Chapter 18
Thad came down to grab some dinner before he met Darcy to work the investigation. That had kept him away the past few nights. He hadn’t had many encounters with Lucy, and those he had were benign. In fact, she didn’t seem to mind the distance between them, which had made him relax. He no longer felt cornered. His mother told him she’d gone to see her parents one night, and then met some friends another. He may have been apart from her, but he was still concerned for her whereabouts.
Lucy sat on the bench in the big window across the kitchen, cell phone in hand, a partial smile sneaking up her mouth. She was texting someone. And not one of her friends...
Thad kept his eye on her as he took out everything he needed to make a sandwich. Servants were busy cooking for the rest of the household, and he declined assistance in getting something to eat sooner.
Lucy stood from the bench and put her phone down on the kitchen island close to where he stood putting ham and cheese on some wheat bread. The screen was still illuminated, and he saw the texts.
See you at seven was the last one.
“Going somewhere tonight?” Was she back on her online dating site?
“Dinner.”
When she turned her back to pour iced tea into a glass, he picked up her phone and opened her browser.
“With a girlfriend?” He froze as he looked down at the dating site, which was open to the last screen she’d used, one where she’d responded to a man who was interested. She’d given [email protected] her cell number. That was who she’d just been texting.
Lucy snatched her phone from him.
“TakeYouToTheMoon?” What man would call himself that on an online dating site?
“His name is Matt.”
Thad clamped down his rising ire. He had no right to be angry. He’d turned away from her. But how could she start dating again so soon?
“Didn’t you learn from your last experience that online dating is dangerous?” he asked instead.
“That was one instance.” Carrying her phone and the glass of tea, she left the kitchen and Thad standing there with everything male in him against her going out on a date. A date, for God’s sake!
Yanking his phone out of its holder, he called Darcy.
“You’re on your own tonight,” he said.
“What? Why?”
“Lucy’s going out on a date.” He disconnected before Darcy could comment and then went to wait for Lucy. She’d ensconced herself in her room with the door locked.
An hour and a half later, Thad paced outside Lucy’s room. She sure was taking her time getting ready. He heard her on the other side. Finally, she opened the door.
“What are you—” He stopped short when he saw her. She wore a dark red dress that dipped low in front and exposed her knees. He’d never seen her in anything that sexy.
“I thought you were going on another stakeout with Darcy tonight,” she said.
Was she hoping he wouldn’t find out her plans for the evening? “You’re not going anywhere in that.” The thought of another man enjoying her dressed that way made him crazy.
“What gives you the right to tell me what I can and can’t do?”
He didn’t understand why her going out on a date bothered him so much. He couldn’t give her what she was after, so why stop her?
She didn’t wait for him to respond. Walking down the hall, she headed for the stairs. The dress hugged her curves, hips rocking, legs going on for a mile and arms swinging with a tiny purse in one hand.
He followed her. “Lucy, don’t go.”
“Don’t go? Why not?” She stepped down the stairs, and he kept up with her.
What claim did he have on her? He’d turned away. He knew that. He felt foolish for trying to stop her, but something compelled him, something strong.
She left out the side entrance, where he saw his mother’s driver waiting. At least Lucy wasn’t going without protection. His mother’s driver was a Secret Service agent.
Operating on an emotion he refused to name, Thad went to his Charger and began to follow the car. All the way to the restaurant where she must have agreed to meet her date, Thad questioned why he was doing this. He had no answer. He only knew nothing would stop him.
Inside the restaurant, he watched her meet a tall man with dark hair, and then a hostess led them to a table. He went there as they both sat down. The man smiled and kept glancing at Lucy’s breasts.
Aware of how irrational he appeared, Thad forged ahead. Before he reached the table he wondered if Lucy was doing this on purpose. The way her date smiled suggested he knew her. Any man would look at her breasts in that dress. He saw Thad first, his smile flattening. Lucy turned with a slack jaw to gape at him. She hadn’t expected him to follow her here.
“We need to talk,” he said to her.
“Thad?”
“Let’s go.” He held out his hand.
She didn’t move.
“I’m ready to talk,” he added. And he was.
She faced her date, who grinned.
