Chapter 13
“Something to drink?”
He knew he was prevaricating, but the dread was like a ball inside his chest, and Matthew could damn well wait before his life unended.
“Of course. The usual.” Matthew put away the folder he had been about to hand to him and went with the flow. What was revealed in there could wait. It could wait because it was going to blow his employer to bits. “Cold out.”
“Yes.” Merrick poured two glasses of blended scotch and was surprised his hands were so steady. He was trembling inside. He could hear it from the tone of his friend’s voice that it was bad.
“Fall is officially here.” Taking a breath, he walked over and handed the man the glass. Going back to his desk, he sat on the edge of it and lifted his own glass to his lips.
“How is Marianne?” He asked, referring to Matthew’s wife.
Love glowed and shimmered in the man’s eyes at the mention of the name. “Still pottering about in her greenhouse. She wants you to come over for dinner when you can swing it. Has this organic mushroom going on and wants to try it out.”
“And the boys?”
“Chad is bent on becoming a musician and Eric is doing very well in that software firm.” Matthew gave him a grateful look. “Thanks to you. When the company bought it, you put him in charge.”
“And he’s doing a marvelous job turning things around.” He finished his drink and went to sit behind his desk. “What did you find?”
He saw when his friend hesitate and felt his belly tying up in knots.
“I can take it.”
“You are involved with her?”
“I am, yes.”
“Christ!”
“That bad?” He asked grimly.
“See for yourself.” Matthew brought the folder over to him. “If you want to be alone?”
“Yes.”
“Okay.” Matthew finished his drink and left the room, closing the door behind him.
It took him a few minutes to open the folder and was not prepared for the intense longing when he saw the glossy black and white photo of her. It was a candid shot and showed her sitting on a park bench, her face slightly lifted as if enjoying the glow of the sun. She was wearing a jogging outfit which molded to her curves like a glove.
Her hair was in a ponytail, and he could see the moisture on her skin. The photo did not do her justice, because it could not reveal the flawlessness of her complexion or the directness of her lovely mahogany eyes.
Nor had it been able to capture the lushness of her bottom lip. Feeling like a damn fool, he used the tip of his index finger to trail a path over her face.
Taking another deep breath, he forced himself to move on and the minute he did, he went into shock mode.
Detective Margo Sullivan. She was a bloody cop. Of all the things that he had expected – perhaps a husband or children – he never expected this. Rage erupted inside him and that was before he read further that she was investigating his company.
And like a fool he had fallen for her. For her lies, when all the time she had pretended… Pain and grief edged out the fury and had him sagging back weakly in his chair.
She had used him. All the questions about the company had not been because she was interested in him, she had been fishing for information.
Matthew had been thorough. At least, she had not lied about being brought up in a group home. She had told the truth there. And he, who had always been cautious because of his position in life had fallen for her flimsy lies.
And they had been flimsy. She had not struck him as a damn romance novelist. But he had fallen so quickly, he would have swallowed everything she told him.
Pain shimmered inside his chest, and he felt as if he was suffocating from it. It had all been a damn lie. No! he shook his head. She could not have faked her reaction to his lovemaking. He had seen the shock when she had her first orgasm, and he recalled how she had fought him. His guess was that had not been in the plans.
She had not expected to be so caught up. Or he was just making excuses for her because he wanted to believe that at least she felt something for him.
Swiveling his chair around, he stared blindly at the stunning view outside his window. He had deliberately asked Matthew to stop by after business hours because he wanted privacy.
Now he knew. And the pain was spectacular. He had fallen hard – extremely fast and was devastated. He felt as if he was dying. Not even the crash and what had happened to Laura and his unborn son had felt like this.
He felt as if he was being hurled from the top of the cliff and into a dark pit. He was destroyed. She had effectively torn him into tiny pieces. And he was going to drown himself in alcohol, but first, he had to hear it from her own lips. With that in mind, he reached for the phone and made the call.
*****
“He wants to see me,” Margo turned to look at Brad as she hung up the phone.
“Which means he did not have the time to run you yet. Are you going? And if so, will you tell him?”
