“Yes, ma’am, I surely will.”
John smothered an oath.
His mother said, “Well, I’d better be getting home. Fiona’s coming over later, and she’s taking me to her stylist to get my hair done. We had a makeover together last week, and it was so much fun.” Her laugh was girlish and breathless, and Roy’s awareness was almost palpable. He was practically salivating.
So Fiona was behind this new image. John should have known. He said gruffly, “I didn’t think there was anything wrong with the way you looked before.”
“Oh, you men. What do you know?” She waggled her fingers at Roy and blew John a kiss. “See you both later.”
She left the office on a cloud of perfume, and Roy muttered something John didn’t catch.
“What?” John demanded.
“Nothing. I just said it was nice to see your mother again. She’s looking…well.”
That wasn’t what he’d said, and they both knew it. John scowled at him. “I need to talk to you about the Gail Waters case.”
“Why? The investigation is being buried, from what I hear. I figured that’s what the old man wanted to see you about.”
“Not if I have anything to say about it,” John snapped.
“You’re asking for trouble,” Roy warned.
“And you can keep your opinions to yourself.”
And while you’re at it, keep your slimy hands off my mother.
Chapter Thirteen
John found a parking place at the curb a few houses down from his mother’s. He got out and opened the door for Thea and Nikki, and the three of them walked down the sidewalk together. As they approached the stoop, Thea said nervously, “Are you sure it’s okay for Nikki and me to be here?”
“It’s a big party,” John said. “The more the merrier, and besides, how much safer could Nikki be than in a houseful of cops?” He grimaced almost as soon as the words were out of his mouth, as if he recalled too late the story Thea had told him last night. “She’ll be fine, Thea. You both will.”
Thea wished she could be as certain. Her stomach was in knots, partly in fear, yes, but also because of what had happened between her and John last night. They hadn’t spoken about it today, hadn’t said much of anything to each other. And they certainly hadn’t touched. That would be tempting fate again, she thought, shivering as she remembered the way John had touched her last night. The way he’d kissed her and caressed her…
Her grip tightened on Nikki’s hand as John opened the front door and ushered them inside. The living room was large, but the boisterous crowd had spilled into the dining room and kitchen. Fiona saw them immediately and came over to greet them.
After giving John a quick hug and a peck on the cheek, she said, “Here, let me take your coats.”
She stooped, helping Nikki out of hers while John slipped Thea’s off her shoulders. His fingers brushed her neck ever so lightly, and a thrill of awareness shot through her.
“I’m so happy you came,” Fiona said to Nikki, and then standing, she gave Thea a quick hug. “I’m glad you came, too.” She eyed Thea’s cranberry-red sweater set and black wool pants—which had been packed in her suitcase—approvingly. “You look great.”
“Thanks. So do you,” Thea said, and meant it. Fiona wore an emerald-green sweater and short skirt that showed off her long legs.
She gathered all the coats and said, “I’ll be right back.”
“Let’s get something to drink,” John suggested, and they started through the mass of people.
A woman about Thea’s size, with dark hair and gorgeous green eyes, held court in the living room. Women surrounded her, oohing and ahhing over the baby she held in her arms, while a tall blond man hovered protectively over her.
When the woman spotted John, her eyes lit up. “John! Come over here! You have to meet Christopher.”
Thea sensed John’s hesitation, then felt his hand against the small of her back, urging her forward, as if he had no intention of leaving her and Nikki behind.
John nodded to the woman with the baby and the man standing behind her. “Meredith. Vince.”
The man nodded back. “John.”
They both sounded cordial but strained as the woman proudly exhibited her bald-headed baby for John’s inspection. “Isn’t he something?”
“Good-looking kid you’ve got there,” John said.
Meredith beamed, and Vince looked a little cocky. He reached over Meredith’s shoulder and let the baby grab his finger. Thea wasn’t sure what was going on, but she sensed some kind of tension.
Nikki dropped Thea’s hand, and glancing down, Thea saw that her daughter had shifted her doll so that she could slip her hand into John’s. It was as if she, too, sensed the tension and wanted to make John feel better.
