06 Fatal Mistake Read online

  Fatal Mistake: Book Six of the Fatal Series

  By Marie Force

  Book six of the Fatal series

  A critical error.

  A Cinderella season cut short.

  A star player murdered.

  D.C. is recovering from angry riots after one player’s mistake blew the D.C. Federals’ chance at the World Series, and Lt. Sam Holland is determined to unravel the twisted web of motives behind the star center fielder’s death. Was it a disgruntled fan, a spurned lover or a furious teammate?

  While Sam digs through clues, her husband, U.S. Senator Nick Cappuano, fights for his political life in the final days of his reelection campaign as financial irregularities threaten his future. It’s a distraction Nick can ill afford with Sam in the midst of another high-profile murder investigation and both of them trying to help their adopted son, Scotty, cope with the murder of a ball player he admired.

  Determined to bring the killer to justice, Sam must root out the truth before another mistake proves fatal.

  See how it all began for Sam and Nick in Fatal Affair.

  103,000 words

  Dear Reader,

  I’m writing this just after having returned from Disney World. It wasn’t my first trip to Disney and it won’t be my last. Even though I’m not fond of big crowds, I get sick if I even look at a twisty ride (though I still like to ride a few) and by the end of our visit we’re all invariably cranky, I still love it there. Disney truly has created something magical.

  Luckily, for those of you who don’t have a trip to Disney in your future, they’re not the only ones who can create something magical. Every month, Carina Press authors deliver us books that transport us to new times, new places and new adventures. This month is no different!

  I’m pleased to introduce New York Times bestselling author Stephanie Tyler’s new series, launching this month. This romance, set in post-apocalypse America, centers around the survival of the fittest: the motorcycle gangs of the future. Dark, edgy and steamy, Defiance is the first in this can’t-miss new series.

  Another New York Times bestselling author, Marie Force, is back with the next installment in her bestselling romantic suspense series. An error on the baseball field leads to murder in Fatal Mistake.

  And I’m happy to welcome Victoria Davies to Carina Press with her newest paranormal romance, Seducing the Demon Huntress.

  Joining these three is a lineup of fantastic authors returning to Carina Press. Don’t miss the latest installment of Love Letters Volume 3: Wicked Whispers. Verbal foreplay goes a long way in these four steamy stories. From author Christine d’Abo comes Sexcapades. Sparks fly between two rival internet bloggers in this erotic contemporary romance.

  Our last erotic offering for the month of June is the long-awaited sequel to Dana Marie Bell’s Blood of the Maple. In Throne of Oak, dark forces are converging on Maggie’s Grove, and a horde of hunters stalk supernaturals from the shadows.

  If you’re looking for more paranormal romances, Sheryl Nantus, PJ Schnyder, and Eleri Stone all have releases this month. Check out the new installments from Sheryl and Eleri respectively, Family Pride and Witch Bound. Meanwhile, join PJ on a new adventure as she kicks off her London Undead series with Bite Me. Zombies have taken over London and a werewolf finds himself protecting a woman who seems determined to put herself in harm’s way.

  Still in the “other world” genres, we have two releases: Fae Sutherland’s Sky Runners, a delicious male/male space opera; and the conclusion to Vivi Anna’s steampunk romance trilogy. The League of Illusion: Destiny wraps up with sorcerer Sebastian Davenport’s story.

  If you’re a fan of Downton Abbey, you’ll want to make sure you’re not missing out on Julie Rowe’s War Girls books. World War I generated many heroes—only some of them were men. Check out Enticing the Spymaster, her newest release, and go back and catch up with Saving the Rifleman, the first in this series. And while you’re in the past, why not stay there? Wendy Soliman’s Beguiling the Barrister also transports readers to a past time in this regency romance.

  Last but not least, two powerhouse authors have new releases to center you in the here and now. HelenKay Dimon explores love and lust in her return to Holloway with contemporary romance Just What He Wanted. Sexy Travis is the story we’ve all been waiting for!

