Chapter 19

“You look nice,” Cameron said, cocking her head and looking at him sideways.

They’d spent an incredible weekend together. Cameron had shown him her favorite parts of Boston—the best antiquing, her favorite cafés, and the nicest walking paths. Now it was Monday morning, and they both had to get to work. But first he needed to admire her.

So Val returned the favor, eyeing her up and down. The only thing she was wearing was pricey lingerie, and she looked a damned sight better than nice in it.

He cleared his throat. “Just nice?”

“Handsome,” she amended.

He raised an eyebrow.

“Hot?”

“Worth it to hear that word come out of your mouth,” he said with satisfaction, crossing the room in two long strides. He took the time to kiss her thoroughly, and by the time he was through, she had a satisfied look on her face. He’d put that look there. “Will I see you for dinner tonight?”

“Yes,” she said. “Late.”

“All right. I’ll make a reservation at a great Italian place I know—Garibaldi’s. You been there?”

She smiled up at him and blinked her eyes. “It’s one of my favorite restaurants.”

“Got that one right.”

“You sure did,” she said, pulling his head down and kissing him again. “Can we talk later to get things sorted, or do you want to do it now?”

“Later. I gotta dash.”

“Sounds fine,” she responded, extricating herself and starting to put on her clothes. “I actually have to get home to change right now because I have a ten A.M. meeting with a client.”

He ran a hand through his still-damp hair. “Sorry for dragging you back here last night.”

She shook her head. “Don’t be. I’m glad you did. I got to see your place.”

He snorted and grabbed a tie. “What there is of it.”

“Like you said, this isn’t your real home. Star Harbor is. It only makes sense that you wouldn’t put the same care into this place that you do into your boat.”

“Yeah,” he said, slowly tying his tie. “You’re right. I could spend hours—days, even—working on my boat.”

“I’d like to try working on it.” He stopped moving. “What?” she said, buttoning her shirt. “It’s wood … like lots of my antique furniture. It might be fun to … Why are you staring at me like that? Val? Okay, okay, I get it. I won’t touch your baby.”

“No,” he said, his voice rough. “You can touch her anytime.” His woman wanted to work on his boat. He tried to wrap his head around that.

Pleasure suffused her beautiful face. “Do you really mean it?”

“Absolutely. I never joke about my boat.” And I’d never joke about you.

She kissed him on the cheek. “Wonderful. Maybe next weekend. If our schedules jibe, that is.”

“We’ll figure out that stuff tonight,” he said, finishing up with his tie.

“Yes. Oh, and I wanted to let you know, I’m having coffee with Junior this afternoon.”

“Okay.”

“Just—okay?”

He took her face in his hands. “Yeah. I trust you.”

“You didn’t seem to before.”

“Oh, I trusted you before. I just didn’t trust him.” And I didn’t trust myself.

“Junior’s harmless. Anyway, you don’t even know him.”

“I know enough.” Like the issue that Junior’s family was bad news. Like the concern that even though he didn’t want her involved, he still battled with himself every time she brought up the Kirklands. He must have been glowering, because her disapproving look spoke volumes. He got himself in check and kissed her one last time before heading to his office.

On Monday mornings his team had a mandatory meeting to determine the week’s game plan, and he didn’t want to be late.

As usual, he was the first one into the conference room, but it wasn’t long before Colin, Ellen, and Thalia arrived. After everyone updated the team on the status of their active cases, Colin turned to the good stuff.

“Where are we on the drug case?”

Val spoke up. “We had the Attorney General’s office subpoena Kirkland’s phone and travel records. The FBI is helping us get through the files, and they plan to report any unusual activity to us. We also got a wiretap for Kirkland’s phone and have real-time monitoring of his calls, in addition to a pen register, which should log all incoming and outgoing calls.”

“We’re also still monitoring our suspect on the ground,” Thalia said. “So far, nothing suspicious has turned up. We have an auxiliary team, including members of both the Boston PD and the Star Harbor Sheriff’s Department. At this point, simply due to the amount of groundwork, and the heightened sensitivity involved, it’s been a challenge.”

