As she was ending the call with Celia, Lt. Archelotta knocked on her door.
“Hey, Archie. You got the secure phone?” Sam glanced at the tall, handsome, dark-haired officer and tried to forget that she’d once seen him naked. They’d had a brief fling after her split with Peter, and like she did every time she ran into him, she wondered if he imagined her naked whenever he saw her.
He handed the phone to her. “Let me know when you’re ready to make the call, and we’ll set up the trace.”
“Can we do it now?”
“Sure.” He reached for his own phone and called down to his department. “Lt. Holland is ready to make the call. Everything in place?” He paused and nodded. “Good. Standby.” To Sam, he said, “You’re good to go. The best we can do is attempt to intercept the pings on the cell tower to narrow it down to a neighborhood.”
“I’ll take whatever you can get.” Since Tillinghast had told her the system was automated, Sam made the call herself, typing in Brad’s access code. “Good evening, sir,” the recording stated. “Thank you for your call. Please enter the date for which you require services.” Sam punched in today’s date. “Please enter your zip code.” Sam entered the code for downtown. “Thank you. Your date will meet you at 9 p.m. at The Ambassador Hotel, room 482. Your key will be waiting for you at the front desk. Shall I charge the credit card on file? If yes, press the pound key. If you wish to enter a different card number, press the star key.” Sam pressed pound. “Do you require any special services this evening? If so, please press pound for our menu.”
Sam glanced at Archie, who was watching her with a barely disguised gleam in his eye. “This is so gross,” she said.
“Never arranged for a call girl before, Lieutenant?”
She rolled her eyes at him and pressed pound, bracing herself for the menu.
“For domination, please press one. For restraint, please press two. For animals, please press three.”
“Oh my God,” Sam whispered. “I’m going to be ill.”
Archie snickered.
“For anal intercourse, please press four. For auto-erotic asphyxiation, please press five. For whips, chains and S and M, please press six.”
Sam decided she’d heard more than enough and pressed the number one.
“Thank you for your selection. Your date will be prepared to fulfill your every fantasy. Please call again soon. Goodbye.”
Sam closed the phone and glanced at Archie. “I need a shower.”
He laughed and took the phone from her. “Who’s the lucky john?”
“Cruz. He can barely contain his excitement.”
“What’ve you got planned for him?”
“Just some domination. I figured animals might be too much for him.”
Grimacing, he said, “Ugh. Disgusting.”
“Totally.”
“I’ll go see what we were able to get from the cell towers.”
“Thanks.”
“Hey, Sam, this thing with Gibson…sucks.”
“It is what it is. I’ll deal with it.”
“I hope you know every cop in this city will be keeping tabs on him. He wouldn’t dare step out of line again.”
“Yes, he probably will, and when we nail him next time, we’ll do it right.”
“You bet we will.”
“Appreciate the support.”
“I haven’t had a chance to say congrats on the engagement, either. Seems like you got a good guy there.”
She smiled. “Thanks, I like him.”
“You deserve to be happy after all you’ve been through.”
Sam remembered that in a weak moment she’d told him about the miscarriages she’d suffered while married to Peter. “Thanks.”
“I’ll get back to you with what we got from the call.” He left with a wave, and Sam watched him go. He was the only fellow cop she’d ever dated, and no one they worked with had ever known they were together. She was relieved that they were now able to be good colleagues without the “we used to sleep together” baggage.
Sam grabbed the portable radio off her desk and her coat. In the pit, she found Freddie on the phone. When he hung up, she said, “Nine o’clock at the Ambassador. Tell all of second shift I want them on backup.”
“What’d you order for me, or do I not want to know?”
“Probably better if you don’t know. How’s Selina making out with Jackson?”
“Slow going. He’s having trouble getting her to focus.”
“When you have a picture, text me. Nick knows everyone in this town. He might be able to ID the guy.”
“Have you heard from him?”
“Not yet. I’m off to see Lightfeather. See you around eight-thirty in The Ambassador lobby.”
“I’ll be there.”
“Call me if anything comes up between now and then.”
“Sam?”
She turned back.
“Are you going to court tomorrow? For Peter’s hearing?”
“Hell no.”
“Why not?”
“I won’t give him the satisfaction of thinking that I care enough to waste part of my day on him.” She would’ve told Nick the same thing if he’d consulted her before he lost his mind on TV.
“I’ve been worried about how you’ll deal with this.”
“He tried to run my life for four long years. I’m not giving him one more minute.”
“It might help Nick to hear you say that.”
“You’re probably right. I’ll tell him if I can find him.”
