by LENA DIAZ,
She heard the familiar sound of a foil packet being ripped open, felt the bed dip and knew he was protecting her. Then, finally, he moved up her body, fitting himself to her. She was limp, spent, but the feel of him hard and thick against her sent a jolt of heat straight through her. She dragged his lips to hers and lifted her legs, wrapping them around his waist, inviting him in.
This time, he didn’t hesitate. He claimed her mouth and her body at the same time, thrusting into her. His hands moved between them, doing wicked things, building the pressure again, spiraling her up to even greater heights. He filled her so completely, so perfectly, his body fitting to hers like they were made for each other. She’d never felt such pleasure, such completeness, such joy before. As if this was meant to be. Destiny. Fate.
She felt him tighten inside her, knew he was close. But her ever-considerate lover placed her needs above his own once again, holding back, caressing, kissing, molding her body with his hands until she was again at those lofty heights, on the brink. Then he thrust into her again, sending them both tumbling over the edge. She cried out in wonder, clasping him to her as they both shattered into pieces and then slowly drifted back down to earth. Together.
Chapter Twenty
Duncan set his coffee down on the dining room table and glanced back and forth between Jody and Adam. “Am I missing something? Both of you are yawning like there’s no tomorrow. You’re either sleepy or you’re worn-out. What have you been doing?”
Jody choked.
Adam coughed, then cleared his throat. Jody was so red with embarrassment that he wanted to grin. But he didn’t dare. She’d probably murder him if he did.
“You have new information about the investigation?” he asked his brother.
When Jody wasn’t looking, Duncan grinned and winked at Adam, letting him know he knew full well what they’d been doing.
Adam narrowed his eyes in warning. What he’d shared with Jody had been life changing. No way was he going to let his brother’s juvenile teasing cheapen it in any way, for either of them.
He gave Jody an apologetic smile. It had been like a bucket of cold water having to hurry and wash and dress before his brother got there. Both of them had wanted to lie in bed all day, exploring the newfound closeness between them. But life wouldn’t let them. Cold reality had intruded all too soon. He hadn’t even gotten a chance to talk to her about what had happened between them, and whether her heart was as tangled up in the experience as his.
They’d only met a few days ago. But he already couldn’t imagine his life without her in it somehow. Did she feel the same way? He desperately wanted to know. Instead, he was stuck here at his dining room table with his brother sitting across from him.
“Why are you frowning at me?” Duncan teased. “Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed or something?”
“Or something,” Adam gritted out, belatedly wishing he’d called his brother and told him not to come over at all. But that would have been selfish. Jody’s safety rested on Duncan solving the case. Everything else, no matter how pleasurable, needed to come second.
“Just tell us what updates you have.”
Duncan set his briefcase on the dining room table and popped it open. “Saying I have updates is stretching it. For as many threads as we have on this thing, they’re unraveling far too slowly and not really leading anywhere.”
He took out several folders and plopped them onto the table, then snapped his briefcase closed and set it on the floor. “These are the five cases Sam seemed to be focused on the most in the week before he was killed.” He winced. “Sorry, Jody. I should have led with that, with a lot more finesse. The coroner confirmed a body we found was Sam. I’m very sorry for your loss.”
She blinked and shook her head as if to clear it. She appeared to be having as much trouble as Adam focusing on the case. “It’s okay. I mean, it’s not okay. But I’d pretty much accepted that he had to be, that he was gone. To hear you confirm it isn’t a shock at this point. It’s just sad, and so unfair.” She waved toward the folders. “Please, continue.”
Adam wanted to pull her onto his lap and hold her, comfort her. But he didn’t know how she’d feel about that in front of his brother. Damn it. They needed to talk, privately.
“Like I said, these are the five cases we determined that he was actively working. All of them have stacks of photographs in them.”
Adam let out a deep breath and resolved to pay attention, no matter how difficult. He pulled one of the folders toward him and flipped through the small stack of pictures. “I’m not noticing any gaps in time stamps in this one.”
Jody pulled another one of the folders toward her and opened it.
“There aren’t any gaps in any of them,” Duncan said.
She frowned. “No gaps?”
“None. We looked in all of the other case folders, too. Like you said, your boss was very detail oriented. Each case has an index listing the pictures that should be there. Everything matches up. We’ve hit a dead end.”
Adam shook his head. “No. You haven’t. You’ve learned something important.”
Duncan arched a brow in question, and Jody looked at him, both waiting.
“You’ve learned that whatever Damien is after isn’t related to any cases that Sam was officially working on.”
Duncan stared at him intently. Then he sat back in his chair. “You should be an investigator, Adam. That makes complete sense. We’ve been looking at this all wrong. Sam must have been investigating something else, on his own. Not for a client. That would explain the gap. If he was working something on the side, he’d have no reason to keep the information at his office with his regular cases. He’d put it somewhere else. I would think it would be at his home, so he could keep it separate from regular work. But we searched there, found nothing.” He shook his head. “We’re still at an impasse. I’m not sure where to go with this. But I’ll update the guy working on it. Maybe he can find a thread I haven’t thought of.”
