Men-of-Action-Seres-04 -Saints and Sinners (17 page)

“Anyway, she said after that visit Doctor Faulkner kept blocking out huge amounts of time on Fridays. She thought maybe he was trying to cover up something because he was so secretive. Then, supplies started missing from the clinic—and she knew something was going on. She was sure the cops were going to come in and raid their facility since some of the supplies were drugs…but then things settled down, until he turned up dead. She said some man came to the clinic asking questions and it made her nervous so she packed her car and left. She landed here and got a job.

She’s been away from D.C. ever since.” She looked down, sheepishly.

Thomas saw the demure look for what it was—flirtation.

“I don’t know more than that,” she placed her hand over his, “but I’m afraid for my safety now.” She batted her eyelashes. She was a warm body, one he wouldn’t mind spending the night with, if he didn’t have the feeling she was looking for a man to hook and drag to the alter.

He removed his hand casually and slid the manila file folder in front of him. “I need you to look at some pictures and tell me if any of these people look familiar.” He placed several photos on the table. He watched her look them over.

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“This one is the first reporter—that Troy guy. I remember him because he was cute, but I don’t go for blondes. I like men with dark hair and blue eyes,” she smiled at him. The woman was forward, and getting more so by the second.

“Anybody else look familiar?”

She leafed through the photos. “This one,” she handed him a photo of another guy. “He’s the guy I saw watching us in the parking lot. I’m sure of it.”

He looked over the picture before handing it to Sully. They both knew who that man was. They both knew he was Tony Cordova. What they didn’t know, was just how all of the pieces fit together, and just what did Tony have to do with everything? He had been working with Ms.

James since before her husband died. Were the two of them in on this together? Was he the guy she sent to do her dirty work while she kept her hands clean? There was only one way to find out. They needed to find Tony and talk to him without Ms. James knowing about it. They couldn’t show their hand of cards, not yet.

“Is there anybody else in these photos who look familiar to you?” She shook her head no. “And I never forget a handsome man.

None of these guys here look remotely close to familiar to me.” She tapped her finger on one photograph. “This one…I haven’t seen him before, but he’s cute. I don’t normally go for black guys, but woof,” she made a barking like sound. “I’d go for him.” Saints and Sinners 158

Thomas shook his head. She’d go for a dead guy—of course she didn’t know he was dead. The photograph was of Alaina’s father. He had forgotten to leave it in the folder before he pulled the photographs out for her to look at them.

“Anyway…now that I have answered your questions Mr.

McGregor, how about you let me buy you dinner tomorrow night?” Thomas felt himself nearly break out in a cold sweat. The woman was desperate for a man and he needed to find a way to squash her interest in him without burning any bridges in case they needed to talk to her again. God, he hoped they didn’t need to talk to her again. “I’m taken,” he said. It wasn’t a lie. He was taken. He was very much taken with work, with his own mission, but she didn’t need to know that. If he wanted a woman in his bed he had access to plenty of women who wouldn’t latch on like an octopus in heat.

“Too bad,” she winked. “If you’re ever not taken, you know where to find me.”

He nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind.” He would keep it in mind and be sure to avoid Mercy General at all cost.

Sully laughed heartedly as they got in the car. “I think the lady likes you.”

“Don’t remind me,” Thomas mumbled. Sully could tell how uncomfortable Thomas had been, even if she hadn’t been able to. Thomas Capri Montgomery 159

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was clearly trying to refrain from having to utter aloud his rejection of her advances.

“And since when are you taken?”

“I’m taken with work practically everyday.” He started the car and put it in drive. “I do date, you know.”

“One of these days, Thomas you’re going to find a woman who is going to convince you to settle down.”

“Not until I finish my mission.”

Sully nodded. He knew what Thomas was after, but he also knew love had a way of coming on like a sneak attack. When it was right, it was right, but he wouldn’t tell Thomas that; he would let him figure it out for himself.

“We need to find out if Tony is still in the area,” although Sully doubted he was. Why would he stick around after taking care of business?

Unless he had more business to finish in town. If he knew Lila had seen him, had a good look at him and could identify him, then maybe he would make an attempt on her next. If not, then he was probably back by Ms.

James’ side.

“I don’t suppose we can call Ms. James to find out,” Thomas noted. “If she’s in on this it’ll tip our hand, and right now we don’t have a full house.”

Sully nodded. “It’ll also give her an idea of where we are, and I don’t want her to know that—not ever, but especially not yet.” He couldn’t keep Alaina’s location a secret for long. At some point he would Saints and Sinners 160

have to divulge the information, but he wouldn’t give it up before he had to. Right now her safety was priority. The fewer people who knew where she was, the safer she was going to be.

“Lila works all night. If Tony’s going to try something it won’t be during her shift.” At least he hoped it wouldn’t be during her shift because that would mean the man wasn’t just brazen, he was certifiably nuts. That emergency room was too visible for an attack. No, he was fairly sure any planned attacks would be at her home, made to look like an accident like the others.

“She’s not off until eight in the morning,” Thomas added. “I’ll keep a watch on her place. You spend the night with Alaina. I can call you if he surfaces.”

Sully nodded. “Just don’t play the hero on me. This guy won’t hesitate to kill. You and I both know that.”

“I won’t make a move unless I have to,” Thomas took his exit into the suburban area where he had rented the townhouse for Sully. “But I do know what I’m doing, you know. I’m not a rookie.” Sully laughed. “I know, but if anything happens to you, Gavin’s going to kill me.” He meant that literally. Gavin, being the oldest, was over protective of all of his siblings. He would kill for any one of them, and they all knew that.

“That’s my big brother for you,” Thomas added. “Thank goodness he’s married and out of Boston now. I could barely work with him around.

