The Cop

by Cara Summers

  “Captain Parker is taking Roman’s statement. And then they’re going to arrest him. I thought…I was so sure that Frankie and Gina Carlucci were behind everything.”

  “And they’re not,” J.C. said.

  “No. Something more is going on here. And Roman is not involved. We just have to find out who is.”

  Later, J.C. wondered how she had seen it. But there was something about the way Sam’s voice broke that had a series of images flashing through her mind. The way he’d dropped his notebook in Parker’s office the day before, the way he’d laughed at her remark about the movie Fargo. And now…he was so upset about Roman’s arrest. Would a young man who was Theo’s intern be that upset? Unless…If she’d been Nik, she bet her thumbs would have been pricking.

  “You’re Sadie Oliver, aren’t you?” she asked.

  Immediately, Sam—Sadie—tensed and her already pale face turned even whiter. “Please. Don’t turn me in. I’m not asking for myself, but I can’t let Theo’s career suffer because of this.”

  “Why would it?” Drew asked.

  “Because he’s known all along who I am. He’s lied to everyone. And I’m wanted by the police. They’ll arrest him for aiding and abetting a fugitive. I can’t let that happen.” She met each one of the women’s eyes in turn. “I won’t let that happen. I promise that I’ll turn myself in. It would just be better for Theo if I changed back into my own clothes first. Then no one needs to know that I’ve been masquerading as his intern.”

  Sitting down on the arm of the chair, Drew put a hand on Sadie’s shoulder. “We’re not going to turn you in. And if you’re thinking of doing that yourself, I can tell you that I’ve been there and tried that. If Theo decides that you shouldn’t turn yourself in, well…”

  Out of deference to the stitches on her forehead, J.C. decided to forgo a nod. “These Angelis men have a way of getting their own way.”

  “You know, I sometimes have the same trouble with Cole,” Pepper said. “At least I let him think I do.”

  The four women exchanged glances and even Sadie’s lips twitched in a smile.

  “Why don’t you tell us what really happened at the church,” J.C. said.

  Sadie met her eyes. “I’m touched that you would trust me to do that.”

  “Kit would trust Roman with his life,” Drew said.

  “We know that the two of you couldn’t be involved in kidnapping your sister and Paulo Carlucci,” J.C. added.

  Sadie folded her hands together in her lap. “I got there late. If I’d just gotten there on time, I might have been able to…” When her voice broke, she swallowed and drew in a deep breath. “I talked to Roman yesterday. Theo arranged for me to get in. I suspected that my father was pressuring the doctors to stall for more time before they would approve a visit by the police. And I was right. But when I talked to Roman, he couldn’t tell me much more than we already know. Except that he received the same note from Juliana that I did. It was delivered that afternoon around four, inviting us to come to the church. We didn’t know we were being invited to a wedding. And we’re pretty sure Juliana didn’t send them.

  “When I got to St. Peter’s, I heard two shots. Then a man with a gun burst through the vestibule doors and ran up the stairs to the choir loft. Roman was right on his heels, and he shoved me under the staircase. There was a shot from the loft and Roman raced up the stairs.”

  “That must have been the shot I fired,” Drew said. “I hit that man in the shoulder. Roman told us to run. Then the man attacked Roman.”

  “I was standing there under the stairs when Roman fell. I called 911 and then the man with the gun came down the stairs and ran out the front door. Roman told me to call Kit and I tried, but the answering machine picked up.”

  “Paulo and Juliana and I ran along the side of the choir loft and out the back door,” Drew said. “We were about two blocks away when Paulo put me in a taxi.”

  “I saw that from the window in the choir loft,” Sadie said. “I also saw a dark-colored van I’d seen earlier following Paulo and Juliana. I took the same route out of the church, but when I reached the corner, they’d disappeared.”

  When she paused, Drew gave her a glass of water. After taking a swallow, Sadie went on. “I suppose I panicked. I’ve practiced enough law to know that this wasn’t going to look good for Roman and that I wasn’t going to do him any good by hanging around. The police were there. So I got in my car and followed the ambulance to the hospital. I tried again to reach Kit at his home phone, and his aunt Cass told me Kit was at the fishing cabin. That’s where I found Theo. I convinced him not to turn me in and to let me help him work on the case.”