Why did he grin?
The man stood. “I’ll call Kate.” With a nod to Thad, he walked out of the restaurant.
“Well, now that you’ve ruined my date.” She motioned to the seat the man had vacated, her hand palm up. “Why don’t you join me?”
“He wasn’t a real date.” Thad moved to the seat across from her and she studied him without asking how he knew. “Why is he going to call my mother? Did she have anything to do with this?”
With a grunt, she picked up the menu. “How did you know?”
“It’s okay. It worked.” He couldn’t believe how insanely jealous he’d gotten.
Looking at him over the menu, her eyes smiled.
But he didn’t feel like smiling. This wasn’t easy for him. “I need time to sort it all out, Lucy.”
No longer smiling, she put the menu down. She understood what he was saying. He needed time to know whether he could come to her unconditionally, neither accepting nor rejecting the possibility of marriage.
“Okay,” she murmured.
She’d give him time. Relief loosened his tension.
But Thad didn’t delude himself. If he took too much time, she’d eventually give up on him, and rightfully so. If she ever went on another date, it would be for real.
“If I devote myself to this relationship, I have to be sure I come to you honestly,” he told her.
Her face softened with what he could only call love. “I know.”
She knew...
She was an incredible woman. And Thad would be a colossal fool if he let her go.
“Why don’t we start with you coming with me to my brother’s wedding,” he said. “Sophie, too.”
“Are you sure you can handle that?” she teased.
“Yeah, I’m very sure.” And he was. Maybe this would be easier than he thought. If he just let go...
* * *
A crowd of Trey and Debra’s closest friends and family filled the beautifully decorated ballroom at Kate’s estate. Lighted curtain panels knotted in the middle lined two walls of windows. Yellow flower petals on white napkins and numbered glass candles adorned tabletops. Huge vases of flowers sat on several tall cocktail tables and waitstaff abounded to cater to the guests.
Lucy watched Thad dance with Sophie on the raised platform in the middle of the room. In a black tuxedo, he captured her gaze for lengthy periods of time. Every once in a while, he’d look over at her. The way he looked at her raised the temperature a few degrees. He’d noticed her in her long, black figure-hugging dress. Sophie was adorable in her white ball gown with bubble hem and flower in her hair. She’d had fun being girly at the hair salon with Lucy. They’d gotten their nails done, too. Lucy was going to have a hard time letting her go.
“I’ve never seen him like this.”
She turned to see Kate, who’d just come up to stand beside her. “The date did the trick.” Or, at the very least, stopped him from being so distant.
Thad lifted Sophie and held her as he danced in a circle. Her laughter rose above music and people talking.
“What are you going to do with Sophie?” Kate asked.
Keep her...
“I don’t know.”
“She’s good for Thad.”
Lucy glanced at her and then back to Thad and Sophie. His face did light up whenever he was with her. She didn’t acknowledge Kate’s comment. Turning her son into viable husband material was a big enough challenge.
The song finished, and Thad brought Sophie over to them. Sophie hopped up on a chair at the table where they’d sat for dinner and dug into the rest of her cake.
Thad extended his hand. “May I have this dance?”
Lucy gave him her hand and went with him to the dance platform with butterflies of delight tickling her. Could it be that he’d change his mind about marriage and family?
He brought her close, holding her hand and encircling her waist. She rested her hand on his shoulder and looked up at his face. His eyes had a happy light to them.
“What are you doing to me, Lucy?” he asked.
Smiling, she tipped her head up. “Stealing your heart.” She kissed him once on his lips.
“You’ve already done that.”
“Have I?”
His eyes answered for him, and then he showed her with his mouth, kissing her softly, lingering.
“Looks like you’ll be next, little brother.”
They drew apart as Trey and Debra danced beside them. To Lucy’s delight, Thad didn’t cringe or stiffen. He just smiled down at Lucy. Hope soared and she had to reel it in a bit.
Trey and Debra were so obviously happy, dancing close, eyes only for each other. Their wedding had been stunning in one of Raleigh’s oldest churches. There were several other couples dancing. Lucy spotted Sophie with Sam, who bent over slightly as he held her hands and twirled her around.
