by C. M. Steele
“Damn it, if this shit wasn’t so important, I’d have you on this desk or any way I could get you,” I said, breathing hard.
“I want you, too. But we have to get all we can before we go to bed. My parents’ lives depend on it.”
“Don’t worry, baby. I doubled the security on them and my men know what to do when it comes to extra precautions. They will be safe. So tell me, did Lowell ever hit on you? Did you ever go on a date?” I hated the jealous sound in my voice, but it was an important question. Whatever their past was, she gave her virgin pussy to me.
“We never dated. He did ask me out, but my father found out and ended it quickly. Lowell told me that there were no hard feelings.”
“Did you like him?” Now that was just a jealous question that I asked. I knew that shit did nothing to help the case.
“No,” she said, returning to the paper in her hands and shaking her head at my question. I could see the laughing smile on her mouth. I knew I seemed pretty pathetic, but I loved her and her liking a psycho just messed with my head.
“So anything to learn?”
She looked back up and said, “No. I can’t find a reason other than wanting my father’s job.”
“It’s motive enough. All he needs is someone to pay and that person accidentally dies resisting arrest or while making more bombs.”
“I just can’t believe it would be him. He was so quiet.”
“Baby, the quiet ones are the scariest.”
“I know, but it’s fucked up when you can’t trust those close to you.”
“I know sweetheart. It’s sucks balls, but there are tons without morals who know how to play people. Lowell seems to be big for his britches. He has ambition of greatness without the skill or he’d have your father’s job already.”
“That’s very true. He may be my dad, but he earned his spot as the DA. He hired Lowell because Lowell’s court cases were perfect.”
“There’s probably a lot of crooked payoffs in exchange for results. One thing is for sure; once this is over, someone is going to have to review all the old cases.”
“So true.”
“I’ve got to call the detectives. Did you want to listen in or would you prefer not to?”
“I’d rather not. Thinking about what they found at the scene is too much for me.”
“Okay, sweetheart. So what are you going to go do?”
“I’m going to go open a book and start dinner.”
“See, I knew you were going to make a great wife.” I ducked just in time as the pencil flew past my ear. “Hey, not nice.”
“Back at you. You know I’m not staying home with the kids all the time. I want to work for a living.”
“You know Blake’s law firm could probably use another lawyer.”
“Pump the brakes. I don’t have my degree or my license yet.”
“I’m just saying you could work in between giving birth to all my babies.”
“Now, how many said babies are you under the impression we’re having?”
“I’d say at least five. I want a lot of kids. I come from a very small family. Just me and my little sister. So it would be awesome to have a lot of kids.”
“Since I never had siblings, I always wanted lots of kids, so you’re lucky.”
“I can’t help but agree. I’m one lucky son a bitch. Now take your pretty ass in the kitchen and make me a sandwich,” I said with a smile.
“Fucking shithead.” She stormed out of the room in a huff. I tried not to laugh, but I knew I was going to pay for it later. I needed to work or I’d go work out that anger she had.
I dialed the number on the card for Agents Smith. I would have called Morris, but Smith was the one who told me to do my thing. I didn’t know how far Morris would let me go in this matter. They were both waiting for my call apparently since they answered on speakerphone. It was cool with me because two heads instead of one would be better. "It was luck that you were two survived," Morris said.
"No shit. What's your point?" I snarled back.
“There was a sewer below your truck. The city said it was a broken lid and was supposed to be replaced. When the bomb exploded, the force was sent downward. It’s the only thing that stopped the blast from expanding above ground and outward.” I took a breath. The news had been a blow I hadn’t seen coming. I thought maybe the fuck didn’t use enough explosives, but fate played a huge part in this. We wouldn’t have been here had my truck been two inches forward or backward.
“Are you okay, Mr. Wyatt?” Detective Smith asked. I hadn’t realized I’d been quiet, but I was.
“I’m fine. Just a bit of a shock.”
“Ms. Russell’s vehicle was rigged to go with almost double the explosives. It was like your truck was a last minute change of plans. Can you tell me if anyone knew she was going with you instead of her car?”
“Like I mentioned before, the bomber was there. I was sure of it, so maybe he was listening into our conversation and took precautionary steps. After all, if this person had been watching her for the last few weeks they would have seen me attached to her hip.”
“Why did you guys choose your rental?”
“Well, I’m a man so of course I was going to be doing the driving,” I answered easily. I assumed that was given.
“Of course,” Smith said with an attitude. I’m the man. I wasn’t going to ride shotgun when I could be driving.
“Leave the guy alone, just because you’ve unmanned your husband.”
“Fuck off, Morris. Mr. Wyatt, ignore him. So, we looked at the camera footage from the day and for some reason it wasn’t working. How convenient, right? But we found out that it hadn’t been working for two weeks.”
“So none of the internal surveillance cameras were working either?”
“Only one, and we’re trying to see if the footage reveals anything. It wasn’t the best angled camera. It’s the farthest from the scene on the street level.”
“Did you want to send it to me?”
