Chapter Twenty-One
Cassie gripped the Smith & Wesson tightly in both hands. She ignored the sheet as it fell to her waist. Beside her, Mike aimed his Glock at the open bedroom doorway.
Footsteps thundered at the top of the stairs.
She nudged the trigger of her gun a hair, poised to fire a shot.
Two large bodies burst through the bedroom doorway. Men in business suits, both with guns, one taking the high position, the other low. Standard police tactics.
Gray and Dom.
Cassie pulled her finger from the trigger on her gun. She lunged for Mike and pushed downward on his extended arms. “Mike, no!”
“What the—?” He tossed her an angry look, then jerked his gaze back to Dom and Gray.
“Dom, no!” Gray shoved the muzzle of her partner’s gun toward the floor.
“Oh my God.” Cassie’s heart beat painfully fast inside her rib cage. Four highly trained police officers had come a microsecond from killing each other with friendly fire.
When all four guns had been lowered, Cassie yanked the sheet up to cover her nakedness and took in a very unsteady yet very grateful breath.
“Cass, you all right?” Dom’s gaze swept the room for threats, but her partner already had the beginnings of an all-too-masculine, shit-eating grin spreading across his handsome features as he realized her screaming had nothing to do with her being in mortal danger.
Nothing like getting caught in bed with a guy by your older brother and partner to embarrass the crap out of a girl. She wanted nothing more than to pull the sheet over her head and disappear into the mattress. Heat rose to her face, which must have been cherry red by now.
Embarrassed? Make that the understatement of the century.
“Sorry, partner.” Dom coughed. “We, uh…heard you scream and thought you were, uh…” He began to chuckle. “…being hurt.”
“What the hell happened to your neck?” Gray’s brows knitted, and he shot Mike a stone-cold, penetrating look sharp enough to cut through steel.
Cassie canted her head in Mike’s direction. “He didn’t do this.” Mike still sat on the bed, the sheet covering his lower body. He’d begun staring intently at her brother.
“Who did?” Gray and Dom demanded at the same time.
“It’s a long story.” She put her hand to her throat, still clutching the sheet. “I’d prefer to have clothes on when I tell you.”
Her brother ignored her, eyeing Mike with a puzzled expression. “Flannery?” Gray’s tone was incredulous.
“Yates?” Mike’s voice was equally disbelieving.
Cassie cringed. Oh, shit. They do know each other.
Now her brother was smiling, too. What was wrong with this picture? Her very protective older brother caught her in bed with a guy and actually seemed pleased. She’d been an adult for quite some time now, but this was so not like how any of her brothers would behave under these circumstances.
“Sorry, sis.” Gray smirked and holstered his gun, as did Dom. “We tried to call.” His frigging smile widened. “But with this damned electrical storm and a cell phone dead zone halfway up the New York State Thruway, our phones only kicked in as we pulled into town.”
“We did knock before busting in,” Dom said, still failing miserably at a half-assed attempt to wipe the grin off his face. “With all the screaming, I guess you guys didn’t hear us. We ended up breaking a basement window to get in. Guess you didn’t hear that, either.”
Mike sent Dom an icy look. “Guess not.” He slipped out of bed, grabbed his jeans, and disappeared into the bathroom, slamming the door behind him.
A few seconds later, he came out and met Gray halfway across the room and shook hands. Vigorously, Cassie noted with fascination. Growing up, she’d been forced to deal with more than her share of older-brother censure where her sexual partners were concerned. Most of her teenage boyfriends had cowered beneath Gray’s stare and never bothered to call again. No one was ever good enough for her, Gray had said. Mike not only wasn’t cowering, but took getting caught in bed buck naked with her as if it was simply another day on the job.
Watching her brother greet Mike with nothing less than hearty and cheerful approval was both flabbergasting and annoying.
“Good to see you.” Gray clapped Mike on the shoulder.
“You, too.” Mike’s smile was wary but seemed genuine. “Been a long time.”
To Cassie, Gray added, “Mike and I went through the academy together.”
