CHAPTER SIX

Paige moved out of Sam’s arms and got to her feet. “I’ll leave you to take your call.”

Sam watched her make her way from the room. He’d spoken with her about her living arrangements earlier but with her surgeries and physical therapy, they’d let it slide, or he’d thought those were the reasons. He had the feeling she was relieved when the phone rang, putting an end to their conversation.

The phone rang a third time. Sam unclipped it from his belt. Caller ID read Herb Foster. Sam scowled. Foster was engaged to marry Sam’s ex-wife Ginny. The wedding was in three weeks.

While Sam was happy for Ginny, her wedding was hitting him hard because of their seven-year-old son, Jonah. Six months earlier, Sam had learned that Ginny’s relationship with Foster was serious. Ever since, he’d been having some rough moments over Foster becoming a permanent presence in his son’s life.

Living in the same house, Foster would spend more time with Sam’s son than Sam would. That bit. Sam knew he could not let his own concerns touch Jonah. For the sake of his son, Sam had to come to terms with the situation, make sure that Jonah did not feel pulled by him or by Foster, but Sam didn’t like the position he found himself in. Didn’t like that it could leave him on the outside of Jonah’s life.

Sam’s jaw clenched as he took the call. “Herb.”

“Dad!”

Sam jerked back from the phone at Jonah’s excited shout. His tension eased at hearing his son’s voice and he laughed. “Hey, Jonah.”

“Dad, guess what?”

Sam’s insides warmed. “What?”

“Herb and me and the other men that help the groom finished doing men that help the groom stuff for tonight and now us men are all going out to eat.”

Sam heard the delight in Jonah’s voice. As part of the bridal party, Jonah was attending to wedding preparations and would not be with Sam for this weekend and the next. Sam was acutely aware of Jonah’s empty bedroom beside his in the loft. He didn’t like losing the time with Jonah, but he wouldn’t ruin the experience of his mother’s wedding for their son. “All the men, huh?”

“Yup and Herb said I’m the best groom helper ever!”

Sam’s jaw clenched again at the mention of Foster, but he kept his feelings out of his voice. “No doubt about it.”

“Dad, we’re here. I gotta go. See ya!”

“See you.”

Sam would have Jonah with him for the two weeks of Ginny’s honeymoon, the longest time since he and Ginny separated four years earlier that he’d be with Jonah. But right now, though Jonah had ended the call, Sam held on to the phone, missing his son.

The doorbell rang. Sam returned the phone to his belt and went to the door. Mike stood on the porch with Hailey Corbett.

Hailey’s eyes were red from crying. Her skin was blotchy. The last thing she looked like she was up for were questions. Sam was sorry to put her through that, but it couldn’t be helped.

“Come in.” Sam stepped back from the door. Paige wasn’t in view. He called out, “Paige, Mike and Hailey are here.”

Sam was leading them into the living room when Paige came out of Ivy’s room. She’d changed back into the jeans and top she’d had on earlier.

Paige met them in the living room. “I’m sorry about your brother, Hailey.”

Hailey’s green eyes welled. “I can’t believe he’s dead and that the police think Riley killed him.”

“Let’s all have a seat.” Sam indicated the brown leather couches and matching chairs.

Mike sat beside Hailey on one couch. She reached out and clasped his hand. Head bowed, her blond hair curtained her face. Her shoulders heaved and Mike put an arm around her.

Sam sat on the second couch. Paige sat beside him. Sam looked to Mike to see if he wanted to take the lead. Mike shook his head.

“As I’m sure Mike’s told you, we could use your help Hailey,” Sam began.

She drew in a shaky breath. “I’ll help in any way I can. I want the person who killed my brother caught.”

“When was the last time you saw your brother?”

She unballed her fist, showing a tissue she’d been clutching. She dabbed her eyes with it. “Monday night. He stopped by my apartment. It was late. Riley was staying over and we were getting ready for bed.”

“Any particular reason he stopped by?”

Hailey swallowed. “Money. He wanted money.”

“Did he say what for?”

“He didn’t and I didn’t ask. I didn’t want to know. Lonny was addicted to methamphetamine. I didn’t want to know that he was going to use the money to buy meth.”

“Did you give him the money?”

