by Taylor Lee
Chapter 28
Samantha would never know how she found her way through the maze of hallways and rooms in the huge mansion and found a bathroom with a heavy lock. She knew that somewhere in the crush of people celebrating the festive event Jake was chasing after her, surely upset when she managed to break away from him and run through the crowd. Leaning against the wall, she sunk to the floor, unable to stand. Remembering the blue-eyed man staring at her, a wave of nausea hit her. Choking on the bile rising in her throat, she felt sick, like she might vomit. Pulling herself up, she clung to the side of the lavatory, willing herself not to faint. Staring at her pale face in the mirror, she groaned at the sight of her gorgeous dress. The contrast to her tear-smudged mascara and disheveled hair made a mockery of everything that had been beautiful about the now horrible night.
She heard his voice at the same time he repeatedly rattled the doorknob. “Sam, are you in there?,It’s Jake. Open the door, sweetheart.”
“Go away. Leave me alone.” She hated that her voice was shrill, out of control. But she needed him to leave so that she could escape from this awful place. She repeated, “Go Jake. Please, go! Now.”
His voice was crisp, sharp. “Not an option, Sam. You know I won’t leave you. Open the door.” He rattled the know knob loudly as he spoke. When she closed her eyes and didn’t answer, he said, “Stand back, Sam, I’m coming in.”
To her surprise she heard the sound of splintering wood, then Jake was at her side, the shattered door hanging precariously from the hinges. He grabbed her and held her firmly beside him, then spoke to Jude and Jared who had come up behind him.
“Let Jorden and the Judge know that I have her. I’m taking her to his office and then home.”
Without speaking to her, Jake pulled her by her hand down a long hallway to a doorway that opened to a back staircase. He half carried, half dragged her down the stairwell. At the bottom of the flight of stairs, he pulled her after him into a dark room that looked like a library. Flipping on the lights, he led her over to a large overstuffed chair and sat her in it.
He knelt in front of her and grasped her hands. His face was tight with worry, his dark gray eyes flashing, almost black with concern. His voice was ragged.
“’Jesus God, Sam, I am so fucking sorry. You need to understand, baby…”
At his passionate plea, a surge if anger hit her. She leapt to her feet and shoved at him. Her voice was shrill, sharp. “Don’t touch me, Jake. Don’t you dare touch me.”
He rose to his feet and reached for her. “Dammit, Sam, you need to listen to me. I—”
Shoving his hands away, she glared at him. “Goddamn you, Jake, I don’t need to do anything but leave this horrible place and never come back.” Furious that her voice broke, she whirled on him, not trying to stop the tears flowing down her cheeks. “How could you, Jake? How could you do something like that to me?” She forced herself to ask the question that was tearing at her soul, to make him hear what she was saying. “Why, Jake? Why would you do that to me? How could you be so cruel? Was this your idea of a joke or some crazy way of introducing me to the pig who fucked my mother? What did you want to do? Show me that I have a nice white father who’s almost as rich as the rest of you fucking people are? Did you want me acknowledge my white roots? Make me less Native since you’re fucking me? Damn you,…”
Her tirade stopped in her throat when Jake grabbed her and pulled her up next to him. “Be quiet, Sam. Stop now.” When she tried to twist free he held her and forced her to look at him. “Damn you, Sam, how can you think I would do that? I love you, Sam. I love you more than I knew it was possible to love a woman.” When she tried to jerk away, he held her tighter, forcing her to look at him. “Dammit, Sam, before I invited you to the party I talked to my grandfather, made sure that Sterling wasn’t coming. I never would have invited you if he were going to be here. The Judge assured me that Mitchell was in Europe until the middle of July. He wasn’t going to be in the fucking country.”
Knowing that Jake and his family were discussing her and her illegitimate father infuriated her. Sam glared at him. “So your grandfather lied to you, Jake?” She sniffed and said with a sneer, “Hmm, guess it runs in the family.”
Jake’s voice hardened. “I would never lie to you about such a thing. How could you think that?”