Ahhhh. It hit her then that Mike had to be the cop Gray once told her had gotten badly hurt on the job. It fit with what Mike said two nights ago about the deadly domestic call he’d responded to when he got hit in the head.
Cassie forced a tight smile. Completely naked as she was under the sheet, she could only watch the men in her life while they did that male bonding thing. She was so not included that it made her want to stick out her tongue like a little girl.
“I wondered where you’d gone when you left the department.” Gray nodded at Dom, then winked at Cassie. “Since my baby sister’s forgotten her manners, allow me to introduce her partner, Dom Carew.”
“Good to meet you.” Dom strode forward, extending his hand.
Cassie frowned. Great. More male bonding.
“Heard someone was checking up on my lovely partner.” Dom raised an eyebrow suggestively, making Cassie want to take a swipe at him. “Guess you know by now she really is a cop.”
“Yeah. I know.” Mike didn’t look at her, but she caught the tightening of his jaw.
“You’re a legend in the South Bronx,” Dom went on, reminding Cassie that Sue had once told her Mike had a box full of commendations in the basement of the police station. “Guys in the department still talk about you and your exploits.”
Mike grunted, clearly not thrilled at being reminded of the job he’d left behind, particularly the deadly domestic Cassie now understood had changed his life. “Thanks,” he answered politely and grabbed his shirt from the floor to pull it over his head. He winced when the hem snagged the bandage on his chest.
“Looks like both of you ran into some trouble.” Gray tipped his head to Mike’s bandage. “Either of you planning on filling us in?”
“Long story,” Mike answered in a bitter tone before yanking his shirt down the rest of the way. “I’ll make coffee.”
Gray and Dom exchanged inquiring looks but said nothing.
Cassie coughed, partly because her throat felt raw and partly to get the men’s attention. “Guys? Do you think I could have a little privacy here?”
Three faces turned her way. Dom and Gray still smiled like little boys who’d met a superhero. Mike’s expression, however, remained dark and hooded, echoing the undercurrents she’d sensed while they were making love.
“Sure thing, partner.” Dom grabbed Gray by the arm and pulled him out the bedroom door.
“Hey, sis,” Gray shot over his shoulder, “thought you’d sworn never to date another cop for as long as you lived.”
Cassie hurled a pillow at her brother. “Beat it.” The knowing grin on Gray’s face made her want to smack him. Hard. That was until she caught Mike’s pissed-off expression. Crap. She could only imagine he was recalling their second meeting, the one where she’d first seen him in a police uniform and then showed her disappointment with stinging clarity.
Great. Gray had inadvertently handed Mike one more reason to think she’d used him.
Mike stooped to grab his boots and socks and shove his gun back into his ankle holster. He followed Gray and Dom through the door, turning at the last second to pin her with that dark blue gaze of his she’d come to love. This time, his eyes were cloudy, censuring. She was sure he was about to say something, but he pivoted and headed down the stairs.
Alone in Mike’s bedroom, she listened to the men talking downstairs. Mike was still here, but after the look he’d just given her, she felt his absence as surely as if he were a thousand miles away.
She’d begun to think his staying with her throughout the night, holding her while she cried, then making love to her with an intensity that even now made her insides quiver, meant he realized there was something in their relationship worth saving. Or so she’d thought. From the expression in his eyes moments ago, it was clear it had been nothing more than her imagination.
Resting her head in her hands, she acknowledged that what had transpired between them had been their final good-bye.
Twenty minutes later, and with a heavy heart, she was showered and dressed in khaki linen slacks, a yellow tank top, and a lavender silk scarf tied around her neck to conceal her bruises. The heavenly smell of coffee drifted to her as she padded down the stairs.
The three men had their heads together over their steaming mugs. Not only were Gray and Mike renewing their friendship, but Mike and Dom were hitting it off as well. Jeez. The Three Musketeers. And they made quite the imposing picture. Gray and Dom had taken off their suit jackets and rolled their shirtsleeves to their elbows. Between the three of them, there was enough rippling muscle in the room to fill a men’s workout magazine.