  Adrienne Giordano rounds out our month of magical releases with Opposing Forces. In this romantic suspense, when a pharmaceutical distribution manager uncovers secret drug shipments at work, she and a savvy executive with political ties must risk everything—including their hearts—to stop the criminals and stay alive.

  No matter where your reading tastes take you, whether it’s the past, the future, or an alternate world, we’ve got an extensive catalog to help give you a magical experience without ever leaving the comfort of your own house (or needing to stand in line!).

  We love to hear from readers, and you can email us your thoughts, comments and questions to [email protected]. You can also interact with Carina Press staff and authors on our blog, Twitter stream and Facebook fan page.

  Happy reading!

  ~Angela James

  Executive Editor, Carina Press

  www.carinapress.com

  www.twitter.com/carinapress

  www.facebook.com/carinapress

  The Fatal Series

  Book 1: Fatal Affair

  Book 2: Fatal Justice

  Book 3: Fatal Consequences

  Book 3.5: Fatal Destiny, The Fatal Wedding Novella

  Book 4: Fatal Flaw

  Book 5: Fatal Deception

  Book 6: Fatal Mistake

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Copyright

  Chapter One

  This, Nick Cappuano thought, is as good as it gets—a cool, crisp autumn night at the ballpark with all his favorite people and the hometown D.C. Federals cruising toward a spot in their first-ever World Series. Going into the top of the ninth inning, the Feds were up two to one with three outs standing between them and the big show.

  “I can’t believe this is really happening,” Scotty said. The twelve-year-old vibrated with excitement.

  “Don’t get ahead of yourself.” As a lifelong Boston Red Sox fan, Nick had learned to be realistic about these things. “We don’t want to jinx them.”

  “All they need is three outs, and it’s a done deal.”

  “Shhh,” Nick said, cuffing the boy’s chin and making him smile. He’d been living with them for two months now, the best two months of Nick’s life. He and his wife Sam had filed formal adoption papers to make the boy an official member of the Cappuano family.

  Speaking of the devil. His gorgeous wife made her way across the luxury skybox he’d collaborated with his close friend, retired Senator Graham O’Connor, to secure for the big game. With a water bottle in hand, Sam plopped down on Nick’s lap, looping her arm around his shoulders.

  “Having fun, babe?” Nick asked.

  “So much fun. Freddie and Gonzo are already taking bets on the World Series.”

  “They shouldn’t do that,” Scotty said gravely. “Nick says they’ll jinx the Feds.”

  “Can you even stand t
his?” Graham asked, grinning widely as he joined the Cappuanos. “It only took three seasons to make the World Series! And to think, last year, they were giving away tickets to fill seats.”

  “Tell him, Scotty,” Nick said.

  “You’re going to jinx them.”

  Graham ruffled the boy’s hair. “I’m liking our chances with Lind on the mound to close this thing out.”

  The Feds’ lights-out closer, Rick Lind, was a big reason the team was sitting pretty in the top of the ninth inning in the seventh game of the National League Championship Series. The six-foot-six-inch pitcher’s hundred-mile-an-hour fastball was a thing of pure beauty.

  “If only the Sox had made it too, this would be even more exciting,” Scotty said.

  The Sox had flamed out of the pennant race in late September. “We have to take what we can get,” Nick said.

  Lind struck out the first two batters in the Giants’ order with six sizzling fastballs the hitters never saw coming. Sam and Nick joined the rest of the ballpark by standing to cheer the home team.

  “Holy cow,” Scotty said, on his feet now that only three strikes stood between the Feds and the World Series. “This is the most exciting night of my entire life!” He paused, glanced at Nick and frowned.

  “What?” Nick asked. The roar of the ballpark made it hard to hear, so he tipped his head closer to the boy.

  “Your convention speech was way cooler and so was what happened afterward.” That was the night Scotty told them that he’d like to live with them permanently, which ranked as one of the best moments in Nick’s life—and Sam’s.