She shook her head. “I have to tell him it is over. Find some excuse. We have enough to search his company and his brother’s home. I cannot jeopardize any of it.” She drew in a breath and tried to steady herself.
“Are you sure you should go and see him?”
“No.” She shoved her hands into the pockets of her jeans. “But I have to.”
“Be careful,” Brad warned.
“I can take care of myself and he’s not going to hurt me.”
*****
Margo had to admit to herself that she was feeling on edge. He had not called her in two days and suddenly he was doing so. It also had to do with the fact that she was not sleeping well without him, and it pissed her off.
She who had so often scoffed when she heard women say that they could not function when their men were away and that included cops.
Thankfully, the dragon assistant was not at her desk, sneering at her and his doors were open.
He was not sitting behind his desk, but standing at the window, with a drink in his hand. The sight of his broad shoulders outlined in the black silk sweater sent her heart bumping against her ribs. She wanted to rush over and wrap herself around him.
As if sensing her presence, he turned around, his face scrupulously expressionless, intense gray eyes wandering over her. She was wearing the same faded denims and red sweater she had worn for work and the scarred jacket.
How had he not seen it? He wondered bitterly. Everything about her screamed ‘cop’…
“Drink?”
“No, thanks. You’re back.”
“Yes.” He was fighting for control and could feel it slipping away by degrees.
“When?”
“Late last night. I had some meetings that had been rescheduled. Sure, about the drink?”
“Yes.” She came in and closed the doors behind her.
“Uhm, how are you?”
“I’ve been better.” So civilized and polite, he thought viciously as he tossed back the rest of the drink. He went to his desk and gestured for her to sit. Instinct warned her that something was dreadfully wrong.
“How’s the writing coming along?”
“Writing?” She recovered quickly. “It’s um - it’s coming.”
“What is the plot about again?” He was staring at her in a way that had her shifting restlessly.
“Man meets woman and the usual drama.”
“I am sure it is much more than that. What is the conflict?”
“Conflict?”
“Yes. I am not much of a romance reading, it is not quite my thing, but I have been to several movies and there’s always conflict. What would you say yours is or rather theirs?”
She shifted slightly and had to force herself to appear nonchalant. “This sounds like an interrogation.”
He leaned back in his chair and tamped down the rage that was threatening to bubble to the surface.
“Interesting word. Interrogation. Sounds like cop talk.” His eyes bored into hers and she felt the fear blossoming. He knew. Oh God, he had found out about her. She should not have come.
“Look…”
He slapped open a thick folder in front of him. “Detective Margo Sullivan. A decorated cop with the prestigious Twenty-one Precinct. Decorated cop, shot in the line of duty. Undercover cop for over twenty years, went to the precinct straight out of the academy and spent little time on the streets before finding her niche as an undercover officer.”
He lifted his head and pinned her. His face was cold and stark as if carved from stone. “And the same precinct investigating my company for illegal drugs. Am I leaving anything out?”
Her hands were clammy, her heart racing. “I was doing my job.” She whispered hoarsely.
“I see.” He slammed the folder shut. “Was it your job to sleep with the suspect and I am a suspect, am I not?”
She rubbed her damp palms over her jeans and wished the floor would open up and swallow her whole. “I have eliminated you as one.”
“Is that so?” His tone was dangerous, his eyes shooting fire. “How is that? And when did that happen? Was it when you were panting under me, begging me to take you, trembling from the aftermath of an explosive orgasm?
Or was it when we were snuggled in bed and I was pouring my heart out to you, telling you how much I love you and wanted to marry you?”
“Merrick, I want you to know I did not plan it…”
“Shut up!”
His voice cracked like a whip and had her jolting.
“You used me to get information on my company!” He fought to get his anger under control. The pain was lancing through him like a thousand swords, and he felt as if he was dying. “You had me fooled. I was about to give you everything, my heart…,” he surged to his feet and had her jumping to hers.
“You had me.” He fisted his hands. “I fell for you, hard and all you were doing was your damn job! You slept with me for what? To get details in order to ruin me. What kind of person are you? Who the hell does that?”