“We’re doing it as we speak. This is an important case. As quick as you are at solving cases I wonder if you’ve already found out something.”
“I may have a suspect, but I don’t want to jump the gun on it because it’s controversial.”
“Mr. Wyatt, we’re sharing our investigation with you.”
“ADA Baxter Lowell.”
“Lowell?” they asked in unison.
“What makes you think it was him?” Morris asked.
“Handwriting samples that match the letter.”
“Our people will pull samples and send it our best forensic document examiner for comparison. If it matches, we’ll get a warrant, but until then don’t say a word to anyone.”
“I won’t, trust me when I say that something isn’t right. He had help and it wasn’t him who detonated the bomb. I remember the jeans the bomber was wearing.”
“Stay low until we get confirmation.”
“And how long will that be?” Normally I was a patient person, but every minute that this guy was on the streets, Miranda was in danger.
“We’ll have an answer in twenty-four hours.” I liked that answer. Miranda, my mom, and Mrs. Blake had a wedding to get together in less than a week.
“I’m going back home for a week in a couple of days, and Mr. and Mrs. Russell will be there. That’s classified.”
“We got it,” Morris said.
“I suppose it’s the wedding?” Smith questioned.
“Yes, it is. I won’t be giving any more details about it. I don’t want problems or a media circus.”
“We’ll keep you informed as soon as we have an answer from the examiner. Congratulations on getting engaged.”
“Thanks. Keep in touch,” I said before hanging up.
Chapter 11
"What the fuck do you mean it isn't Lowell?" I roared. There was no way the signatures on both documents weren't the same type of style. They matched.
"I'm sorry, but that's what it is. There
's no proof that he's involved at this point. In fact, according to my documents expert it seems that someone's attempting to frame Lowell."
“What makes him think that?”
“Because after examining ten of Lowell’s documents to the letter, the body of the text in the letter didn’t match all of the other docs. Another clue were the hesitation marks. Like the person was trying to nail the signature.”
“Damn, so we have someone technically going after the whole DA’s office. Did you come up with any suspects?”
“Everyone in the DA’s office is still under suspicion. It has to be someone who works in close proximity to him with a possible motive. The only one that isn’t is Lowell, and well, of course, Ms. Russell. I can’t imagine that she’d try to blow herself up.”
“Hell no, she wouldn’t. But you think her father is a suspect?” I didn’t know if they had a reason to think that way or they were just taking precautions.
“We’re not ruling anything out. We’ve seen some pretty fucked up shit in our careers and we know you have, too.”
“Keep me informed and I’ll talk to Miranda about it. She might know of some office tension.”
“Thanks. That would help. Maybe she could find a way to rule out her father.”
“I know he has nothing to do with it. DA Russell loves his daughter,” I replied a second too late. Miranda was standing at the door way with a sandwich on a plate for me. Fucking good wife. I knew she’d do it, now to see if it was poisoned.
“Excuse me, Detectives. I need to let you go.” I hung up while they were still trying to speak. My eyes never left her face as I stood up and walked to her.
“They think my father did this? What happened to Lowell?”
“The handwriting was a forgery.” I took the plate from her hand and placed it on the bookshelf next to the door. “I was kidding about the sandwich; you know?”
“I know, but you need to eat. We have a lot to do and well you need your strength of mind to do it.”
“Are you trying to say I’m dumb?” I asked, grabbing her waist and tickling her.
“No,” she giggled out. “No, I…it’s…stop,” she howled in laughter.
Letting her off easy, I stopped my assault. “Thanks, doll,” I said, grabbing the sandwich and taking a quick bite. I didn’t realize that I hadn’t eaten today until that first bite hit my tongue. She made me a rib-eye steak sandwich. Seriously, if she wasn’t this bad ass lawyer chick, I would have thought she was trained to care for a man. I could cook for myself, but this was something else.
“Where did you learn to cook?”
“My mom. She cooked for my dad all the time and she told me that I needed to know. Of course, a way to a man’s heart is his stomach or so she said all the time.”
“Does she know about us from your father or you?”
“I told her weeks ago. She told me being a lawyer was nothing if you didn’t have someone at home cheering you on or to hear your struggles.”
“I’m really loving your mother,” I remarked.
“So does my dad, so don’t let him hear you say that. He may be the district attorney, but he’ll end a man for trying to hit on my mother.”
“I can’t blame the man. Just know, doll, I’m the same way.” I took another bite of my sandwich.
“Okay, caveman, finish your food so we can get back to work,” she ordered. Bossy, I loved that about her.
“Where’s your food?” I hoped she wasn’t trying to avoid eating. The wedding was coming up because I was rushing that shit, but I didn’t picture her to be the one to starve right before it.
“It’s called multitasking. I ate mine while I was making yours.” She gave a huge as grin, then snatched a bite off my sandwich. “Sorry, it smells so good and I think my sandwich wasn’t as big.”
“Stay away from mine woman. I need the brain power to focus. You can take your greedy ass and sit down.” She saluted me before giving me the finger. “Later, baby, but now I need you to think about who could possibly have it out for the ADA and you.”
