Paint It Black (6 page)

Who are you, and what have you done with my husband?
I thought, but I remembered this guy. He was the frat boy I’d fallen in love with. I thought he was gone for good, but he was still there, hidden somewhere deep inside the lawyer I barely knew.

I found myself thinking of the night we’d met. I
was working as a waitress in a little off-campus dive when he’d strolled in one night wearing a white T-shirt that read “Sotally Tober” and an easy grin. He’d asked me out that night, and probably the next forty nights straight, ignoring my insistence that I didn’t date frat boys. Actually, I didn’t date anybody. Didn’t have time. But nothing I said fazed him. He’d come in, take a table in my section, then make me laugh by ordering some crazy drink, like Screaming Chocolate Monkeys, Alien Urine, and memorably, Passed Out Naked on the Bathroom Floor. We’d laugh again when I had to call it out to the bartender. Things got to the point where Grady would hang out until closing and then help clean the place up. He even tutored me in chemistry when business was slow.

Finally, I accepted his invitation. We went to the movies, which turned out to be a big mistake. Between work and school, I was averaging around four hours of sleep a night. I fell asleep on his arm almost as soon as the lights went down. Bless his heart, he didn’t move during the next two hours, though his arm must’ve been killing him. I woke during the big action scene and was mortified, but he simply kissed my forehead and told me how beautiful I looked sleeping.

“What?” Grady asked again, his smile widening. “Now you’re just making me nervous.”

“I was thinking of our first date.” I wrapped my
arms around his waist and pressed my face against his chest. I could still smell the Scotch on him, but I let it go. He stroked my hair and kissed the top of my head.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I acted like a jerk tonight. It scared me when I woke up and you weren’t there. I don’t know what I’d do if you left me for good.” He squeezed me, then pulled back to look at my face. “So, you got him? You really got him?”

“Yeah.” I glanced across the room at Cougar, who watched us while he talked on his cell phone. Our eyes met and he looked away. “We got him.”

“Are you okay?” Grady asked.

I nodded and smiled up at him. “I am now.”

“Hey, you know Mom’s got Abby all night. You want to go out or anything? We could see a movie that’s not rated G.”

I laughed. “I’d probably crash on you for sure tonight.”

“That’d be okay.” Grady winked. “I still like to watch you sleep.”

Winding my fingers in his, I said, “I’ve got a better idea. It involves you, me … the hot tub. What do you think?”

He grinned. “I think I’m glad I told that taxi driver to wait.”

Grady surprised me by brushing a kiss on my lips. While I was still recovering from that, I felt a blast of cold air when the front door crashed open.

“Where is he?” a woman’s voice demanded. “What have you done with my father?”

I think I realized who she was before I even turned around. With my breath caught in my throat, I twisted to stare at the exotic brunette in the black fur coat.

My half sister.

When the young cop at the door merely gawked at her, she shoved past him and stalked to the front desk. Slapping her hands on the wooden surface, she leaned forward until she was nearly nose to nose with the startled man behind it. “Frank Barnes!” she said. “Where is he?”

The phone hung slack in the sergeant’s hands and he, too, could only stare. The whole room seemed to freeze in her wake. She snapped her fingers in his face. “You speak English? Anybody?”

Jerking her chin around, she scanned the room. Time seemed to stop when our gazes met. Her eyes narrowed, and her lovely face flushed.

Though we’d never met, never spoken, I knew what she was. She was an apocalyptic blend of our father and the crazed Latina junkie he’d left my mother for. All the snitches gave the same report: Since her teenage years, Maria had been primed to run the family business, and she was far deadlier than her father. It chilled me to the bone to think we were related.

She apparently knew who I was, too. The malevolence in her stare struck me like a physical blow, and
involuntarily, my grip tightened on Grady’s fingers.

“Where is he?” she repeated, her dark eyes glittering.

My stomach sank.

This is it. It’s all over
.

Cougar’s deep voice shattered the silence. “He’s in a cell, where he belongs. I hope he rots there.”

Maria’s head snapped around, and I felt almost limp when she released me from her glare. The string of obscenities she directed at Cougar seemed doubly damning and shocking, spewing from such a beautiful creature.

Cougar merely smiled and cracked his gum.

