Fatal Reckoning Read online

  “Ah, and for some reason, that makes perfect sense to me.”

  “Because you speak me. You get it.”

  “Yes, I do, and I know how hard it has to be for you to take a backseat right when things are heating up.”

  “It’s excruciating.”

  “But necessary. You know that, don’t you?”

  “Of course I do. Doesn’t mean I like it, though.”

  “I know, babe.” He slipped an arm around her shoulders and brought her head to rest on his chest.

  “Freddie said people are talking about how Conklin’s involvement in my dad’s case could bring down the chief.”

  “How so?”

  “He’s responsible for whatever happens on his watch. The fact that his top deputy withheld this info for four years isn’t going to reflect well on him.”

  “It’s not like he knew about it. Skip was one of his closest friends. He would’ve been all over it if he’d known.”

  “In the court of public opinion, good intentions often don’t matter.”

  “Well, that would truly suck if Joe lost his job because of this.”

  “I can’t imagine the department without him at the helm. He’s the best chief we’ve ever had. Most everyone thinks so. Not to mention I’d be completely screwed without him to run interference for me.” Sam couldn’t bear to think about that unsettling scenario.

  “Try not to go there until you have to. Nothing will happen overnight.”

  “I can’t help thinking about the fallout if Conklin was involved with my dad’s shooting in some way. It’ll be ugly for the department, for Uncle Joe, for me. Hell, it may even be ugly for you.”

  “Don’t worry about me. You’ve got enough to think about without taking that on.”

  “I’ve already caused you enough trouble by taking in the twins. I don’t want to cause you any more heartburn.”

  He kissed the top of her head. “I love your kind of heartburn.”

  Sam laughed. “You’re not right.”

  “If loving you is wrong, I don’t want to be right.”

  “Now you sound like a corny country song.” She glanced at him. “But you made me laugh, and I needed that, so thanks.”

  “That’s what I’m here for. Let’s get these kiddos in bed and spend some time in the loft. I think we both need a getaway.”

  “I’m all for that.”

  More than an hour later, they’d overseen baths and bedtime stories for the twins and tucked Scotty in with orders to shut off his light within thirty minutes.

  “I need a shower and then I’ll be up.”

  Nick kissed her cheek. “I’ll be waiting for you.”

  With anticipation of time alone with her sexy husband driving her, Sam rushed through the shower and applied the lavender-and-vanilla-scented lotion he loved so much. Wearing a robe, she stepped into the hallway and was relieved to find that the agent who normally stood watch outside Scotty’s door was not there. Nick probably told him to take a break because Sam hated the agents knowing that they were stealing away to their private oasis upstairs. Best husband ever.

  She took the stairs two at a time, reaching the top to find Nick sitting on the end of the double lounge chair waiting for her, naked as a jaybird and fully aroused. Laughing, she shed her robe and dropped to her knees between his spread legs. “Excellent presentation.”

  “I thought you might appreciate that. I really hoped it was you coming up the stairs.”

  She laughed again. “I appreciate you.”

  “Mmm.” He leaned forward to nuzzle her neck. “I appreciate you and the scented lotion that turns me on. We can’t ever run out of that.”

  “We should buy stock in the company.”

  “I’ll do that tomorrow.”

  “Only you could make me laugh and forget about the madness swirling around me.”

  He combed his fingers through her hair. “I like to hear you laugh. It’s one of my favorite things, especially when I know you don’t have much to laugh about at the moment.”

  “I still have a lot to be thankful for, especially a husband who understands me better than anyone ever has.” She leaned in to kiss his chest and breathe him in. “And who smells so good he makes me want to do wicked things to him.”

  “Don’t let me stop you.”

  Smiling at his witty reply, she kissed a path down his chest to the abdomen that rippled with tight muscles. Her hair slid over the rigid length of his cock.

  “Samantha...”

  “Hmm?”

  “Quit torturing me.”

  “And do what?”

  He made a sound that was a cross between a groan and a grunt.

  Smiling, she skimmed her lips over the steely length of his erection, drawing a hissing sound from him as he palmed the back of her head, encouraging without pressuring. Always the consummate gentleman, even in the throes of desire. Sam decided to take mercy on him, wrapping her lips around the wide head and sucking.

  His fingers tangled into her hair, his hips lifting in a silent plea for more, which she gave him, lashing him with her tongue and taking him as far as she could, letting her throat close around him the way she only ever had for him. Before him, this act had been about obligation and fair play. With him, it was about trying to give him a fraction of the pleasure he gave her.

  “Sam...” He gave her hair a gentle tug. “Babe... Let’s do this together.”

  She took her sweet time releasing him from her mouth and then looked up to find him watching her with a fierce, sexy expression. Sometimes she still couldn’t believe all that was for her. Then he reached for her, brought her into his embrace and fell back on the double lounge chair, bringing her with him.

  He smoothed the hair back from her face. “Hi there.”

  “Hi yourself.”

  “You sure know how to drive me crazy.”

