Pierced: Pierced Trilogy Boxed Set (126 page)

“I don't follow,” I say frowning at him once more.

He looks me in the eye and says, “It won't actually be you because you won't be here.”

“Who will it be?”

“It'll be a cop, Sam,” he says. Then he shrugs his shoulders. “Anne Marsh maybe. She could pass for you from a distance; you're about the same height and coloring. We put her in some of your clothes and Scruggs won't know the difference.”

“Okay. But where will I be?”

“You will be as far away from here as you can get,” he says. “You and the twins will go to Lucas' or to your mom's or something. That way, I'll know your safe.”

“But, Josh … what you're talking about. It could take days for him to take the bait, couldn't it?” I ask. “I don't want to leave my home indefinitely. It's almost Christmas; we have plans.”

“It won't be indefinitely, baby. It'll just be until we catch this jerk,” he says. “A couple of days at the most.”

“I don't like it,” I tell him. And I can see him growing irritated with me.

“What don't you like about it, Sam?”

“Well, I don't understand how this is going to work,” I try to explain. “You said everyone will go back to their normal routines. Does that mean you'll be sending Detective Marsh to the foundation each day? And what about the kids? Won't this Scruggs person notice that the kids aren't here anymore?”

“Yes, he will. And we want him to,” he says. “We want him to see that we've sent the children somewhere safe. We want him to see that it's just you and me here, and that you are working from home for a few days. We want him to think that you are here alone and defenseless.”

“But I won't be alone and defenseless,” I say as I start to see it in my head.

“No. You … or Marsh, I should say, won't be defenseless at all. And you sure as hell won't be alone. But that's going to get tricky too,” he suddenly mumbles. And I can see him mulling something over.

“What is it?”

“Well, it's like you said,” he sighs. “This could take a couple of days, and we don't have the manpower to put a fake you here, with a full contingent of cops inside, all day everyday for what could potentially take a while.” He's quiet as he thinks for a moment, his mind trying to work out the kinks in his plan. “I can tell the Chief I need to be with my family for a few days, just until things calm down. But I can't ask for round the clock coverage for my family, that just wouldn't work. And all I really need is just two others.”

I have no idea what he's mumbling about, but I can tell that he's modifying his plan in his head. Seeing all the different angles and all the possible ways to make it work in our favor. And I don't want to throw a wrench in whatever he's cooking up, but I have to say what I'm feeling.

“Josh,” I begin quietly, “I'm not leaving.”

He looks at me with a confused frown. “What do you mean, you're not leaving?”

“I mean I'm not leaving,” I repeat, looking him in the eye. “I agree with you that the children should be sent away. And if they're going without me, then I want them to go to Olivia's. But I'm not leaving. I'm staying right here with you.”

“Samantha, I don't want you here,” he says sternly. “This could get very dangerous.”

“I realize that,” I respond. “But I'm staying.”

“This is not a game, baby,” he says. “You do realize what Scruggs intends to do to you?”

“Yes, I do. But you said yourself that I won't be here alone. You'll be here with me. You and whoever else you have on the inside. And this way, you won't need to plant a fake me here all day. Possibly for days. And it'll look real to Scruggs because it'll be real.”

“Sam …”

“I want to do this, Josh,” I say, interrupting him. “Please. I've given in on the security issue and on the close protection. Please let me do this.”

“Why do you want to be here?” he asks.

“Because I don't want to be apart from you. And because I want to see this bastard go down,” I answer truthfully. “He threatened my babies, and I want to help make him pay for that.”

He studies my eyes for a long moment, and then he reaches out and caresses my face. “I think you've been hanging out with cops too long, Sunshine,” he whispers. Then he softly kisses me, his tongue gently stroking mine for a few luxurious minutes. “If I let you stay here during this operation, you have to promise me that you will do everything that I say,” he warns. And his voice is every bit as intense as his gaze is.

“I promise.”

“I mean it, Samantha. No going off on your own. I don't want you anywhere near your studio by yourself. Do you understand me?”

“Yes. I promise, Josh.”

“Alright,” he sighs, after a long pause. “Well, we've got some things to work out. We might as well get it over with.”

