Chapter Twelve
Sam heated up Shelby’s meatballs and boiled some pasta for dinner. Nick and Scotty were much better, but still not that interested in food. They ate the soup Celia had sent over while she and Josh had the pasta and meatballs.
Josh pushed the food around on his plate, not showing much interest in the meal.
Nick glanced at Sam, his brow raised in question as if to ask, what the hell Josh was doing here.
Though she’d explained the need to keep Josh safe, bringing him here had been a questionable decision at best. But what was she supposed to do? Where else could she have taken him where there was no chance the most powerful law enforcement official in the nation would find him?
Her home was the safest place for him. No doubt about that, but it was a lot to ask of Nick—and Scotty, who tried to engage Josh in conversation.
“Do you like sports?” Scotty asked.
“Some.”
“Which ones?”
“Baseball, but my dad always said it was boring as shit. He hates it.”
“My dad and I love baseball. We go to lots of Feds games and last year we saw the Red Sox play at Fenway. That was so cool.”
“I’d love to go to Fenway sometime,” Josh said wistfully.
“You should. It’s awesome. We sat in the Green Monster seats, and I got to see Big Papi before he retired. He’s my favorite player. I liked Willie Vasquez from the Feds, but he got murdered.”
“I know. I liked him, too.”
“All because he dropped a ball.”
Sam didn’t mention that there was a lot more behind Willie’s murder than the error he’d made on the field. The loss of one of her son’s favorite ballplayers had been traumatic enough for him at the time. There was no need to revisit that now.
“Do you have homework you need to do before you go back to school?” she asked.
Scotty frowned. “I don’t know. Probably.”
“You ought to check in with some of your classmates so you can find out what’s due.”
“I’m sick. I don’t have to do it now.”
“You’ll have to do it eventually,” Nick said. “If you do some now and some later, it won’t be as awful.”
“I guess. I’ll see if I can find out.” To Josh, he said, “Do you like Xbox?”
“Yeah.”
“You wanna play?”
Josh glanced at Sam, who nodded. “Sure,” he said.
“I’ll get the dishes,” she said. “You guys go ahead.”
“Thanks for dinner,” Scotty said, taking his bowl to the sink.
“Yeah, um, thanks,” Josh said as he too delivered his plate to the sink.
They left the room, and Sam forced herself to meet Nick’s questioning gaze.
“This is weird,” he said.
“I know, and I’m sorry, but this place is like a fortress with the Secret Service surrounding us. It was the best place for him until we figure out what’s going on.”
“This might be the strangest case you’ve ever been involved in, and that’s saying something considering some of the crap you’ve dealt with.”
Sam poured herself a glass of wine. “It’s bizarre. I’m praying the DNA will be back tomorrow so we can get some answers for Josh—and the Rollings family.”
“You haven’t told them anything yet, have you?”
She shook her head. “I talked to the detective in charge of the kidnapping case, and we agreed to keep it between us until we had proof one way or the other. I let him know about Josh as a professional courtesy.”
“It would be quite something if you could help to solve the mystery for Taylor’s family, but the possibility of Hamilton being involved in something like this is…”
“It’s hard to comprehend.”
“Yeah.” Sam got up to deal with the dishes and was standing at the sink when his arms encircled her waist, making her smile.
He nudged her hair aside and delivered a series of kisses to her neck as his erection pressed against her back.
“Someone is feeling better.”
“Much better.”
“I’m so glad. I don’t like it when you’re sick. It’s scary.”
“Sorry you were scared, babe.”
Sam dried her hands and turned to face him, taking in the scruff on his jaw, the paler-than-usual face and the hazel eyes that burned with desire for her. “Nice to have you back.”
He bent his head to kiss her softly. “I’m still feeling a little achy in some places. I could use some TLC from my wife tonight.”
She laughed at his blatant come-on. “Your wife has been afraid to go near you for fear of contracting the plague.”
“I’m no longer communicable.” Raising his hands to her face, he kissed her more insistently as his erection pressed against her.
That’s all it took to light a fire inside her. All he had to do was look at her and she wanted him, but when he kissed her and touched her this way, she was lost to him every time. But he’d been so sick only yesterday, and her better judgment took over.
“Not yet.”
“Hmm?” His lips moved softly over her neck, feeding the fire.
It took every bit of willpower Sam could muster to gently push on his chest.
“What?” he asked, sounding perplexed because she hardly ever pushed him away, and it was the last thing she wanted to do now.
“You were so sick only yesterday.”
“I’m fine now.”
“No, you’re not.”
He rubbed his erection against her, his fingers digging into her hips as he tugged her into his embrace. “I’m fine, Samantha.”