“Yes, though it wasn’t that simple. When Riley came out of the shower, he got angry at Lonny. They had an argument.”

“What about?”

Hailey shrugged and the checkered shirt she wore slid, baring her collar bone. “Nothing new for them. Riley told him to leave me alone. That every time Lonny comes to the apartment, he leaves me upset. Lonny told Riley to stay out of his relationship with me.

“I gave Lonny the money. I told him to stay the night. Shower. Eat. He wouldn’t. He just wanted the money. Promised to pay me back like always, though this time he stressed that he would pay back everything I’d ever given him, but I didn’t want the money back. I wanted my brother back. I packed up some food for him to take with him and he left. After, Riley realized that Lonny had taken his cash and his knife.”

Paige asked, “How long has Lonny been addicted to meth?”

“Three years. He was nineteen when he got the habit.”

Paige leaned forward on the couch. “How does he pay for the meth other than you?”

Hailey shook her head. “I don’t know.”

Sam said, “We need a list of the people Lonny knew. Friends. Enemies. Coworkers. Anyone you knew he was in contact with.”

Hailey’s grip on the tissue tightened. “He didn’t have a job. I told him I could try to get him work at night cleaning the school where I teach. I doubt the school board would have taken him with his criminal record, but I would have asked. I would have done anything to help him.” Her voice cracked. “I don’t know any of his friends anymore but I’ll write down anyone from the past that I can think of.”

Paige’s fingers curled in her lap. “Do you know a man or heard your brother mention a man with a missing right hand?”

“No.”

Sam glanced away from Paige and back to Hailey. “Did Lonny tell you that you were in danger?”

“After what happened with his drug dealer coming after me for money that Lonny owed him, Lonny wouldn’t do that to me again,” Hailey said. “My brother was really scared that I would be hurt. He would not endanger me. Mike told me that Riley thinks Lonny had compromised me again in some way. That’s why Riley agreed to meet with Lonny. But my brother wouldn’t do that to me again.”

Sam could hear in her voice how desperately Hailey wanted to believe that. “What about Lonny’s supplier? Have you heard from him?”

“Riley told me the guy was arrested in the drug operation you were all involved in months back.”

Sam knew Hailey was referring to the bust coordinated with several state agencies and the Columbia office that netted the dealers in their respective territories, and the leader of the drug trade in their combined territories, Victor Alessandro. Corbett’s dealer being in prison would not have shut Corbett down. Sam had been on the job long enough to know that a new crop of dealers would have moved in since the bust. They needed to look into who could have been supplying Corbett. “Did your brother mention where he was getting his meth from now?”

“We never talked about that. I can’t believe he’s gone. I was his only family. Even our parents gave up on him.” Tears filled Hailey’s eyes again. “And now Riley, too. Sam, you have to help Riley. All of you have to help Riley.”

She looked from Sam to Mike to Paige. Sam saw Paige flinch.

Mike squeezed Hailey’s hand. “We won’t let anything happen to Riley.” He turned to Sam. “Sam, that it?”

Sam nodded.

Mike rose to his feet, and helped Hailey to hers. “Rita is holding a late supper for us, Hailey. Let’s go home.”

Speaking with Hailey had only added one more person who knew of and could testify to Riley’s bad relationship with her brother. Sam hoped they’d get somewhere with her list.

Sam saw Mike and Hailey to the door. After they left, Paige returned to his workout room. From the doorway, Sam watched her go back to the treadmill. After her physical therapy ended, she’d continued her exercises both with him and on her own, going hard at them.

Today, though, she was going to extremes. He didn’t need to ask why. He hadn’t missed the look that had crossed her face when Hailey had asked for their help for Riley. And earlier today … Sam recalled seeing Paige behind the warehouse, her look of devastation as she’d told him and Dom that the man she was chasing got away. Sam knew she was doubting herself, doubting her abilities. He couldn’t stand that she was going through this.

Her foot had to be hurting her. Hurting was likely a gross understatement for the pain she was feeling. At the least, she needed to take her weight off of it. She was resisting, pushing herself. She wouldn’t ease up. To her, easing up would be giving up.