  Smiling, Nick slung an arm around Scotty. “This is pretty darned cool too. It’s okay to push it into first place.”

  Scotty shook his head. “It’s a close second to that night.”

  “I’ll give you that.”

  Scotty looked up at him with a loving smile that nearly stopped Nick’s heart. He’d had no idea it was possible to love so deeply until Sam and Scotty had come into his life. He kept his arm around his son as the third Giants hitter stepped into the batter’s box and Lind went into his famously contorted windup. How he ever managed to throw strikes out of that windup was a mystery to every baseball fan in America.

  “He looks like Big Bird on acid,” Sam said dryly, cracking up everyone in the box.

  The fans stood as one, roaring as the game came down to two more pitches from the best closer in baseball.

  The snap of the second strike hitting the catcher’s mitt could be heard seven levels up in the skybox. Nick glanced at the scoreboard in center field where the pitch speed had been posted at 103 miles per hour. Holy shit. Lind was pulling out the biggest of the big guns for this final inning.

  The volume in the park was earsplitting by the time Lind threw the second strike of the at bat.

  To Nick’s left were Sam, her partner Detective Freddie Cruz and his girlfriend Elin, Detective Tommy “Gonzo” Gonzales holding his son Alex, Gonzo’s fiancée—and Nick’s chief of staff—Christina Billings, Sam’s dad Skip, and his wife Celia, Graham and his wife Laine, Terry O’Connor and his girlfriend, D.C. Medical Examiner Dr. Lindsey McNamara, the O’Connors’ daughter Lizbeth and her family, and Sam’s sister Tracy and her family.

  Also enjoying the box seats were Sam and Nick’s assistant, Shelby Faircloth, and Nick’s friend Derek Kavanaugh, who’d brought his baby daughter Maeve. Nick was glad to see Derek getting out again after the devastating loss of his wife Victoria. Derek was talking to Shelby, who held Maeve and laughed with Derek at the baby’s antics. Derek seemed more relaxed than Nick had seen him since his life imploded, which was a welcome relief.

  The entire group was laughing and cheering, and Scotty had gone from vibrating to bouncing up and down. While he, too, was a lifelong Red Sox fan, something he and Nick had bonded over from the beginning of their friendship, Scotty had become a big fan of the Feds this season. This was especially true since the baseball camp he attended in the District over the summer, at which he’d met the team’s all-star center fielder Willie Vasquez.

  Willie was now bent at the waist, staring intently at the action unfolding on the mound as Lind wound up and delivered another pitch that was fouled off. The frenzied energy in the stadium deflated a bit as the ball sailed into the seats near left field. But the roar began anew as Lind wound up, delivering a breaking ball that was again fouled off.

  Nick glanced down to find Scotty biting his nails as he stared at the diamond below where the catcher, first baseman and shortstop were conferencing with Lind on the mound.

  When he caught Nick watching him, Scotty dropped the hand from his mouth. “This is so stressful.”

  “Imagine how the players must feel.”

  “I may not be cut out for professional sports.”

  The kid was endlessly amusing, which was one of many reasons he and Sam loved him so much. “Well, luckily you have plenty of time to make career decisions, buddy.”

  “That’s true.”

  When the conference on the mound broke up, Scotty joined the rest of the crowd in clapping and calling out encouragement to Lind.

  As the pitcher stared down the batter, Sam’s hand clutched Nick’s arm—tightly.

  He glanced over to find her riveted by the action on the field as Lind delivered. The crack of the bat had thousands of people gasping as the batter raced toward first base, beating the shortstop’s throw to the bag.

  “It’s okay,” Nick said, resting a hand on Scotty’s shoulder. “It’s only one man on.” He didn’t say that a home run would give the lead to the Giants, because Scotty didn’t need to hear that—and he already knew. To Sam, Nick said, “Um, that’s starting to hurt.”

