dead.
I have it handled, guys.
You re not handling it alone, Greer said through his teeth. I already told you, that s not how this
family works.
Yeah, and you re not Dad. As soon as the words left Cam s mouth, he wanted to take them back.
After their parents died, Greer had filed for emancipation, worked his ass off to finish school early,
and got a fulltime job, then did his best to cobble together a semblance of the family they had lost. On
his seventeenth birthday, he d joined the military solely so he could better support them. He d taken
on more responsibility than any teenager should ever have to and it wasn t fair of Cam to condemn
him for it now.
Greer remained as stoic as ever, but the words must have been like a physical blow. Cam opened
his mouth to apologize, but what could he really say? The damage had been done and I m sorry
wasn t going to fix it.
Tell us everything you know about Soup s death, Greer said after a long moment. Do you have
any suspects?
He nodded. Soup and the hit contract were so much easier than the minefield he d stepped into with
his heartless remark. I went through some of my old cases, focusing on the recent parolees that had
threatened me in the past, and came up with three names Arnold Mabry, Tom Lindquist, Gordon
Dunphy. I ve already eliminated Mabry. He didn t even remember me, and I never considered him a
real suspect anyway. His was a crime of passion, and he was drunk when he made those threats
against me.
And the other two? Reece asked.
I haven t had any luck finding Lindquist. He s skipped out on his parole officer and there s a
warrant for his arrest.
Everyone looked at Vaughn in silent question.
Yeah, Vaughn said, I m on Lindquist.
Cam s stomach twisted and he faced his twin. You should sit this one out, bro. It s too
If you say dangerous, I am going to hit you again. And this time, it won t be a love tap.
Fuck, he hated this. If something happened to Vaughn or any of his brothers because of this case&
Unable to stay still, he paced across the office. I need some air.
Greer stepped in front of the door, blocking his exit. We re not done. Tell us about Dunphy.
There s nothing to tell. I haven t looked into him yet. I had a restraining order against him for a
while after he attacked me in a bar, but it s not active anymore. And, honestly, he doesn t have any
reason to come after me now. I have no influence over his brother s case.
Greer nodded once. I ll take a look at him. Reece, dig into Cam s old cases and see if you can t
find us more suspects. We re gonna turn over every rock and see what comes scampering out.
&
The air hit Cam like an icy hammer to the face when he stepped outside, and he gratefully sucked it
down until his lungs burned from the cold. Something damn near panic had sunk its claws into his
heart, and he hadn t been able to draw a full breath inside the office.
He had to fix this. Throw himself into the investigation and figure out who was behind the contract
before his brothers had time to get in too deep. Whoever it was hadn t had a problem killing Soup, so
that person would also have no qualms about offing a handful of private investigators for asking the
wrong questions in the wrong places.
He couldn t let that happen.
But first, he had to find Eva. Explain himself. Beg forgiveness. Then ask her not to pursue Soup s
information because the thought of her getting caught in the crossfire just about crippled him.
And it was time to come clean about more than this case. All these years, he d kept his
relationships few and far between just enough to take the edge off because his heart had never been
into any of those women. His heart belonged to Eva and, fuck it, he wanted her too badly not to give
this thing between them a shot. So he couldn t give her exactly what she wanted. Maybe his love
would be enough. At least, he hoped it d be enough. And if it wasn t well, maybe he could try to do
things her way. Marriage, two-point-five kids, a dog, a minivan, and a motherfucking white picket
fence. Either way, he couldn t let his personal demons paralyze him into inaction anymore.
If he did, he got the sickening feeling he d lose her forever.
&
The restaurant wasn t anything Eva would have picked for dinner, casual but with a faint enough
whiff of upscale that she wasn t one-hundred percent comfortable. Preston was all smiles as he
pulled out her chair for her and settled across the table. He d ordered them red wine, which she
hated. She took a sip anyway because she thought a splash of alcohol would do her good.
Then again, alcohol is what got her into this mess in the first place.
She nudged the wine glass away precisely because the temptation to get drunk was so great. Like
mother, like daughter.
I m so glad you agreed to meet me, Preston said, shaking out his napkin.
God, this was a mistake. She pushed away from the table. I shouldn t have.
No. Eva, wait. He scrambled around the table and caught her hand. Please, hear me out. Garth
Brooks will come on the radio, and I ll remember that town in West Virginia, the one we got stranded
in when my car overheated? Remember you played darts at the dive bar with all those bikers? You
impressed the heck out of me that night.
She smiled, relaxing a little at the memory. It had been a fun trip, one of the best she d ever taken
with him. They loved us until they found out I m a cop.
He released a breath as if relieved that she remembered. And I can t even watch a Nationals game
anymore because you re not sitting beside me making inappropriate comments about the opposing
team. I miss us. I miss what we had.
She pulled her hand from his grasp. How can you say that? You cheated on me. After I specifically
told you when we first started dating that cheating is a stupid, high-schooler thing to do, and if you
ever found someone you d rather be with than me, you should just tell me.
Yes, he admitted.
But instead of telling me you wanted someone else
I don t. Will you let me explain?
She refused to answer. She didn t want an explanation. She wanted to get the hell out of here.
Taking her silence as a go ahead, he continued, There s this permeating idea that a man can t get
anywhere in the modern political climate without the right kind of wife backing him and this is no
excuse, but you don t fit that mold. Lark does, and I m ashamed to say, I gave in to the pressure. I
made a horrible mistake, Eva. I hope you can forgive me, and maybe, if I haven t screwed things up
too badly, you can give us another chance? He dropped to one knee in front of her, and her heart
dropped right along with him.
Oh no. What the fuck did he think he was doing?
She grabbed his arms, urging him to stand. Preston, no. Don t.
Ignoring her, he produced a little black box and opened it. A large marquise diamond sparked in the
soft restaurant lighting, faintly blue against the white satin lining. Please.
At her back, an excited murmur rippled through the other diners, and heat rose into her face. For a
solid minute, she couldn t come up with a thing to say in response. Preston
You don t have to answer now, he added in a rush. He stood and closed the box, pressing it into
her hand. I know this is a lot to take in. I had planned to wait, but I have to let you know how serious
I am this time.
Panic skated down the back of her neck. What about Lark?
I broke it off with her right after we got back from Key West. I regret hurting her, but she s the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]