Breath of Malice (5 page)

Sam closed the hood, then went to his truck. When she was ready, he drove them to Bud’s Service Station, according to the sign above the small building. A wiry man in pants and a shirt that looked too big for him stood at the open bay door smoking a cigarette. He took a final drag, the tip glowing red, then dropped the butt into a bucket by his feet that was filled with sand.

“Hey, Sam.” The man stretched out a hand that was dotted with liver spots.

“Bud.” Sam shook the man’s hand.

“Your truck don’t sound like she’s ailing from what I just heard. What brings you by?”

“Bud, this is Paige from the office.”

The man squinted at Paige and said a polite hello.

“Paige’s van isn’t starting,” Sam said. “We’d appreciate if you could tow it here and take a look.”

“Sure thing. Where’s the van at?”

“Kirk County Park. On the lot.”

Bud nodded. “I can do that. What’s she doing or not doing?”

Sam looked to her. “Paige?”

Paige told Bud the little she knew, ending with, “Sam thinks the alternator is the problem.”

“Sounds like he’s right,” Bud said. “But I’ll call you with an estimate before we do any work.”

“Where can I rent a car?”

Bud removed his oil-stained cap and scratched the bald patch on the top of his head. “Usually here. Kirk County Car Rentals operates from here, but they close down at two o’clock on Saturday afternoons and don’t open again until Monday morning.”

“Is there another car rental agency?”

“You can try Linkdale. That’s the next closest town.”

Sam faced Paige. “I can drive you home today and back here Monday morning to rent a car.”

Paige didn’t want to be dependent on Sam any more than she had been already, but apparently she had no choice. “I appreciate it.”

They said their good-byes to Bud.

On the walk back to Sam’s truck, Paige glanced up at him. “I need to go back to the van. I have to get something out of it.” Paige would have done so before, but she’d expected to have a rental and be able to go back herself.

“No problem.”

Not long after, they were back at Paige’s van. She slid the rear passenger door open, and Sam looked inside. He stood with his hands braced on the roof. She saw him take in the wheelchair platform, but Paige didn’t volunteer any information about Ivy.

“What do you need from in here?” Sam asked.

“The seat lift.”

She’d bought the portable lift for Ivy back when she was still saving up for a van that she could have outfitted with a wheelchair platform. Now she kept the lift as a backup for just these kinds of situations, to enable Ivy to get in and out of other vehicles.

Sam reached in and picked up the lift. It was designed to be easy to tote, and in a couple of minutes, Sam had placed it on the backseat of his truck.

When Sam pulled into her apartment building’s parking lot, Paige said, “I can take it from here.”

She retrieved the lift, raised both arms in an awkward wave, then entered the building. Inside the apartment, the groceries had been put away. Ivy was at the stove grilling cheese sandwiches. As Paige was about to set the lift down and close the door, Sam appeared in the doorway.

“You forgot this in the truck.” He raised his arm. Clutched in his large fist was her purse.

With her arms already full, she couldn’t take the handbag from him. She stepped back from the door. “Come in.”

As he stepped into the tiny entrance hall, Paige lowered the lift to the floor and set it against the wall. That done, she accepted the purse from him. “Thanks for bringing it up.”

Sam stuck his hands in his back pockets. “You’re welcome.”

Ivy turned off the stove and joined Paige and Sam. Her brows pulled together. “Why is the lift here?”

“The van broke down,” Paige said. “It’s going in for repairs, and we’re going to use this in a rental car when we get one. Ivy, this is my boss, Agent McKade. Sam, my sister, Ivy.”

Sam faced Ivy. “Just Sam. Hey, Ivy.”

Ivy’s fair brows drew together, and she ducked her head. “Hey.”

Paige looked to Sam. “Would you like a drink? I don’t have beer, but I do have wine and diet soda.”

If he took her up on that drink, Paige would need to offer him a seat in one of the folding chairs at the kitchen table. It was the only place to sit in the apartment other than on the beds.

“I’m good. I’ll take off now. If you need to go anywhere, I’ll be local for the rest of the weekend. Call me.”

Paige wasn’t going to do that. She was going to look into taxi services should she need to go anywhere before Monday, but she thanked him.

He was about to turn back to the door, but the pale yellow wall across the room, where Ivy’s paintings and drawings of landscapes, seascapes, and wildlife hung, caught his attention. He went to examine the images closer.

Sam’s gaze returned to Ivy. “Ivy Carson.”

Ivy’s signature, in her neat cursive, was in the lower-right corner of each of her pieces. Ivy’s hands tightened on the arms of her wheelchair as she nodded.

He raised both brows. “Very nice.” Ivy didn’t respond. Sam continued to look at the pictures. “Do you do portraits?”