“How could I think that? That you would never lie to me? For example, that you would never put an undercover agent on my reservation and just not tell me? That kind of a lie, Jake?”
“Sam, you know that was a professional decision. But you’re correct. In retrospect I should have told you—”
Sam interrupted him. “So you can lie if it’s for a good reason?” Her voice rose. “Let’s give the Judge a break. Maybe he was doing a favor for an old friend. Setting up his illegitimate daughter was okay, worth lying to you…”
Jake pulled her next to him. His voice was ravished with pain. “Sam, stop. Please stop. Listen to me. Come with me to my house. Let me hold you. Make love to you. Let me tell you how I feel about you. That I would never intentionally hurt you…”
Sam shoved at his hands, “No, Jake. No! All I’ve done since I met you is hurt. One hurt after another.” She shook her head from side to side, tears streaming down her cheeks. She pressed her hands against his chest to hold him back and said desperately, her voice rising, “I can’t do it, Jake. I can’t be the person you want me to be. I didn’t grow up in a place like this. I don’t belong…I don’t want to belong!”
Jake’s phone buzzed. He yanked it out of his pocket and glanced at the screen. Punching a button, he said, “Yeah, Jude?”
Sam saw the pain on his face intensify as he listened to his brother. Not taking his eyes off her, he nodded and said, “Direct him to the back driveway. Thanks.”
Turning to her, he said, “Henry Jones is here. To pick you up as you requested.”
He held her arm and didn’t speak as he led down a long hallway then another flight of stairs to a back entrance. Sam saw Jude talking with Henry Jones. The tribal van was idling in the driveway. Jake strode to the passenger door and opened it for her. Stepping back, he nodded to Henry. “Thank you, Deputy Jones.” Without speaking to her he turned and went back into the house.
****
Jude called after him. “Hold up, bro!”
Jake held up his hands. “Don’t Jude. Don’t even try. There’s nothing either one of us can say.”
“Oh, Christ, man. The Judge begged me to bring you to his office.”
Jake slammed his eyes closed and breathed out a hard sigh. “I can’t, Jude. You have to understand. I can’t talk to anyone…”
Jude grasped his arm. “Jake, you know I wouldn’t ask you to do this, but the Judge is distraught. I’ve never seen him like this. Please. I’ll be with you, bro.”
Throwing up his hands in defeat, Jake nodded his assent. Walking into his grandfather’s private study, he saw the Judge sitting at his desk, resting his forehead against his gnarled fingers. When he looked up and saw Jake, his eyes filled with tears. Jake started toward him, and then to his shock, he saw Mitchell Sterling standing off to the side. He started to leave, but seeing the stark distress on his grandfather’s face, he stopped in the doorway.
Sterling stepped up to him and held up his hands. “Goddammit, Jake. You have to know. I swear to God, I didn’t know she was going to be here.”
When Jake just shook his head and turned to go, Sterling reached out to stop him. “Jake, please listen to me. I got back last night and decided I could come to the Solstice event, after all. It didn’t occur to me to let the Judge know. I…I knew I’d be welcome.” He paused, then continued. His voice was serious, his expression pained. “I heard that you were working with her. I didn’t know that…you were involved. I swear to God I never would have come if I’d known she would be here. I wouldn’t do that to her.”
Jake glared at him and said with a disbelieving snort, “You wouldn’t do that to her? Really? So why the
hell didn’t you leave when you knew she was here? Why, Mitch?”
The older man’s face flushed and Jake saw the tears swimming in his eyes. He noted with a start, how much they were like Sam’s eyes. Sterling’s voice shook. “I started to. I swear to God I was almost at the door when I saw her. She stopped me cold. She looked like an angel. So much like her mother.” He was silent for a long moment and then pleaded, “Jesus God, Jake. She is so beautiful. So goddamned beautiful.”
Jake stared at him and then nodded in agreement. “Yes, Mitch, she is. She is the most beautiful woman I have ever known.” He nodded to his grandfather. “Good night, Judge, Mitch.” With that, he turned on his heel and left the room.