  “Oh, sorry.” She released her grip on his arm, but only slightly.

  Scotty was biting nails on both hands as Lind walked the next batter in four pitches, indication that his legendary control had been broken by the unexpected hit. Once again, the catcher, first baseman and shortstop approached the mound, this time with the team’s pitching coach and manager, Bob Minor, in tow.

  “I can’t even stand to look,” Scotty said, turning his face into Nick’s chest.

  Nick patted Scotty’s back, hoping to provide comfort. “Stay strong, my man. We only need one out.”

  With adrenaline and anxiety duking it out in his own bloodstream, Nick had to remind himself this was only a game, a thought he refrained from sharing with Scotty.

  “Time to look again,” Nick said as the next batter approached the plate.

  Scotty returned his attention to the game, clapping and shouting his encouragement to the team.

  Sam’s grip again tightened on Nick’s arm, but since he loved being her main squeeze, he didn’t complain.

  Two fouls and three balls later, Nick was looking for something to squeeze. The tension in the ballpark was palpable, especially after the runner on second stole third, landing in a diving slide that took the Feds completely by surprise.

  “Crap,” Scotty uttered, echoing the sentiments of Feds fans everywhere.

  With runners at the corners and one out standing between the Feds and the World Series, every player was on full alert, and every fan was on their feet.

  “Come on, come on, come on,” Scotty chanted as Lind went into the windup.

  Another foul into the seats behind home plate.

  “I don’t know how much more of this I can take,” Scotty said.

  “Spoken by a Red Sox fan who has only lived through the decade of success,” Skip said from the other side of Sam.

  “That’s not my fault,” Scotty said, making the others laugh.

  “Hang in there, pal,” Sam said, leaning in front of Nick to address Scotty. “You want to hold hands or something?”

  “Nah, my hands are too sweaty.”

  “I don’t mind.” Sam extended her hand to Scotty, who grabbed it gratefully.

  She and Nick shared a smile, and then she let out a whistle that nearly deafened him. Who knew she
could do that?

  “Come on, Lind!” she screamed. “Get it done!”

  “I think we’ve made a fan out of her,” Nick said to Scotty.

  “That’s what we get for dragging her to games all summer.”

  “I can hear you two talking about me.”

  Nick’s retort was swallowed when Lind let loose with another fastball. The crack of the bat silenced the screaming crowd as the ball arced to center field where Willie Vasquez waited patiently. Only because Nick had switched his focus to the giant TV screen in the box, did he see Vasquez take his eye off the ball for a fraction of a second to check the runner on third base.

  That fraction of a second was all it took for the stiff breeze to intervene, sending the ball sailing over Willie’s head. It took another fraction of a second for Willie to realize what’d happened. By then, right fielder Cecil Mulroney had grabbed the ball and returned it to the infield. But the damage was done. Both runs had scored, and the Giants had taken the lead.

  The same fans who’d been cheering so loudly a few minutes ago were now booing even louder, and trash rained down on the outfield from the bleachers.

  “I don’t understand,” Scotty said, his eyes swimming with tears. “How could he miss that? It was an easy fly.”

  “He took his eye off the ball,” Nick said, shocked by the turn of events. “That’s all it takes.”

  As the grounds crew scrambled around the outfield, cleaning up trash that continued to come from the seats above, security wrestled with enraged fans in the bleachers. Nick was glad to be in a skybox, away from the frenzy erupting around the stadium.

  Vazquez stood alone in center field, seeming dazed by what had happened.

  A tap on Nick’s shoulder had him turning to Eric Douglas, one of the Secret Service agents assigned to his detail. They’d been tailing him in the waning days of his reelection campaign, ever since Sam pinned Victoria Kavanaugh’s murder on former presidential candidate Arnie Parsons and he’d vowed revenge on her family.

  “Senator, we’d like to get you and your family out of here,” Eric said.

  “Not until the game is over,” Nick said.

  “We’d like to go now. Just in case the situation escalates.”