The action wasn’t lost on Meredith. She glanced from Nikki to Thea, and her dark brows lifted. “I don’t believe we’ve met.”
“This is Thea,” John said. “And this is Nikki.”
A woman emerged from the crowd with a little squeal of delight. She was perhaps in her fifties, but still very slender and attractive, a mature version of Fiona, but with dark hair.
“What a darling little girl!” she cried. She patted John’s arm almost absently. “I’m so glad you came, dear. But who have we here?” She knelt and smiled at Nikki.
“This is Nikki,” John said, “and her mother, Thea. And this is my mother.”
“Call me Maggie.” She saw the doll Nikki clutched and said admiringly, “And what a pretty thing she is, too. I have a wonderful doll collection upstairs, Nikki. Everything from baby dolls to Barbie dolls. Would you like to see them?”
Nikki didn’t respond, but Maggie rose and took her hand from John’s. “Don’t worry,” she said to Thea. “I’ll bring her right back.”
She led Nikki away from the crowd, and Thea saw her daughter turn and look back at her. “Maybe I should go with them,” she murmured.
“She’ll be fine,” John said. “Mom’s great with kids.”
Maybe he was right. Even though Nikki had looked back at her, she didn’t seem unduly distressed.
“Come on,” John said in Thea’s ear. “Let’s get that drink.”
It was the first time they’d been alone since last night, although, of course, they weren’t truly alone. There were dozens of people around, a din of chatter and laughter, but somehow everything faded when John looked at her.
Thea’s breath caught in her throat as he took her arm and led her away from the crowd. But rather than going into the kitchen, he pulled her into an alcove beneath the stairs, and before Thea could protest, he bent and kissed her deeply.
Her heart immediately started to pound. She lifted her hand to his chest as his fingertips traced her jaw-line. When they broke apart, he said, “I’ve been wanting to do that all day.”
Thea realized she’d been wanting that all day, too, even knowing it was dangerous to get so close to him, that nothing could come of it. She gazed up at him, smiling, as she put her finger to his lips. “Lipstick,” she whispered.
He pulled out his handkerchief and finished the job. “I don’t know why I’m bothering,” he said. “Because I intend to do that again before the night’s over.”
“Oh, really? What would your mother say if she saw us?” Thea teased.
“About damn time.” He grinned. “Or something similar. She’s been worried I’d never get married again.”
Married? Thea’s heart beat even faster. “Was your first marriage so bad?”
He shrugged. “No worse than some. We both made a lot of mistakes.” He frowned slightly. “I don’t really want to talk about my ex-wife, though. I promised you a drink, didn’t I? Wait right here.” He started to leave, then turned back quickly, brushing his lips against hers once more. “Don’t go anywhere.”
“I won’t.”
Their gazes locked for a moment, and then John turned and headed toward the kitchen. Thea climbed partway up the stairs and sat down. Fr
om her vantage, she could watch the party and also wait for Nikki to come back downstairs with John’s mother.
The dark-haired woman, minus the baby, sauntered over. “It’s Thea, right?” She sat down on the stair below. “I’m Meredith.”
“Yes, I remember. Your baby is adorable,” Thea said.
The woman’s green eyes sparkled. “I think so, too. And your little girl is precious.”
“Thank you.”
They fell silent, having made the requisite compliments on each other’s children. Then Meredith said casually, “How long have you known John?”
“Not long. A few days.”
Her dark brows soared. “Really? Only a few days? Hmm.” She seemed to contemplate Thea’s response. “Then you probably don’t know anyone else here.”
Thea shrugged. “I’m afraid not.”
“Maybe I can give you a quick lesson.” Meredith stood and climbed another step so that she could sit next to Thea. “Okay, see that white-haired man over there next to the window? That’s John’s uncle Liam. We’ll be throwing him one of these bashes in another few years, and the elderly woman beside him—that’s Colleen, his mother. John’s grandmother. She’s a darling.”
There was a striking family resemblance, Thea noted, not so much perhaps in the facial structure but in the eyes. Both Liam and Colleen had the same blue eyes as John.