“C’mon,” Grady whispered, grasping my forearm. “Let’s go.”

Numbly, I nodded, but I was terrified Maria would hurl my secrets at my retreating back.

We slipped outside, leaving Maria and Cougar arguing. Grady slung his arm around my shoulder. Gratefully, I leaned into him, looping my arm around his waist. He felt warm and solid, and I clung to him a little tighter than normal.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked, and we ducked to protect our faces from the buffeting wind.

“Yeah.” I felt a rush of tenderness for him then, something I hadn’t experienced in a while. When he opened the cab door, I said, “Hey, Grady. I’ve got some vacation time coming. Maybe we could—”

“Necie, hold up!”

Grady’s smile faded when my supervisor jogged over to us.

“Glad I caught you!” Bill’s breath came in bright, white puffs. “Hiya, Grady.”

“Hey,” Grady muttered.

“I left my statement with Cougar,” I said quickly, hoping to get out of there and salvage Grady’s good mood.

“There’s something else. Can I talk to you for a sec?” Bill nodded toward the building. “Inside?”

“Um, sure,” I said, and ignored Grady’s sigh. I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and whispered, “I’ll be right back.”

“Meter’s running,” he said tersely.

“I know. I’ll hurry.”

Grady nodded and yanked open the cab door. I sprinted toward the building.

Inside the double doors, Bill said, “Hey, you want a trip this weekend? I’ve got a Jersey job, one of those undercover details you like.”

I glanced outside. A stony-faced Grady stared back at me through the cab window. “Ah, can you get someone else for this one, Bill?”

Bill’s eyebrows shot up. “Sure. Just wanted to give you first dibs. That was good work tonight.”

He gave me a quick clap on the shoulder, which was about as touchy-feely as it got with Bill. I kissed his cheek, thinking of how this man had been more of a father to me
than Frank Barnes ever could be. He’d taken me under his wing from day one and always seemed to be looking out for me. I had another pang when I thought about Barnes and what he could do to my career and friendships. If he wanted to, he could make me lose everything.

Bill waved good-bye and walked down the hall. I turned and nearly smacked into Maria Barnes when she exited the restroom. She swiped her reddened eyes with a tissue and gave me a bitter smile. “One day soon, I want you to look back to this night and realize you started this.”

I blinked. “Are you threatening me?”

“What?” she asked mockingly. “Threaten my own sister?”

She laughed when I glanced around to see if anyone was listening, but her eyes were hard when she said, “Don’t delude yourself into thinking you’re better than me. I see it in your eyes. You’re ashamed of him. You’re ashamed of me. I’ve always hated you, did you know that? No matter what you did to refuse him, he always talked about you. Well, maybe now he’ll realize that I’m the only daughter who gives a damn about him.”

She bumped her shoulder into mine and started down the hall.

“I’ll see you around, Denise,” she called over her shoulder. Cougar emerged from one of the doorways, and she shot him a bird when they passed.

He grinned at me and circled his index finger by his temple. I had to force myself to return his smile. My hands were shaking.

Glancing back down the hall, he said, “Did she threaten you? I heard her say she’d see you around.”

“It’s nothing,” I said. “Just trash talk.”

Cougar grunted. “She’s a psycho, that’s for sure. But what chance did she have, really? I mean, look at her father. Evil begets evil—”

“I have to go,” I blurted. I really couldn’t stand to contemplate that line of reasoning at that moment. “Grady’s probably left me by now.”

Cougar laughed. “Go, then. You’re probably on thin ice as it is tonight.”

I rolled my eyes and started backing away. “Call me if there’s any word on Angel.”

“Will do.”

“And get someone to look at that arm.”

“Yes, Mother,” he said with a wink.

I ran back outside. Grady leaned across the seat to push open the cab door.

“What did Bill want?” he asked with a frown.

I slid in beside him, and the cab lurched into motion. “He wanted me to work this weekend.”

Grady threw up his hands. “Of course, he did. Damn it, Necie—”

“I told him no.”

Grady paused in midrant and stared at me. “You did? Why?”

I resumed my position under his arm. “Well, this is a holiday weekend. I want to spend time with you and Abby. I know I missed the big dinner, but we could still go somewhere together.”