As Thad danced her in a circle, she saw Sam’s friend Mike was here, too. He sat at a table watching them.
The song ended and she and Thad went to their table.
“I’ll be back.” Lucy headed for the bathroom.
A few minutes later, she came out of the bathroom and headed toward the ballroom. The loud bang of gunfire made her freeze. Someone was shooting a gun at the wedding! Lucy ran through the formal entry toward the ballroom. All she could think about was Sophie. At the doorway, she bumped into Mike. He had a gun.
Oh, good. He could help.
But then he grabbed ahold of her and put the pistol against her head.
* * *
Seeing the Secret Service agents dive for his mother and that she hadn’t been hit, Thad ran after Mike Harris. Mike Harris! He never would have guessed Sam’s good friend would try to kill Kate Winston. Why?
The janitor at the building across from the hotel where his mother had been shot must have been mistaken when he said the man he’d seen had short hair. Mike was bald. The janitor had also said Mike had worn a hat, so maybe he had been mistaken about the hair. Every other descriptor matched.
Mike being the shooter explained so much. Jaden leaving the window and door open. The ease of access to the estate. Without Jaden’s help, Trey’s wedding offered the perfect opportunity. Mike was invited.
Thad emerged in the formal entry and came to an abrupt stop, aiming his pistol at Mike, who held Lucy around her torso with one arm and the gun at her head with the other. Her arms pinned, she stared at Thad with wild fear, but didn’t fight Mike.
Thad stepped forward. As Mike backed across the entry, Thad moved to block an escape to the lower level of the house. Mike was forced to attempt his escape by going upstairs, where he’d be trapped, which was Thad’s intention. All that consumed him was saving Lucy.
“Stay back or I’ll kill her!” Mike shouted.
The shock of discovering Mike was the shooter began to wear off, and anger took its place. How could someone who was a friend of the family decide to kill their mother?
“You won’t get away, Mike.” Thad kept his aim steady and his temper under control. “Let Lucy go. She doesn’t have anything to do with this.”
“If you want her to live, you won’t follow me.”
Where did he plan to go? Would he jump out a window or off a balcony? What then? Did he think he’d get off the estate? By now the feds were gathering. Mike would be surrounded. Already he heard agents running into the entry. A glance back confirmed that, along with Sam in the lead.
“Mike,” he said, breathless and still in shock. “What are you doing?”
At Sam’s question, Mike’s demeanor changed. His eyes grew panicked and his pistol unsteady.
Lucy managed to grip Mike’s forearm as he climbed a stair at a time.
“Nobody follows or she’s dead,” Mike said.
Thad stopped at the foot of the stairs. “Don’t do it, Mike.”
“Stay where you are!”
Thad waited until Mike reached the top of the stairs before charging after him. On the second level, he caught sight of Mike forcing Lucy into an enclave down the left hallway.
What would he do? Would he actually kill Lucy? The idea gutted Thad. If he lost her...
There was still so much that needed to be said. So much that they still hadn’t shared.
At the quaint sitting area in the enclave, Thad saw Lucy craning her neck. She saw him and some of her panic eased.
Mike saw him, too, his eyes round and crazed. He was not the Mike that Thad knew, not the Mike who’d helped save Lucy from Cam. What was wrong with him? What had made him go out of his mind like this?
“I told you not to follow me!” The pistol shook slightly in his grasp.
“Drop the gun, Mike.”
“No! I told you to stay back!”
Lucy grimaced as Mike pressed the pistol harder against her head. Thad didn’t have much time. He needed information from Mike, but if he let too much time go by while Mike lost his grip on sanity, there was no telling what he’d do.
Shoot Lucy. Thad could not allow that to happen. Every fraction of a second that passed felt like an eternity. Losing Lucy would take a piece of him too large to replace. He would not recover from it. She meant more to him than he’d realized. Real fear assaulted him, nearly stealing his concentration. His conviction over the odds of a failed marriage paled in comparison. He found it incredible that he’d ever placed so much importance on it, when losing Lucy would be so much more devastating.
“Mike...why are you doing this?” Thad tried once more. “Did someone pay you?”
