Chapter 9

 

His arms were warm and safe when Whitney woke at five, spooned with Max. Slivers of light peeked in through the blinds telling her morning had arrived. She felt rested. Easing away from him, she tiptoed to the bathroom, then returned and slid back into bed.

“That’s better.” He tugged her even closer. Nuzzled her neck.

“I didn’t want to wake you.”

He sighed. “I feel like I got more sleep last night than I had in a week.”

“Me, too.”

He whispered in her ear, “Can I say again how sorry I am for what I did with Angie?”

“Since we have bigger fish to fry, so to speak, that whole thing doesn’t seem as…looming this morning.”

“I knew I loved you for a long time, but apparently, I didn’t understand the depth of my feelings.”

“I think that realization hit both of us at the same time. God, life is funny.”

Comfortable silence.

 

Then Max whispered, “Can I kiss you?”

“With morning breath?”

He snorted. “It wouldn’t be the first time.”

She turned in his embrace. God, he was sexy. Dark, tousled hair, a growth of beard. Those blue eyes searing her. “Yes.”

He lowered his head. His mouth was firm against hers and she fell into the kiss. Pressed her lips against his, opened his mouth with her tongue and explored him. He explored back with the urgency of a thirsty man finding water. His hands threaded through her hair, held her there, and he drank his fill. How long before he drew back, she didn’t know. But his mouth traveled to her neck. He buried his face there for a second. His hand slid lower, as it always did, and cupped one breast.

She hadn’t known how tender they’d gotten. His touch brought…relief. He kneaded her and it was like no other time. She moaned, pressed into him.

He stopped. “Hurt?”

“No, it feels good. Like I’ve needed you to do this.”

“You sure this is okay?”

“Who the hell knows?”

“Well, then.” He continued to massage her.

She squirmed against him. “Max…”

Against her lips, he asked, “Want more?”

“Uh-huh.”

His hand slid to her waist. Snuck beneath her boxer shorts. And cupped her. She practically ricocheted off the bed into him. Had she ever in her life been this sensitive? She could do nothing but grind into his palm.

The spasms came fast. Furiously. So mind-blowing that she never wanted them to stop.

They didn’t. He let her come down, briefly, then he found the spot that sent her swirling again.

When she was done, she hid her face in his chest. He brushed her hair down. Finally, she said, “I’m embarrassed. I didn’t mean for this to happen.” But she giggled, something she rarely did. “I couldn’t control it.”

“Hmm. I can think of one way you can curb the embarrassment.”

“How?”

He took her hand and brought it to his groin. He was hard as granite. “Like for like, babe.”

She giggled some more.

o0o

They hadn’t had intercourse, but they’d had sex. And for the first time in a week, Max felt at peace as they lay in the early light of dawn, content and satisfied. She was cuddled into his chest.

“Should we talk about this?” she asked.

“I’m so sick of talking.” He kissed her head. “Let’s shut out the world for a little while longer. It’s only seven in the morning.”

“I—”

His phone buzzed. As one of the lead agents in threat assessment, he had to be available at all times. “Fuck.”

“Yeah, fuck!”

Still holding her close, he grabbed his phone off the nightstand and clicked on. “Blackwell.”

“Max, this is Cal Adams.”

“Hello, Cal.” He emphasized the name so she knew who it was and raised a brow at her.

“The search on Abdul Jamika turned up nothing. I’ll fill you in on that later. But Edgar Hines has been arrested. We found homemade nitroglycerine and ammonium nitrate in his basement.”

“The ingredients of a bomb.”

“Yes. The instructions were there, too, gotten off the Internet. We’ve interviewed him for hours, and he contends he worked alone. I know you have comp time coming, but we’d like you and Whitney to assess our findings. See if we should be considering a cell of some kind.”

“Of course, that’s what we’re here for.” He glanced at the clock. “We’ll be there soon.”

“I’ll call Agent Dwyer.”

He squeezed her close. “I’ll let her know. See you then.”

She sat up while he gave her the details. “We’d better get going.”

“Yeah. But wait a sec.” He tugged her over him. “I love you, Whitney. Thanks for this.”

“I love you, too, Max. And it was my pleasure.”

She got out of bed. “I’ll shower first. And I’m absolutely starving.”

