Someone To Believe In (27 page)

SA:
Yes. I
think he does.

Clay threw the paper down on the desk
and forced his breathing to stay even. He couldn’t reconcile this
with the woman he felt closer to than any other person in his life,
the woman who talked to him late at night about
everything
, the woman who made love to him like
there was no tomorrow.

“You all right?” Thorn asked.

“Yes, of course.”

“Damn that woman. She’d been quiet awhile. I
thought she was calming down about us since you’ve been on that
committee together.”

Clay stared at his picture in the paper; hers
was not there, for privacy, but Lawson’s was. Clay looked a lot
older than his challenger. “This was probably done before the task
force started.”

Mica and Thorn exchanged concerned looks.

“What?”

“The interview was given a few weeks ago. It
says so in the credits.”

After they’d slept together. “You’re
kidding.”

“No, check it out.”

Clay checked. He’d missed the date in the
opening lines. “I can’t believe she’d do this to me.”

Thorn’s frown was deep. “What does that
mean?”

“She...we...” He glanced up at his staff.
“Nothing, I just thought we’d come to some kind of understanding is
all.”

“Are you sure, Clay? Your demeanor suggests
there’s more to it.” Mica had moved in closer. “If there is more,
we need to know what it is.”

“No, no.” He fingered the tickets in his
pocket. “There’s no more to it.”

BAILEY TOOK A break from working at the
computer and picked up a copy of
The
Voice
. She was tired, but happy. Clay was coming to
town tomorrow for some state legislature stuff and she’d see him
afterward. Absently, she scanned the contents page of the paper
and stopped short. Oh no. Opening to page six, she found the
interview she’d had with Sellers three weeks ago.

“Good press,” Rob Anderson commented over her
shoulder.

“Huh?”

“Good press for ESCAPE. Not for the senator,
though. I’d say you scored on this one.”

I didn’t want to score against Clay.

Joe came into the office. “What are we
looking at?”

“Our fearless leader got the senator again in
the press. Not that I’m crazy about Lawson.”

Bailey just stared down at her public
criticism of Clay.

“Why?” Joe asked.

“He’s slimy. At least Wainwright’s aboveboard
about everything.”

Not everything
,
Bailey thought.

“Honest but a jerk.”

“No he’s not!” Her head whipped up; she had
spoken more harshly than she intended.

Joe scowled. Rob folded his arms over her
chest. “What’s this all about?” Joe asked.

“Nothing. I’ve just gotten to know him on the
task force and he’s a decent guy.”

“He’s been trying to close us down for
years,” Joe retorted. “What’s gotten into you? First you let him
come here, then you defend him.”

“Nothing’s gotten into me.”

“If you say so.” Joe turned and walked
out.

Rob said, “This is all we need.”

“What?” she asked.

“Some male-female stuff between you two.”

“There’s nothing...” Suddenly she couldn’t
utter the lie.

“Don’t bother denying it, Bay. I’m a
psychologist. I get vibes. When he was here for that visit, you two
gravitated to each other physically. And you watched each other.
Then I heard you talking to him on the phone one night. I wasn’t
eavesdropping but I caught the tone of your conversation.”

“I never meant for this to happen.” She shook
her head. “It’s complicated.”

Rob nodded to the paper. “More than you know,
probably. If it hasn’t gone too far, I’d end it now if I were
you.”

And for the first time, Bailey admitted to
herself, as well as to another person, “It’s gone too far.”

“I see.” He pushed off from the desk. “Then
you’d better call him. He’s probably pissed as hell about
this.”

“No, he’ll be hurt.”

Rob squeezed her shoulder. “I’ll man the
hotline and the computer in here while you do it. Use my
office.”

Bailey went into Rob’s office and called
Clay’s cell. No answer. She called his home. Still none. She tried
the town house, hoping maybe he came in tonight. Nothing.

Then things got busy on the hotline and on
the network. She had a dialogue going with a new kid from Anthrax.
The girl mentioned the GGs and some territory that was in dispute.
Bailey was so startled when ESCAPE’s front door buzzer rang she
jumped in her seat.