“Okay.” She took a seat back on the sofa she’d been working at earlier. I tried not to choke on my sandwich as she tucked her legs. She had on some short khaki shorts. They were a cut below her cooch and I was trying not to look at her thick thighs. “You could eat faster, if you weren’t staring at me. Remember no pussy until we have a potential suspect.” She caught me staring, not like I was hiding it.
“Fine. Damn you, woman, can’t let me enjoy my lunch while eyeing my dessert.”
She blushed and I had her ass. She was going to get fucked so good tonight. I made arrangements for us to fly back to Maine tomorrow. We had a lot to prepare for and I had to still deal with the case, but I felt more comfortable doing it where I wasn’t in another country.
“So, if it isn’t Lowell, do the FBI even have a clue who it could be?”
“No. They don’t yet, but speaking of that I need to call my men. They’re going to have to be a bit more discreet if it’s someone else. I don’t want anyone onto us before we can catch them.”
“Good idea. I’m going to call my parents. I haven’t gotten to talk to them since we got here.”
“Okay, remember don’t say anything about where we are or where we’re going tomorrow.”
“I won’t.” She walked up to me and took my cell phone after I texted Romeo and let him know that all the DA’s staff are potential suspects. After she left, I went back to eating. I didn’t know everyone she worked with there, but it pissed me off that someone she knew tried to kill her. There were over a hundred employees in the government building. It didn’t have to be the DA’s office in specific. It could be a disgruntled ex-lover of Lowell’s and they found about his interest in Miranda. It was a ‘killing two birds with one stone’ kind of thing. Then again, she was up for an internship with another employee, but if it was that then why go after the ADA as the scapegoat. If anything it would be her father that they would try to pin it on.
My mind raced while I almost let my sandwich get cold. Shit I could go for another one of these. Did Miranda have to be so perfect? I wasn’t really complaining, but living up to being the man she deserved was going to be hard. Most of the time I was so controlled and professional, but with her the fucking prehistoric beast in me roared out. The guys were going to get a kick out of it when they saw me. After all the times I dismissed their feelings and thought they were fucking looney, I was due my teasing.
She walked back into the room in tears. “What’s the matter, sweetheart?”
“My dad had a heart attack. He’s in the hospital back home.”
“We’re leaving right now.” She cried so hard that I didn’t know what to do. There was no one I could curse out. There was no one I could strangle so that she would be fine. We were hours away from there.
I took the phone and called for a flight. Then called the driver. They would have us back in Phoenix in twelve hours.
“I’ll get us packed and you can just rest, okay,” I told her after I got off the phone. She looked up at me and shook her head.
“No, I’ll have everything packed away. We don’t have time to waste.” She was out of my arms and the room within a flash. I needed to pack up all the files and documents in here.
While she was doing that I called Niko and thanked him. I wished we could have stayed longer, but now all I needed was for her father to live.
Chapter 12
The flight seemed so long. It was like time was standing still. If it had been just returning back from the most romantic vacation ever, it would feel like the shortest flight. Now as I hoped that my dad wouldn’t die or that I’d get to talk to him one more time, the flight was endless.
“He’s going to be fine. When you talked to Romeo, he said that his vitals were stable.”
“Stable doesn’t mean good. It just means that they’re not fluctuating.” I wanted to be thrilled when his employee told me that, but it wasn’t enough. I had to see him to belie
ve he was going to be alright.
“Think positive. It’s all you can do right now. I promise that I’m here either way.”
“Thank you, Duke,” I said with a sob. The tears wouldn’t stop coming. We were able to keep the Blake’s plane and it was going to take us all the way back home. It was faster than a passenger plane and I didn’t have a bunch of strangers staring at me with pity and questions in their eyes. We moved to the bed in the back of the plane and laid down. He held me the whole time even though he had to work on figuring out who was after us.
Every time I tried to get up, he would push me back down. “Just rest, love. You don’t have to be strong all the time. I’m here, Miranda.”
“I know, but I know you have stuff to do.”
“Nothing is more important that you. Nothing. Now let’s just cuddle like this.”
“I love you, Duke,” I whispered, drifting off to sleep.
We finally arrived in Phoenix and Romeo and Dex were waiting for us. Even though it was late they took us straight to the hospital from the airport.
“Oh my gosh, there’s someone following us.”
“Don’t worry, that’s our team. We’ve beefed up security on your family,” Dex said from the front. Duke squeezed me tighter, trying to calm me down. Being back home didn’t feel good anymore. I didn’t feel safe. I wasn’t sure how I was going to manage to finish out the rest of the semester to graduate. This late in the game it was impossible to switch to another school, so I was going to have to tough it out. The school already cleared me for some time off. My dad was on that before he went to talk to Duke. And as scared as I was to go back to a normal life, I wouldn’t let my dad down. I would become a lawyer and I would get that son of a bitch who tried to kill me.
“Can you tell me anything about my dad?”