We stand and he takes me by the hand and leads me out of the nursery and across the hall to our room. We spend a few minutes getting cleaned up and presentable, then we make our way, hand in hand, downstairs. The scene looks much the way it did yesterday with family milling about everywhere. As we walk through the living room I notice that Lucas has set up a makeshift office at the small desk there, and he's working away on his laptop. But all the real action is, as usual, in the kitchen, and we find Lee and Molly there talking to Olivia and Megan.

“Well, there you two are,” Meg says brightly. “Aunt Lois said you would probably sleep all day.”

“After what they went through yesterday, I wouldn't blame them if they did,” Molly says.

“Where is Mom?” I ask as Josh pours himself a cup of coffee.

“Oh, she went home to shower and change,” Meg says. “She said she had a committee meeting or something to go to, but she'd be back this afternoon.”

“Well, I've got some pancake batter that's been waiting for you,” Olivia smiles. “Just let me reheat the pan and I'll get you fixed right up.”

“Thanks, Mom,” Josh smiles. “Uh, where are the munchkins?”

“Oh, they're in the family room with Scottie and Pat,” Meg says.

“Pat?” I ask.

“My nanny,” she replies, as if I really should know the woman's name by now. “She's wonderful, Sam! I don't know how you manage without one. You should really think about cloning her.”

I roll my eyes at her and smile. “Well, if Olivia ever leaves me, maybe I will.”

“Fat chance of that happening,” Olivia says, smiling at me. And I rub her arm as I walk past her. I love my mother-in-law. With Megan on my heels, I enter the family room and smile as I watch Leo and Livvie singing along with the furry monsters on TV.

“I was so upset when Scott made me leave here last night. I wasn't able to sleep until I got the call from Lucas that they were okay,” Meg whispers, hooking her arm through mine.

“Thanks for being here, Meg,” I whisper. “It meant a lot.”

“Of course,” she smiles. Then she lightly pats my tummy. “How are you? I heard about your little trip to the emergency room.”

“We're fine. I just need to stop stressing about everything,” I say quietly. “Now that they're back where they belong, I can.” I watch the twins a little while longer as they sit, fascinated with the program they're watching, and I smile at little Scottie sitting on the floor with his nanny.

Meg and I turn to go back into the kitchen, and I place my hand on my baby bump. “He moved this morning,” I tell her with a smile. “First time I've felt him.”

“Really?” she smiles, and I nod. “Thought of names yet?”

“No. I've been a little preoccupied lately,” I say sarcastically as we sit down at the table. “What about you? Is Madeline still the frontrunner?”

“Yeah, it is,” she says. “If you're absolutely certain that you don't mind.”

“Oh, Megan,” I say, reaching over to take her hand. “It's so sweet of you to be concerned.”

“Well, I know how close you and Grandma are,” she says. “You might still want to name a baby girl after her someday.”

“Meg, if I had wanted to name a little girl after Grandma, I would have. But I chose to name my daughter after Josh's mom and my best friend. I am very happy that little Olivia Megan is sitting in that family room in there. Use the name,” I urge her. “Besides, Josh and I have already talked about this and we're in complete agreement. After little baby boy Pierce here, we're done.”

“You're sure?” she asks.

“Yes, we're sure!” I smile.

She giggles at me. “Okay. Then Madeline Samantha it is,” she smiles.

“Aww! Really?” I squeal.

“Yes!”

We're giggling and hugging like loons when Josh sits down beside me with two plates of pancakes and bacon. “What has you two squealing over here?” he smiles.

“Nothing,” we say in unison, giggling like teenagers. It's nice to have a little bit of normalcy for a moment in this sea of crazy that we've suddenly found ourselves on. Megan always does that for me. She has a way of making me laugh at myself and my surroundings, even in the midst of turmoil.

She leaves shortly after we finish our breakfast, needing to get little Scottie to a scheduled appointment with his pediatrician. And after they've gone, Josh and I spend some time playing with the twins before he summons Lucas and Lee into the family room so we can talk, and I sit quietly next to him as he explains his plan to the two of them.

“The only glitch is that I can't use police manpower for this little operation, so we'd be on our own,” he says to them.

“We?” Lucas asks with raised eyebrows.