“That sounds nice,” he said, and hugged me close. “And we can still have dinner. Mom sent us some leftovers.”

Uh-oh … I wondered if I could blame the disappearance on refrigerator trolls. Grady was talking about the weekend, though, so I didn’t interrupt. He sounded so happy and excited. Maybe I had been neglecting him. Neglecting him and Abby both.

When we got home, Grady poured me a drink, but he didn’t drink any more himself. We stripped and climbed into the hot tub.

“Hey, Necie,” he said, while he kneaded my shoulders. “I’m not trying to start anything, I swear. But you said something about vacation. I was thinking, now that you’ve captured Barnes—how would you feel about a leave of absence?” He nuzzled my neck. “We could spend more time together, maybe even have another baby, a perfect little boy to go with our perfect little girl?”

His words chilled me. I wasn’t sure I was a good enough mother for one, much less two. Abby’s conception had been an accident, but one I’d never regretted, even though at times the responsibility scared me to
death. I loved her more than anything. I only hoped I could give her what she needed from me.

And giving up my job? My main goal had always been Barnes, but his arrest didn’t change who I was. I loved my job, and I loved the people I worked with. It scared me to think of walking away from it all.

“Relax.” Grady slid his hands down my bare arms. “You don’t have to give me an answer right now. Just promise me you’ll think about it.”

“Okay,” I whispered, and leaned my head back against his chest.

For the next couple of days, I thought of little else. Grady, Abby, and I spent a nice weekend together as a family. We played board games and baked cookies and even had a pillow fight. No television or Playstation for Abby; no calls to the office for Grady and me. I had to call and check on Angel, though, but in an effort to keep the peace, I’d slip into the bathroom to do it. For the first time, I considered leaving the DEA for good.

But on Sunday evening, I got a call from Cougar.

Angel was dying.

CHAPTER
4

W
ith a quick apology to Grady, I raced to the hospital. With the exception of Ubi and Linda, who were on assignment, my whole team waited there with Angel’s mother and teenage sister, Tori.

We spent a restless night in the intensive-care waiting room with a dozen other families before a nurse told us Angel’s condition had stabilized. It was the most emotional experience I’d ever had except for the birth of my daughter. Looking at the tired, anxious faces around me, I knew I couldn’t quit my job. Grady would never understand … but these people were my family, too. They needed me. I needed them.

Though he still hadn’t regained consciousness, we celebrated when Angel was transferred out of intensive
care and into a regular room. Then we drew up a schedule to make sure he was never alone. Though I spent as much time as possible with my family, Grady made no secret of the resentment he felt when I took my turn sitting up with Angel.

One night, I was playing checkers with Tori when Tucker showed up to relieve me. I stood and glanced at the clock, thinking that maybe I could make it home in time to read Abby a story before she went to sleep.

When I looked at Angel, I was startled, as always, to see his dark eyes open and staring through me. He’d only recently started doing that, opening and closing his eyes randomly and in response to pain. Cougar had been so excited about it, but for some reason, I could hardly stand to look into those blank, black eyes that had once been so sparkling and alive.

I had no sense of him inside there. Still, like everyone else, I talked to him and hoped for the best. Crossing over to him, I pulled the cover up under his chin and bent to kiss the pale cheek his mother shaved every day. “Later, handsome. Tuck is here, and he’s carrying the sports page.”

Tuck’s beeper went off while I was slipping on my shoes.

“It’s Bill,” he said, staring at the numbers. “Hang on a sec.”

“Take your time,” I assured him, and he went outside to use the phone.

He reappeared a moment later. “Hey, Necie. Can you stay a little longer? I’ve gotta run. It’s the case I’ve been working on. Ubi said he’ll be here as soon as he gets off his shift, but it’ll be three or four hours.”

“I can stay by myself,” Tori said, but we ignored her. No way was I leaving a fifteen-year-old alone, even if it was at the hospital.

“No problem. I’ve got to finish kicking Tori’s butt at checkers anyway,” I said with a wink, and she stuck out her tongue.

After Tucker left, I called Grady to tell him I’d be late.

“What? Necie, this shit has got to give. You can’t stay out all night and work tomorrow. Tell them to find somebody else. Doesn’t he have family?”