Nine
As I walked through the market pushing a shopping cart later that afternoon, my phone went off. Chinese food hadn’t sounded good after all, so we had opted to cook. I was only allowed to be out because I had my own private police detective to protect me.
“Hello?”
“Jory.”
“Hey.” I smiled into my phone. My brother sounded really good. Why he was calling me when he was on his honeymoon, I had no idea, but I was always happy to hear from him. “What are you—”
“I need you to pick Aja and me up at the airport tomorrow morning.”
“Ohmygod.” I stopped walking, standing up straight from leaning on the cart. “Why? What’s wrong?”
“Aja’s dad had a heart attack yesterday.”
“Oh no. Oh, Dane, I’m so sorry.”
“No, it’s okay, he’s okay, but we just both think we need to be there.”
“Sure, of course,” I said on an exhale. “Tell me what—”
“He doesn’t even want us to come home early,” he said tightly, “but I’ve got other things on my mind, so it’s good that we’re cutting this short.”
“Oh yeah? Like what?”
“Oh, I don’t know, let me think… Perhaps Detective Kage?” he said nonchalantly.
There was a heartbeat of silence.
“Oh shit.”
“Oh shit is right! What the hell are you thinking?” The last came out in a roar.
It made sense that Dane was livid with me.
The last time he had seen Sam Kage was three years ago.
I had taken a bullet for the man, and then Sam had left me alone in the hospital to heal.
To Dane, who had taken care of me afterward, been there when my boyfriend was not, it looked like a cold, heartless bastard had been allowed back into my life.
To him I was insane, my logic drowned in a sea of desire.
“Are you even thinking?”
“Dane, I—”
“May I have the phone?” I heard Aja ask.
“No, I need to—”
“Jory.” Aja came on the phone. “Hi, honey.”
“I’m so sorry about—”
“It was a teeny-tiny-itty-bitty little heart attack,” she soothed me. “He’s going to be fine. I just want to see him for myself, you know?”
“Course.”
“But I must say, I have never seen Dane like this,” she said softly. “Who in the world is Sam Kage?”
“He’s—how did he even find out?”
“Rick Jenner has a new girlfriend, I guess, and she somehow works with you?”
“Aubrey Flanagan, yeah.”
“Well, apparently she saw you and this Sam out somewhere—”
Oh yeah. “Crap, I forgot about that.”
“Jory, what is going—”
“Dylan had her baby.”
“Oh, how wonderful! I’ll get her something as soon as I get back.”
“Where are you now?”
“We’re already in New York. We’re taking the red-eye out tonight.”
“I’m really sorry about your dad.”
“No, no, it’s okay. He’s okay. I think Dane’s more upset about you and… Tell me all about this Sam.”
“He’s just… See, I’m sure Dane thinks he’s gonna hurt me, because that’s what happened the last time, but I love him, and now with these murders, he should know that with Sam here that—”
There was a sudden gasp of indrawn breath. “What did you say?” I filled her in on what Sam had told me, without all the gory details. “Ohmygod,” she cried, and I heard the phone hit the floor. There was rustling, and the word murder was repeated, this time muffled.
“Are you kidding me?” Dane yelled into the phone.
“Wait—”
“Jory, goddamnit! I leave you alone for two weeks and you—”
“Dane, it’s not like—”
“Is he there?” he asked as Sam walked up to the cart and dropped French bread in.
“Who’s on the phone?” Sam yawned, his eyes soft as he looked at me.
I shook my head and lied to my brother. “No.”
“You’re lying. Put him on.”
“Who is it?” Sam’s brows furrowed suddenly.
I moved the phone away from my mouth. “Dane.”
He grunted and held out his hand. “He wants me, right?”
“Yeah, but—”
He wiggled his fingers for the phone. “Just c’mon.”
“He’s pissed off,” I told Sam.
“Who’s pissed off?” Dane snapped at me.
“Not you—I mean yeah, you. You’re the one who’s pissed off.”
“I most certainly am,” he assured me icily. “Put the detective on the phone.”
“Jory,” Sam said sternly, “gimme the fuckin’ phone.”
I passed it to him, and he took a breath before he said hello. I would have loved to eavesdrop, but he walked away after mouthing the word spaghetti at me.
I finished the shopping as fast as I could, and when I was finally done and through the line, I pushed the cart outside to find Sam leaning against the passenger-side door of his SUV.
“You all done talking?” I called over to him.
“Yep.”
I winced. “So what now?”
“Oh, he’s pissed.” He grinned at me. “And he’s terrified about those guys getting killed. He says as soon as he gets home, you’re moving in with him and…Anna?”
“Aja. His wife’s name is Aja.”
“Oh.” He shrugged. “Well, whatever. You’re not going.”
“I’m not?” I teased him.
“Hell no. You’re staying with me.”
“You mean you’re staying with me,” I corrected him. “At least I live in a secure building.”
“You know what I meant. Get in the fuckin’ car.”
“Stop swearing.”
“Fine,” he agreed.
“Hey.”
He looked at me over the hood of the SUV.