“Wait up, bro.” Jude caught up with him. “I’m not going to let you go like this, Jake. Fuck man, you’ve got to be reeling. This is a goddamned nightmare. A fucking horror movie.”
Jake snorted, “Yeah, man, a regular Night of the Living Dead, or maybe The Wailing.” He backed away and turned to leave. “Look, Jude, I know you mean well, but I have to get out of here.”
Jude grabbed his arm and pulled him close. “I know you do, Jake. But first, we need to talk. Jorden and Jared are waiting for us in the library. C’mon, man. You know if it were me, you wouldn’t let me leave. And buddy, I ain’t gonna let you leave and neither are Jorden and Jared.”
Quaffing his second shot of Maker’s Mark, Jake nodded when Jared poured him another. He’d listened without speaking as one after the other of his concerned brothers commiserated with him, trying to convince him that everything would work out. Jorden, the most serious of his siblings, spoke from personal experience.
“Jake, you know the shit I went through with Mac. I came damn close to losing her. And if I had, it would have been my fault. I did a terrible thing, Jake. I wronged her badly. I didn’t deserve her forgiveness, but she forgave me. It took me deciding that life wasn’t worth living without her. After a hell of a lot of work I convinced her to agree.” Jorden reached for his hand. “But, Jake, you haven’t done anything wrong. In fact, you have done everything right, like you always do. Christ, Jake, we all know how much you love her. You have to believe me, man. You can work this out. You just have to give her time and you need to stay on her.”
Jude agreed. “Jorden’s right, bro. Hell, ask Jared, ask me. We’ve watched the two of you play out a drama worthy of an Oscar. I’m telling you if ever there were two people in love…”
Jake shook his head and rose to his feet. He put his full glass on the table and faced them. “You don’t understand. Yeah, Sam loves me. I know that. And I sure as fuck love her. But I’m discovering that sometimes, love isn’t enough. Sometimes the obstacles are too many, too insurmountable. Look, I would crawl over broken glass on my hands and knees through a raging forest fire to be with her, but she doesn’t want me. She won’t let herself love me. She’s spent a lifetime building a protective fortress around herself. What happened tonight proved her right. In her mind I betrayed her. In the worst possible way. I hit her at the very heart of her insecurities, of who she believes herself to be.” Jake shook his head and shrugged, “Face it. Most Oscar-winning movies end tragically, even the romantic ones.” He snorted. “Especially the romantic ones.”
Climbing into his Jag, Jake punched on his phone. “Henry, I need you and Mark to keep a close eye on her. No telling what Mingan has ordered his flunkies to do to her. Don’t let her out of your sight, you hear me? Thanks, man.”
The next morning, Sam crawled out of bed, stunned to see that it was eight o’clock. She was amazed that she’d actually slept. Without the aid of her trusty Jameson, no less. Kicking at her ruined dress lying in a heap on the floor, she swallowed hard, refusing to give into the pain that had her gut in knots. Unable to stop herself, she went out to her deck to retrieve her phone. She’d left it there last night after turning it off, in case she lost her mind in the middle of the night and allowed herself to answer his calls. She flipped on the phone and clicked on messages. It turned out her precautions were unnecessary. There weren’t any messages.
Chapter 29
Sam glared at her grandfather then shook her head, chiding herself for being so stupid. For God’s sake, when was the last time that she’d had a breakfast invitation from her austere grandfather? He never finished his morning meditations before nine o’clock. As for breakfast, she knew he didn’t break his fast until noon. She tipped up her chin and didn’t hide her annoyance.
“You really didn’t have to lie to me, Grandfather. All you had to do was tell me that you planned to ambush me. At least you could have given me the courtesy of a head’s up.” She was surprised when a fleeting smile crossed his lips.
“Ah, Granddaughter, but then you might have discovered that you had an agenda full of important things to do that simply couldn’t wait.”
Sam interrupted him. “As you well know, I do have a full agenda of important things to do, given that I’m in the middle of a murder investigation…”
Her grandfather raised his hand then motioned for her to sit in the chair beside him. His solemn expression ensured that she would do as he asked. Without preliminaries, he began. “Samantha, this morning I had a challenging call from a longtime friend, James Justice.”