“Guy? Not guys, plural?” Adam rested his forearms on the table. “What’s going on? I thought you had a whole team working on this.”
“Yeah, well, I did. We want justice for Mr. Campbell and Miss Larson. And we want to get Damien and Ned and anyone else who may be involved off the streets and locked up where they belong. But, well, resources being what they are, the guys higher up than me make executive decisions based on budget and higher priorities.”
Adam swore. “What’s a higher priority than making sure Jody isn’t murdered? I thought the press had wind of this case and was putting pressure on you to solve it?”
Jody put her hand on his. “Please. Don’t fight over me. I’ll be okay.”
He laced their fingers together. Even with her life on the line, she focused on others, on him. After what she’d suffered in her life, it was a miracle that she wasn’t bitter and angry all the time. Instead she was selfless and sweet. He squeezed her hand in his.
“You will be okay,” he said. “Because I’m not going to let anything happen to you. But you shouldn’t have to live in fear wondering when Damien might try to strike. We need to end this. And that means the government needs to put its resources back on the case.” He shot his brother an accusing look. “What are you working on if not this?”
“Something that’s being kept hush-hush right now. I’m not at liberty to discuss it.”
Adam leaned forward. “I’d expect that from Ian, not from you. Spill. Tell me what’s going on.”
“Who’s Ian?” Jody asked.
Duncan gave her an apologetic smile. “Sorry. Ian is our youngest brother. He’s always been a bit, well, rebellious. Doesn’t exactly get along with the rest of us on the rare occasions that we even see him.”
“Us? Just how big is your family?” she asked.
Duncan turned an accusing look at Adam. “Were you in too much of a hurry
to even go through the niceties first?”
Jody’s brows drew together in obvious confusion. But Adam wasn’t confused in the least. His brother was berating him for making love to Jody without the two of them really getting to know each other first. And he had every right to shame him. Jody deserved better, and he hadn’t bothered to share anything substantive about himself with her even though she’d shared the most intimate details of her life with him.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you more about myself or my family,” Adam said. “Really short version for now, I have three brothers—Duncan, Colin and Ian. My dad, William, is a retired federal judge. Margaret, my mom, is a retired prosecutor and—”
“Wait, Judge William McKenzie? I should have made the connection earlier. You’re a part of the infamous Mighty McKenzies, aren’t you? Your family’s a legend at the courthouse. Every member is in law-enforcement in one way or the other, right?”
He winced. “We’re not fans of that label. But yes, that’s us. Except for Ian. But that’s not important right now. The point, that we need to get back to, is that Duncan should be working this case with a full team of investigators. And he’s not leaving until he tells us what so-called higher priority trumps protecting you by finding the guys who are trying to hurt you.”
This time it was Duncan’s turn to look uncomfortable. “I wouldn’t put it that way exactly.” He held up his hand to stop Adam. “But I’ll remind you that I don’t set the priorities. I didn’t want to tell you what I was working on because I knew it would only upset you even more.”
“Duncan—”
“But I’ll tell you anyway. Eddie Hicks, a local city councilman, was murdered last week. Turns out he was assisting Senator Sinclair with some local research for an infrastructure bill that was passed by Congress a few days ago after pending in subcommittee for well over a year.”
“Infrastructure?” Adam asked. “I vaguely remember seeing something about that on the news. Wasn’t the government looking into buying up all the land associated with it?”
Duncan nodded. “A highway and bridge bill. This local councilman has been assisting Sinclair with surveys and research on the tracts of land involved, title searches and things like that. Getting appraisals and, as you said, buying up the land in preparation for the passage of the bill.” He idly straightened the folders sitting on the table. “Sinclair and Hicks were apparently good friends.”
Adam clenched a fist on the table. “So the senator is using his power to push the National Park Service and everyone else to steer their resources toward finding out who killed his friend instead of protecting Jody. Our taxpayer dollars at work. Nepotism is alive and well.”
Duncan shoved back from the table and stood. “Like I said, I knew you’d be upset. I argued against this. In the end there was nothing I could do. I was fortunate just to get them to agree to leave one investigator assigned to the case.” He set a business card on the table. “Here’s his contact information, Jody, if you think of anything else that might help. I’ll check back in with him as often as I can to ensure he keeps at it. And as soon as the councilman’s case is resolved, I’ll push to get more resources reassigned to your case.” He spread his hands out beside him. “I’m really sorry. It’s out of my control.” He turned and headed toward the front door.
Adam followed, clicking after him on his crutches. In the opening, he let out an exasperated breath. “I’m sorry I’m taking my anger out on you, Duncan. I know none of this is your fault.”
His brother gave him a sympathetic look. “You care about her.”