Ellen nodded. “Even with extra help, we’ve been spread kind of thin. We hope to get some real information that’ll lead us deeper into the heart of this case, soon.”

“We are also coordinating the takedown of the rest of the operation,” Val told him. “So far, we’ve got a list of close to sixty dealers, manufacturers, runners, and distributors. By the time the sting plays out, we’ll likely add pharmacists, and even a few dirty doctors, to the list. But we need to cut the head off the dragon to make this full operation crumble the way we want.”

“Anyone start pulling email records on Kirkland?” Colin asked.

“Now that’s something we can’t do without a search warrant,” Val said. “And at this point, a phone number in a drug smuggler’s hand isn’t enough to hang our hats on.”

“Did you talk to the Attorney General’s office about the possibility of getting one with the evidence we’ve already collected?”

“I didn’t see the point. The prosecution’s going to need both probable cause and proof that the specific email account is being used for drug transactions.”

“Legalese isn’t going to cut it here,” Colin said, cheeks flushing the way they always did when he lost his temper.

“It’s going to have to, Colin. It’s the law.”

“Not good enough,” Colin said, shaking his head. “I know you’re still close with Jeff Tepper from law school. Isn’t he with the AG?”

Val shook his head. “Jeff’s our contact for this operation, but under the circumstances, I didn’t think it was wise to talk to him about a search warrant without more evidence than we’ve got.”

Thalia’s gaze burned through him. He knew exactly what she wanted him to do—get Cameron on board—and that was not going to happen.

“We just don’t have that much to go on, sir,” Ellen said.

“Well, get something to go on,” Colin said, pounding his fist on the table. “I’ve got the governor breathing down my neck about this, not to mention local law enforcement and the DOJ, given the scope of this problem.” He was completely red in the face now. “Talk to Jeff, damn it. Get me a warrant. Or do it some other way,” he said, looking at Val meaningfully. “We need this evidence to make our case.”

“I’ll do my best,” Val said. Within the confines of the law, that is. Ellen and Thalia nodded beside him.

“And Val?” Colin said. “Do it quickly.”

“Cameron, hello.” Junior’s deep voice carried through the coffee shop, the perfect combination of educated everyman and benign authority.

Cameron smiled, stood, and accepted his kiss on her cheek. “I’m glad to see you, Ted,” she said. When she’d scheduled this meeting with Junior, she’d made sure it was going to be at a crowded coffee shop, right in the middle of the afternoon. If this didn’t send the message that she didn’t want to be on an intimate date with him, she didn’t know what would.

He stepped back, appraising her. “The feeling’s mutual. I was sorry you had to cancel last week.”

“Yes, about that—”

“You look wonderful, Cameron,” he said, cutting her off.

“Thank you. So do you.” Junior did look good, but then again, he always did. His wavy brown hair was perfectly styled, his deep blue eyes contrasting with his dark hair and whiter-than-white teeth. As usual, he was wearing dress slacks, a button-down shirt, and a blazer, his clothes beautifully tailored to skim his well-formed physique. She thought he must still be playing racquetball three times a week, since he looked like he was in amazing shape.

“Before we sit down, may I get you something? Coffee? Tea?”

“Oh, no, thanks.” She gestured to the cup sitting on the low table near her seat. “I already got some before you arrived.”

Junior looked disappointed. “A treat, then.”

She smiled. “No, thank you. But please get yourself something.”

“I’ll be right back,” he said, heading for the line.

In a few moments, he’d returned with his drink, a double-shot latte with extra foam, no sweetener. Junior was nothing if not a creature of habit. He settled down in the seat she’d saved for him and smiled at her.

“What have you been up to lately?” He took a sip of his latte.

“Well, I’ve been working a lot. And going to events.” She swallowed. “And I started seeing someone.” Get it over with quickly.

He met her gaze, not blinking. “Is it serious?”

She nodded. “Yes. It is. I really like him, Ted. And I want to be fair to him. To both of you.” Not that she and Junior had ever been exclusive, but she was more than cognizant of the fact that he had certain expectations, especially given their family connections.

“Who is he?” He took another sip, no emotion visible on his face.

Cameron shook her head.