“I’ll make you breakfast. You can eat while I get ready.”

“It’s a deal.” She started toward the bathroom, then turned back. “This all seems so normal.”

“Let’s enjoy normal for a little bit. We could both use the respite.”

“You’re on, buddy.”

o0o

The FBI reps, including the handsome Cal Adams, looked exhausted. These investigations were round-the-clock, and though agents tried to catch naps, they were always sleep-deprived. Both she and Max had been through the drill many times.

Cal took the lead. “Thanks for coming in, Max. Whitney.” He cocked his head. “You both look rested.”

“We are.” Max said, “So give us the rundown on Jamika first. Quickly, because I realize we have to concentrate on Hines, but I’d like to know.”

“We searched his house, the diner and the warehouse, which turned out to have storage units inside. Theirs had a workshop of sorts, where they were building toys for their grandchildren.”

“Building toys and not bombs,” Whitney commented.

Max asked, “No evidence of bomb making at all?”

“Not from them. And they weren’t happy, I’ll tell you that.” Cal frowned. “I don’t blame them. The older guys were a granddad and uncles, and they gave us a tongue-lashing about religious profiling.”

“Yeah, we had some thoughts about that, too, but this couldn’t be helped.”

“So, it was Hines?” Whitney asked.

“Yes. Pretty cut-and-dried. He said he planted the bomb because he never got a promotion at Social Security. Your report contradicts that, though. He told you he didn’t want one because he took care of his wife.”

“What’s the evidence for why you think there might be a cell, Cal?” Whitney asked.

“First, he doesn’t seem the type to fly solo on something this big. But he’s either lying to us now or when you talked to him.”

Max jumped in. “He didn’t fake his answers in the interview. And I agree we have to cover every base.”

“Hell, Max, the guy seems like a sad old man.”

“Yeah, we got the same impression. So we’ll dig deeper.”

“I was hoping for that. Now, right?”

“Uh-huh. Give us a few hours.”

After Cal left, Max turned to her. “Do you think we missed something in our analysis the first time?”

“If there is a cell, we didn’t look in the right places. What tech is on this?”

“I checked on the way in. Martin.”

Whitney nodded. “Good. He’s thorough and fast.”

“He wants some guidance from us. Let’s consider the indicators we missed,” Max said. “And Hines might have a digital footprint we didn’t track.”

“On the dark net, right?”

“Yeah. Hell of a thing, that is.”

Whitney referred to the unindexed part of the Internet that was not accessible using search engines. This could be infiltrated by special software that the government owned. The reason for groups using the dark net was to avoid discovery. They were called crypto-anarchists. Her cousin Gabe had used it to track down the president’s enemies, who were out to get his sister.

They made their way to the section of threat assessment where special analysists worked on these sites. Lee Martin was sitting at his computer, his fingers flying over the keys.

He looked up when they reached his desk. “We got some new software in. Right now, I’m trying to get in the deepest levels of these dark sites. When I do, I’ll try to track Hines.”

“All right. We’ll work on the indicators some more,” Whitney told him.

“If anything stands out, let me know. Your cousin Gabe was able to find the Blue Shadow in there when we couldn’t because he had the initials.”

Back in Whitney’s office, Max pulled out her desk chair. “Sit here and put your feet up.”

“Okay. My back hurts. But only for a few minutes. We both need our computers for this.”

“I’ll get you a pillow from the lounge. A ten-minute break.”

They made small talk while he sipped coffee and she rested her back. Then Max picked up his laptop and Whitney dropped her feet to the floor, swirled toward her desk and accessed that computer.

Before he started, she caught him staring at her. “What?”

“I can’t believe we’re together like this after what I did.”

“We decided to be as normal as possible. Besides, I don’t want to dwell on that. I’ve already forgiven you.”

“You’re something else.”

She called up the shared file. “We know a lot about Hines, Max. First, he’d had a recent stressor—his wife’s death, but we might want to go further into his mental-health history. We also know his life is the Social Security office now. Research show his interests were limited. We were concerned about the Civil War reenactment stuff.” She focused on her notes. “I’ll take the mental-health and Social Security obsession. You take the Civil War reenactments, since you’re a Southern boy.”

