Fatal Flaw Read online

  His shrug was full of the insolence she’d come to expect from him. “It’s a long time ago. I can’t be expected to remember shit that happened years ago off the top of my head. I had some time to think about it.”

  The fist to the face no doubt helped to move things along, Sam thought. “Can you give me a physical description of this Leroy fellow?”

  “He was a big black dude. About six-six, two-fifty. Muscular.”

  “You don’t know anything else about him?”

  Gardner shook his head. “He wasn’t there for long.”

  Sam placed her hands on the table and leaned in close to him. “If I find out you’re dicking me around, that mess on your face will be the least of your concerns, you hear me?”

  “I ain’t dicking with you. I’m telling the truth.”

  Strangely, Sam believed him. “You’d better be.” She turned to leave the room.

  “Hey! What’re you gonna do for me?”

  “Nothing,” she said. “You’re going away for a good long time on the rape charges. Not a damned thing I can do about that.”

  “You bitch! You said you’d get me a deal if I gave you something on your dad’s shooting.”

  She glanced at Gonzo. “Does that sound like something I would say?”

  “Not that I’ve ever heard, Lieutenant.”

  Sam smiled at Gardner. “You must’ve heard me wrong.”

  “Motherfucking cunt.”

  “I love when they roll out the C word, don’t you, Detective Gonzales? It makes me all tingly inside.”

  Gonzo rolled his eyes at her. “Are we done here?”

  Sam glared at Gardner. “We’re done.”

  He screamed swears at her retreating back until the deputies subdued him. That was for Faith Miller, she said to herself, thinking of the assistant U.S. attorney Gardner had threatened.

  “I’ll dig into the new lead ASAP,” Gonzo said. “I know you must be anxious to get back to the hospital.”

  “That’d be great.” She checked her watch and couldn’t believe it was already eight o’clock. “I do need to get over there.”

  “Go ahead. I’ll let you know what I find out.”

  “Earlier, my dad suggested we look into Carl Olivo’s involvement in civic organizations like the Rotary Club,” Sam said. “It’s a stretch, but he thought we should check.”

  “I’ll look into that too.”

  “Thanks.”

  On the way back to the detectives’ pit, Sam was stopped by at least ten other officers wanting to know how her father was doing. Their concern bolstered her sagging spirits. In the pit, Freddie let her know he was still digging through Trainer’s financials, but so far nothing unusual had appeared.

  “Give it another hour and then get out of here,” she said. “I’m going back to the hospital. Call me if you hear anything from Lindsey or crime scene.” She started to walk out but stopped when she remembered the card Gonzo had mentioned. “Show me that card.”

  “Oh, right.” He went to his cubicle and returned with the card, which was encased in an evidence bag.

  “Dear Sam,” the letter began. “After all that you have done for others in your life, I hope you get absolutely everything you deserve. And then some. With much love from an Old Friend.” The word everything had been underlined three times.

  “Wow,” Sam said. “That’s creepy.”

  “I thought so too.”

  “Get it to the lab,” Sam said, rubbing her temples. “I was hoping this was someone’s idea of a joke, but whoever it is, they’re not giving up.”

  “I think it might be time for one of us to have a conversation with your ex-husband.”

  A headache that had been threatening all afternoon was quickly coming to fruition. “I’ll do it. I don’t want any of you dealing with him.”

  “Why not?” Gonzo asked with a glint in his eye. “Any one of us would love five minutes alone with him.”

  “No,” she said. “I’ll do it.”

  “Aw, you ruin all my fun.”

  “That’s my job. I’m going. Call me if you hear anything.”

  “You got it. Give my best to your stepmother and sisters.”

  “I will.” As Sam was heading out of the pit, Lt. Stahl came around the corner. She tried to dodge him, but he blocked her path. She came perilously close to bouncing off his fat belly. The near miss added nausea to her growing list of ailments. “What do you want?”

  “A moment of your time.”