  “I think that was a good plan,” J.C. said. “In your shoes, I would have done the same thing.”

  “Me, too,” Drew said.

  “I’ll make that unanimous,” Pepper added. “I made a similar deal with Cole when we were tracking down a stolen painting.”

  Sadie took another sip of water, then said, “If I’d only gotten to the church sooner—”

  “You might have been killed,” J.C. said. “Sometimes the Fates weave everything together just perfectly.”

  18

  “WE’RE NOT MAKING any progress. It’s been two days, and the noose around Roman’s neck just keeps getting tighter.” Kit tried to pace off his frustration on the landing of the stairwell. Theo lounged against the wall while Nik kept his weight pressed firmly against the open door so that he had a view of the hospital corridor and the entrance to J.C.’s room. He’d wanted to be with J.C., but he’d had to be there for Roman and Mario Oliver when Captain Parker had made the arrest. And he had to be with his brothers now because Kit’s temper was on a short leash.

  “Gina Carlucci could be lying,” Kit said.

  “I don’t think so.” Theo sighed. “I watched part of the interrogation before Parker and I came over here. She’s spilling everything in the hopes that she’ll get leniency. If she and Frankie had kidnapped those kids, she’d be giving them up, too.”

  Kit made a grunting noise and continued to pace. “That still doesn’t mean that Roman is behind it.”

  Theo said nothing and Nik shifted his gaze to his brothers. He’d urged them onto the landing in the stairwell because the waiting room was pretty full, and he knew that Kit was ready to blow. When his youngest brother had heard about Frankie and Gina’s arrest, he’d been so certain that Roman would be cleared.

  Hell, Nik thought, he’d been certain, too. He glanced back down the corridor. When Mario Oliver had learned that J.C. was in the emergency room and that the doctors had wanted her to stay overnight, he’d arranged to have her brought up to a private room down the hall from Roman’s.

  When you donated a trauma center to a hospital, Nik guessed you had the power to make those kinds of arrangements. And he was grateful to Mario.

  She’d looked so fragile when the EMTs had loaded her onto the gurney at the accident scene. And there’d been so much blood on her face. They’d told him not to worry, that the blood was from her nose and the cut on her forehead, and that she hadn’t been seriously hurt. But he couldn’t seem to erase from his mind those final images when she’d shot her car into the intersection.

  For the third time in two days, he’d almost lost her.

  For a moment, his thoughts were interrupted when he saw Philly step out of the elevator with a bouquet of daffodils in her hand. His first thought was that she’d somehow learned of J.C.’s accident, perhaps from Aunt Cass. But she didn’t go to J.C.’s room. She went straight to Roman’s.

  Sweet, he thought. Roman had saved her life, so the two were connected in a way. The moment that Philly disappeared from view, he turned his attention back to J.C.’s door. A few minutes ago, Mayor and Mrs. Riley had visited J.C., but they hadn’t stayed long, and now Drew, Pepper and Sam Schaeffer were back with her.

  “She should be getting some rest,” Nik remarked.

  His brothers both turned to look at him.

&nb
sp; “You’re worried about Gina Carlucci getting rest?” Theo asked.

  “No, of course not.”

  “That’s who we were talking about,” Theo explained.

  Nik frowned at him. “I’m worried about J.C.”

  As his brothers continued to study him, Nik saw understanding in Kit’s eyes and speculation in Theo’s.

  “So that’s how it is,” Theo finally murmured.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Nik asked.

  Theo’s glance flicked to Kit and then back to Nik. “It would seem that Cupid has been busy this weekend.”

  “Is anyone here besides me worried about Roman?” Kit questioned sharply.

  “We’re going to find the answers.”

  The certainty in Theo’s tone had both Kit and Nik glancing at him.

  “Are you saying that because you feel it?” Kit asked. “Or are you speaking as his defense attorney?”