Natale and Anderson rushed into her office.
The alarms were all on, but no one visited here unless expected,
especially at this hour of the morning. So this wasn’t good.

“Stay here,” Joe said, drawing his gun. “If
anything happens, call nine-one-one.”

“Oh, Lord.” Bailey went to the phone, picked
it up, and punched in nine-one. She held on to the receiver,
waiting to hit the last number in case of an emergency. “I’m
ready.”

“I’m coming with you.” Rob followed him
out.

With the phone poised, Bailey waited. What a
night. First Clay, then this.

Finally the guys returned. With Clay in
tow!

“Clay, what are you doing here?”

His face was stony. “I saw
The Voice
.”

“Fuck!” Natale said, holstering his gun.
“What’s going on, Bailey?”

“Come on, cowboy, let’s leave these two
alone.”

“Why the hell would I do that?”

“I’ll explain it to you.” Rob all but dragged
Joe out.

Bailey closed the door and turned to Clay. He
was dressed in jeans and a dark long-sleeved thermal shirt. His
hair was windblown and his face taut. “The ex-cop needs a gun here,
Bailey.”

“I know.”

“Shit.”

She waited. “You saw the article.”

“Yes.”

“And you’re angry?”

He jammed his hands in his pockets. “When’d
you give the interview?”

“Three weeks ago.”

His jaw hardened, accenting the clef that she
loved. “You said those things about me after we’d made love?”

“Clay, I said those things about your
politics. Not about you as a man.”

He shook his head. “Same thing.”

“No, no it’s not.”

He scrubbed his hands over his face, looking
exhausted. She glanced at the clock. It was two a.m. “What made you
come down tonight?”

“I had to see you.” He nodded to the paper.
“About this. How long is your shift?”

“Till six.”

“Would you stop by the town house on your way
home?”

“Yes, of course.”

Just then the computer network chimed and the
phone rang. He sighed. “Get that. I’ll see you in a bit.”

Though they were busy as hell, the rest of
the night dragged. At six, Bailey hurried to Clay’s town house.
They made love, but it hadn’t seemed to take the sting out of her
public criticism of him. Bailey desperately wanted their closeness
back. He was preoccupied and somber as she made coffee for them in
his kitchen. To avoid talking, she guessed, he switched on a small
TV in the corner for the morning news from Washington.

“Prison reform is necessary,” she heard a
member of the House of Representatives remark from the set. “Even
our minimum security ones pose risks.”

Clay’s hand clenched into a fist on the
table. She studied him as he listened to the broadcast. His big
shoulders were encased in a dark T-shirt he’d thrown on with pj
bottoms. She wore the top. Right now, his face was set in stern,
uncompromising lines. How long had she been able to read those
lines, read his expression so well?

Finishing with the coffee, she crossed to the
set and switched it off. He arched a brow at her gesture. She
folded her arms around her waist. “You want to know, don’t
you?”

He waited a minute to answer. “I’ve always
wanted to know. More so, I want you to trust me with it.” He
cleared his throat. “Today, I need that trust even more. “

Nervously, she glanced at the set. “I’ve
never talked about it. Not even to Aidan. “

“You can tell me anything.”

She took in a deep breath. “I was never
raped. I told my brothers that but I don’t think they believed
me.”

He watched her.

“But I would have been, if somebody hadn’t
intervened. I worked in the laundry.” She closed her eyes
momentarily. She could smell the soap and detergent. Feel the
stuffy confines of the dank room that had made her skin clammy. To
banish the sensations she opened her eyes and met his gaze, drew
strength from it. “I was jumped one night not long after I got
there. Four women took me down to the floor, behind the dryers.”
She bit her lip, feeling the helplessness again that washed over
her as she hit the hard concrete. “They stripped my clothes off.”
She rubbed her arms, chilled as she’d been then. “They...touched
me. Everywhere. They were rough.”

“Oh, Bailey.”

“They had some things, you know, sexual
things to use to do the rape. I started to cry, begged them to let
me go.” She bit her lip, tasting the coppery blood, just as she had
that night. “They laughed.” For a second she heard the ugly sound,
couldn’t speak over it.

He cleared his throat. “Finish telling me,
honey.”