“Well, if you won’t tell me who he is, why don’t you tell me a little about him. Come on,” he prodded, showing her a smaller version of his winningest smile. “Indulge me.”

“He’s a good man. Not anyone you’d have met. He’s from Star Harbor. I’ve known him for a while, but we didn’t actually talk until the night of the Kirkland Awards.”

Junior leaned back in his seat. “So I have my own family to thank for bringing you together.”

She shook her head. “It’s not like that, Ted. You know I do like you, very much. But I’ve been worried for a long time about whether I could make you happy. Your lifestyle is—I don’t know—challenging, is the way I’d put it. I’m not sure I’m cut out for that kind of life.”

He put his cup down. “I won’t deny that being ‘on’ in public all the time has its drawbacks. But we’ve known each other a long time, Cameron, and you and I are good together. I thought we had an understanding that when we were ready to get serious, we’d get serious with each other. You wouldn’t always be in the public eye. You’d have lots of time to continue with your charity work, even to maintain your businesses, if that’s what you want.” His voice dropped and he took one of her hands in his. “And I was hoping that at some point, we’d have a family of our own.”

Interesting that Junior was pulling out the big guns now. She couldn’t tell whether he was playing the exclusivity-for-marriage card because it would be beneficial to his campaign or because she’d just told him she was interested in someone else. Junior did hate to lose. Still, she happened to know that he was dating two other women at the moment—a fact he hadn’t brought up in his pitch to her. Instead of referencing his two other girlfriends, she decided to go with something more personal.

“I know, Ted. I want those things too,” she said, squeezing his hand. “But the scrutiny will always be there. For you and for your family. I know you grew up in that world, your dad being a famous politician and all. You’re used to it, but I’m not. I’m so sorry, Ted.” She slipped her hand from his.

“I’m sorry too.” For a moment his voice went hard. “Believe it or not, I respect you too much to try to pressure you into doing something you’re not comfortable doing. And if you can’t handle standing by me while I do what I want to achieve, it’d be cruel to force you.” He picked up his coffee cup. “Come on,” he said, his voice back to normal. “Why don’t you ease the blow by walking me back to my office?”

Cameron dipped her head. “Of course, Ted. Thank you for being such a gentleman about this.”

He stood, and then helped her rise. “Who knows, Cameron? You might get tired of your mystery man. And if you do, I hope you’ll give me a call.” They were outside now, walking up Bowdoin Street.

She smiled and was about to respond, when the flash of a camera went off, right in her face.

“Mr. Kirkland, the police have made a dozen more arrests for possession of illegal firearms. Any comment on what you’ll do in this arena if you should become the DA?”

“No comment,” Junior said, sweeping by the man with the big camera and the notepad. “Ignore him,” he whispered to Cameron. “He’s a gadfly.”

In a moment, another man joined the first one. He pushed a microphone right in Junior’s face. “Mr. Kirkland, sir, do you have any information about the rise of bath salts in Boston?”

“You were at the press conference, John,” Junior answered without even blinking. “You got my answer then.”

They were outside the DA’s office now, and unfortunately, the camera and the mic had attracted the attention of many passersby, including that of more photographers. “It’s Ted Kirkland, one of the candidates for DA,” Cameron heard one of them say. Within moments, they were right in front of them, and Ted let go of her hand. Pushed to the back of the crowd, she simply watched as Junior did what he was best at: playing to the press. When he flashed his rueful smile and shrugged apologetically, he had them right where he wanted them.

“You all know the office’s policy. Everything has to go through the Press Office,” he said. Cameron marveled at the regret and camaraderie he managed to lace into his words. Immediately, the crowd’s mood shifted from one of urgency to one of calm. Junior had always been good under pressure, but now he had his mannerisms down to a science. During an unguarded moment over dinner not too long ago, he had confided to her how much he had to practice, and how he wished it came as easily to him as it had to his dad.

“When’s the next press conference going to be?” someone asked.

“Check with Sally,” Junior responded. “If she hasn’t posted the schedule online, it’ll be up soon. That’s all I have, folks. See you at the next conference.”

And as she let Junior bask in the flashes and the glare of the spotlight, she slipped away, knowing for certain she’d done the right thing.