She was trembling, her heart pounding. “I never expected it to go that far…”
“You arranged the first meeting. At the gallery, that was planned?”
She nodded and felt her heart turned over at the flash of pain on his face.
“How did you know I would be there?”
“I studied your movements,” she took a step forward when he staggered.
“You studied me.”
“Merrick…”
“Don’t!” He snapped it out. “Everything was a lie.”
“Not everything,” she whispered.
He laughed harshly. “Oh, I know the climaxes were not faked, that much I realize, but everything else was. How far did you intend to take it?”
“We are wrapping things up. Look, several people are dead, and I had to do something.”
“And you believe my company is involved.”
“All evidence points to that.”
He was suffocating, his throat tightening and his bowels felt loose. He wanted to lie down, wanted to die, or just drink himself into oblivion. “Well, Detective Sullivan, I suppose I will be seeing you in your official capacity. You may go.”
“Merrick…”
“Get the hell out of my office and if you ever come near me again, I will alert my lawyers. Good job detective, you have gone above and beyond the call of duty. I hope the squad appreciates your sacrifice. Get the hell out of my sight.”
She was surprised she was able to walk to the doors. Tears blinded her eyes and her knees were knocking. She felt sick and weak. She had broken his heart and ended up breaking hers. Pushing the doors open, she stepped out and stumbled towards the elevator.
He drank. An entire bottle of scotch and opened another one. But it was not enough to make him feel better. He was destroyed. He had opened his heart twice and they had both ended in disaster and tragedy. This was the worse, because of the level of emotions, the intensity of the passion he had experienced with her.
He felt as if he was falling over a cliff with no hope of surviving. He wasn’t going to survive this one. Losing Laura and his unborn son had been devastating. But this was even worse. He did not want to live. He just wanted to die.
*****
She considered it a miracle that she made it home in one piece. With tears streaming down her cheeks, she navigated traffic and thank God that she knew her way home by heart. It was as if the vehicle drove itself.
She drove into her driveway and just sat there.
The look on his face was going to haunt her for the rest of her life. She had broken him. In her arrogant quest to get to the bottom of the case, she had broken him. The last words he had said to her that night sprang to mind.
He had told her that he adored her, that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. And he had been through a lot, losing his fiancée and unborn son. He would never forgive her, and she accepted that.
Gripping the steering wheel, she looked out and to her surprise, discovered it had started raining. Rubbing the tears from her cheeks, she gathered her bag and hustled out of the vehicle.
*****
“She is a bloody cop?” Maurice turned to look at his brother in disbelief. “She’s a cop?”
“Yes.” Merrick was recovered enough to be able to study the warrant thoroughly. “It appears to be in order.”
“We should call our lawyers…”
“I’m a lawyer, remember?” He looked over at Margo and she flinched at the contempt in his gaze. “You may proceed.”
“We decided to do the raid after business hours…”
“Get on with it, will you?” He cut her off curtly and turned towards his brother, shaking his head as he opened his mouth. “Let them do their job.”
Margo had to command herself to appear professional.
“Brad, let’s do this.”
*****
“You knew?”
Merrick marveled that he was able to pour the drink without his hand shaking. Right now, the woman he loved was tearing his company apart, looking for evidence that he was funneling illegal drugs through the company.
“I did, yes.” He turned to offer his brother a glass of scotch. “I found out yesterday.”
“And you never said a word.” He shot an accusing look at his brother as he took the glass.
“We have nothing to worry about or do we?”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“It means my investigation into Margo had me thinking and I did some digging of my own.” He sat on the edge of his desk and stared at his brother. “Jason.”
Maurice stiffened. “What about him?”
“He’s using.”
“That’s not…”
“Stop. You knew he was not going to rehab as mandated and never said a word.”
“You were the one who brought a cop into our home, our family…”
“And it would not have happened if there wasn’t suspicion in the first place,” Merrick interrupted him icily. “The question is this: is he just using or distributing?”