Ivy began to tug at her loose-fitting T-shirt. “I’ve never done one.”

“Are you interested in doing them? My seven-year-old son is into superheroes. He would love a portrait of himself as a superhero.”

Paige’s breath caught as Ivy’s eyes lit, really lit, with the first spark of interest she’d seen in a long time.

“Really?” Ivy asked. “You want
me
to paint your son?”

“Yes. I’d pay you, of course.”

Ivy’s mouth fell open. “Pay me?”

Sam nodded. “Absolutely.”

Paige could see that Ivy was hesitant, afraid to want this. Paige’s heart clenched.

Ivy cleared her throat, and still her voice came out thin. “I would need your son to sit with me while I paint him.” Behind her glasses, her eyes lifted to Sam’s, then lowered, then lifted again. “We’d need to make time to do that.”

“He’s with me on weekends. We could start tomorrow if you have the time. He’s too young to sit for long stretches, but I think he’d do his best for this.”

Ivy swallowed hard, but her eyes filled with anticipation and excitement. “I can work around him.”

“How about tomorrow afternoon? Around two.” Sam glanced around and, apparently taking in the lack of furnishings, added, “Since you’re still settling in, we could do this at my place. I’ll come by with Jonah for you and Paige.” Sam’s gaze went to Paige. “Paige?”

Paige didn’t want to get to know her boss outside of the office, or more accurately, she didn’t want him to get to know her. But Ivy needed this. Seeing the joy on her sister’s face, Paige had to swallow before she could respond. “Two would be fine.”

Ivy’s lips were twitching with a smile as she went back to the stove. Paige glanced back over her shoulder, watching her sister as she walked Sam back to the door.

“Pick you up tomorrow,” Sam said.

Paige dragged her gaze from Ivy and said to Sam, “Tomorrow.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

The next day, Sam called to let Paige know that he and Jonah were on their way. Paige and Ivy were downstairs in the apartment lobby when Sam pulled up in front of the building.

Sam opened the front and rear passenger doors for Paige and Ivy. The young boy straining against the seat belt in the backseat looked like Sam. He was going to grow up to be as handsome as his father.

Sam took the lift from Paige. “Jonah, say hi to Paige and Ivy.”

“Hi!” Jonah called out. He grinned a wide, open-mouthed smile that showed a missing molar.

“Can you set the lift down?” Paige said to Sam.

Sam did, and Paige unfolded the lift. She used the crank to raise the seat to the same height as the wheelchair so Ivy could slide from the wheelchair to the lift seat. Once Ivy was in the lift, Paige adjusted the height to be level with Sam’s backseat.

When Ivy was seated beside Jonah, and the lift was folded again, Sam loaded the lift and the wheelchair in the truck and they were on their way. The radio was on low, tuned to a fifties rock station, but Paige could hear the conversation taking place in the back.

“My dad said you’re going to paint my picture,” Jonah said to Ivy.

“Yes,” Ivy said softly.

“Do you have blue paint? Superheroes wear blue. If you don’t have blue paint, I have paints if you want. You can use them.”

“Thanks. I’ll let you know,” Ivy said.

They drove for some time, leaving the residential areas of Kirk behind. Outside Paige’s window, cleared land gave way to woods.

Sam turned onto a road that had been cut into the woods. The road opened wide, then came to a dead end. At the end was a clearing. A house had been built on a large plot of land covered with grass and some rocks. Trees and wild growth flanked the land. Paige took in the surroundings, peering as far into the trees as she could. Birds. A cat. She couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary.

Sam parked in the driveway in front of the house and led them inside. She didn’t want to take any interest in Sam that wasn’t professional but found herself noting the things that made this Sam’s home. The main floor was open, and at a glance she could see the kitchen, living and dining rooms. A stone fireplace was built into one wall. A box held kindling and logs ready for burning when the weather or the mood suited. The fireplace looked like it got a lot of use.

A wide hall off the living room led to the side of the house. Paige made out three open doors but couldn’t see beyond them. In the second-floor loft were two bedrooms, one a huge master, and the second, decorated in blues with superhero paraphernalia, was obviously Jonah’s room.

Sam hadn’t fussed with decorations. The furnishings were big, and the colors were masculine earth tones. Sun streamed in through sliding doors that led out to a deck. The deck overlooked more open land and, beyond that, dense woods all around Sam’s property.

The place was warm and inviting. It made Paige want to stay awhile. It was a wistful thought that brought home to Paige just how adrift she’d felt moving from place to place, unable to truly call any place home.