“If you need help with that, you know where I am. Otherwise, see you in a couple of hours.”
On the way to see Lightfeather, she thought about what Freddie had said. She wished she knew where Nick was just then. If she knew, she’d go find him as soon as she finished with Henry. Hopefully, Nick would be home by then.
Sam’s cell phone rang, and hoping it was him, she put the phone on speaker. “Holland.”
“Sam, it’s Shelby Faircloth. Have I caught you at a bad time?”
“Tinker Bell,” she said, “it’s always a bad time in my world. That’s why I need you.”
Shelby’s girlish giggle made Sam smile. “I’m at your service. I received a phone call today from Vera Wang.”
“The
actual
Vera Wang?”
“The one and only. She saw some photos of you wearing her at the White House and asked about the possibility of doing your dress.”
Sam had to suppress her own urge to giggle like a girl. “Vera Wang—
the Vera Wang
—wants to do
my
dress?”
“You heard me. I thought you might approve, so she’s sending several options for you via overnight express. Could I bring them by after work tomorrow?”
“Sure, but I’m in the middle of a murder investigation. I can’t promise to be there by a certain time.”
“That’s all right. I’ll start with a fitting for your sisters and the girls for their dresses, and we’ll work up to the main event once you break free. Is seven-thirty okay?”
“I’ll make sure they’re there, and I’ll get there as soon as I can.”
“You might also want to make sure the groom has other plans.”
“Ohhh, good thought.”
“See you then.”
After indulging in a most un-cop-like squeal, Sam called her sisters to share the news. Angela and Tracy, after some major squealing of their own, agreed to meet Shelby at Nick’s place. Tracy promised to bring her daughters Brooke and Abby, who were Sam’s junior bridesmaids. She couldn’t wait to tell Nick that she’d actually managed to handle some wedding business during the long workday.
On the hotel’s seventh floor, she found the same two police officers guarding Lightfeather’s door. “Anything going on?” she asked.
“They’ve been fighting,” one of them said.
“Been going at it all day,” the other said. “How much longer do you think we’ll need to be here?”
“Hopefully, not much longer.” Sam knocked on the door.
“Thank God,” the younger of the two officers muttered.
Annette Lightfeather answered the door, grimacing once again at the sight of Sam and her badge. “What now?”
“May I please speak to your husband?”
Annette stepped aside to admit Sam. A suitcase sat inside the door.
“Going somewhere?” Sam asked.
“Home to my children.”
“Lieutenant,” Henry said. “What can I do for you?”
He looked like he hadn’t slept in days. Wearing a polo shirt and wrinkled khaki pants, his eyes were rimmed with red, and he seemed to have given up on shaving.
As Sam crossed the room to him, she heard Annette’s suitcase roll over the tile foyer. The hotel room door opened and snapped closed behind her.
“Well,” Henry said. “I guess that’s that.”
“Sir?”
“She asked for a divorce.”
“I’m sorry.”
“No job, no wife and probably no kids either, since she vowed to fight me for custody. Best part is I have no one but myself to blame.”
Since Sam had no idea what to say to that, she sat down in the same chair she’d occupied the last time they met. “I’m afraid I have some news that’s going to add to your dismay.” She watched him brace himself for further disaster. “Regina was involved in a call girl ring.”
His mouth fell open and then closed. “That can’t be true.”
Sam had learned to stay quiet at times like this. People needed to reach their own conclusions in their own time. Saying it a second time didn’t help it go down any easier.
“You’re sure?” he asked softly.
“Yes.”
Henry got up and went over to the window. Hands in his pockets, his shoulders were hunched. “This entire week, as my life unraveled around me, do you know what has kept me sane?” He turned to face her. “Knowing that she loved me. She
loved me
.”
“She needed money. That doesn’t mean she didn’t love you.”
He picked up a glass and rolled it between his hands. Suddenly, he whipped his arm back and sent the glass hurling across the room. It smashed on contact with the wall. Sam wondered if Nick had looked as fierce when he threw his phone across his office.
“I gave up
everything
for her, and she was screwing other guys the same time she was screwing me?”
Sam held her tongue and gave him a chance to absorb the blow.
Another thought seemed to occur to him. “The baby…”
“Was yours. The DNA confirmed that.”
His eyes, which had been fixed on a spot on the wall, shifted to her. “Why are you telling me this?”
“I believe there’s a major, high-level prostitution organization ring at work in the city, and everyone knows about it but those of us in law enforcement.”
Returning to the sofa, he sat. “I don’t know about it.”