She shook her head. “No.”
“You’re not seriously saying no to me.”
“First time for everything, my love.”
“No way. I can change your mind.”
“I have no doubt you could, but you’re not going to. One more day won’t kill you.”
“It might, and think about how bad you’ll feel if it does.”
Sam rolled her eyes. “Shameless manipulation will get you nowhere tonight.”
His low growl made her laugh.
“I’ve spoiled you rotten in our first year of marriage,” she said, “and now you’re downright unmanageable.”
He took her hand and pressed it against his cock. “I’m very manageable. Give me what I want, and you’ll see how manageable I can be.”
She leaned in close to him, so close that her lips nearly touched his. “Not. Happening.”
“This is cruel and unusual punishment.”
“No, this is me being a good wife and making sure you’re totally healed before I ravage you.”
He scowled. “You can’t say no in one breath and then talk about ravaging me in the next. Not fair.”
“It’ll give you something to look forward to tomorrow. And P.S. pouting is not an attractive quality for a vice president.”
“I’m not the vice president right now. I’m a horny husband with an uncooperative wife.”
“Whatever! I’m the most cooperative wife in the history of the world.”
“Most of the time…”
Before she could respond to that, her phone rang. She checked the caller ID, saw Avery’s name and took the call.
“I’m at Hamilton’s house. He’s been murdered.”
At first, his words didn’t compute. And then they registered, taking her breath away in a whoosh. “How?” she asked.
“Someone took a golf club to him. His face is unrecognizable.”
“Who else knows?”
“Only you so far. It’s your jurisdiction, and even though it goes against everything I believe in as a federal agent to hand this off to someone else, it’d be a conflict for us to be involved. I want this done right, Sam.”
“I understand. Stay put. I’m on my way.”
“Are you allowed? Aren’t you still suspended.”
“I’ll clear it with Malone. We’ll be right there.”
“Okay.”
“Are you all right, Avery?”
“Yeah, I’m great,” he said grimly before he ended the call.
“What does he want?” Nick asked.
“He found director Hamilton murdered in his home.”
Nick’s mouth opened and then closed as his eyes widened. “Seriously?”
“Unfortunately.” Sam eyed the closed kitchen door, thinking of Josh on the other side of it and how she should handle this with him. Tell him or wait until they knew more? What more did they need to know? His father was dead.
“What if it was him?” Nick asked, using his thumb to point to the other room.
Recalling Josh’s disheveled appearance when he arrived earlier, Sam’s stomach twisted with anxiety. “There was no sign of blood on him. I would’ve noticed that. And murder by golf club would be messy.”
“Still, you can’t say for sure it wasn’t him. He certainly had motive.”
With her brain officially whirling with details and implications, Sam blew out a deep breath and placed a call to Captain Malone.
“Hey, what’s up?” he asked.
“Troy Hamilton is dead. Avery found him bludgeoned with a golf club in his house.”
“Fucking hell.” After a short pause, Malone said, “I’ll call in the troops and meet you there.” The phone went dead before Sam could say, “Yes, sir,” and before she could ask him what she should do about Hamilton’s son who was currently playing videogames with her son.
“He wants me there,” Sam told Nick, who was leaning against the counter, arms crossed and brows knitted in concern.
“And what am I do to do with the son who may or may not have wanted his father dead?”
“I don’t know, Nick!”
“He doesn’t need to stay here anymore since the so-called threat has been neutralized.”
“We don’t know that. Whoever killed Troy might be gunning for Josh next.”
“Sam, come on. I want him out of here.”
Keeping her gaze fixed on him, she called Dispatch and asked them to recall her squad to Hamilton’s address.
“Yes, ma’am,” the dispatcher said after a short pause, during which Sam had no doubt the woman was wondering why Sam was issuing orders while suspended. Luckily she didn’t ask so Sam didn’t have to tell her to mind her own business. She flipped the phone closed and stashed it in her pocket.
“I know it’s a lot to ask.”
“Yeah, it is. The guy was running from the threat of murder, so you brought him here.”
“I wanted to keep him safe!”
“By endangering us?”
“There’s no danger to us with the Secret Service all over this place.”
“So now my detail is convenient to you when most of the time you hate it.”
“Are you fighting with me because I said no to having sex with you tonight?”
“Are you seriously asking me that?”
“No, I guess I’m not.” She went to him, flattening her hands on his chest. “I know it’s an awful lot to ask, and I’m sorry I brought him here. He was so damned scared. Freddie and I both saw it, and I didn’t know where else to take him that Hamilton couldn’t get at him.”