  Though neither of them would admit it to his face, both Nik and Kit had always known that the psychic sense Theo possessed was stronger than theirs. He’d inherited more than his looks from their mother.

  “I’m speaking from my experience as your brother. Watching Parker charge Roman Oliver with kidnapping and murder was bad. But you’re both going to bounce back from it. And then we’re going to figure out who’s really behind all this.”

  “Cole and the Rossis are already trying to figure out the cash angle. If we can rely on Gina’s understanding, Angelo Carlucci stands to lose out on the land deal now that Frankie can’t ante up the cash,” Nik said. “He’s a smart man. Maybe he never depended on Frankie at all. If the news of the secret wedding was leaked to Frankie, could be Angelo got wind of it, too, learned about Frankie’s plans and decided to make some of his own.”

  “Not a bad theory,” Theo said. “But we shouldn’t eliminate the Oliver camp from suspicion.”

  “Roman is not guilty.” Kit made a move toward Theo, but Nik was faster. He inserted himself in between them and pressed both hands against Kit’s shoulders.

  “Not here, Kit,” Nik said. “And he’s not talking about Roman.”

  Kit backed away. Nik followed him a few steps, but he remained between his two brothers. Theo’s temper took longer to ignite, but it was there.

  “Everyone needed cash for this deal.” Theo lifted both hands, palms up and then lowered one. “If you take the money from the other family, you gain what might be a decisive advantage in the negotiations.”

  “He has a point, Kit,” Nik said.

  “If we’re going to start picking suspects from the Olivers’ camp, then my money’s on Sadie,” Kit said.

  “Sadie’s not behind this.”

  The flatness in Theo’s tone had both his brothers staring at him again. Suddenly, several things began to slip into place in Nik’s mind.

  “She was at the church and she left,” Kit pointed out. “Her prints are on the ransom note along with Roman’s. And she took off. If she’s so innocent, why hasn’t she shown up?”

  “Because then she’d be under arrest just as Roman’s under arrest,” Theo said. For the first time, the anger and frustration they were all feeling could be heard in Theo’s tone. “Roman says he got a note from Juliana inviting him to the church. Perhaps Sadie got one, too. What if the plan was to set them up as the fall guys?”

  “You mean frame them for the kidnapping?” Kit asked.

  “That would explain why the kidnap notes had their fingerprints on them,” Nik said. “You think someone was out to frame them.”

  “Or lure them there to kill them. They very nearly succeeded with Roman,” Theo said. “It was very carefully planned. If Frankie Carlucci and Gino DeLucca hadn’t had their own kidnapping plan, it might have worked.”

  Kit moved again, and this time Nik shoved him against the wall.

  “Dammit, he knows something that we don’t,” Kit said.

  “Yeah.” Keeping a firm grip on Kit, Nik turned to face Theo. “He does know something. Why don’t you tell us who your intern, Sam Schaeffer, really is, bro?”

  IT TOOK ANOTHER fifteen minutes or so to get his brothers sorted out. Then Drew left with Kit, and Theo picked up Sadie. Nik wanted to thank Mario Oliver for making arrangements for J.C., but when he glanced in Roman’s room, he saw that Philly was still there. One of her hands was in Mario’s and the other was resting on one of Roman’s. She was comforting both of them, he thought, so he didn’t interrupt. Instead, he conveyed his thanks to Michael Dano, the man who seemed to be Mario Oliver’s right hand in the absence of his son and daughters.

  Finally, he let himself into J.C.’s room. Theo had advised him to pick up some flowers in the gift shop. All they’d had were some daffodils, which were still buds. The woman at the cash register had assured him that they’d bloom just as soon as they warmed up a bit, and then she’d talked him into buying some chocolate, but it wasn’t Ghirardelli’s.

  The moment Nik entered, Pepper Rossi rose from the lone chair in the room. “Looks like this is my cue to leave.”

  And she did. He’d already told Cole that they could both go home, that he intended to stay the night with J.C. No one thought that she was really in any mortal danger now that Frankie and Gina were behind bars. But he wasn’t taking any chances.

  The nerves that had been knotting in his stomach ever since he’d sent his brothers on their way tightened.