Mike’s breathing grew harsher in his altered state. He was going to kill Lucy. Thad felt it.
Thad didn’t have a choice. He saw Lucy’s fear, the certainty that she’d die, and fired.
Lucy screamed and crouched as Mike’s body fell to the floor. Thad knew he hadn’t missed. Lucy crawled away, toward Thad. She stumbled to her feet and launched herself against him.
He held her, still aiming his gun to make sure Mike didn’t move. Hearing agents rushing down the hall, he set Lucy aside.
“Stay here.” He moved away from her and went to Mike’s body, a pool of blood spreading by his head. He searched his pockets and inside his wallet, finding something there—a business card. He tucked it into his pocket just as the agents appeared in the enclave opening, weapons drawn.
Thad stood and backed away, allowing agents to do their own search. Seeing Lucy standing beside a stricken Sam, he went to her. Taking her into his arms, he met Sam’s gaze. He hadn’t known Mike was behind this, and would not recover for a while.
“Oh, Thad.” Lucy kissed his cheek and then his mouth.
All of his attention shifted to her. “Lucy. If I had lost you...” He kissed her back.
“If you hadn’t come when you did...”
He kissed her again. When he was assured she was all right and had calmed, he leaned back and kept her at his side. Love enveloped him. He knew the feeling on a deep, fundamental level. The beginning of it. He’d never known that before, never felt this way before. In love. Or falling into it...the real thing.
“Why did he do it?” Sam asked.
“I didn’t have time to question him,” Thad said.
“He was going to kill me,” Lucy said.
* * *
Late that night, along with a few other law enforcement personnel, Thad finished examining Mike Harris’s apartment. They were the first to arrive there. Thad fully expected the feds to be here soon, but by then he’d have gathered all he needed. Thad and his team found the sniper rifle used in his first attempt, and several printed articles on politics, heavy on radical viewpoints. The most interesting were the ones he found about various potential presidential candidates, his mother included. He instructed his team to leave everything where they found it. They took plenty of pictures and processed everything as they would any other crime scene, short of bagging the evidence.
“Thad.”
Thad turned to the officer who’d called his name.
“You need to see this.”
Thad followed the officer down the hall. In a spare bedroom, the officer joined another at an open closet door. He pushed it wider as Thad neared. Pictures of political figures covered the inside panel of the door, words and terms clipped out of newspapers over them. Senators and presidential candidates with their faces covered with terms like Special Interest, Philanderer, Narcissist and Sinner. There were red X marks over some of them. Most chilling of all was the photo of his mother. She had a red X and the word Supremacist taped over her mouth.
“Take lots of pictures,” he said, not sharing his thoughts.
Clearly, more than his mother were a target. And whoever had convinced Mike to do the killing would find someone else...unless Thad could stop them. And he had an idea of where to start.
* * *
Carrying a file folder, Thad found Chief Wade Thomas in his office, busy at work like any other day. He had to have seen the news this morning. When he looked up, Thad noticed the subtle flinch of his head and his instant alertness.
“Thad. I heard what happened. Is your mother all right?”
The staged way he asked didn’t get past Thad. “She’s fine. Mike Harris isn’t a very good shot. Luckily, no one was hurt.”
“Yeah. Mike Harris.” He shook his head. “What a shock.”
Thad moved farther into the office and stood behind one of the chairs in front of Wade’s desk. “How did you find out?”
Wade’s gaze moved up and down Thad. “It was all over the office this morning. On the news, too.”
“Have you talked to anyone about it?” Thad asked.
Wade appeared taken aback by the question. “Like who?”
“Like whoever else is involved in the attempts on my mother’s life.”
Wade leaned back with a scoff. “How would I know that? And why do you think more than Mike Harris is after her?”
“You tell me.” Thad dropped the business card onto the desk. “Was he supposed to call you after he shot her?”
Leaning forward, Wade picked up the card and then looked up at Thad. Some of his smugness faded. “I warned you not to interfere, Winston.”
Many times. “And I’m glad I didn’t listen. Who, other than you, is involved?”
“Now I’m involved?” Wade glanced at the folder Thad held. “Be careful, Winston. You’re throwing some pretty serious allegations.”