Behind her, Jonah chatted with Ivy. “Who’s your favorite superhero, Ivy? My dad’s taking me to see the new movie. Did you see it? My friend at school said the bad guys are robots.”

Paige turned to Jonah and felt her lips curve into a smile. The boy hadn’t stopped speaking or moving since he and Sam had arrived at Paige’s apartment. Jonah was hopping on and off the brown leather couch, circling Ivy.

Jonah said, “My favorite part of the first movie was when—”

“Whoa, buddy.” Sam laughed and placed a gentle hand on Jonah’s small shoulder. “Let’s give Ivy a chance to catch her breath.”

Jonah was quiet for a few seconds, then, eyes round, he asked, “Ivy, can you breathe now?”

He was a sweet boy. Sam had said yesterday that Jonah was with him on weekends, which Paige took to mean that Sam was divorced. Sam and Jonah’s mother were doing a good job as parents since the divorce didn’t appear to have affected Jonah adversely. Jonah was quick to smile and laugh. He seemed well adjusted and was wonderfully carefree. Paige thought of Ivy biting her nails to the quick and pulling the threads on her clothing. She wanted Ivy to be carefree, too.

At the moment, Ivy was looking a little dazed by Jonah. She hadn’t spent much time around young children recently, though she’d always liked being around them, and vice versa. The sweet thought soured as Paige thought again about how isolated Ivy had become and why her isolation was necessary.

“Yeah.” Ivy cleared her throat. “It’s okay. I can breathe.”

“If you didn’t see the new movie, maybe you can go with Dad and me.” Jonah grinned up at his father. “We’re going next weekend, right, Dad?”

Sam’s eyes warmed on his son. “Right, and sure, Ivy, you’re welcome to come along if you’d like.”

“Thanks.” Ivy swallowed visibly. “Maybe.”

Sam went into the kitchen and returned holding a tray. “Ivy, Jonah, here’s juice and soda for you. Ivy, where do you want me to leave these so they aren’t in your way?”

“Anywhere on the coffee table is fine,” Ivy said softly.

Sam set the tray down in the center of the rustic table. “Jonah, you can show Ivy where the snacks are. Ivy, help yourself.”

“Thanks,” Ivy said. “I’ll get started sketching some poses of Jonah. You can choose which one you like best for the final.”

Sam nodded. “We’ll leave you to it. Paige, how about a drink?”

Paige glanced at Jonah and Ivy. Ivy took her sketch pad and charcoal in hand, and Jonah was leaning on the arm of her wheelchair, watching as her hand moved across the paper. “Sure.”

In the kitchen, Sam asked, “Wine, right?”

“That would be good.”

Sam took a bottle from the fridge, poured a glass for Paige, then snagged a beer by the neck of the bottle for himself. “Let’s take this outside.”

Paige followed Sam back through the living room. Jonah was still keeping up a running monologue. Ivy was still eyes down on the page. Sam held the sliding door open for Paige, and she stepped onto the wooden deck that ran the width of the back of the house. An awning kept the sun off, but the heat from the day had penetrated the wood, and it felt pleasantly warm beneath the comfortable slides she was wearing.

How long had it been since she’d had an extended casual conversation with anyone, let alone a man? So long that she couldn’t remember. Since Thames, there hadn’t been any men in her life. Before Thames, she’d been completely focused on her career path. Very rarely had she allowed herself to relax with a man before sending him on his way.

This first week with Sam, their conversations had been all about the job. As she sat in one of the comfortably wide armchairs on the deck, Paige dug deep to summon long-buried conversational skills. Looking at the beauty surrounding her, starting a conversation wasn’t as difficult as she’d thought. “You have a great place.”

“Suits me.”

“I can’t imagine it not suiting anyone.”

One side of Sam’s mouth lifted in a wry smile. “You’d be surprised.”

She would be, though it sounded as if Sam had firsthand knowledge. Paige found herself wanting to know more but didn’t ask. Turnabout and all that.

She turned her thoughts back to the neutral topic of the house. It would be a wonderful place to unwind after a grueling investigation, and the fact that it was isolated had a special appeal for Paige. “How long have you had this place?”

“About three years, though I didn’t live here the first year. Took me about that much time to have the land cleared and the house built.”

Paige took in the cover of the trees and thought of how deep the property was for the house to be hidden from the road. “Definitely worth the wait.”

Sam’s eyes glinted as he teased her. “I wouldn’t have thought you’d think so. You’ve got city girl written all over you.”

Her lips quirked. She gave him the truth. “Not so much anymore.”

“Kirk County growing on you?”

“Yup.” At Sam’s raised eyebrow, Paige raised one of her own. “Finding that hard to believe, city boy? You’re not a native of Kirk, either.”