  “That’s more than I’ve got.” Ever since Sam had replaced him as the lieutenant in charge of the homicide detectives Stahl had been making her life miserable. He’d even used his new bully pulpit as an internal affairs officer to call her up on disciplinary charges for getting involved with Nick during the investigation into John O’Connor’s murder. Fortunately, he’d been unsuccessful, but he continued to badger her.

  “Not so fast, Lieutenant,” he said, his jowls jiggling with every word.

  “I have somewhere I need to be. Could you please get out of my way?”

  “Internal Affairs is looking into your wedding,” he said with barely restrained glee.

  What the hell? She kept the thought to herself to deny him any satisfaction. Pushing past him, she said, “Whatever.”

  He followed her. “Is that all you have to say about how you invited some members of your squad but not others?”

  Sam spun around to face him and once again came far too close to that protruding belly. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “There’s been a complaint.” Stahl positively beamed as he broke the news to her. “As you well know, a commanding officer can’t show favoritism to one of her subordinates over another.”

  “I didn’t show favoritism. I invited my friends. Do you know what friends are, Lieutenant?”

  His fat face went purple with rage as he pushed a sheet of paper at her.

  Sam had no choice but to take the paper or be touched by him.

  “Administrative hearing.”

  “Again? You’re starting to become a bad cliché, Lieutenant. Don’t you have anyone else to pick on?”

  “Must suck for you to be in trouble—again—and dear old daddy can’t do a thing for you this time.”

  Sam’s blood went from simmer to boil in the flash of an instant. “Fuck you, you miserable excuse for a human being.”

  Somehow his purple face got even darker, but Sam didn’t stick around to hear what he had to say. She’d had more than enough of this day.

  Chapter 12

  Sam called Gonzo from the car and told him about the encounter with Stahl.

  “That son of a bitch,” Gonzo muttered. “He seriously needs to get a life.”

  “Until he does, he’s out to make mine miserable.” Sam gripped the steering wheel, trying to contain the rage that threatened to consume her. “As much as I hate to dignify this with any kind of response, can you sniff around a bit and find out who complained about not being invited to the wedding?”

  “Absolutely. For what it’s worth, I haven’t heard the slightest ripple about anyone being put out. But I’ll find out who it was.”

  “Be subtle, and don’t let on that I asked you to.”

  “Jeez, Sam, give me some credit, huh?” he said, his voice laced with humor. “I’m known for my smoothness.”

  Despite her anger, the comment drew a smile from her. “Did I screw this up, Gonzo? Should I have invited everyone?”

  “Don’t be crazy. How could you have done that?”

  “I hate the idea that I might’ve walked right into another excuse for Stahl to dig into my business.”

  “I wouldn’t sweat it. Whoever supposedly complained wouldn’t dare testify against you in a formal hearing. There’s not a detective in this squad that doesn’t think the world of you. I know that for a fact.”

  “There’s at least one.”

  “Go be with your dad. I’ll take care of things here.”

  Sam appreciated his st
eady support and friendship. “Any word on the sergeant’s list?”

  “Nothing yet.”

  “I’m pulling for you, and I’ve already put dibs to keep you on my team.”

  “I love when you talk dirty to me, Lieutenant.”

  Sam snorted with laughter. “I talked kinda dirty to Stahl just now. I’m sure he’ll add a smack for that.”

  “Eww, don’t even put the image of dirty talk and Stahl in my head. I’ll have nightmares.”

  Still smiling, Sam said, “Talk to you later.” She grabbed the first parking space she could find at the hospital and half walked, half ran to the ICU. Nick was alone in the waiting room. He had his arms crossed and his head tipped back against the wall. Since he seemed to be asleep, Sam stepped out to find a nurse to get an update on her dad.

  “No change,” the nurse overseeing his case said.

  “Should there have been a change by now?”

  “Not always. Let’s see what the next few hours bring. The antibiotics should begin to kick in soon.”

