Suspect Lover

by Stephanie Doyle

  The alarm stopped mid chirp.

  “Like taking candy from a baby,” Nora muttered and made another mental note to tell Dominic that he needed to upgrade his security system.

  Besides the kit, she removed a small flashlight from her belt and twisted it until a thin beam blinked on. She flicked it around the room, but quickly realized that the moonlight shining through the glass gave her more than enough light to work by. Dominic’s desk was empty except for the monitor.

  Mark had unexpectedly dropped by her hotel that morning. She’d been hoping for news on Dominic. The fact that he was still in hiding worried her. If he got it into his head to run, then there would be no coming back from that. As long as Caroline had stayed, she had hope that he would return for her. She didn’t care how long they had known each other. If Dominic married her, then he planned to stay committed to her. For life. It was the nature of the beast.

  But Caroline had bolted and there was still no word from Dominic. And Mark’s report had only been to say they had found nothing on Dominic’s home or office computers-which, of course, they wouldn’t because what she hid, she hid very well-and had returned both of them to his place.

  Only they weren’t here.

  Thinking maybe the cops had left them upstairs, Nora headed for the steps leading up to the next level of the house. When she didn’t instantly see anything, she cursed.

  A soft noise followed her curse and instantly she froze. Lifting her head slowly she spotted a dark form moving toward her from the foyer.

  “Dominic?” she whispered hopefully.

  No answer.

  As she went back to reach for her weapon, the figure charged. Instantly she felt an arm wrap around her waist dragging to her to the ground. Reacting quickly, she wedged a knee between her attacker’s legs and drove it up fast and high.

  She heard a woof of air, a groan and then suddenly the person was rolling off her and with very good reason. She’d correctly identified the mystery figure as a man. Moving quickly, she straddled his chest and pushed her knees solidly against two biceps, pinning his arms to the ground.

  “Who are you?” she asked as she reached behind her back for her weapon.

  “Agent Shortcake, I’m offended. You don’t recognize my moves?”

  “Goddamn it, Hernandez,” Nora cursed. His features were just visible in the dark, but his smile and the flash of white teeth were unmistakable.

  “You know I’ve had fantasies about us in this position, but in them you were wearing a lot less clothes.”

  Disgusted, Nora crawled off his body and stood up. “What the hell are you doing here?”

  He regained his feet and laughed. “That’s a joke, right?”

  Then she understood what had happened. The police wouldn’t have returned Dominic’s computers even if they hadn’t found a damn thing on them. Stupid. Stupid. If she hadn’t been so fixated on what she needed to do, she would have realized that.

  “This was a setup. You told me the police returned his property to the house because you knew I would come here.”

  He shook his right leg a few times as if making sure all his parts still worked. “First things first. I let you win that fight on purpose.”

  “In your dreams,” she muttered.

  “Second, you can’t pick up a tail to save your life. I was, like, half an inch off of your bumper the whole way up here.”

  “I was distracted,” she said. Annoyed with herself, she made her way back to the living room and sat down on the couch. She figured he was going to want some answers and there was no point in not being comfortable.

  Mark hit a few of the switches on the wall panel and watched the house light up. He made his way into the living room, stopping to admire the view of the ocean in the distance. “Man, I would love to have a place like this.”

  “It’s a nice house. Are you going to tell me why you set me up?”

  He turned back to her, his normally easy smile gone. He was all business.

  “Are you going to tell me why you fell for it?”

  Because she was a chump, Nora thought. The truth was, she wasn’t really all that experienced as a field agent. It wasn’t as if solving murders and breaking into houses and wrestling with cops was her terrain. She spent her days at the Bureau behind a wide-screen monitor.

  Still, giving herself a little pat on the back, she’d handled two out of three okay.

  “I have a buddy in the Justice Department,” Mark began. “I called him a few days ago. He called his buddy over at FBI and confirmed that you worked there in the lab as a computer geek-”

  “Lady,” she insisted.

