Chapter Nineteen
Royce had barely made it back to his building and sat down at his desk in the Walker office when Blake sauntered in, his long hair damp and slicked back, his stubble dark and unattended.
“Nice shave,” Royce commented.
“I showered. I changed. I’m staying here today. This is as good as it gets.” He sat down at one of the four steel desks in the office, directly across from Royce, leaned back in his chair, and kicked his boots up on the top.
“Morning, angels,” Luke said, shoving through the door, his short hair neatly groomed, his face clean shaven.
Blake glanced over his shoulder at him. “Oh, yes. Morning, angel. Kiss, kiss, and cheery sunshine happiness to you.” He grumbled something under his breath and then said, “I just heard from my ATF contact.”
“And?” Royce and Luke asked at the same time, as Luke sat down on the edge of Blake’s desk.
“You know from last night that the package had an amateur grade explosive device,” Blake said. “The interesting part though, is that it had a timer. It’s possible that it went off at the incorrect hour with a malfunction. But,” he sat up, “think about this. A package that went off in the middle of the night when everyone was asleep. A snake that wasn’t poisonous. And this bomb wasn’t directed at Lauren.”
“Two days before she starts jury selection,” Royce commented.
“Right,” Luke said. “She hasn’t scared off yet, so the pressure increases.”
“This doesn’t mean she’s not in danger,” Blake said. “This could be some sadistic bastard who wants to torment her before he kills her.”
Royce shot him a glowering look. “Thanks for the ice water in the face.”
“Anytime bro,” Blake said.
“Could be a sick obsession with her,” Luke said. “This guy”
“Or woman,” Royce inserted. “It could be a woman.”
“Either way,” Luke said, going back to his prior thought. “He filmed her. He followed her. He watched her.”
Royce pushed to his feet and walked to the glass door of the small office, the only window to the street, staring out at the people passing by without seeing them. The clear way this person was stalking Lauren was eating him alive. “And we have nothing but a long list of suspects,” Royce murmured, half to himself, before turning. “We need an end game, damn it. We need it now.”
“We know he, or she, is after Lauren,” Blake said. “Make her bait. Set her up in the open in a way that doesn’t seem planned and bring him to her.”
“Oh, what the fuck, Blake?” Royce said, stepping towards him, anger curling inside him ready to explode.
Blake jumped to his feet and met Royce toe-to-toe. “End this, Royce. End it before this SOB ends it for her and us.”
Luke stepped between them, hands on both of their chest. “Enough. This does us no good.”
“Damn it, Blake,” Royce said, ignoring Luke. “This isn’t the woman you love or you wouldn’t say shit like that.”
”No,” Blake hissed as if burned. “The woman I loved is dead. I don’t want Lauren to join her.”
Royce felt the slap of those words, the instant deflation of his temper. He scrubbed his face and turned back to the glass door, pressing his hands to the surface, feeling more helpless than he’d felt in his entire FBI career.
“Let’s just eliminate suspects,” Luke suggested. “Sheridan’s brother is in Germany. He’s not our guy unless he contracted a professional.”
“Which means he could still be our guy,” Blake said, the chair creaking with his weight. “The one who can call off a contract to kill Lauren, if one exists. Anyone could have contracted a professional. That means the list is too damn long to do this. We aren’t going to get answers quick enough. Gamble on the trial. It’s about this week, about what is current and what is now.”
“Sheridan’s execution” Luke started.
“Has been minutes from happening several times before now,” Blake argued, “and nothing happened. This is about this trial.”
“He’s right,” Royce said, turning around, his gaze touching Blake’s. “You’re right. It’s about the trial. Everything else is a diversion.”
“The trial could be the diversion,” Luke countered. “I don’t think being short sighted is the answer here.”
“Who has the most to lose or gain from this trial or the diversion it might cause?” Blake asked. “The top three names that come to your mind, Royce.”
“The brother,” Royce said. “He hates her. If I had to gamble, I’d put his name in all three spots.”
“I put a man on him after you visited him,” Luke said. ”We have nothing to say he’s the one. Nothing.”
“It’s him,” Royce said. “And he knows he’s being watched. You can count on it.” He glanced at Luke. “Did we get his military record?”
“I’ve tried,” he said. “It’s being guarded tightly which tells me he’s a very bad dude, or he’s so damn good that he’s involved with some deep government shit.”
“Or both,” Royce said.