  “Hi,” she said.

  Her face was so pale, almost as white as the bandage they’d used to cover the stitches on her forehead. He couldn’t prevent the last few seconds before the crash from flooding his mind, her car shooting forward. He’d slammed on his brakes, but not in time to keep from hitting her. Then there’d been the sound of metal crashing into metal, the squeal of tires, the smell of burning rubber, the shattering of glass. And when he’d managed to get free of his own car and get to her, there’d been so much blood.

  Suddenly the nerves in his stomach coalesced into anger. “What the hell did you think you were doing?”

  J.C. STARED AT HIM. A moment ago he’d looked so sweet standing there with daffodils in one hand and a box of candy in the other. Now he was furious with her.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “I had a plan. We were going to surround your car and talk her out of it.” He stalked across the room and tossed the flowers and chocolates down on the bed. “You didn’t have to end up this way.”

  J.C. levered herself up on her good arm. “We’re talking Gina Carlucci here. Her elevator does not go to the top floor. Believe me, your chances of talking her out of shooting me were at best fifty-fifty. And I didn’t like the odds.”

  “You could have been killed.” He nearly snarled the words. “I love you and you could have been killed.”

  “Well, here’s a bulletin—I wasn’t killed. And I love you, too!”

  For a moment, neither one of them spoke. The snarled and shouted words hung in the silence that suddenly filled the room.

  Nik sat down on the side of her bed as if his legs had suddenly gone weak. J.C. was glad that she was already lying down.

  His eyes hadn’t left hers. She could see the anger, and something else, too.

  He swallowed hard, then said, “Do you mean it? Do you love me?”

  “No. I just said it to make you crazy.” She paused long enough to swallow. “Of course, I mean it. Did you mean it?”

  He glanced down at the bed and then smiled at her. “Yeah. I’ve never thrown flowers and candy at any other woman. So it must be love.” He reached for the fingers of her good hand and raised them to his lips. She felt her pulse scramble.

  “I guess this will shoot the whole sex-buddy thing out the window?” He turned her hand over and scraped his teeth lightly over her wrist.

  J.C. shivered. “I guess.”

  “Too bad,” he murmured. “I really liked being your sex buddy.”

  Her heart was pounding fast now, but she managed to smile. “Maybe we could work something out.”


  He leaned closer and pressed his mouth against hers. She was just sinking into the kiss when he drew back, swearing under his breath.

  “What? Have you changed your mind? Are you going to take it all back?” she asked.

  “No.” He nearly frowned at her. “Since I blew the flowers-and-candy thing, I have another present for you.” After placing her hand carefully back on the sheet, he reached into his pocket, and pulled out a small blue box.

  She simply stared at it. When he opened it, she continued to stare—at the ring. Nerves twisted in his stomach. Obviously, she was speechless. And it took a lot to make J.C. Riley speechless. At least he hoped that was the reason for the dumbfounded look on her face.

  Clearing his throat, he said, “I know it’s probably rushing things. But we haven’t really done any of this slowly. I think I fell in love with you when you stepped out of that closet.”

  She met his eyes then, and what he saw in them made him forget the rest of what he wanted to say.

  “Where did you get it? When did you get it? Aren’t you going to put it on me?” She held out her good hand. “They don’t sell these in the hospital gift shop.”

  She was talking again. That was a good sign. Nik slipped it on her finger. Perfect fit.

  When he leaned in to kiss her again, she put a hand on his chest, and he answered one of the questions in her eyes. “I called the personal shopper at the St. Regis. She messengered it over.” He shrugged. “You mentioned we needed a diamond.”

  “Yes, I did. And obviously, I’m the boss.” Laughing, J.C. linked the fingers of her good hand with his. “You haven’t asked me yet.”

  Nik grinned at her. “The ring’s on you, Jude Catherine. From this moment, you’re mine.”

  “And you’re mine.”

  “Okay. Now about this sex-buddy thing.” He eased her back onto the pillow, and made room for himself beside her. “I have a plan. Let me show you.”

  And he did.

  Wait!

  The excitement’s not over yet!!!