  “Computer lady,” Mark repeated. He sat next to her on the couch, the two of them staring straight ahead toward the windowed wall. “You’re not a field agent and probably the last person the FBI would send even if they would have sent anyone. Which I pretty much figured from the very first. My instincts are gold. Anyway, I called, got the switchboard, asked for you and was informed that you were on vacation for the next two weeks and was there anyone else that could help me. I considered asking for your boss. Thought maybe he could tell me why you went rogue, but I decided to ask you instead.”

  “So now you know.”

  “I don’t know shit. I know you don’t want this guy to be guilty. Who is he? Your lover? And please say no.”

  “No.” She laughed harshly.

  “Ex-lover, then.”

  “No.”

  Mark scowled. “Am I going to have to get rough with you again?”

  “I think we both know I’m not exactly afraid of you.”

  “Spill it, shortcake. Or I make that call to your boss. I can’t imagine that the Federal Bureau looks kindly on this sort of behavior.”

  “Dominic Santos-” Nora began.

  “Butler,” Mark corrected her. “Don’t forget.”

  “Not likely. Dominic is my brother.”

  Mark blew out the air in his lungs in a slow woosh. “Why do I feel like I just stepped into the middle of a bad soap opera?”

  “Dick Butler was my father. He abandoned my mother and me much in the same way he did Dominic and his mother. My mom remarried and my stepfather adopted me.”

  “Why didn’t you just…Oh, I get it. You know about the fake identity. Knowledge of criminal activity.”

  Nora nodded tightly. “Exactly. Of course I would never report him, but if my superiors found out I knew about it, I don’t know what would happen. Dominic made me promise never to tell anyone about our relationship. We knew. That’s all that mattered.”

  “What did you think you were going to find on the computer?”

  “An e-mail that he sent to me the night of Denny’s death. He told me about this software program that Denny had created, what it could do, what it could mean. He thought the government was going to have to get involved and he was right. When I bypassed his security that first day in the office, I transferred the e-mail to a file where it wouldn’t easily be found so I could have a few days to discover what was going on. I knew he hadn’t killed Denny. But he’s been gone too long and I’m afraid he might run permanently. I’ve got to prove his innocence now and find a way to get him to come home.”

  “So you were here to put the e-mail back in his box. Then what?”

  “I was going to tell your guys to check the computer again. Of course I have the e-mail on my computer back in D.C., but this seemed more expedient.”

  “Either way, you’re exposed.”

  “Getting fired is a small price to pay for my brother’s life.”

  “You two are close, huh?”

  “No. Not really. But Dominic saved my life. Not too long ago, I was a rebellious, smart-mouthed teenager with a chip on my shoulder because my real daddy didn’t love me. Also I had a natural propensity for trouble.”

  Mark smiled. “Rebellious? Chip? You’re kidding me, shortcake. That doesn’t sound like you at all.”

  Nora bumped up against his shoulder good-naturedly,
letting him know she didn’t care for his sarcasm. “Let’s just say my personality was a lot more magnified back then. I had a natural gift for computers and ended up tracking down Dominic. I threatened to expose him if he didn’t give me money so I could run away. He gave me a job instead. I was actually Denny’s assistant for a few years. This was long before Steven showed up. Dominic made sure I went to college and then when the FBI wanted to recruit me, we both decided it would best to keep our relationship to ourselves.”

  “The FBI would have done a background check.”

  “Dick Butler was dead by then. They never looked farther than that. They spoke with Dominic, but as my employer, not my brother.”

  “So you knew Denny.”

  “Yeah,” she admitted sadly. “He was a sweet guy. Harmless. His head was always in whatever program he was working on. I was convinced he wouldn’t have remembered to eat unless I reminded him. I can’t imagine who would have wanted to kill him.”

  “What’s this program?”

  Nora opened her mouth to explain, but Mark interrupted her with a raised hand.