Max left her office, and they worked alone the rest of the morning at their desks. Finally around noon, they headed back to Lee Martin with three pertinent details:

Social media and emails regarding reenactment seemed to be in some kind of code.

The mental-health records they needed to access required more warrants because he did seek help at a clinic under the name of Robert Lee. Which alone was suspicious.

One mention of Senator Alcott was found in an obscure email that no one flagged.

o0o

At a specialty-burger joint a couple of blocks away, Whitney and Max sat in a booth, waiting to order. Max observed her as she read the menu. Her face had the same glow he’d seen on other pregnant women. Her cheeks were a little puffier. Her hair a bit more luscious. These were the signs of pregnancy he’d missed. And sadly, he thought, she’d never been more beautiful to him. He longed to see her with a belly swollen with their baby, maybe a little girl, who’d look like her.

“You’re staring at me.”

“Am I?”

“What were you thinking?”

He couldn’t tell her and was glad the waiter arrived after she asked the question. They ordered jumbo cheeseburgers, a big box of French fries and milkshakes. She smiled. “You never eat like this.”

“I know. I’m splurging.”

“You seem happier today.”

He arched a sexy brow. “I got lucky this morning.”

“It’s easier than I thought, being with you,” she said honestly.

“Sexually?”

“No, I mean because of what’s between us.”

“Yeah. I’m glad we found some equilibrium. We’re still talking about innocuous things, right?”

She popped a French fry into her mouth. “Uh-huh.”

They filled in the time with news about football and Max’s dad, and her family. She was very concerned about Connor’s reticence to talk about Calla.

Max said, “Maybe he just needs time, too.”

She frowned at one point. “I have to ask you something. It isn’t exactly off the topic.”

“It’s okay. We’re going to be honest with each other.”

“Connor and I are having dinner at Nick’s tomorrow night. We’re staying overnight. I’d like you to come.”

“I’d love to. Why would you be concerned about that?”

“Isabelle’s six months pregnant with the twins.”

He took in a breath. He couldn’t help it.

She said, “I have to go. Actually, I want to go. I’ll deal with all that, but I’d rather have you with me.”

“Connor won’t say anything about your pregnancy?”

“Of course not. We’ll keep this secret until I decide. But you’re probably persona non grata with Nick and Gabe, given I was with Gabe at the beginning of the stuff that went down with Angela and I’m sure he told Nick.”

“I’m not afraid to face them. I’ll do whatever you think is best.”

They returned to the Threat Assessment Center an hour and a half after they left. When they walked in, Martin looked up. “I’ve found something in the first of the three areas. I think it might relate to one of the others.”

“Tell us.”

“There’s one reenactment group that’s sketchy. The site doesn’t have the same old content.”

“What’s different?”

“They talk about taking buildings. Mostly, reenactors’ plan for the battles.”

“Do you think this is code? That the buildings could be other official targets?”

“It could mean that. They give the coordinates of the places in Virginia. Drew got people right on this.”

“Anything else?”

“A mention of the senator.”

“Lucy Alcott?”

“Uh-huh. We’ll dig down into her while you check on the others.”

By midafternoon, Martin had found the coordinates matched four Social Security offices in Virginia. And Max and Whitney discovered that Lucy Alcott had had covert meetings with politicians in her party who wanted to privatize Social Security.

o0o

Isabelle and Macy were deep in conversation about pregnancy, so Nick and Gabe went into the kitchen, poured coffee and sat in the cozy nook.

“What’s going on that I don’t know about?” Nick asked.

“What makes you think there’s anything?”

They knew each other well, and Nick was sure something was up with his brother. He had a feeling it went pretty deep because Gabe was rarely so coy. “Because you keep looking at the door for Whitney and Max to get here.”

“Hmm. I was surprised when you told me he was coming out with her.”

“Why?”

“They split up.”

“As partners?”

A small smile from Gabe. “So to speak.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

Connor appeared in the doorway. “You two okay?”

Nick took a bead on him, then turned to Gabe. “Does he know?”

“Yes, he’s been staying with her.”

“Know what?” Connor asked.

“Jesus Christ, somebody tell me.”