“You’ve never heard rumors, innuendo, talk,
anything
?”
“I’m known on the Hill—or I
was
known—as a family man. My colleagues would hardly discuss hookers around me.”
“We believe Regina, Maria and their colleague Selina Rameriz were recruited into the organization by one of your colleagues.”
Lightfeather stared at her. “One of my
Senate
colleagues?”
Sam nodded. “Someone whose office is in the Hart Building. All three of the women worked there.”
“A lot of people work in the Hart Building. Some of the senior staff wield as much power behind the scenes as the senators themselves.”
“We’ll be investigating everyone who works in that building, but I’d bet my badge it’s not going to be a staffer. Anything you can tell me would help us to find the person who murdered Regina.”
“After hearing she was sleeping around, I’m supposed to still care about who killed her?”
“The sooner we find the killer, the sooner we’ll release you from this hotel room. Maybe then you can attempt to put your life back together.”
Lightfeather ran his fingers through his hair. “Talk to Bob Cook,” he said, referring to the senior senator from Virginia. “Nothing happens on the Hill that he doesn’t know about.”
“What about Trent?” Sam asked.
“Other than the car accident in high school, he’s squeaky clean. As far as I know anyway.” He released a short laugh. “A week ago, people would’ve said the same about me.”
Sam stood up. “I appreciate your candor, Senator.”
“I’m not a senator anymore.”
“I still appreciate your candor. Let me know if you think of anything else that might help our investigation.”
Freddie called as Sam was heading home. “Tillinghast’s wife is refusing protective custody.”
“Oh for Christ’s sake. Have the marshals call me so I can talk to her.”
“On it.”
Sam closed her phone and waited for the callback. When it came, she said, “Put her on.”
“Here she is, Lieutenant.”
“I know what you’re going to say, but—”
“Shut up and listen to me,” Sam said in her best cop growl. “The man we’re protecting you and your daughters from has viciously raped and murdered two women as well as kidnapping and raping one of my officers. Now, I want you to pack your bags and
get into the goddamned car with the marshals
. Do I make myself clear?”
“Yes,” she said, sounding more subdued now. “Fine. What about my low-life husband?”
“He’s probably safer in jail than he’d be with you.”
“No question about that.”
“Cooperate with the marshals so we can keep you and your girls safe. No screwing around.”
“For how long?”
“As long as it takes. Don’t tell anyone where you’ve gone.”
“Anywhere is better than here. Media trucks are lining my street.”
“Then get the hell out of there.”
When Sam parked on Ninth Street a short time later, she was distressed to see their place still dark and Nick’s car nowhere in sight. “
Where is he?
” For a brief, horrifying moment, she wondered if the sicko she was hunting down had nabbed him to get at her. “No,” she whispered, refusing to entertain the possibility. He was out with his friends, and he knew she was busy with the case so he wasn’t worried about getting home.
Since she had ninety minutes until she was due to meet Freddie and the others at The Ambassador, she took her radio and went inside, hoping Nick would come home before she had to leave again. In the kitchen, she contemplated making something to eat, but her stomach turned at the idea of food. As the possibility of something untoward happening to Nick took hold, Sam paced the living room. “Maybe I should be out there looking for him,” she said to herself. But where to even begin? She didn’t even know what gym he frequented.
Just as she was about to call Freddie to see if he thought they should be looking for Nick, the doorbell rang. Sam ran for the door, threw it open and was relieved to find Nick and his doctor friend Harry on the stoop. After the thorough examination she’d recently withstood at Harry’s hands, it was all Sam could do to make eye contact.
“I understand this belongs to you,” Harry said. His sinfully handsome face became even more so when he smiled.
Nick stepped into the light, and Sam gasped at the bruise under his right eye. “What happened? Did you get into a fight?” She was so damned glad to see him that she didn’t even care if he’d been fighting.
“Nothing so dramatic, babe,” he said, a slight slur infecting his words. “An elbow to the face on the basketball court.”
Sam stepped aside so Harry could escort Nick to the sofa. Once there, Nick put his head back against the cushions and closed his eyes. His white dress shirt was dirty and his loosened tie was crooked. She’d never seen him even slightly buzzed, so drunk and disheveled was unexpected, to say the least.
“I joined them after happy hour,” Harry whispered to Sam. “Never did manage to catch up.”
“Did anyone see him like this?” Sam asked, wondering what kind of media coverage he was in for the next day in addition to losing his cool on TV.
“Only his close friends. We take care of our own, Lieutenant.”
Since Nick seemed to be asleep, Sam said, “He’s had a rough couple of days.”