Luke’s cell phone rang and he answered it, then snapped it shut. “Lauren’s building is being evacuated. People are pouring out of it.”
“Lauren?”
“The crush of people is too intense,” Luke said. “Our guys are working with the building security and the police to locate her.”
Royce was pushing open the glass door before Luke ever finished the sentence, not about to risk New York traffic delays to get to Lauren. He dialed her phone, cursing himself for trusting someone else to protect her.
“I’m coming with you,” Blake said following on his heels. “If it’s a bomb again, I want to be there.”
Royce cursed and shoved his phone back to his belt. “Her phone went straight to voice mail.” He cut to the left and down the subway stairs.
“We have three men there,” Blake told him, keeping pace. “She’s okay.”
“I should never have left her with someone else,” he said, piling into the crush of people inside a car.
The next six minutes in the tunnel were hell for Royce. The car stopped and he burst out of the door and jumped the exit gates, Blake by his side. It was a block to the building and the instant Royce brought the fire trucks and police cars into view, he cursed and picked up speed, heading for the yellow tape and the gaggle of officials.
“I’m going in in case she’s still up there,” Royce shouted, his gut telling him she was in there, that she needed him.
“I’ll deal with the Robocops,” Blake called, “and I’ll call you if I find her down here.”
Royce targeted an entry point without officials and ducked the tape, wondering where the hell his other three men were. Someone shouted at him, but he didn’t stop. He climbed the stairs to the building, burst through the glass doors, and instantly spotted Kyle.
Kyle, who knew how to work his connections, headed towards him immediately. “It was a bomb threat,” he said. “A special team is already working the building.”
“Where is she?”
“Daniel got positive confirmation from a cop that she was outside but when he got to the place he was told he could find her, she wasn’t there. He can’t find anyone who even saw her. Daniel and Rick are searching the crowd. I was about to hit the stairs to go up to look for her. The elevators are shut down.”
Royce started to walk backwards, towards the stairwell. “Call Blake. He’s outside. Tell him what’s going on.” He turned and started running, yanking open the heavy steel door and charging upward. Every step was torture, another obstacle to getting to Lauren.
Ten floors later, he pulled the Glock from his ankle holster and eased the door open. Nothing. No one in sight and there was complete silence. His cell phone vibrated and he looked at the caller ID and answered. “Tell me you found her, Blake.”
“No, get in and get her out. This guy has proven he knows explosive devices. Don’t fuck around, Royce.”
Royce hung up and shouted, “Lauren!” To hell with caution. Blake was right. If there really was a bomb, time was everything. He was halfway to her office when he paused, hearing a muffled pounding noise.
“Lauren!”
More pounding. He ran towards the noise, and then, thank God, he was at the bathroom door and heard the sweet sound of her voice. “Royce! I’m in here! Help. Please, help me.”
“I’m here, baby. I’m here.”
“Oh God, thank you. The door is stuck and my phone won’t work and”
“But you’re okay?” he asked, his gaze catching on the wooden doorstop jammed in the door.
“Yes. Yes. Now that you’re here.”
He yanked out the wedge and tossed it, pulling open the door. Lauren fell into his arms and clung to him as if he was her lifeline. Wrapping his arms around her, he hugged her, saying a silent thank you and kissing her. “Let’s get out of here.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her with him, his gun still at his side.
“What’s happening?” she asked from behind him. “What’s going on?”
“Bomb threat,” he said, pulling open the door again and inspecting the path before pushing her in ahead of him. “In other words, run, don’t walk down.” He followed her, ready for a strike from behind.
***
Luke was standing inside the yellow line, talking to an official when he saw Julie shoving through the crowd, desperately trying to get to him. “Luke! Luke!”
“I’ll be back,” he said to the cop, heading to the tape to meet her, the pale pink of her fall jacket flaring behind her.
“Tell me she’s okay,” she pleaded, grabbing his arm. The touch sent that familiar punch to his gut that he’d always felt when she touched him, magnified by about ten because he knew Lauren was all she had, because he knew how scared she was.
“Royce went in after her,” he said. “She’ll be okay.”
“Oh, God. So she really is still inside? They said there might be a bomb. Please tell me she isn’t in there with a bomb.”
“They just located it on the roof,” he said. “A team’s already tearing it down.”
“But it’s still live and she’s still in there?” Her hand tightened on his arm. “Please tell me they already disarmed it.”
“She’ll be fine,” he said, praying that was true, on edge himself about Royce getting the hell out himself. “He’ll get her out, if she’s even in there. If you want to help, search the crowd.”