Gabe said, “Don’t fly off the handle about this, Nick. But Whitney and Max weren’t just friends. They’ve been sleeping together for three years.”

“What?” Nick felt his temper rise. “He’s been screwing our cousin and he kept it from us?”

“She’s an adult, Nick.” This from Connor with the unending patience. “She didn’t have to tell you guys.”

“You knew.”

“Not at first. But there’s more.”

“Tell him, Connor,” Gabe said. “I haven’t seen her since Monday. I talked to her a couple times, but she didn’t say much. Then she stopped returning my calls. Why is Max coming?”

“Again,” Nick asked, “why wouldn’t he?”

Connor sighed. “They broke up. They had a friends-with-benefits agreement, and there wasn’t supposed to be anything romantic about their relationship, although as soon as Macy met them, she thought there was something going on. Apparently, there was. But he broke it off on New Year’s Eve.”

“The bastard.”

“Not necessarily.” This from Gabe. “He and Whitney agreed that if either of them wanted more out of a relationship, they split. Turns out Max did. He’s decided he wants a wife and family and she couldn’t or wouldn’t give it to him. That’s all I know.”

“It didn’t work out quite that way for either of them, Gabe.” Connor’s tone was ironic. “I guess love doesn’t end because you want it to.”

“You’re shitting me.” This from Gabe. “What happened?”

“Max came to his senses, as I see it. He was miserable after leaving her. He finally figured out he couldn’t live without her.”

“Oh, that’s kind of him,” Nick spat out.

“Nick, how soon you forget. You made mistakes with Isabelle. You tried to break it off when you were in love with her. Sometimes, it takes a cataclysmic event to realize what’s important to you.”

From the kitchen, they heard the front door open and close. “Hey, everybody, we’re in here.”

Connor said, “Handle yourselves, will you? She’s fragile right now, and your caveman instincts won’t help.”

“Hey, I’ve been a master at understanding her,” Gabe said. “It’s Nick you have to worry about.”

“Shut up.” Nick stood and strode to the foyer.

o0o

Whitney could tell the minute the three amigos walked into the foyer that Nick was mad, Gabe was concerned and Connor was resigned. Con would never tell them about the pregnancy, but Gabe would have told Nick about the two of them splitting the week before. God, it seemed like a lifetime ago, not seven days.

She hadn’t even realized she and Max were holding hands until his grip on her tightened. Whitney said, “Okay, Nick. I can see by your face that you know about my relationship with Max.”

“And I know what he did to you.” His gaze never leaving Max, he snapped, “Whitney, go into the great room with Macy and Isabelle. Your cousins need to talk to this one.”

“Like hell. I’m a big girl. This is my life.”

Gabe gave her a sympathetic look. He knew she’d fallen apart when Max left her. He didn’t say anything, though.

Connor tried to intervene. “Nick this isn’t…”

But Max interrupted. “It’s okay. I’d feel the same if I were them. I can face up to what I did.”

Whitney wanted to resist, but she was suddenly feeling nauseous, so she excused herself. She stepped into the family room and found Macy and Isabelle talking softly. “The guys are having a powwow. I’ve got to duck into the bathroom, but I’ll fill you in when I come back.” She gazed at Macy. “Better yet, you can tell her what you know, Mace. It’s okay.”

Inside the bathroom, she glanced at herself in the mirror. She even looked different today. Her face was ruddy and her hair fuller than usual. Her hand went to her stomach.

This kind of upset wasn’t good for the life she carried.

Face facts, girl. It’s a life you might get rid of.

The notion sent her to the toilet, where she vomited once again.

o0o

Max faced Whitney’s cousins who were lined up like members of a firing squad. He forced himself not to shrink back. But he’d confronted counterfeiters and assassins that didn’t intimidate him as much.

Nick was the first to speak. “So, you’ve been banging my cousin for three years and we don’t know about it?”

“Now wait a minute. I wasn’t banging her. We had loving, consensual sex.”

Nick snorted.

“I believe you, buddy,” Gabe told him. “But I’m more worried about how you broke her heart a week ago tonight, and now Connor says you’ve changed your mind? Gimme a break.”

“I understand your concern. I made a mistake, Gabe. A horrible mistake. She’s…forgiven me.”

“How did this go down?” Nick asked.