“He mentioned that he saw his mother yesterday, but we sort of suspected since that’s the only time he really hits the bottle.”
“So this has happened before?”
“Couple of times over the years. After her last wedding, he was drunk for a week. We found out later that she refused to introduce him as her son because she didn’t want the new husband to think she was lying about her age. You probably already know this latest encounter cost him twenty-five grand. Now that she knows he has money, no doubt she’ll be back for more.”
“What a bitch.” Sam had suspected he’d given his mother money, but not that much. “I’d like two minutes alone with her to tell her what a piece of shit she is.”
“You and everyone else who loves him. He told me once, years ago in a weak moment, that the scent of her perfume undoes him. I think he said it’s Chanel No. 5 or some knockoff version. Every time he catches a whiff of that stuff he goes into a tailspin. He said when he was little, he use to be able to smell her for days after she visited until his grandmother forced him to take a bath.”
Sam’s heart broke in half for the little boy who’d craved his mother’s love and attention—and never got either. “Will he be okay?”
“Usually takes him a week or two to shake it off, but with your ex-husband about to get sprung, might take longer this time. He’s taking that really hard too.”
Listening to his friend, Sam realized she still had a lot to learn about the man she loved. “Thanks for bringing him home, Harry.”
“No problem.” He headed for the door. “You and I are overdue for a little chat.”
“We are?”
“Don’t play dumb with me, Lieutenant.”
Sam smiled, remembering how much she’d enjoyed his wit the first time they met—over an exam table in his office.
“How’s the soda famine going?” he asked.
“I’m cranky as hell but my stomach is better.”
“Shocking! Maybe it was that gallon of diet cola you were drinking every day that was giving you crippling stomach pain. What an incredible coincidence!”
“Do they teach sarcasm in medical school?”
“I come by that naturally. What about the other thing we talked about?”
Sam’s smile faded, and her heart raced.
“Given it any thought?”
Sam gave him a withering look. “What do you think?”
“And?”
“I’m late…I think.” She hadn’t been able to even ponder the possibility that had been hovering in her subconscious, let alone say it out loud.
Harry’s eyebrows came together in an expression that took him from carefree friend to concerned doctor in an instant. “Define late.”
“A week. Maybe two. I don’t really keep track because my periods are so erratic, but I probably should’ve had one.” She cleared her throat. “By now.”
“I told you if you had all your parts that it was possible…”
Sam gripped his arm. “I can’t be pregnant, Harry.
I just can’t
.”
Laughing, he eased her into a chair and squatted down in front of her. “Of course you can.”
Sam shook her head. “I can’t go through that again. I can’t lose another one.” She’d rather stare down the barrel of a loaded shotgun than go through that hell again.
“I’ll tell you what—I’m off tomorrow, so come into the office on Monday. We’ll do a quick test and see what’s what, okay?”
“It’s not okay.” No other subject had the ability to render her so powerless against the overwhelming array of emotions.
He reached for her hands and held on tight. “It will be. I promise. If you are…” He seemed to know better than to use the “p” word just then. “I have a friend who’s an amazing OB/GYN who I’ll refer you to.” Flashing a sheepish grin, he added, “Well, to be honest, I’ve been seeing her for a while now, but I haven’t told the guys yet. Keep my secret?”
“If you keep mine. Until we know for sure…Nick has had enough with his mother and everything.”
“My lips are sealed. Let me see your phone.”
“What the hell for?”
“Hand it over.”
Confused, she drew it out of her pocket, put it into his outstretched hand and watched him program his number into her address book. “If anything comes up, anything at all, call me. Night or day.”
“That’s nice of you. Thanks.”
He stood and helped her up, giving her a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek. “Take good care of my buddy,” he said, looking over at Nick.
“Always.”
“And try not to worry, Sam. Everything will be okay.”
“I hope you’re right.”
He flashed that charming dimpled smile that made him so adorable. “I was right about the soda, wasn’t I?”
“Oh
brother
. Am I ever going to hear the end of that?”
“Not in this lifetime. Sleep tight.”
After she showed Harry out, she turned to study her fiancé. The idea of him being in so much pain that he’d felt the need to drink excessively was shocking to her. The Nick she knew and loved was
always
in control. Except, it seemed, when his loser mother turned his world upside down. She couldn’t add to that right now by sharing the possibility that she
might
be pregnant—might being the operative word. Resting her back against the closed front door, Sam reached for her phone to call Freddie.
“What’s up, boss?”