As Mike handed her a cup of coffee, their fingers grazed, and she felt his touch clear to her toes. For a millisecond, they locked gazes, but Cassie couldn’t get a read on him except that he was hurting as much as she was.
“Sorry about Raven.” Gray’s eyes shone with sympathy. “While you were in the shower, Mike filled us in on everything that happened last night, including that kid, Leo.”
At the mention of Leo’s name, the coffee in her stomach turned bitter. “I’ll never forgive myself for what happened to him.”
Without intending to, she glanced at Mike. Their eyes met over her coffee cup, but his were distant and cold.
“Don’t beat yourself into the ground over this,” Dom said. “No matter what you think, it’s not your fault.” Her partner’s eyes lowered to her neck, which, she’d noted in the bathroom mirror, was now a lovely shade of purple, along with part of her lower jaw. “We’ve got Mike to thank for showing up in time. If he hadn’t, I’d be looking for a new partner.”
“Amen to that.” Gray cast Mike a grateful look.
“Grab a seat,” Dom said to her. “We’ve got a lot to bring you up to speed on.”
Cassie and Dom took up one sofa, with Gray and Mike on the other, facing them.
Dom set his mug on the table. “Part of the reason you couldn’t reach us last night was we were busy with a homicide. Manici’s dead.” Cassie had been about to take another sip of her coffee but froze with the cup midway to her mouth. “Bullet to the back of the head.”
Gray nodded. “That was our reaction, too, when we got the news. We arranged with Mike to compare the ballistics of the bullet the coroner dug out of Manici with Ahmed Methopolis’ gun. One of Mike’s men found the gun hidden in Methopolis’ rental car.”
“You think Methopolis shot Manici?” Cassie stood to pace in front of the fireplace. “That makes no sense at all. If Manici’s dead, then Methopolis wouldn’t get paid for the hit on me. Unless…” Gut instinct had never stopped nagging at her that Manici wasn’t sophisticated enough to hire a hit man to take her out. “…Manici wasn’t the one who hired him. But if Manici didn’t take out the contract, then who did?”
“Good question.” Dom nodded. “We never understood why Manici would risk putting a hit on a cop when the recordings you made would still be admissible even if you were dead. Hell, those tapes were good enough to fry his ass in any courtroom in the country without a single word of testimony. Any half-assed defense attorney would have convinced Manici to plead to lesser charges.”
As Cassie paced, she noted Mike watching her, rolling his coffee cup back and forth between his palms. With Methopolis’ attempt on her life, there was clear jurisdiction for a capital crime in Hopewell Springs, but he seemed content to remain courteously silent, allowing Gray and Dom to fill in the missing pieces of the case.
“So whoever financed the hit is still out there.” She was stating the obvious, but it had to be said.
“There’s more,” Gray added. “Turns out the reason Manici had his little side business blackmailing La Femme’s rich patrons with those videotapes was that he wasn’t making as much money off the place as we figured. The reason for that—he’s not the real owner.”
Cassie nearly dropped her mug. “Then who is?”
“We don’t know.” Frustration was obvious as Dom repositioned himself on the sofa. “By subpoenaing Manici’s bank records in Manhattan, we found out he was getting paid directly from an account in the Caymans, but the Cayman banking officials refuse to give us anything on the account holder. We have no international treaties with the Cayman government, so that’s a dead end.”
“Unless,” Mike finally entered the conversation and looked straight at her, “you can remember whatever it is you said, did, or saw while undercover at La Femme that’s so incredibly damaging someone else wants you dead. Someone you hadn’t considered before.”
A morbid silence descended on the room, interrupted only by the occasional sputtering of the coffeemaker.
“There’s nothing.” Cassie shook her head. “I’ve wracked my brain for weeks now, and I can’t come up with anything. It was a standard undercover, and it went like clockwork. Even the final takedown went smoothly. No one died, no one got hurt, and we got all the evidence we could ever ask for.”
The shrill sound of a cell phone made all four of them reach for their phones. Looked like the cell towers were back up.