  “And don’t give me a bunch of computer mumbo jumbo and megawatts and RAM and all that crap. Just the basics.”

  “According to Dominic, Denny has a program that can unscramble anyone’s encryption code. Can decrypt any data regardless of what software was used to encrypt it in the first place.”

  “I’m with you so far. And this is bad?”

  “This is very bad,” Nora answered. “Imagine having the power to unlock any and all secured data being transferred over the Internet. This kind of program, in the wrong hands, would be seriously dangerous.”

  “Okay. That makes things simple. Somebody killed Denny to get their hands on the program and whoever that was, he set up Santos to cover his tracks. So who would have known about the program?”

  “That is a very good question. Unfortunately, the only person I think who can answer that is…”

  “Dominic,” Mark concluded.

  “Dominic.”

  “Then I guess we better hope he wants to be found.”

  “He’ll come back. I know it.”

  “You just said you’re afraid he’s gone rabbit for good.”

  “I’m panicking, that’s all. He didn’t run because he killed Denny. He ran because he needed time to figure out who did. Once he does, he’ll come back. Until then, all we can do is help him put the pieces together.”

  Nora lifted her feet up on the coffee table and settled deeper into the leather couch. In a way it was a relief to finally be able to share her thoughts with someone. And Hernandez wasn’t stupid. In fact, he was probably the best ally Dominic could have, even if he was somewhat unwilling.

  “So now that you know he didn’t do it, who do you think did?” Nora asked.

  Mark gave her a doubtful look. “I don’t know shit.”

  “I told you he sent an e-mail to me that night. It’s going to confirm his alibi.”

  “Sweetheart, I already know you tampered with the computer to hide the e-mail. How do I know you didn’t put it out there in the first place? That e-mail proves nothing.”

  She huffed in annoyance. “What’s your theory, then? Dominic killed Denny and contacted me, an FBI agent, to come help him cover up his murderous and embezzling tracks by concocting some story about a big bad computer program?”

  “You know, when you say it like that, it sounds a little far-fetched.”

  “Hernandez,” she snarled.

  “Shortcake,” he returned ominously. “Drop it. I’ve still got an ex-con on the run, a bride that’s flown the coop, one standing partner with a devoted but spoiled wife, a sleazy father-in-law and now a half sister who wants to believe her brother is innocent and isn’t afraid to lie and tamper with evidence to make sure that happens.”

  Nora’s shoulders slumped. “You know, when you say it like that…”

  “Exactly.”

  “So what’s next?”

  “What’s next is you are going to get your pretty little ass on a plane back to Washington and let me figure this out without your interference, which, by the way, is a criminal act.”

  “I’m not leaving,” she said stubbornly.

  “Fine. I’ll call your boss and let him know that you like to break laws on your vacation.” Mark stood up from the couch. “What do you think he’ll have to say to that?”

  “You wouldn’t.”

  He just looked at her over his shoulder.

  “You would,” she said glumly. “I don’t care. Go ahead and spill, I’m not leaving until I know who killed Denny and am sure Dominic has been cleared.”

  Mark sighed. He’d expected as much, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t follow through with his threat. Not that he liked the idea of being a tattletale. As a cop, it wasn’t in his nature to rat out one of his own. But he liked even less the idea of her doing something to screw up his case once he made it. As much as she tickled his fancy, he really couldn’t let her continue to interfere. On the flipside of that argument, her reasoning had been pretty sound throughout the investigation. She hadn’t been the worst partner he’d ever had.

  “Out of curiosity only, who do you think it is? Steven Ford?”

  “Could be,” she answered quickly. “Could be someone we haven’t even considered. Someone else who might have access to Dominic’s computer.”

  “The secretary,” Mark muttered.

  “Who?”

  “Serena. Remember Ford thought it was possible that she might know Dominic’s password. He said he gave it to her occasionally, but then would change it. Maybe the last time he forgot.”

  “Guess that means we need to talk to Serena.”