“It’s a long story. Can we sit?”

In the living room, Max, Connor and Gabe took chairs, but Nick leaned insolently against the wall. “Look, Nick, you have every right to be furious with me. You can even beat the crap out of me after I explain. But as I said, we were in a loving relationship and we’re best friends.”

“Until?”

This was going to be the hard part. As briefly as he could, he explained about building a future with Angie.

“Fuck it, Max, that makes this worse. Do you love the other woman?”

“No, we liked each other, wanted the same things in life.”

“It sounds more like a business agreement than a relationship.”

“Well, that’s pretty much what I realized, too. Frankly, I was lost when I left Whitney. The thought of living without her was untenable. I finally realized I couldn’t do it. I had to ask for another chance.”

“And she gave it to you?”

“In some ways.”

“What does that mean?”

Connor frowned.

Max gave him a brief nod, then said to Nick, “We’re seeing if we can have a future together.”

“Why couldn’t you?”

“There are some private issues I can’t go into. We need space. And she needs your support.”

“This sounds like crap to me.” Nick pushed off the wall and crossed to Max, towered over him. “You don’t sound like you want a commitment from her.”

“I can honestly say that I do.”

“So the reticence is on her end?”

“I—”

Connor stood and stepped forward. “Leave him alone, Nick. You don’t know the whole story, and if you did, you wouldn’t be behaving this way.”

“And you do?”

“Yes.”

Even Gabe’s jaw dropped. He thought he knew everything.

“Bullshit.”

“No it’s not. I know you love Whit as much as I do,” Connor went on, “but these two need their privacy. So back off.”

Gabe said calmly, “Do it, Nick. A stiff wind could blow her over. She needs our support.”

Nick’s shoulders sagged. Finally, he said, “Okay. I will. For now.”

The rest of them stood, and Connor and Gabe started out. “Let’s go see the girls,” Gabe said.

Nick grabbed Max’s arm. “One more thing.”

He faced her cousin. “What?”

“Just this.”

Nick raised his hand and punched Max on the jaw.

Max went down hard.

o0o

Isabelle stood as soon as Whitney entered the room. “What’s wrong, Whitney? You look sick.”

“I am sick.” Whitney sagged down into a chair. “I don’t know if the guys told you, but I get sick when I’m…overly upset about something personal. It’s only happened when someone I love gets hurt, like when Gabe got shot last summer. The counselors trace it back to the loss of my parents so early, and the fact that I was with them.” Mention of those awful hours before rescue made her head spin. “This time, my illness wasn’t because of someone’s safety.”

Somehow, she got out what her relationship with Max had been and how he ended it. Then asked for a second chance.

Isabelle frowned. “Oh, sweetie, are you giving it to him?”

“That’s up in the air.” She couldn’t discuss the pregnancy with Isabelle. For the first time, she let herself focus on the woman’s rounded belly. For a moment, she wanted to leap over to her, put her hands on her stomach and feel the twins’ movement. “For reasons I can’t go into.”

From the doorway, Nick said, “So we heard.”

The guys entered, but Max wasn’t with them. “Where’s Max?”

“In the kitchen,” Gabe said.

“Getting ice,” Connor added.

“Because I decked him.”

Max appeared in the doorway, holding ice to his cheek. “Nothing I didn’t deserve, and we cleared the air.”

Whitney bolted up when Max spoke. She could see the bruise around the ice pack. “Oh, my God.”

Nick shocked her by grasping her arms. “I love you, agra. I’m sorry if what I did upset you. I couldn’t help myself. But whatever you decide about keeping him in your life, I’ll accept.”

Perhaps because of the old nickname, she melted into him. “Big change from when I was sixteen.”

“Sixteen?” Max asked.

“A guy was giving her a hard time,” Connor explained. “Nick roughed him up. And he told Whitney he’d do it again if she kept seeing the boy.”

“What happened?”

“I was right,” Nick put in. “She decided he was a jerk. I helped the process along. Let that be a lesson to you, bud.”

Whitney went to Max and slid her arm around his waist and leaned in. He hugged her close. He lifted his chin. “I’m only going to give up if she tells me to.”

And Whitney knew the very thing that would make him go away. That she didn’t want to have this child.