  “I speak Nick.”

  “Fluently.”

  She laughed and gazed at him greedily, taking in every detail of the olive-toned skin, hazel eyes, thick eyelashes and sexy lips.

  “What?”

  “I was just thinking that only you could make me laugh and forget the shitstorm swirling all around me.”

  “I wish I could make it better for you somehow.”

  “You are. This is helping.”

  “Let me see what I can do to further distract you.” He rolled them so he was on top and kissed her.

  Sam wrapped her arms and legs around him, losing herself to him and the magic they created together. Nothing else could compare to this, she thought as he tugged her nipple into the heat of his mouth. “Nick.” She squirmed under him, trying to move things along, even knowing how he hated to be rushed.

  “You aren’t being impatient, are you?”

  “Yes, I am.”

  “And what is it that my baby wants?”

  “You. Only you.” She pressed her pelvis against his cock. “Right now.”

  He surprised her when he gave her exactly what she’d asked for in one long, deep stroke that filled her so perfectly. “Like that?”

  “Yes,” she said, gasping. “Just like that.” She held on tight to him as he moved in her.

  Then he repositioned her, raising her hips and hitting a spot deep inside her.

  Sam cried out and held on tighter to him as he reached down to where they were joined to coax her to an orgasm that crashed over her like huge waves hitting the beach.

  He was right there with her, his fingers digging into her hip and shoulder as he let himself go, sagging into her embrace afterward.

  Sam ran her fingers through his hair, which was damp with sweat. Even when sweaty, he still smelled delicious to her.

  “Am I crushing you?”

  “Nope. Feels good.”

  “Everything about thi
s feels good.”

  “I just want you to know... I wouldn’t be able to deal with this without you and our family to prop me up.”

  “We’ll always be right here for you. I just wish there was more I could do to help you through it. I know what a tough loss this is for you.”

  “I keep thinking I dreamed it, you know? That he’s not really gone, that none of it actually happened.”

  “The suddenness of it makes it harder to accept. Someone at work today said that’s better for him but harder for those left behind.”

  “I guess.” She yawned and her eyes suddenly felt heavy.

  “Let’s get you to bed.” Nick pushed himself up on his arms and withdrew from her. He picked up the robe from the foot of the bed and held it for her.

  Sam dragged herself off the comfortable mattress and let him wrap the robe around her. As much as she’d prefer to stay put, they needed to be able to hear the twins if they woke up in the night. It didn’t happen every night, but when it did there were usually tears involved. “We need a monitor for the twins’ room, so we can hear them from up here.”

  “I’ll ask Shelby to order one tomorrow.”

  Sam was so tired that her legs felt rubbery beneath her as she made her way down the stairs, past Max, the Secret Service agent positioned in the hallway outside Scotty’s room. He nodded to them as they went by.

  “I hate that he knows we’re coming from a booty call,” Sam said when they were inside their room with the door closed.

  “Is it still a booty call when we’re married?”

  “If there is booty involved, it’s a booty call.”

  With both hands on her ass, he gave a gentle squeeze. “And I do so love your booty.”

  “There’s way too much of my booty.”

  “No way.” He continued to nuzzle her neck. “There’s a perfect amount.”

  “You have to say that. You love me.”

  “I do love you, and your perfect, sexy booty.”

  She wrapped her arms around him and held on for the longest time, so long she nearly dozed off standing up.

  “Into bed with you.” Nick nudged her toward her side of the bed. He pulled down the covers, helped her out of the robe and waited for her to get settled before tucking her in.

  Sam’s eyes shot open. “The messenger bag.”

  “What?”

  “My dad’s bag.” She sat up and the covers fell to her waist. “I need my phone. It’s in the pocket of the robe.”

  He got it for her and handed it over.

  Sam put through a call to Captain Malone, who answered on the second ring.

  “What’s up?”

  “Sorry to call so late, but I had a thought about Conklin.”

  “You’re not allowed to have thoughts about Conklin right now.”

  “Are you searching his house?”

  “First thing in the morning.”

  “Are you looking for the messenger bag?”

  “It’s on the list.”

  “Okay.” Sam sagged into the pillows, filled with relief. “Okay.”

  “Try to get some sleep, will you?”

  “I’ll try. Talk to you in the morning.” Sam closed the flip phone and plugged it into the charger she kept on the bedside table.

  “Can they get that done overnight?” Nick asked from his side of the bed.

  “They’ll have to wake up a judge, but they should be able to make a case that it’s urgent. If his wife came to see him in jail, he could tell her what to get rid of, so time is of the essence.”

  “You really think he had something to do with your father’s shooting?”

  “I don’t want to think that—for many, many reasons—but I can’t ignore what the evidence is telling me. Archie is looking through the footage from the day of the shooting. If he can put Conklin there, that’d be huge.”

  “It’s not enough that your guy Davis and one of the paramedics said he was there?”

  “That’s damning, for sure, but the video would be irrefutable.”