“Well, of course I care about her.” He kept his voice low, even though he doubted that Jody could hear him back in the dining room. “She’s a good person. She doesn’t deserve any of what’s happening to her. I want Damien and whoever put him up to this found before she gets hurt.”
“I know. I’m doing everything I can to help, officially and unofficially. In the meantime, just keep watching over her. And don’t hesitate to call me if you need me. No matter what.”
“I will. Did you mean to leave those folders?”
“They’re copies. I don’t think you’ll find anything useful in them. But it couldn’t hurt to have another pair of eyes on the case. I told the lone remaining investigator to email you if he found anything else significant.”
“Thanks. I know that’s against the rules. I appreciate it.”
Duncan bumped him on the shoulder, his version of a hug, then headed outside.
Adam shut the door and leaned back against it. He was furious with the government for letting politics decide their priorities. But he also knew his brother well, and he knew that Duncan would have already done everything possible to change their minds. Since Duncan hadn’t been successful, Adam needed to pick up where the government had left off. He was effectively on leave until his leg healed anyway. Might as well use that time to do what the government should have been doing—solving the case.
He headed to the table, his crutches making a tapping sound on the tile that drove him to distraction. When he stopped beside Jody’s chair, she looked up at him in question. He wanted to kiss her so badly right now. But he knew where that would end. And his desire to make her safe outweighed everything else at the moment.
“Pretend you’re Sam Campbell.”
She blinked. “What? Why?”
“You knew him pretty well, right? Think like him. Tell me about his daily routine.”
“I already told Duncan, during the chopper flight to the hospital—”
“I was a bit out of it during that flight. Tell me what you told him.”
“Okay. I’ll try.”
He pulled out the chair beside her and listened to her tell him about her boss. He could see the love and admiration she felt for him. And it broke his heart that she’d suffered two devastating losses of people close to her in a handful of days. But what mattered the most was making sure that she didn’t become victim number three.
“Okay,” he said, when she finished talking about Sam. “What I’m hearing is he had a regimented schedule and documented everything. Other than when his grief for his wife overcame him, he never veered from that routine. So if he was working a secret case in the week before he died, he would have documented it just like everything else, right?”
“Right. Makes sense.”
“But he didn’t keep the documents at the office.”
“Agreed. But I still don’t know where he would have put them.”
He tapped the table as he thought some more. “Did he seem afraid before he disappeared?”
“No. Not at all.”
“Did he do anything different, out of the ordinary? Anything at all that you noticed?”
She started to shake her head, then stopped. “Well, it seems silly, really. I’m sure it’s not related.”
“Let me be the judge of that.”
“A few days before he disappeared, he was extra nice to me. Not that he wasn’t always nice. But he did more things with me than usual. I was his assistant, so usually he worked a case and I was his gofer, running errands for him. But that last week, just a few times, it was like he was my assistant instead. I remember it was the anniversary of his wife’s death that week, and I attributed it to him being lonely.”
“Be specific, Jody. What did he do?”
She thought about it a moment. “He talked to me, in the car, about my family, both my birth parents and my adoptive ones. It was awkward because I never tell anyone about them, or what happened. So it was a short conversation. I certainly didn’t tell him about the abuse. He had lunch with me two or three times, asking more questions, like he was just trying to get to know me better. Oh, and one night, after work, he knew I was going to my storage unit and he said he’d like to see what I do when I’m not working for him. He seemed so lonely, so I let him come along.”
“D
id he give Tracy any extra attention that week?”
She shook her head. “I don’t think so. Not that I recall.”
“What kinds of questions did he ask you about your family?”
“The usual—whether I had brothers and sisters, where I grew up. I told him I was adopted, that my biological parents were killed in a crash. I remember he asked my birth parents’ names, but after that he dropped the questions. I think he could tell I was uncomfortable and he changed the subject.”
Adam shoved back from his chair. “Where’s that storage unit of yours located?”
“In the middle of nowhere—not far from here, actually. We passed it on the way to your house last night. It’s in the last flat section in the valley right before you climb into these foothills. Why?”
He held out his hand toward her. “We’re going to take a little trip. If I’m right, we’ll find the evidence that Damien was looking for hidden in your storage unit.”
She took his hand and slowly stood. “You think Sam was working on a secret investigation and that he put something in my storage unit to hide it? Why would he do that?”
“I don’t know. But it’s the only place that makes sense, given your accounting of what he did that last week.”
“Wait.” She tugged her hand from his. “I’m getting my gun. It’s in my room.”
He tapped the holster on his hip. “I’ve got mine. It’s my job to protect you.”
“And it’s my job to protect you.”
She turned away before he could argue and headed up the stairs.
Chapter Twenty-One
Jody rubbed her hands up and down her arms. On the other side of the small table in the middle of her storage unit, Adam sat flipping through the folder they’d found.
“I can’t believe Sam snuck that in here, or that he hid it in a pile of my photographs. Why would he do that?”