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Every time I looked up he was shadowing me to make sure I didn’t get in trouble.” He laughed. “He’s worse than my mother.” Sully laughed. “What are big brothers for?” He shook his head, glad he didn’t have any siblings of his own to worry with. He, too, would have been like Gavin, ready to protect, ready to kill, for his family. “How does he like South Dakota?”

Thomas shrugged. “I think he likes the woman in South Dakota more than he likes the state itself, but he seems to be doing fine.”

“There are some things worth the change,” Sully added. There were some things like love, that made sacrifice worth it.

“Yeah. From what I hear they’re thinking of opening up a ranch style bed and breakfast on her property. Something about giving adventure tours and horseback riding…I lost concentration when I started trying to imagine Gavin being part owner in a bed and breakfast.” He shook his head. “Love must be worth it. I thought I’d never see Gavin give up the rough life.”

“But he hasn’t fully given up,” Sully knew for a fact that Gavin was still working hard on locating Sabian.

“I know, but once things end, once this is over, he will go quietly into retirement—living the life with his wife, maybe some kids…” Sully heard the longing in Thomas’ voice. He knew Thomas wanted marriage, family, home. He also knew Thomas wasn’t willing to pursue any of those things until he settled matters with Sabian.

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“Come on in with me. I’m going to need some help explaining tonight to Alaina.” He didn’t even want to think about the confusion and anger this might spark for her. Finesse was more of Thomas’ strong suit than it was his.

The moment they entered the house Alaina was in action, trying to find out what the day’s events had unfolded for them. He had to settle her down before he could even begin talking.

“So you showed her those pictures and she knew who they were?” Alaina started leafing through the photos.

“Some of them. The ones that count,” he said. He was just about to tell her one of the men worked for her mother when she gave a high pitched, “hey,” that had both he and Thomas looking for answers to the questions her reaction had raised.

She held up a photograph. “I know this guy.”

“He works for your mother.”

“No…wait, he does?”

“He’s her right hand man. You didn’t know that?”

“I haven’t met anybody who works for Liz. God knows I never wanted to, and she never wanted me to, so why bother?” She shrugged.

“Then where do you know him from?”

“Well, I wasn’t really sure because he looks older here, but that scar; I’d know that scar anywhere.” She pointed to the deep gash that protruded just a little out the front of his hairline. “I remember it because Capri Montgomery 163

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he had really short hair—like a military cut…like here. Does he still have it?”

Sully nodded. “Alaina, can you get on with where you know this guy from?”

She sighed. “You are so impatient. Anyway, I saw him at my school a couple days before my dad died.”

“That was a long time ago.”

“I know how long ago it was, but I couldn’t forget him even if I wanted to. We had recess at school. I was sitting off on a bench near the fence, drawing as usual, and I saw him watching the playground. He had on the darkest sunglasses I’d ever seen…but I still felt him watching us. I drew a picture of him, including that scar. I showed it to my dad and asked if he thought it was something to do with mom. She didn’t bring work home, but dad had always told me I had to be careful.”

“What did your father say?”

“He said he would ask her about it, but since the guy was at the bus stop that maybe he was just waiting for the bus.” She shrugged. “Can’t figure out why they put a bus stop right in front of a school anyway. That can’t be safe. But there it was, with only a sidewalk and a wire fence separating it from the school.”

“Did your father find out anything?”

“I don’t know. Two days later my dad was…dead,” she whispered.

“Do you think I got him killed? Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything.

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Maybe I should have just kept my mouth shut—I mean he hadn’t hurt me or anybody else…he didn’t even try to talk to me.” Sully brushed his hand across her shoulder. “Your father’s death wasn’t your fault. You did the right thing in asking him about the guy. It might not be what got him killed.”

“But it might be,” she looked at him. “That’s what you’re not saying. He could have asked Liz about this guy and Liz could have…I don’t know what I think anymore. I mean, I just don’t peg her for a murderer, but this is just all too freakishly weird. He works for Liz, and two days before my dad died he was watching my school’s playground…unless he was trying to get to Liz. But then that doesn’t make sense either. He worked for her. If he were angry with her he could have just killed her, not my dad.”

Sully shook his head. “I don’t know how much he’s involved.

What I do know is Liz might not be up for mother or wife of the year award, but her death would have sent the agency scrambling in defense.

Her death would have brought a rain of terror down a lot harder than your father’s death brought.”

She shook her head. “In a way they still got away with it…whoever it was…because if the men sitting in prison for it didn’t do it, nobody knows about it. If it was this guy…then Liz is in trouble too.” There were too many pieces, too many parts of this puzzle that just wasn’t falling into place. “We’ll figure this out. We’ll get whoever is after you.” He was certain if they got the person after Alaina now, they would Capri Montgomery 165

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find the person who killed her father all those years ago. He hoped, for Alaina’s sake, that her mother wasn’t involved. They had a torn relationship already, but if she found out that her own mother had killed her father, had chanced killing her in the process…she might not ever recover from that.

She leaned in and pressed her cheek to his. Sully’s arms instinctively wrapped around her. “I’m not sure I can deal with this,” she whispered.

“We’ll deal with it,” he assured her. No matter what the next few days brought they would handle it together.

“Okay,” she whispered. “Together sounds good.” He held her just a little tighter. “I love you,” he whispered in her ear. She stiffened in his embrace and for a brief moment he wondered if divulging that information to her had been wrong.

She pulled back and looked in his eyes. “I love you too. That’s what scares me, Sully. Everybody I’ve ever loved, I’ve lost.”

“You’re not going to lose me,” he said with conviction. They loved each other; he would protect her with everything he had. She would survive this, physically and emotionally.