She stood up, but before she could tell him that she wasn’t interested in what he had to say, he motioned again to the chair. “No, Granddaughter. You are not excused, and you’re going to give me the courtesy of listening to me.” When she sunk back onto the chair, he continued. “James was distraught. He was shocked when your father appeared last night. The Judge had specifically assured Jake that Mitchell would not attend.”
Sam interrupted. “Mitchell? You call that horrible man by his first name? I don’t understand, Grandfather. How can you?”
“There are many things you do not understand and have been unwilling to learn. Many times your mother tried to tell you that she and your father were connected, but you were unwilling to hear her.” He held up his hand, not allowing her to interrupt.
Several hours later, Sam went to her office. She needed to be alone. Even now she couldn’t absorb all the things that her grandfather had told her, patiently allowing her to rant and rave before adding yet another shot of dynamite to his explosive tale. It was inconceivable that her mother had deceived her. That she had communicated with that man over the years. That she had permitted him to support her financially, had even allowed him to pay for Sam’s college. Sam stared at her frozen image in the mirror, not able to look away. Until she saw him last night, she’d never understood why her eyes were the damning color that they were. Now she understood.
****
“Henry, you and Mark need to represent me in any discussions with the DPD. I’m working on another track and won’t be able to attend the joint meetings.”
Henry glanced at Mark who was frowning at her, then asked tentatively, “You’re not backing out of the murder investigation, are you, Chief?”
“No, Henry, I’m not. I’m following up on another angle, an important one. It’s going to require my full attention.”
Mark’s frown deepened. “You planning on telling us what you’re up to, Sam?”
“No, Mark, I’m not. At least not until I get a few things figured out. In the meantime I need you to represent the tribe with the DPD.”
After the deputies left, Sam steeled herself for what lay ahead. Kate confirmed that several of the girls had agreed to come to her house at two o’clock. Sam planned to give them time to arrive and then drop in and pretend to be surprised that the girls were there. She forced herself to focus on the upcoming discussion. It was imperative that she be at her best. She knew in her gut that she was onto something important. A colony of fire ants had taken up residence on the back of her neck. She knew that the girls were the key. That they could help her discover the missing pieces that both she and Jake knew were there. For a brief moment, she almost forgot and reached for her phone. Then she remembered. He didn’t want to ta
lk to her any more than she’d wanted to talk to him. Apparently, he agreed that they simply didn’t work.
Sam didn’t know when she realized that something was wrong, that a piece was missing in the puzzle she knew she was close to solving. It didn’t help that the fire ants crawling up her neck were almost screaming out a warning. The conversation with the girls had begun the way she had expected. Except that from the moment she arrived, she knew something was wrong. The girls looked shocked then frightened when she walked in. She passed it off as their fear of authority and that they assumed she wanted to question them about Isabella. She let Kate take the lead and ask the leading questions that might convince one of the girls to allude to the possibility of prostitution. Finally, Kate asked point-blank if any of them had been approached by men who might be pimps. Specifically if Mingan or any of the other gang members had suggested they might want to make extra money.
Each of the girls vociferously denied that anyone had approached them. They all seemed shocked that Kate would suggest such a thing. What troubled Sam was that the three of them would not meet her gaze. When she asked a question, softening it as much as possible, they refused to answer her or even look at her. Instead, they spoke to Kate, insisting they didn’t know what she and Kate were talking about. Finally, Sam decided that they’d hit a brick wall. She rose to her feet and thanked the girls for coming. As they walked to the door, she handed each of them her card.
“This is my phone number and my e-mail address. If you think of something that might be important you can reach me any time. Even if you just want to leave me an anonymous message, that’s okay too.” Deciding that there was no reason to dissemble with the clearly frightened girls, she added, “I think that Isabella was involved knowingly or unknowingly with bad people who might be involved in prostitution. If you have any information that might help me find out who they are, please call me. Isabella deserves your help. And understand that you also might be in danger.”