Dropping the folder onto the desk, Thad waited while Wade’s hard gaze drilled into Thad’s. An untold number of thoughts had to be racing through his head. He was beginning to worry.
Standing, Wade walked to his office door, closed it and turned back to Thad. “You better be sure about what you’re doing. I’m in a position to crush you.” He strode forward with staged bravado, stopping close to Thad. “Don’t forget who you’re talking to.”
The chief of police. “Is that a threat? Like all the others you’ve sent?” He guessed at that. “I don’t scare easily.”
Wade didn’t react.
Thad didn’t back down from Wade’s intimidation. He had to know Thad wasn’t bluffing, that he was sure. He wouldn’t have come here otherwise.
“What’s in the folder?” Wade must have caught on to Thad’s confidence. He began to falter.
“Have a look for yourself,” Thad said.
With growing uneasiness, Wade returned to his desk. Without sitting down, he opened the folder. He picked up the photographs of the sniper rifle and Mike’s closet door.
After a few moments, Wade looked up. “What is this?”
He knew damn well what it was, but Thad indulged him. “They’re from Mike’s apartment.”
Wade fell into a long, grave contemplation. “I still don’t understand why you’re in my office giving me a song and dance about threats and involvement in Kate’s shooting. Cut to the chase, Winston.”
Thad sat down on the opposite side of the desk and steepled his fingers. “You knew about Sophie. You knew about Jaden. And you knew about Mike. You’re involved. Do you think I can’t prove it?”
At last, Wade reacted. He sat down on his office chair. The seriousness of his predicament finally began to sink in. His smugness faded. Mounting fear took its place...or was it resignation?
“What will I find when I look at your phone records?” Thad had no mercy for this man. He’d helped Mike try to kill his mother. He turned to face the desk. “Will I find proof that you talked to Jaden and Mike?”
Wade leaned back against his chair. He was caught.
“Why haven’t you told me about the phone records in Sophie’s kidnapping case?” Thad pressed.
Wade didn’t reply.
“Darcy obtained them for me,” Thad said. “Lindeman was talking to Layne, and now Lindeman is missing. Isn’t that interesting?”
Still, Wade didn’t respond, only his grim stare met Thad’s.
“Why did you do it?” Thad asked.
“You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into, Winston. You should have listened to me.”
“Why did you do it?” he repeated. He had to know, not only for himself, but for the investigation.
“This is way over your head. Hell, it’s over mine. You’d be smart to stop now. Get out while you still can.”
“Get out of what?”
“It’s too late for me,” he said as though he hadn’t heard Thad.
Thad lowered his hands, beginning to worry about how bleak the chief sounded. “If you won’t tell me why Mike Harris tried to kill my mother, there are others who can.”
“Like who? Layne Bridger?” Wade put his hands on the arms of his chair. “He doesn’t know anything.”
The police had questioned him and he hadn’t revealed anything. Thad had wondered if he was afraid to talk or if he truly didn’t know anything.
“Did you pay him or did someone else?” Thad asked.
“It wasn’t me.”
“Was it Andrew Lindeman?” Thad asked calmly.
That tripped the chief up for a second. “They don’t tell me that.”
“‘They’? Who’s ‘they’?” Thad willed him to talk, meeting Chief Thomas’s grim eyes.
Seconds passed and then Wade stared down at his desk. The degree of his gravity began to alarm Thad. Whatever haunted him, whatever trouble he’d gotten himself into, he saw no way out.
“My mother isn’t the only political figure targeted for assassination,” Thad said. “You can stop them.”
Slowly, Wade’s despondent eyes lifted. Thad didn’t think Wade was actually seeing him, his thoughts were that heavy.
“It’s bigger than you can imagine,” Wade finally said, not sounding like the chief of police Thad knew.
“Is it some kind of extremist political organization?” Thad asked.
The desperation emanating from Wade slid behind a blank stare that chilled Thad. The chief opened one of the desk drawers. When he lifted a gun, Thad lost his breath. Would he shoot him?
He pulled his own gun from its holster. But Wade put the gun to his own head and, looking at Thad, fired.