Mike stood to tug his phone from the holder on his belt and pressed it to his ear. “Flannery.” He set his mug on the table and took a few steps toward the front door. A broad smile brightened his features. “Thanks for calling.” As he snapped the phone back onto his belt, he looked at her across the table, sporting a perfect white smile that made his face so handsome Cassie’s heart skipped a beat. “Leo’s going to pull through.”
She uttered a small cry of relief. “Thank God.” She met Mike’s gaze across the room. “After what the doctor said, it’s a miracle.”
“That it is.” He nodded and cleared his throat. To Dom and Gray, he said, “I need to get to the station and coordinate things.”
He shook hands again with her brother and partner when they stood. “Stay as long as you need to, but stop by the station before you head out and I’ll get you copies of all the reports from last night.” Mike headed to the front door and opened it.
“Will do, Mike,” Gray said as he stood. “It’ll be good to catch up.”
Dom also stood, chiming in, “Later, Mike.”
Cassie had been watching the exchange and couldn’t take it anymore. The thought of Mike handing her off to her brother and partner so easily, let alone leaving without addressing anything that had just happened in his bed, was unbearable.
“Mike, wait.” Cassie put her mug on the table and met him at the open doorway. As she walked by them, Dom and Gray exchanged curious glances but politely edged away from the door to give her privacy.
She laid her hand on Mike’s arm, stopping him. The tension beneath her fingers was palpable. Her throat closed and not because of her injury. She couldn’t think what to say.
He stared out at the street, then faced her and slowly shook his head. “Nothing’s changed,” he said in a low voice meant only for her to hear. His face was tight, and tiny lines appeared at the corners of his mouth. “I can’t do it.” Then he was gone.
Just when she thought it wasn’t possible, her heart broke all over again. She watched him go, fighting the urge to run after him. But it was over, and she had to get past it. If she didn’t, she could never get through the next five minutes, let alone the next day or week, month or year.
With long, purposeful strides, Mike quickly covered the distance to the police cruiser and climbed in. The engine turned over, followed by the sound of gravel spitting from beneath the tires as he gunned the car down the street.
Cassie wrapped her arms around her belly. Her insides clenched and her lips trembled as she fought back a sob. She shut her eyes and sucked in quick, shallow breaths, willing the tears not to come. If they did, she feared they would never stop.
Mike was gone.
It’s really over.
She stood there a moment longer, staring at the road. Empty. Like her heart. Inside the house was her brother, who loved her, and a partner who cared deeply about her. Yet she’d never felt so alone. Finally, she clenched her fists and took a deep breath.
Cassie went back into the house and shut the door. The clicking of the lock seemed to echo in the hallway, a tribute to the finality of things.
Get a grip, Cass.
The last thing she wanted was to lose it in front of Gray and Dom. Focus. Like it or not, there were other pressing matters to be dealt with. Like figuring out who was really trying to kill her.
She turned to find Gray eyeing her with concern. “Everything good?” He walked toward her while Dom topped off their coffee.
Cassie debated lying, but opted against it. Of all people in the world besides Mike, Gray and Dom were probably the two she was closest with. “Honestly, no.” She fell onto the nearest sofa and let her head sink back into the soft cushion.
Gray sat beside her and put his arm around her shoulders. “I’m no shrink, and neither is lug head here.” He nodded to the other sofa where Dom had settled and sat watching her with an equally concerned look. “But even we can sense the tension between you and Mike.”
She let out a sarcastic laugh. “There was a time you’d kill any guy you caught in bed with your sister. Well, you’ll be happy to hear he’s never going to talk to me again.”
“Why would that make me happy?” Gray pulled away enough to look down at her. “You told me you were sick of dating cops, so I backed off. But if I could pick any guy for you—cop or otherwise—Mike Flannery would be at the top of the list. He’s aces. Solid guy, solid cop.”
“It doesn’t matter. It’s over.” If it weren’t for the numbness sinking in, she would have laughed at the ridiculousness of the situation. After all this time, she’d fallen in love with a man her brother and partner heartily approved of—and been rejected.