  Dejected by the less-than-encouraging report, Sam trudged back to the waiting room and crawled into her husband’s lap.

  His arms encircled her even as his eyes remained closed. “I sure hope you’re my wife, or I’m going to be in big trouble.”

  “It’s me,” she said, burrowing into his chest and breathing in the comforting scent of home.

  “Rough day?”

  “Miserable day, and no change here.”

  “Yet. They said it could be a while.”

  “Where is everyone?”

  “Angela took Celia to get something to eat. Tracy is in with your dad.”

  “Have you gotten to see him?”

  “Briefly a couple of hours ago.”

  “Thanks so much for staying all this time.”

  “I didn’t mind. It was a night off anyway.”

  Sam touched her lips to his, and he finally opened his eyes.

  His hand found its way to her face. “What’s wrong?”

  “What isn’t wrong?” The frustration of the day threatened to boil over. “My dad is fighting for his life, we’ve got a murdered woman who everyone loved, and her poor kids are destroyed. I got a good new lead on my dad’s shooting, but I had to turn it over to Gonzo because I needed to be here. Freddie saw his mom canoodling with his deadbeat dad, and now he’s ‘new’ Freddie, and just now Stahl slapped me with yet another IAB summons because someone in my squad is pissed that he or she wasn’t invited to our wedding.”

  “Wow. All that today?”

  Sam nodded. “I want to go back to Bora Bora. Right now.”

  “I wish I could wave a magic wand and make it happen.”

  “If you had a wand, I’d want you to use it to fix my dad. In fact, make him whole again, would you?”

  He pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. “I’d do it in a second if I could.”

  “I love you for that—and many other things.”

  “I love you too, babe. I’m so sorry you had such a shitty day.”

  “How long is Tracy going to be in there? I want to see him.”

  “You can go to the door and let her know you’re here.”

  Sam snuggled deeper into his embrace, absorbing the comfort that only he could provide. “I will. In a minute.”

  After finding nothing compelling in the Trainers’ financial records, Freddie texted Sam to let her know the results and headed for the parking lot. Since seeing his mother with his father earlier, Freddie had been grappling with the implications. He knew Sam was right—he should go talk to his mother and get to the bottom of what was going on. Except the last thing he wanted to hear was that his mother was giving that son of a bitch another chance.

  How could she even talk to him after he’d left her alone with a young child? When Freddie thought about how they’d struggled to get by without the support of his father, he wanted to kill the guy. His mother had worked two jobs for years to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table. Without their church, they would’ve had no social life at all because they wouldn’t have been able to afford it. And now she was seeing him again? Laughing with him? Walking down a public street without a care in the world as to who might see her with the man who’d caused them such suffering?

  The whole thing made Freddie sick. And it made him furious. His mother’s disapproval of Elin had been driving him slowly insane. Well, those days were over now. Never again would he allow his mother to influence his life or his decisions.

  Normally, he would’ve called Elin to see if she was available, but tonight he was new Freddie, and new Freddie didn’t ask. New Freddie just showed up, and if she didn’t like it, too bad. By the time he arrived at Elin’s apartment, he was in one hell of a mood. He knew he was hardly fit for company tonight, but that didn’t stop him from taking the stairs to her place two at a time. It didn’t stop him from knocking a little too loudly on her door. And when she answered wearing a short silk robe and not much of anything else, it didn’t stop him from lifting her into his arms and carrying her straight to bed.

  “Freddie, what—”

  “Don’t talk,” he said. “Not now.” Capturing her mouth in a deep kiss, he moved quickly to get rid of clothes, only breaking the kiss to pull the shirt over his head.

  She looked up at him with big blue eyes. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing.” He shifted his attention to her neck, leaving a trail of open-mouth kisses on his way to the breasts that dominated his fantasies. Her pierced nipples sprang to life under the attention of his tongue and then his teeth.

  She cried out and her fingers burrowed into his hair so tightly it probably would’ve hurt if all his attention hadn’t been focused on the burning need to possess her, to make her his.