  “Guess that means I need to talk to Serena. You’re going home.” Mark figured he had about a fifty-fifty shot of making that happen.

  “Am not.” She stood up and crossed her arms over her chest in defiance.

  “Are too,” he said before he could stop himself.

  “Am not.”

  “Are too.” Make that forty-sixty.

  “Am not.”

  He snapped his mouth shut and struggled for patience. After all, he was not five years old. “Yes, you are.”

  “No, I’m not.”

  This, he decided, was going to be a long night.

  Chapter 15

  “What time is it?”

  “Early,” Dominic answered in a quiet whisper. “Go back to sleep.”

  “I can’t. I keep thinking.”

  Thinking about leaving him? Loving him? He wanted to ask but he didn’t want the answer. Forty-eight hours ago he’d been ready to walk out on her, tucked safely back in her tower where none of the ugliness of his past or present could touch her. Now he wanted to enfold her inside him so she would never not be a part of him.

  He hated feeling this way. Hated how freaking vulnerable it left him, but he had no choice now. She’d cracked something open and he wasn’t sure if he had the strength to close it.

  Hated the feeling, yes, but he couldn’t hate her. Not when she was nestled against his side, her hand over his heart, her lips every so often brushing a kiss against his puckered nipple.

  “When do you think we’ll make it back to Half Moon Bay?”

  Not thinking about him at all, but about the situation instead. He wasn’t sure if he was annoyed or not. “Two more days. Less if we drive straight through.”

  “I want this over.”

  Understatement of the year. He knew his reasons, but what were hers?

  She loved him. She’d said it. Twice. But she also said there were times she didn’t want to and he wondered how strong her will was. Could she force her feelings to change? Direct them to behave?

  He hadn’t been able to. That’s why when he’d left her that night after they fought, he had been certain that he couldn’t stay with her. He wouldn’t be able to control his emotions as he’d hoped. It couldn’t be halfway. Not with her. He’d plan to cut her out. Eject her from ever
y pore of his body. It was the only way.

  Just as he’d done in prison. All feelings, all emotions gone. It was how he survived. When he finally got out, it had been easier to keep going that way. To keep himself apart from everyone.

  But then Nora showed up and made him laugh. Denny continued to need protecting. And Steven. Steven had felt like a friend. Little by little, year by year, they had made him ready, he realized. So that when he met Caroline the crack in his impenetrable defenses that had been forming and growing larger had just burst open. Busted so wide, so fast that it had scared the hell out of him and he’d wanted to close it off.

  Not without good reason, either.

  Denny was dead. Steven was most likely his killer and Dominic’s enemy, and Caroline didn’t want to love him. Plus he couldn’t imagine how funny Nora would be when they met up again. He wondered if their secret had been revealed with his past’s unveiling. Dominic could only speculate what kind of trouble that might cause her at work.

  Shut it down. Seal it up. Close it off and don’t think about anything. Life as a zombie. Dominic remembered what it felt like to live that way and was surprised at how much he didn’t want to go back. Despite the pain that came with letting people in.

  Caroline turned slightly and he could feel her shifting and sliding along his body. He felt his penis stiffen and adjusted his hips so she wouldn’t bump his erection. There was no reason to advertise his arousal when he knew she couldn’t possibly be interested again.

  He’d been rough earlier. Too demanding for her slight body. She’d practically collapsed in his arms when it was over. He closed his eyes and recalled the feeling of coming inside her. It had rocked his body from his spine to his toes and back again. He thought their sex had been good before, but he hadn’t been prepared for the rush of pleasure that hit him. He’d never before gotten off so much on the idea of filling someone up with himself.

  “I didn’t use a condom,” he blurted.

  “Hmm?”

  Her lips moved and this time she kissed the spot just above his brown nipple. He wondered if she was going to suck on it and felt himself grow harder. Clamping down on his desire he said, “Before. I didn’t use a condom.”