“They were just about to do it when the door
swung open.”

“A guard?”

“No, three members of the other gang in
prison. I didn’t know it then, but somebody ran and got them when
the first gang jumped me. The leader of the second had been a
friend of Moira’s almost ten years before. They were close.
Actually, I met her once when I was with my sister, but didn’t
remember her.”

“She did, though? Remember you?” His voice
was gravelly.

“Uh-huh. She knew I was inside, but didn’t
want to let on about her connection with me so I wouldn’t make any
unnecessary enemies.”

“And she stopped them.”

“Yeah, there was a huge brawl; she told me to
run, just as it started. I grabbed my clothes and got out of there.
All of them were punished. The rival gang members were transferred.
The woman who saved me got solitary and six months added on before
she came up for parole.”

“So she became
your
guardian angel.”

“Yeah, and asked nothing in return.” Bailey
reached up and rubbed her eyes. “It was a nightmare, still, being
in jail. But the word got out and nobody tried to make me her bride
again, so to speak.”

The humor fell flat. Clay just watched her.
He didn’t swear, didn’t fly off the handle. He didn’t even say how
bad he felt, or that it was his fault, none of which she wanted to
hear. He simply looked sad. After a few moments, he got up and
crossed to her. Reaching out, he cupped her cheek. “You are a
remarkable woman. I’m humbled to be your friend, your lover. You’ve
done so much, survived so much. And I’m so, so sorry that happened
to you.”

She shook her head. “You could hold me
now.”

He did. He drew her close to his heart,
kissed her hair, and just felt the grief, bitterness, and disgust
along with her.

It was at that moment that Bailey realized
she was in love with Clayton Wainwright.

“MOMMY, LOOK! THERE he is.” Rory’s voice was
pitched high with excitement. “See Mommy, number two.”

“I see, sweetie.” Through sunglasses and
beneath a baseball cap, Bailey watched the New York Yankees, who
were two games away from the World Series, take the field. “He
looks big.”

“As big as Clay. Six-three, 195 lbs, right,
Clay?”

Wearing a matching cap and glasses, jeans and
Jeter T-shirt, Clay nodded from the other side of Rory. Like her,
he was unrecognizable.

“Read me more,” Rory said, cuddling up to
Clay.

As Clay enumerated the stats on Derek Jeter
from a special program, Bailey pretended to watch the team warm up
and thought about how she’d gotten here.

Rory had been so excited when Clay had
produced the tickets yesterday, Bailey was afraid he’d never
sleep. Only an admonishment from Clay and threats from her made
him settle down. She came out into the living room where he was
watching the recap of that day’s game and sat down next to
him.

He took her hand immediately. “I want you to
go with us. I know you’ll object, but I want you to see the
playoffs with Rory, Aidan, and me.”

“So do I.”

“Then come.”

“We’ll be right out in the open.”

“Not really. I know how to blend in so I’m
not noticed. I’ll wear sunglasses, a baseball cap, and jeans.
Nobody will recognize me, therefore they won’t be interested in
who you are.”

She hesitated.

“I want you with me, sweetheart. All the
time, I might add. I won’t apologize for wishing you’d come along
with your son and me to a game he’ll love.”

With no more fuss, Bailey had decided maybe a
disguise could work....

“And his best friend’s name is Alex
Rodriguez.”

“He plays for New York now,” Aidan
commented.

“Yep.”

“A-Rod. Holy cow.” Rory’s eyes rounded like
an owl’s. “My best friend’s name is Alex.”

Clay ruffled Rory’s hair. “You got a lot in
common, champ.”

They all enjoyed the game. Partway
through, Rory climbed on Clay’s lap. Aidan leaned around him and
gave her a
You’re dead meat
look. Sighing, she realized she was in way over her
head.

But it was when the game was over, she
realized she was about to drown. “Ready, champ?” Clay asked
standing.

“For what?”

“To go to the locker room. I got special
permission to bring one friend to meet DJ.”

Rory threw his arms around Clay’s leg.
“Golly, Clay, I can’t believe it.”

Clay turned to her and Aidan. “Sorry, guys.
Only two people can go.”