“Oh, and that man who just came in—the really good-looking one wearing the black leather jacket. That’s Nick, John’s brother.”
The man Meredith pointed to was, as she said, very good-looking, with hair a shade darker than John’s. The strands glinted blue-black in the overhead lighting, but he had the same blue eyes. Also the same tall muscular build.
“What about the man he’s talking to?” Thea asked. “Is that one of John’s brothers, too?”
“No, that’s Miles. He’s a cousin. Liam’s son.”
Thea studied the man for a moment, disturbed for some reason. Then she remembered. He was the man she and Nikki had met on the stairs in their building, the one she’d thought looked so much like John. But why had John’s cousin been at the apartment building that night? she wondered uneasily. Was he investigating Gail Waters’s death, too?
“The pretty blonde over there in the corner all lovey-dovey with that cute guy? That’s Miles’s sister, Kaitlin, and her husband, Dylan O’Roarke.” Meredith paused, arching Thea a glance. “You won’t know about the O’Roarkes, of course, but—”
“The feud, you mean?”
Meredith glanced at her in surprise. “Well. I see you’ve been around a little more than I thought. But yes, there is a feud between the two families. Liam won’t allow Kaitlin in his house so long as she’s with Dylan O’Roarke, but Maggie’s not like that, thank God. She’s very…forgiving.” Something flickered in Meredith’s eyes that Thea couldn’t define. “The man next to the fireplace, the distinguished one with the silver hair—that’s Superintendent Dawson,” she said with near reverence in her voice. “He’s talking to the guest of honor. Ed Dawson almost never attends these things, but he and the Gallaghers go way back. I’m sure the only reason he came is Maggie.”
The man she’d indicated did look very distinguished, but there was something cold about him, a hardness in his eyes that reminded Thea a little of Rick.
Not comfortable with the comparison, she turned her gaze away, and as she did so, it lit on a man in the farthest corner of the room, standing alone. The attire for the evening was casual, but this man’s faded jeans were torn at the knees, and he wore his shirt untucked and unbuttoned over a scruffy-looking T-shirt. His brown hair was short and spiked, and in spite of the late hour, he had on sunglasses.
“Who’s the man over there?” Thea said, not wanting to point, although she didn’t think he had noticed them sitting on the stairs.
“Who? Oh.” Meredith lowered her voice. “That’s Tony. John’s youngest brother. He’s kind of the black sheep of the family.”
As she spoke, the man reached up and lowered his sunglasses to his nose, staring at Thea over the rims. His eyes were so blue, his gaze so piercing, that she felt a shiver race up her spine.
And she’d thought the Mancusos were dangerous.
Thea turned quickly back to Meredith. “You seem to know everyone here. Are you a close friend of the family’s?”
Meredith grinned. “You might say that. I used to be married to John.”
JOHN STARTED across the room toward Thea when a hand on his arm halted him. “John.”
“Miles.”
His cousin dropped his hand. “Eddie Dawson told me you went to see him yesterday.”
“I figured he would.”
“You’re looking under the wrong rock. Eddie had nothing to do with what happened to that reporter.”
John lifted a brow. “You were there, were you, Miles?”
Annoyance flashed across his features. “Dammit, John, back off. If you keep pushing Eddie, he’ll do the fade, just like he did years ago. And then I’m stuck using some snot-nosed snitch I know nothing about. A man can get his throat slit that way.”
He was right about that. “Look,” John said, “I’m not trying to run off your informant. I’m trying to solve a case here.”
“Which has nothing to do with seven years ago.”
“Yeah,” John said. “That’s what everybody keeps trying real hard to convince me of.”
“FINALLY,” JOHN SAID, plopping down on the stairs one step below Thea. He handed her a beer, draping a casual arm over her knees as he did so. “This okay?”
“It’s fine.” She took the bottle, cradling it in both hands as she surveyed the crowd. “I just had a very interesting conversation with your ex-wife.”
John almost choked on his beer. He glanced up at Thea. “What did she have to say about me?”
