I did. I tried to fight what was happening between us, but he was just there for me, every step of the way and I, um… Why are you smiling?”
“In some ways, you’re exactly the same as you were at twelve, you know that?” He took a step closer to her, the smile fading. “But if you ever, ever lie to me again, Sergeant, I’ll have your badge. Are we clear?”
“Crystal,” she said, swallowing hard. “Sir.”
“Get O’Connor cleaned up—and fast. I don’t want any more bad publicity for you or the department.”
“Yes, sir.”
He called out his good-byes to Skip and Celia before donning his coat.
“Chief? Thank you for understanding why I have to do this.”
“I would’ve done the same thing myself. In fact, your dad predicted your little speech almost down to the last vowel. We were ready for you.”
“Well, sheesh,” she huffed. “Here I was thinking I’d handled you, and I’m the one being handled?”
“You gotta get up a lot earlier in the morning to get one past a couple of crusty old vets like us. Truth is, we would’ve been disappointed if you’d done it any other way. You’re a chip off the old block, Holland.”
“Thank you, sir. You couldn’t pay me a higher compliment.”
“I know.” He glanced toward the kitchen. “You think about what it would do to him if something happens to you. It’d be the end of him. You think about that.”
“Yes, sir,” she whispered as she watched him go down the ramp.