“I have,” she said, swiping at a long lock of blond hair covering her face, her hand shaking. “I tried. I’ve looked. No one has seen her.” She inhaled and let it out. “I don’t... I can’t lose her.”
The vulnerability in her gave him another kick to the gut. He knew better than anyone, besides maybe Lauren, that Julie hid everything behind sex, sin, and a façade of cool, all of which were gone now.
“Hey,” he said, bending under the tape to stand closer to her. “You won’t.” He reached up and slid the wayward hair in her eyes behind her ear. “You won’t lose her.”
They stared at each other, the past between them, the passion, the connection, and yes, even the bad goodbye, sizzling into awareness.
Her perfect pink lips parted, then, “Luke, I... we...”
A loud commotion erupted and they both turned to the building to find Royce and Lauren running towards them. Julie took a step towards the tape, but then stopped and blinked up at Luke. Then, to his surprise, she pushed to her toes, and pressed her lips to his. “Thank you,” she whispered and then ducked under the tape to run towards Lauren.
Luke watched her embrace Lauren, savoring her taste on his lips, her scent on his skin while he did. And he knew right then that the wall he’d just seen come down had to fall again, and this time for good... and for him.
***
Hours later, when the bomb was disabled and she’d answered a million and one questions from law enforcement, Lauren walked into Royce’s apartment, exhausted as the rush of adrenaline slid away. Royce tossed his keys on a small table by the door and Lauren kicked off her heels, heading for the couch where she collapsed, thankful that her offices were closed the next day. Thankful that the trial would finally be ramping up for jury selection soon, and she could get this behind her.
Royce shoved the coffee table away and went down on his knees in front of her. “We have to talk, Lauren.”
“Not the talk thing again,” she said, sitting up to rest her hands on his chest. “It’s never good and I can’t deal with any more bad right now.”
“Plead the case.”
“What?” she asked, trying to scoot away from him. “No. You said you supported what I do and why I do it.” She tried to scoot away from him.
He closed his hands on her hips and held her. “I do, but there is a time when everyone in law enforcement makes a decision, for the safety of everyone involved. This is one of those times.”
“This is going to go public,” she said. “Too many people know what is going on after today. That means the public will know a plea is caving to intimidation. What message does that send about our system? And it invites copycats. I’ll be a target and make other people targets.”
“You already are a target and other people are targets as well. Plea, Lauren. Put her away for life and make the concessions to do it. Then let’s go away for a vacation. Rome, England, anywhere you want to go, and let Luke and Blake catch this guy.”
“I can’t believe you’re asking me to do this. I thought”
He kissed her, his fingers resting on her cheek. “I love you, Lauren. I’m just trying to protect you and everyone around you.”
She softened instantly at the sincerity, the torment, in his voice and pressed her lips to his. “I love you, too.”
He pulled back to search her face. “Then do this for me. I support you, baby. I believe in what you do, I do. But this is about safety.”
“What if it isn’t even about this case? We have clippings from other cases and the links to Sheridan.”
“Then it’s not this case and we’ve ruled it out. We have nothing at this point but a gamble, but we have to take it, Lauren.”
“I need to think, Royce. I need to”
He kissed her. “Think. That’s better than ‘no’.” He slid his fingers under her hair to her neck. “Tell me you love me again.”
She softened, smiled. “I love you.”
He covered her mouth with his, as if he was trying to absorb the words, as if he cherished them. Lauren relaxed into the kiss, lost in him, letting herself forget everything but him undressing her, touching her, kissing her. When she finally straddled him, when he was buried deep inside her, and their eyes connected, she realized that her big, grizzly alpha had a soft side he saved just for her. And somehow, for just this little bleep of time, it made everything okay, and no man had ever done that for her before now, before Royce.
***
The next morning, Lauren woke in Royce’s arms, to her cell phone ringing on the bedside table. He grabbed it and handed it to her.
She frowned at Caller ID. “It’s the DA. This can’t be good.” She answered, to hear her boss, Milton Waters demand, “Where are you? I’m at your apartment and you aren’t here.”
“You're at my... why?”
“I received a delivery for you this morning,” he said. “Where are you?”
Royce rolled out of bed when she gave him the address. “Any clue what’s going on?”
She headed to the closet. “He’s going to tell me to plea.”
“Did he say that?”
She yanked a pink t-shirt from a hanger in his closet, that was beginning to feel like hers, clinging to that little piece of goodness in the midst of a whole lot of hell.