“She told me all sorts of interesting tidbits.” John groaned and Thea laughed. “I’m teasing. She was just telling me who a lot of these people are. The superintendent of the Chicago Police Department comes to your mother’s parties? I’m impressed.”
“We go back a long way with his family,” John said, his eyes shadowing briefly.
His mother and Nikki came down the stairs just then, and Thea said, “Oh, there you two are.”
She took Nikki’s hand and tried to pull her down beside her on the stairs, but Maggie said, “Not so fast. We aren’t finished yet. We’re going to get something to eat, aren’t we, Nikki?”
Nikki nodded and followed Maggie down the stairs. Thea sat, almost speechless. Then she said to John, “What is it with you Gallaghers? I’ve never seen Nikki respond so quickly to people.”
“We have our moments,” he said dryly.
“Yes,” Thea murmured, gazing down at him, “I would say you do.”
FIONA WAS THE ONE to bring Nikki back to Thea after a bit. “She’s getting really tired. Mom wondered if it would be okay if we put her to bed upstairs until you and John are ready to leave.”
Thea chewed her lip, hesitant to allow Nikki to remain out of her sight for much longer. They were standing at the bottom of the stairs, and John said softly, “It’ll be fine. We can hang around down here, if it makes you feel better. No one can go up without us seeing them.”
Thea nodded, and Fiona led the way up the stairs. She turned on a light, and a blue-and-white room leaped to life. “This is my room, Nikki. I’d be honored to share it with you tonight.”
Without hesitation Nikki went over and curled up on the bed with her doll. Fiona covered her with a blue quilt.
Thea had planned to sit with her daughter for a few minutes, but Nikki was already nodding off. She kissed her cheek, and then Fiona took Thea’s arm and drew her out of the room. “Don’t worry. We’ll all keep an eye on her.”
“I know you must think I’m an overprotective mother,” Thea said.
“And so what if you are?” Fiona demanded. “Isn’t a mother supposed to protect her children?”
“I don’t kno
w how much John has told you about our situation,” Thea said hesitantly.
“Next to nothing,” Fiona admitted. “But it doesn’t take a brain surgeon to figure out you’re in some kind of trouble.” She put a hand on Thea’s arm. “You can trust John to take care of you, Thea. You and Nikki. He’s the best.”
“I’m beginning to believe that,” Thea said quietly.
“I’m very happy for you both.”
Thea glanced at her in shock. “But…it’s not…it may not be what you think.”
Fiona grinned. “It may not be what you think. I see the way John looks at you. I see the way you look at him, too.”
Thea let out a long breath. “It’s…complicated.”
“I’m sure it is, but I just want you to know that I’m with you. I’ll do anything I can to help you and Nikki. She’s such a sweetie. I mean, the way she took John’s hand earlier when Meredith was acting like such a fool over the baby.” Fiona rolled her eyes. “Don’t get me wrong—Meredith is okay. John wasn’t blameless in that marriage, but he was really hurt when she…left. And then she remarried so fast, and now they have a baby…” She sighed. “Oh, well. It doesn’t matter anymore. Now he has you. And Nikki.”
Thea didn’t know what to say to that, although she didn’t feel she could allow Fiona’s misconception of her and John’s relationship to continue. “John and I are just—”
“Friends? I don’t think so. I’ve never seen my brother look at a woman the way he looks at you.” Fiona started for the stairs, then turned back. “And that includes Meredith,” she added with a wicked grin.
BY THE TIME THEA CAME down the stairs, John was nowhere in sight. She mingled for a while, but didn’t stray far from the stairs. She wanted to be nearby in case Nikki needed her, although her daughter seemed to be making incredible progress. Especially considering last night, when she’d called Thea in the wee hours of the morning. Thea didn’t think she would ever forget that moment—the sound of her daughter’s voice.
Perhaps it was that memory, or maybe the strong bond between them, that caused Thea to look up precisely when she did. Nikki was standing at the top of the stairs, clutching Piper and gazing down at the crowd in the living room. She wasn’t looking at Thea, but at someone—or something—else. The expression on her daughter’s face sent a chill through Thea.
The Littlest Witness Page 19