“Thank you for talking to him and not getting mad. I know how he can be.”
“No, J, he’s right about everything. I know how it looks. It seems like I’m back in your life for, like, two seconds and you’ve got trouble again. It must hardly seem worth it.”
“It’s worth it to me.” I smiled at him.
“Oh, I don’t care if it is or isn’t. I’m not going anywhere.”
“Do you have any idea how happy you make me when you talk like that?” I stared at him.
“Get in the car, for crissakes,” he growled at me. “I’m hungry.”
We were unloading the groceries when Sam’s head snapped up and he looked at me.
“What?”
“Whatever happened to that doctor you used to date?”
“Who?”
“The one you set up on a date with that guy on the pier that time.”
I racked my brain. “Oh, Nick Sullivan.”
“Yeah, him. You still talk to him?”
“It’s amazing that you remember that.”
“Hafta have a good memory when you’re a detective.”
“I guess so.”
“Back to the doctor.”
“What’d you ask?”
He groaned. “Do you still talk to him?”
“No.”
“No?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
I shrugged. “I dunno,” I said, stepping back from the SUV as he slammed the rear door. “We just sort of lost touch.”
“Why?”
“I think after he and Kai broke up—”
“That was the guy you set him up with.”
“Yeah. That lasted over a year.”
“Wow. Impressive matchmaking skills you got there.”
“No. If they were so great, they’d still be together.”
“You did your best, J. At some point it depends on the two people involved.”
“I guess.”
“Go on. They were together, and when they broke up, what?”
“Well, after that, Nick wanted to see me, and when I wouldn’t, that was it.”
He nodded.
“What made you think of Nick?”
“I dunno, J. The doctor was around a long time, and he’d sure as hell know how to cut somebody up, wouldn’t he?”
“There’s no way,” I assured him. “Nick Sullivan is not a killer.”
“I’m gonna check on the doctor anyway.”
“You do that.” I grinned at him.
“And I’m gonna go with you to pick up Dane and Aja.”
“The hell you are.” I laughed at him. “I don’t want you to miss Sunday dinner with your mom. Besides, Bambi’s on the menu, remember?”
“What?”
“You remember. Your uncle is bringing back deer from his hunting trip.”
“That’s right.”
“See? So—”
“My folks will live. They just saw us two days ago.” He sighed. “Besides…this is way more important.”
“You’re insane,” I assured him. “It’s gonna be a bloodbath.”
He walked by me and kissed my forehead. “I gotta back up my partner.”
“Yeah, but Dane might just murder you.”
“He can try.”
I shook my head as I followed him up the front stoop of my building.
He was doing the dishes since I had cooked, and we were talking about what he’d done for the first two years after he left.
It was interesting to hear him talk about going all the way to Colombia and how he had slept in tents, and the conditions the DEA worked under.
He had enjoyed it, following the lead as far as it went and busting all the people along the way.
I asked Sam if he ever worried that Dominic would come back to take revenge on him.
“No, love.”
“Why not?”
“It doesn’t work like that.”
Apparently, it wasn’t like the movies; people actually kept really good tabs on you in witness protection, and in Dominic’s case, it was prison for the rest of his life if he ever came near anyone he knew. I asked Sam what he would do if he ever accidentally saw Dominic in an airport somewhere.
“I’d kill him.”
From the flat tone of his voice, it wasn’t a good idea to question him.
“You know, I never got a chance to tell you how sorry I was about Dominic.” I sighed heavily. “I mean, he was your best friend and partner for a long time.”
“One of my best friends,” he agreed. “But not the only one. And keep in mind, he tried to kill me and he tried to kill you, and he hurt you…” He took a settling breath. “And this goes back to what I said a second ago—if I ever get the chance, he’s dead.”
After several minutes of silence, Sam told me he had a question for me.
“Sure. What?”
“Do you know why Dominic shot that guy we found in the body bag?”
“What are you talking about?”
“We found a guy in a body bag when we raided the place where you were held. The ballistics on the gun matched Dom’s, so I know he shot him, but I never could figure out why, and he wouldn’t tell anyone.”
“No?”
“No. He said to ask you. So I’m asking you.”
“Dominic told you to ask me?”
“Yeah.”
I nodded. “That was Marco, right?”
“That’s right, Marco Danov. What happened to him?”
I looked at Sam.
“Somebody broke his nose before they killed him. Did Dominic do that?”
“No.”
“Who did?”
“I did. I broke his nose.”
“You did?”
“Yeah He tried to…” I stared at Sam until he got it.
“But he didn’t? He didn’t hurt you?”
Neither of us wanted to be reminded of what the word “hurt” entailed. Better to leave it alone.
“No, I… He fell, and then I ran, and Dominic was pissed and… I heard the shots, but I wasn’t sure that Dominic killed him.”
Sam nodded, his jaw muscles working as he looked at me. “He did.”
“Well, it was because he thought he’d lost me, not because of anything else. Dominic even suggested that I…” Too late, I thought about what I was saying.
“Suggested that you what?”
I shook my head.