  Nick reached for her, and Sam turned toward him, sighing as he wrapped his arms around her. “Try to shut it off for a few hours so you can get some rest.” His hand made soothing circles on her back.

  Even as her brain continued to spin, she couldn’t keep her eyes open any longer. Wrapped up in her husband’s love, she was able to let it go and relax into sleep.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  LATE-NIGHT PHONE CALLS were part of the job, but they still stopped Joe Farnsworth’s heart every time, usually because they involved some sort of trouble. He grabbed the phone off the bedside table and started to get out of bed so he wouldn’t disturb Marti.

  She stopped him with a hand on his arm. “I’m awake.”

  “Sorry.” He took the call from Jake. “What’s up?”

  “Sam called me to ask if anyone had thought to get a warrant for Conklin’s house in regard to the missing messenger bag. With your permission, I’m going to wake up a judge to request a warrant tonight because Conklin’s wife was in to see him earlier.”

  Jake didn’t have to spell out the need for urgency, especially in light of the wife’s visit. “Do it.”

  “I’m on it.”

  “The messenger bag you’re looking for... The last time I saw it, he had the Kiss Me I’m Irish key chain I brought back from Ireland for him attached to it. Not sure if it was still there that last day, but I figured I’d mention it.”

  “That’s good to know.”

  “Keep me posted?”

  “You got it.”

  Joe ended the call but kept the phone in his hand, almost as if he expected it to ring again momentarily.

  Marti turned over to face him. “What’s going on?”

  “We’re going to get a warrant to search Conklin’s house.”

  “Oh, Joe. Dear God. Has it come to that?”

  Per his orders to the others, he hadn’t told her, but it would only be a matter of time before the news got out. “We arrested him earlier. He says he wasn’t on G Street the day of Skip’s shooting. We have two witnesses who can put him there. One of them is a man who ran back to offer aid to Skip and has checked in with Conklin every year on the anniversary of the shooting. We’d never heard his name before this week. And one of the paramedics who was on the scene told Sam that he gave Skip’s messenger bag to Conklin. It’s never been seen again. That’s what Jake’s call was about. We’re getting a warrant to search Conklin’s home for the bag and anything else that might be relevant.”

  Marti’s expression registered shock and horror. “You have to be kidding me with this.”

  “You have no idea how much I wish I was kidding.”

  “Why would he withhold that information for all this time? Skip was his friend.”

  “Your guess is as good as mine.” He paused, considered and decided to tell her what’d happened recently with Wallack. It went against everything he believed in to tell tales out of work, even to her, but this one needed to be shared if only to help him wrap his head around it. “This isn’t the first time he’s kept something to himself that he should’ve shared.”

  “What else?”

  “He knew Kenny Wallack was missing for two weeks before we found out. Sam went to his house looking for him in the middle of the night. His wife freaked out thinking he had to be dead if she was there at that hour. That’s when we found out he’d been missing for two weeks. She’d reported it to Kenny’s close friend Conklin, who kept it to himself.”

  “Why didn’t he tell you?”

  “He said he was afraid Wallack had fallen off the wagon again and he was trying to protect him.”

  “And you believed that?”

  “I didn’t know what to believe, but I suspended him for a week for not following proper procedures in reporting a miss
ing person. Ever since then, he’s been keeping his distance.”

  “I can’t believe what I’m hearing. He’s always been one of your closest friends and advisers.”

  “I know, and because of that, his downfall could spell mine too.”

  “How so?”

  “It’s well-known that we’re close friends, and if my deputy chief and longtime friend is crooked in some way, that’s going to rain down on me.”

  “That’s not fair! You knew nothing about any of this.”

  “The argument will be made that I should’ve known. The buck stops with me, honey. You know how that works.”

  “It’s all so unbelievable.”

  “I know. For me too. Our academy class was known for being super tight—me, Jake, Skip, Conklin, Wallack, Steve Coyne. I was closer to Jake and Skip than the others, but I always thought any of them would have my back.”

  “I’ve been thinking a lot about Steven since I saw Alice at the funeral. The poor thing was so broken up over Skip’s passing.”

  “She would be. Skip was so good to her after Steven was killed, even at the expense of his own marriage when he was with Brenda.”

  “It’s strange that both Steven’s shooting and Skip’s are unsolved.”

  Her innocuous comment hit him like a fist to the gut. Was it possible the two shootings were somehow related, even coming several decades apart? The question had him reaching for the phone again.

  Marti sat up in bed. “Joe? What is it?”

  He put through the call to Jake, who picked up on the first ring. “What’s up?”

  “Marti said something.” It would be no surprise to Jake that he’d shared the latest developments with his wife.

  “What’d she say?”

  “About Steve Coyne and Skip both being part of unsolved shootings. It made me wonder.”

  “If they’re related somehow?”

  “Exactly.”

  “Jesus, Joe. I can’t even let my mind go there.”

  “I think our minds have to go there in light of recent events.”

  “You can’t possibly think...”