“Something’s come up, and I can’t be there tonight. Can you all handle it on your own? You know the drill—arrest the girl for solicitation and prostitution. Offer her a deal if she’ll give up what she knows about the operation. Cue Malone in too.” She should’ve done that herself but hadn’t gotten to it.
“We can handle it. I just heard from Archie that the trace came up empty. The signals were all blocked.”
“Son of a bitch. Another dead end.”
“The text to your phone came from a throwaway, as we suspected. We’re trying to track it down.”
“We can’t catch a break on this one.”
“I know. Is everything okay? Did you find Nick?”
“I found him, but I can’t leave him right now.” She had no doubt that he’d never leave her in the same condition. Nothing, not even her all-consuming job, was more important to her than he was. If ever there’d been a time to prove that, it was now. “I’ll tell you about it tomorrow. Call me after it goes down?”
“You got it.”
“Go in with backup, and be careful.”
“We will.”
Sam closed the phone, stashed it in her pocket, sent the two officers who were tailing her home for the evening and went to sit with Nick.
“What time is it?” Nick mumbled.
Sam put aside her laptop and turned to him. “Almost nine.”
“How’d I get here?”
“You don’t remember? Harry brought you home.”
“Oh, yeah. Right.” He ran his hand over his face and winced when he came into contact with the bruise under his eye. “Andy’s elbow. Did you know he’s been helping Gonzo with the baby?”
“I’d heard that.”
“Sorry you had to see me like this. Won’t happen again.”
Sam reached out to caress his face. “Don’t apologize. You needed to blow off some steam, and I’m glad your friends were there to help you do it.”
“I blew off some steam on TV earlier too.”
“So I heard.”
“Are you pissed?”
She shook her head. “I’ve never had anyone to defend me against Peter. I used to have to deal with him and his games all on my own. So it’s rather nice to have someone in my corner.”
He reached for the hand on his face and brought it to his lips. “I’ll always be in your corner, babe. You don’t have to deal with anything alone anymore.”
“Neither do you.” She rested her head on his shoulder.
“Seeing her screws me up. Always has. You’d think after all these years I’d be better equipped to deal with it, but I never have gotten the hang of it.”
“I wish there was something I could do for you.”
“You’re doing it. Just by being here. I want to take a shower. I must smell like the inside of a whiskey bottle.”
“I could use one too. Come on, I’ll go with you.”
They walked up the stairs together. In the bathroom, she helped him out of his clothes and into the shower before she followed him. He reached for her, brought her in tight against him and held her while the warm water beat down on them.
“This goes a long way toward fixing what ails me,” he said, sighing with what sounded like contentment.
“Good.” Sam closed her eyes and held on to him, thankful that she’d chosen to stay home with him rather than go back to work. After a while, she reached for his bottle of shampoo and washed his hair. When she was done, he returned the favor.
He filled his hands with liquid soap and ran them reverently over her.
Sam watched him, wondering what he was thinking.
“I gave her twenty-five thousand,” he said.
“Harry told me.”
He looked at her, his beautiful eyes filled with pain. “Are you horrified?”
Sam combed the wet hair off his forehead. “Of course not. You did what you felt you needed to.”
“She’ll probably be back for more when that’s gone.”
“Probably.” Sam turned off the water and reached for their towels. “But we’ll be ready for her next time.”
A hint of a smile graced his face. “Will we?”
“Next time,” she said, kissing him, “she’ll deal with me.”
He chuckled. “I almost feel sorry for her.”
Sam secured a towel around his waist and then wrapped another around herself. “Don’t bother feeling sorry for her. She isn’t worth your time. Neither is Peter, for that matter.”
“That’s different.”
“It’s really not, Nick. We can’t give these people power over us. The minute we do, they win.”
“So I’m not supposed to be concerned about what he might do to you once he’s out of jail?”
“We’ll take every possible precaution, but there’s no need for us to give him the satisfaction of knowing that we care in the least about him.”
“If that’s how you feel, you have to be pissed about what I did today.”
“I’m concerned about political fallout for you, but I’m not mad at you for doing it. From now on, though, how about we deny him the satisfaction?”
“Won’t that infuriate him?”
“He’s already infuriated. Nothing we do or don’t do will change that. We don’t care, remember?”
“I’ll care if he comes at my wife. I’ll definitely care about that.”
Sam rested her hands on his chest. “She’s very capable of taking care of herself. You need to keep that in mind.”
He put his arms around her. “As capable as she is, even she didn’t think he’d strap bombs to our cars.”
“She knows better now. She’ll be looking for the first chance to nail his ass—but she’ll
never
let him know that.”