Sam smiled wider and held up his hands. “Busted. My accent give me away?”

She found she was enjoying herself. “Definitely.”

Sam laughed. “I’m from a small town in Michigan. Detroit is the closest city. I was assigned to the Detroit office. Saw an opening for a SAC position here and went after it.”

Interested, Paige leaned forward in the chair. “I thought you’d been in this position a lot longer than three years.”

“Eight years, actually. I bought this property three years ago.”

“Oh, my mistake.”

Sam shrugged. “It’s not a secret. I met and married Jonah’s mother my first year in Kirk. Jonah was three when I moved out of the house they still live in.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s in the past.”

Paige could see he wasn’t still carrying a torch for his ex-wife. “Looks like Kirk County grew on you.”

“Yeah, though I wouldn’t leave even if it hadn’t. Jonah is here. I won’t leave my son.”

Sam’s jaw had tightened with that statement. She’d hit a sore spot and was sorry for it. Whatever Sam’s reasons for remaining in Kirk, how comforted he must feel to know he had a place he would always call home, that he would not be driven from it. A wishful thought. She couldn’t let herself indulge in it. She thought of the inquisitive and outgoing little boy now with Ivy. “Jonah must love it here.”

Sam pointed with the neck of the beer bottle to the vast expanse of land. “There are a lot of trails. He didn’t always see himself as a superhero. Before that, he was an explorer. I can’t tell you how much time we’ve spent following animal tracks that Jonah was sure would lead to some discovery.”

It sounded to Paige like Sam loved following all of those tracks with his son. “Sounds like he has the makings of a cop.”

“Could be. For now, it’s superhero all the way. He’s really into seeing himself in Ivy’s portrait.”

“I’m glad he’s into it.” Paige swirled her wine a bit, then added, “Ivy is, too.” Sam couldn’t know how much this commission meant to Ivy, to Paige.

“She’s good. She’ll be able to make her own way in the art world one day,” Sam said.

Paige wished Ivy could see that for herself. Ivy had started to gain confidence in her art while in New York. Another regret that weighed on Paige.

“She’s with you on a permanent basis?” Sam asked.

Paige hesitated but didn’t see any reason not to tell him. “Yes. I’m her legal guardian. Our parents were killed in the car crash that left Ivy unable to walk.”

Sam’s brows drew together. “How old was she?”

“Just seven.” Paige remembered the late-night call that summoned her to the hospital morgue and to the ER. Remembered Ivy bruised and battered in the too-big hospital bed, hooked up to medical equipment looking like a broken doll.

“You were very young to assume guardianship,” Sam said.

Twenty-one. Having read her personnel file, Sam knew her age and could do the math. Yes, she’d been young. Their father had a distant cousin who’d come forward to become Ivy’s guardian. Paige had declined and fought him when he’d made a case for Ivy to live with him and his family. Paige could have told herself that the reason she’d pursued Ivy’s guardianship was because she couldn’t leave Ivy to be raised by their father’s relative, someone Ivy didn’t know, but the truth was, Ivy didn’t know Paige any better.

Paige had stayed away from her parents and sister since leaving home at seventeen to forge her own path. It wasn’t love and devotion to her sister that had prompted Paige to fight for Ivy, but pride and arrogance.

She’d told herself at the time that she was doing what was best for Ivy, that Ivy should be raised by her own sister. But Paige hadn’t wanted to concede to the cousin, to be bested by him, for him to win. Paige had been all about winning. She’d wanted to show the cousin up, show him that the rebellious prodigal daughter could do anything she wanted to do.

Not for the first time since she’d brought Thames into their lives, Paige wondered whether she was doing the right thing now, keeping Ivy with her. Whether she should have contacted their father’s cousin last year and left Ivy with him. She questioned whether she was allowing her selfishness to rule her again. It didn’t matter that this time she didn’t want to give Ivy up because she couldn’t stand the thought of being away from her. She loved Ivy so much.

“Yes, young. It wasn’t easy,” Paige said softly. “But all those years, I never regretted keeping her with me.”

“And now?” Sam’s voice was gentle. “Sounds like you have regrets now.”

Sam was astute. Paige’s heart gave one hard thud, then began to beat fast. His eyes narrowed, but Paige saw concern there, not judgment. She hadn’t felt anyone’s concern in so long. She pulled back from it. Sam’s concern had no place in her life.

It struck her that she’d blurted something she shouldn’t have. Her mind raced to do damage control. “It’s been a long week.” She shook her head. “I’m tired and that came out wrong. What I meant was, all
these
years I’ve never regretted keeping Ivy with me.” She cleared her throat, then leaped off the chair. “I’ll see how Ivy is coming along with those sketches.”