“I meant the metaphorical we,” Josh answers with a slight smile. “Not the collective
we.
”

“You meant you and me,” Lee speaks up, looking at him pointedly, and Josh blushes slightly.

“I just meant …”

“I'm in,” Lee says with a shrug of his shoulders, cutting him off. “You know that.”

Josh gives him a relieved smile. “Thanks, Lee.”

“You're both nuts,” Lucas spits out.

“Lucas …,” Josh begins.

“No! I'm sorry, but I can't get behind this,” he says, looking from one man to the other. “Look, I realize that you are both highly trained professionals, albeit retired in your case, Lee. But this is crazy! You are talking about getting rid of the security that we just put in place yesterday. All so that you can try to set a trap for this psycho!”

“Lucas, the security will only be gone until we catch this dirtbag,” Josh tells him. “Once he's back in police custody where he belongs, the security goes right back into place. And I was actually thinking of using a couple of them during this operation. Just to round out our numbers a little.”

“Well, that's something at least,” Lucas says, calming down slightly. Then he suddenly looks at me. “And what about Sam and the kids? Where are they during this crazy rogue operation?”

“The twins will go and stay with Olivia until this is over, Lucas,” I tell him. “And Josh and I agree that it'd be a good idea to send their close protection detail with them. Just in case.”

“Okay. I like the sound of that,” he says. And for a moment I think we've actually slipped it past him. But then he suddenly frowns at me. “Wait a minute. You said the twins would go stay with Olivia. What about you, Sam?”

I can feel the blush steal over my face, and I know that I'm staring at him like a deer caught in headlights.

“No! Absolutely not,” he yells at me. Then he turns his glare on Josh. “You cannot possibly think this is a good idea!”

“Lucas, there are practical reasons for Sam to stay,” Josh tells him. “If this is going to work, we need her to lure Scruggs here. It won't work any other way!”

“Bullshit! You find another way,” he yells.

“There is no other way,” Josh says loudly. “I just told you that we can't use police manpower for this. If we could, there would be no question. I'd just get a female officer to impersonate Sam. But we don't have that option!”

“So, let me get Martin on it,” Lucas offers. “Just give it a few days and I'm sure he'll find you a female operative to put on your team. Then you can try your little sting operation then.”

“Lucas, we can't wait another few days,” Josh shouts. “We have already given this asshole nearly a week of our lives, during which he has terrorized Sam, taunted me, kidnapped two of our kids and damn near cost us the third. We are done playing his game. We have to get this bastard out of our lives
now
!”

“What happened to your promise to me that you would keep Samantha safe,” Lucas yells.

“I have not broken that promise,” Josh says, just as loudly. “I will keep Samantha safe. I will die before I let anything happen to her. You know that!”

They sit staring at each other with murderous eyes, and for a moment I'm not sure who's going to win this standoff. My brother has a very practiced heavy hand at times, something that I know comes from playing the role of the rich and powerful COO of a multi-billion dollar corporation. He's very good at intimidation, bringing even the most hard-nosed business men to heel with just a look. But I believe that one of the things he's always admired about my husband is that Josh has never been afraid to stand up to him. In fact, Josh can be pretty intimidating in his own right, and I think Lucas respects him because of that. When Josh and I first got married, he and Lucas seemed to form a bond between them almost immediately, and I've never actually been certain what was at the core of their close friendship. But I've always suspected their mutual respect has a lot to do with it.

Lucas slowly nods his head. “Alright, Josh,” he says quietly, looking him in the eye. “We'll do this your way. But you said that you'd be using a couple of the men from the security team on this thing?”

“That's right.”

“I want one of them to be Martin,” Lucas says, referring to his head of security.

“I'd be glad to have him,” Josh says with a nod.

“Okay,” Lucas says after a slight pause. “I hope to God you know what you're doing.”

Chapter Eleven

“Samantha is still pretty shaken up,” I say quietly, lacing my fingers together as I lean forward, resting my elbows on my knees.

“Oh, I don't doubt it,” Captain Marcos replies, looking down at me from his standing position. “Even though the twins were recovered fairly quickly, this whole thing has probably sent her into a tailspin. You too, I would imagine.”