Her foot would never be as it was. She did not want to hear that, did not want to accept that. Sam thought of the doctors she’d seen and repeat testing she’d undergone since her final surgery and diagnosis. She’d gone to doctor after doctor seeking a different outcome, denying that her condition was permanent and using the doctors to avoid coming to terms with herself as she was now.

She was a brave woman. She would go on fighting. Sam admired her courage, but this was a fight she couldn’t win and when the truth hit her, she would crash hard. He rubbed a hand down his face and again damned Thames to the blackest pit of hell.

Fine lines brought on by pain were now etched into Paige’s face. Seeing her in pain hurt Sam in a way nothing else could.

He crossed the room and scooped Paige off the treadmill and into his arms. She let out a little gasp which he ignored. “I’m ready to call it a night. You must be too.” The fact that she didn’t fight him on this told him how exhausted she was.

Sam headed for the stairs. A stair lift would enable Paige to be able to get up and down with ease. He’d broached the subject once already and she’d shot him down. She was stubborn, yes, but it was more than stubbornness, he knew. She was afraid, afraid of her new circumstances, and of what they meant for her. The way she was now terrified her. Her fear leveled him.

“I can walk.”

He heard the defensive note in her voice, and he heard the fatigue. “I know you can.” But he didn’t set her down. It wasn’t just the state of her foot that had prompted him to want to carry her up the stairs. He wanted her in his arms.

Maybe she saw how much he needed to hold her or maybe she needed to be held just as much. She didn’t protest further but pressed against him. He climbed the stairs and took them the rest of the way to their bedroom.

Gently, he set her down on the bed. Keeping one arm around her, he dropped down beside her and brought her against his side.

With the hand that was wrapped around her, he stroked her arm, covered by a long sleeved T-shirt. He could feel the tension in her. She didn’t want to talk about it. She’d made that plain earlier when he’d tried to get her to talk to him.

She needed to shut down. He reached for the remote on his nightstand with his free hand, then flicked on the television mounted on the wall opposite the bed. He turned the volume low. When they’d first come together, Paige had told him that the sound of the television was the only way she could turn off thoughts of Thames and sleep. That hadn’t changed. Sam let the drone of the TV lull Paige. Eventually, she slept.

Sam couldn’t sleep. He was wound up. Worried about Paige. Worried about the situation with Riley. He eased his arm out from under Paige. Pressing a soft kiss to her brow, he covered her and left the bed.

He changed into sweats, then went to his workout room. He wound boxing tape around his hands and went to the punching bag that hung from the ceiling.

Had Riley surprised the killer and that was why Corbett wasn’t dead when Riley arrived? Had Riley interrupted the killer before he could finish Corbett off?

Mike didn’t believe that Corbett was killed by someone they’d put away in retaliation against Riley, but Mike would dig deeper to make sure of it. If Mike was right, that meant Corbett was into something and whatever that something was had gotten him killed.

The only thing they knew for sure about Corbett was that he was a meth addict. Again, Sam hoped they’d get a lead from the list Hailey was compiling.

Sam went on pounding the bag, striking faster, harder, sending the bag shooting back with each powerful blow. Sweat dripped into his eyes, down his back, matting his T-shirt to his skin.

He heard Paige cry out. Wheeling away from the bag, he ran up the stairs. She was thrashing on the bed, locked in a nightmare.

Sam bent over her and put his arms around her. “It’s all right. You’re dreaming. A dream, baby.”

She jerked awake. “Sam?”

“Right here.” He held her gaze, made sure she was looking at him, only him. “You’re okay. You’re safe.”

Paige pulled his shirt, trying to pull herself up so she could sit. Sam lifted her. Her face had gone ghost white. Her cheeks were damp. She swiped at the wet trails with the heel of her hand.

No longer locked in the nightmare, her fear had receded, replaced by anger with herself and frustration that Sam could feel coming off of her. He brushed damp hair back from her brow. “You haven’t had a nightmare in a while.”

She didn’t respond.

He didn’t need to ask what the dream had been about. Thames. His abduction and subsequent torture. Though she no longer had the dreams nightly as she had following her captivity, she did have them after seeing each new doctor and receiving the same diagnosis.

She looked up at him. “I’m fine now.”

The hell she was. Sam tightened his hold on her. She was hurting and he was helpless to do anything to stop it. He wanted to make this all go away for her. It was killing him that he couldn’t.