  He freed himself and plunged into her tight, wet heat. Oh my God, did that feel good!

  “Freddie! Condom!” Her frantic tone snapped him out of the lust-filled haze he’d drifted into.

  “Sorry,” he muttered. Withdrawing from her he reached for the bedside table where she kept a ready supply and rolled on the ribbed kind she preferred. When he returned his attention to her she was looking up at him, her face set in a puzzled expression.

  “Why won’t you tell me what’s wrong?” she asked.

  “I told you. It’s nothing.”

  She rolled out from under him and tugged her robe closed.

  Groaning he landed face-first on the bed. “Come on, Elin.”

  “You come on. Tell me why you came in here acting like the big macho man when that’s so not you.”

  “It’s the new me.”

  Her face wrinkled up with dismay. “What the hell does that mean?”

  “I’m tired of being so predictable and boring.”

  “You’re neither of those things. Who told you that?”

  “Doesn’t matter. I realized it’s time to make some changes.”

  “What kind of changes?”

  “Can we have sex first and then I’ll tell you?”

  “Tell first, sex second.”

  Freddie let out a long sigh. Why did all the women in his life have to drive him crazy? Couldn’t just one of them be easy to understand and manage? He took a visual trip down Elin’s long muscular leg, and his cock surged with renewed interest.

  “Come here,” he said.

  She inched down the bed.

  “Closer.” He held out an arm to her. When she would’ve settled on his chest, he stopped her and turned to face her. He wanted to be able to see her for this.

  She rested a hand on his belly. “You’re acting weird.”

  “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be. I have something I want to tell you, but I’m afraid it’ll freak you out. It’s something I’ve wanted to tell you for a long time now.”

  “Okay.”

  As she watched him expectantly, Freddie ran his fingers over her gorgeous face, tangling them into her white-blond hair. “I love you.”

  Her eyes widened and her li
ps parted, as if there was something she wanted to say.

  “I know you didn’t sign on for serious and committed, but somewhere along the way I became very serious about you and extremely committed.”

  “But…I thought…You said you wanted to see other people.”

  “I never wanted to see anyone but you.”

  “Then why…? I don’t understand.”

  “I was letting my mother twist me up in knots, but that’s done now.”

  “What changed?”

  “I’ve made up my mind that you’re the one I want, and I’m done playing games or doing what other people want me to do.” He leaned in to kiss her. “I love you. I want to be with you. I want us to move in together.”

  She pulled back from him. “What did you say?”

  “Which part do you need me to say again?” Freddie lifted up and moved so he was on top of her. “The part about I love you, or the part about I want to live together?”

  “Both,” she said softly, still looking slightly dazed.

  He bent his head and kissed her. “I love you,” he whispered. “I want to live with you.”

  She linked her arms around his neck. “I thought you were looking for a way out when you said you wanted to see other people.”

  “I never wanted out, and I’ve never wanted anyone else. Not since the first time I saw you.”

  She ran her fingers through his hair. “I love you too.”

  For a second, Freddie wasn’t sure he’d heard her right. Then the words registered and his heart skipped a happy beat. “You do?”

  She nodded. “But I love old Freddie, not the guy who came in here tonight acting all alpha. That’s not you.”

  Grateful to know she returned his feelings, Freddie reached between them to open her robe and reveled in the feel of her skin against his. Soft yet strong, sweet yet tough, she’d become everything to him. It was such a relief to be able to tell her how he felt and to know she returned the feelings.

  He went out of his way to show her how much he loved her by worshiping every inch of her. Whereas before he’d been all about urgency, now he was about tenderness. She was the first woman he’d given his body to and now the first to receive his heart. He wanted to give her everything, to give her every reason to stay with him forever. Thoughts of his mother’s disapproval would normally be taking something away from his enjoyment of being with Elin, but tonight he refused to think of anything but the warm, willing woman who made him burn with desire.