“Over?” There was no mistaking the confusion in Gray’s tone. “When we busted in on you guys, it sure as hell didn’t look like it was over. Men may not be sappy like women, but I can tell when another guy’s got it bad, and from the look on Mike’s face when he left, he’s got it bad for my baby sister.”
“Amen, brother.” Dom leaned on his forearms and nodded.
“No, I mean it’s over, as in absolutely no going back.” Cassie shook her head. “When I told him I was an undercover cop, you should have seen the look on his face. It was—horrible. When I told him I loved him, he accused me of lying and said it was over.”
Dom balled his hands. “Then what the fuck was he doing in bed with you?” His voice rose. “Partner, if that sonofabitch used you, I’ll—”
“Ah, shit.” Gray stiffened as if he’d been shot.
“What?” Dom asked.
Gray blew out a loud breath. “Mike and I lost touch after graduating from the academy and getting assigned to different precincts on opposite sides of town. Like Dom said, his accomplishments became legendary. They still use his tactics to train recruits at the academy.” Her brother frowned. “But about six years ago, Mike was hurt bad, then quit the NYPD and disappeared. Rumor had it he took a job as a cop somewhere else. Until today I never knew where.” He faced Cassie, and she worried at his serious look. “But I do know why he left. Why he really left.”
“Mike told me about getting hurt on a domestic call and that two people died that day.” Cassie frowned. “He still blames himself for what happened, but I don’t understand what that has to do with me.”
Gray shook his head. “It has nothing to do with you. It’s what happened before the domestic that has relevance. That same morning, Mike got called into the captain’s office. IA was waiting for him. Turned out another shift supervisor made a bullshit allegation that Mike was on the take. Cass…” Gray put his hand on her arm. “An IA cop worked Mike undercover for six months. It was a female detective, and she used every dirty trick in the book to pin charges on him. She used him good, went above and beyond the call of duty and slept with him. That bitch was so hot to nail a highly decorated cop, and Mike’s got more medals than any cop I know.”
“Oh, no.” She clasped Gray’s hand, unable to believe this was happening. “He thinks I did the same thing to him. I lied about who I was, slept with him, then told him I loved him.”
As wonderful as their recentl love-making had been, she’d sensed anguish radiating from Mike. Now she understood why. He’d been in pain—and not just from the wound on his chest. He thought she was lying to him and using him the same way the IA cop had done. He had no way of knowing her love for him was as real as it could possibly get. But love wasn’t something you could force on another person. They had to want it.
“It’s not your fault.” Dom sat next to her on the sofa. “You did what you had to do. You’re a good cop. The best undercover I’ve ever worked with. If instinct told you to keep your identity a secret until last night, then I’m sure there was a reason.”
“Yeah, there’s a reason.” She looked from her partner to her brother. “I don’t want to be a cop anymore.”
“What?” The shock on Gray’s face couldn’t have been plainer.
“You heard me,” she said with conviction. “I’m done. As soon as this case is over, I’m packing in my gun and trading it for a spatula. I had hoped to settle here, but now…”
She wanted to laugh at the blank expression on Dom’s handsome face. He looked as if he’d lost his best friend. She grabbed his gorilla-sized hand and squeezed it. “Don’t worry, partner. I’m sure one of those belching, farting guys you mentioned would be more than happy to team up with you.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of.” The disappointment in his tone was endearing and made Cassie smile through her misery.
She turned to Gray who stared at her, his lips pursed. “You sure about this, sis?”
Cassie nodded. “I’ve never been more certain of anything in my life.”
“What will you do?” her brother asked. “Where will you go?”
“I want to keep cooking, but I have no idea where. Anywhere but here.”
Gray smiled, but Cassie could see it was forced to make her feel better. “Mike’s an idiot if he lets you walk away.”
“Want me to knock some sense into him?” Dom pounded his fist into his other hand. “Legend or not, I’ll beat the shit out of him if you want me to. Any guy who makes my partner cry is an asshole.”
Cassie laughed as she leaned over to hug Dom around his broad shoulders. But inside she really did want to cry.
“I have to forget him.”
Or die trying.