By the time Lauren had dressed in jeans and pulled on boots, Royce was leading Milton to his living room. The District Attorney, forty-something, good looking, and dressed in his standard black suit and red tie, was crackling with anger. “I’m having the trial date postponed a week. Plead the case.”
She crossed her arms in front of her. “Milton…”
“The Mayor wants the case done. I want this case done. I only let you ride this out because the victim’s family took it to the news.”
“Not because the woman murdered her husband,” Lauren said. “Of course not.”
“The public, and the jury, will be sympathetic to her,” he said. “They won’t be when we get a building full of people killed and I did nothing to stop it.”
Lauren took that like a punch in the gut. “If we plead it out now, you’ll look weak and we’ll invite other attacks. You’ll risk your office falling apart, and on an election year to boot.”
He considered her a long moment. “You tell the opposing council to give us something to work with, a piece of this puzzle that justifies the deal we swore wasn’t happening. Then you plead the damn thing and do it by Monday.” He headed for the door and stopped and turned. “And I’m going to let the media know that there is new evidence, and plead talks are in the works. So you damn sure better come up with a good follow up story to justify this. I’m in this because of you.”
Lauren stood there, staring after him, unmoving even when the door slammed shut. Royce pulled her into his arms. “Baby”
She pushed away from him. “No. Don’t. You want this too. Everyone wants this. I don’t know why I fight like this. I don’t know why I think that what is right matters when no one else does. I need to go call Mark.”
He looked like he might argue, but then nodded, stepping back. “Just remember his reasons aren’t mine.”
She scraped her teeth over her lip, chest tight. “I know. I do. I don’t mean to lash out at you. I’m just upset and confused and I just don’t know what I’m doing anymore. But I know I can’t keep this up. I can’t leave Julie in a hotel. I can’t put other people at risk. It just feels like this was all for nothing.”
“I’m here when you need me.”
Her lashes lowered and lifted. “I know and it matters.” She headed to the kitchen, taking her phone and some paperwork with her, before sitting down at the table.
A few minutes later, she was deep in conversation with Mark. “I’ll get you what you need,” he said, pausing a moment. “Look. I’m happy to get my deal, but let’s put that aside. You’ll never get to fight for what you believe in in the public sector. Lindsey and I have been talking about you. We want you to come work for us. Or go out on your own, Lauren, or with Julie. Just get the hell out from under that asshole Milton.”
She sank back into the chair. “Until this week, I think I would have said ‘no.’ I would have thought I was caving to the pressure and giving up on my beliefs.”
“Is that a ‘yes’?”
“It’s an ‘I’ll think about it.’ Seriously. I’ll think about it seriously.”
“I’ll take that,” he said. “Are you going to the annual Children’s Charity event at the museum? Lindsey and I will be there and we can talk.”
Oh, God. Julie coordinated the event every year and not without pain, and this time, while stuck in a hotel. “Yes. Probably.” If she could go without putting everyone at risk.
“Great. I’ll look for you. And how about I get you this plea information today, and we just get it behind us?”
“Email it,” she said. “And yes. Now that I’ve decided to do this, let’s be done with it.” She ended the call and noted the missed call from her father.
Lauren sighed and called him back, listening to half an hour of him telling her all the reasons she should quit her job. He almost talked her into keeping her job, when he said, “You can be my legal counsel for the Presidential campaign.”
“I’m sure Brad and Roger have that handled,” she said.
“We need you too, Lauren,” he said. “Running for the nomination is going to be a family affair. We might as well stand united.”
She could almost hear her stepmother in his words. “I support you, Father, but in the background.”
When they finally hung up, she sat there, staring into space, replaying the conversation, and telling herself not to let it impact her decision.
“You okay?”
Her gaze went to the doorway, to where Royce sauntered towards her, too graceful for such a large man, his long hair loose around his shoulders.
She pushed to her feet and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Mark wants to hire me and my father wants me to quit my job and join his campaign. Oh, and Julie has a huge charity event at the museum Saturday night that I am now afraid to go to for fear I will turn it into ‘Nightmare in the Museum.’”
“Let’s see how the next few days go, and decide about the event. As for the jobs,” his strong arm circled her waist, “what do you want?”
She didn’t know anymore. “You,” she said. “I want you to help me forget all of this.”
He scooped her up and headed for the bedroom, where she planned to stay as long as she could possibly keep him there.