“How could you…”
“The police are here armed with warrants for the company and our homes and considering that I am a lawyer and a damn good one at that, it means they have enough to get the warrant in the first place.”
“Our home?” Maurice blanched. “We can block that…”
“No, we can’t. Where is Jason?”
“He’s…” Maurice lowered himself in the chair heavily. “He has not been in since yesterday.”
“Call him.”
“I tried and he’s not picking up.”
Merrick gave him a hard calculating glance. “What are you hiding?”
“Nothing!” He bit his lip and settled back in the chair, a look of abject misery on his face. “He’s my son, your nephew…”
“And if he’s responsible for the death of those people, I am stepping back.”
“He wouldn’t.”
“Let’s hope so. Keep calling until you get him.”
*****
“You bitch!” Janey screamed and would have launched herself at Margo, if the cops near her had not grabbed her. Margo wished they had allowed the woman to come at her. She was feeling mad enough to justify knocking her on her pretentious ass.
“We found the mother lode in your son’s room. You might want to call your fancy lawyers. We’re issuing a warrant for his arrest.”
“On what charges?”
“Possession of illegal drugs, intent to distribute and possibly murder.”
“What?” They turned to see Maurice hurrying into his son’s suite followed by Merrick and Michael. “You cannot possibly think…”
He broke off as his wife hurled herself into Merrick’s arms and burst into tears.
Margo saw the flash of pain on the man’s face and had to force herself not to drag the woman out of Merrick’s arms. That bitch.
“Merrick.” Maurice sent him a desperate glance.
“Don’t say a word.” Patting Janey on the back, he put her away from him. “Call our lawyers.” He glanced at Margo, the contempt causing her to flinch. “Detective Sullivan, may I have a word, alone?”
“Okay, let’s wrap this up, I’ll be down shortly.”
Merrick saw her partner hesitating and his mouth tightened as he wondered if they were sleeping together.
He waited until the room had emptied out. Looking around the tan and green room and the upheaval, he turned to face her. “You’re very good at your job.”
“I am.”
He nodded. “I have been asking myself how I could have fallen in love with someone like you. I am usually an excellent judge of character, has to be, considering the kind of business I am.” She stuck her hands into the back pockets of her jeans, causing the jacket to shift and reveal her shoulder holsters.
“Were you carrying all the time you were with me?”
“Yes. I always carry.”
He thought he was numb to the pain, but that was just wishful thinking. The pain of betrayal ripped at him and caused him to stagger.
“You really are a soulless bitch aren’t you?”
The insult pierced her heart and for a minute, she could not catch her breath. “If you say so.”
“I loved you.” He said quietly, suddenly feeling every bit of his age. “I would have laid everything at your feet.”
“I am not that type of woman. I am simple and…”
“Just about the job.” He nodded and shoved his hands into his pockets to avoid marching over and shaking her. She was all cop, and he had seen that when he came in and watched her in command. And she was the one running the show.
“I hope you get your collar and a promotion. I will be talking to my lawyers to see what can be done.”
“That’s your right.” She turned to leave and hesitated. Looking at him over her shoulder, she allowed herself to take in the set look on his attractive face and felt the ache deep inside her.
“Not everything was a lie, and I don’t expect you to believe that.”
“I don’t. Get out.”
She walked down the stairs; past Michael who was shooting her accusing looks and Maurice who was holding a weeping Janey in his arms and felt the weight of the job weighing her down.
“You okay?” Brad was waiting for her next to the car.
“Yeah. We got what we wanted. Any word on Jason?”
“Not yet, but he will surface. Got to be running scared.”
She nodded and went around to the passenger side of the vehicle. Brad wondered if she noticed that she had not jumped into the driver’s seat.
Sliding in behind the wheel, he wisely kept his thoughts to himself as she leaned her head back and closed her eyes. The entire thing had been hard on her and he had no idea what to do about it. He had seen the way Merrick Pendergast looked at her and her reaction to his presence.
But she had done the job, and he admired her for it. She was a remarkable cop, that much he had to admit. But she was a woman as well and that part of her was under extreme duress.