Lie in the Moment

by Nicole Camden

  Chewing on her lower lip, Maura nodded. “Sorry, I just can’t help but worry.” Bert had sent over the surveillance from the police station, but all it showed was a kid in a hoodie, although it was clear this time that the boy was Garrett Morris.

  “I know.”

  “What about your software, MOMENT? Have you figured out why it didn’t pick up on this kid putting the bomb on your car?”

  “Hmm. Milton has a theory about that.” Roland was mapping all the proxy servers that Keenan had used so far, trying to use some kind of computer magic to figure out where the a-hole could be hiding, just in case he didn’t take their bait.

  “Oh yeah?”

  “He thinks that the software didn’t note the kid as a danger because the boy knew that he wasn’t going to kill anyone with that bomb. Keenan was just trying to scare us.”

  “So he didn’t show the same expressions as he would if he knew that a bunch of people were going to be killed?”

  “Exactly.” Roland nodded, his attention on the screen in front of him.

  Maura looked out the window again. Maddie was missing school. If she were a good mother, she’d have her come inside and work on the assignments that her principal had sent over. Maura had called and explained the situation and gotten her work for the week. If they still hadn’t caught Keenan by then, she would have to come up with a different plan.

  “What about just covering his face with a mask? Wouldn’t that make it impossible for the facial recognition to read his intent?”

  Roland seemed to grimace, but he nodded. “There would still be some indicators—the program looks at background data, social media patterns, certain key words—but immediate intent is what it was designed to target. So yeah, to answer your question, but that’s why the details of how it works weren’t leaked.”

  Maura nodded. “But Keenan stole the code, so he knows how to get around it.”

  “I believe so, yes.”

  So they wouldn’t be able to count on anything to warn them of an impending attack. No, of course not, why would they be so lucky?

  Restless, she rubbed her arms. Roland’s office looked mostly like the one at Accendo. It had large windows, a conference table, and an enormous desk. Seeing the table had made her think of the first time they’d had sex, of letting him take her in full view of the offices across the street.

  “I was thinking about the story you told me, about what happened when you were a kid.”

  He stopped typing and turned around to look at her. She’d never seen him dressed so casually before, unless you considered naked casual. His dark hair was mussed, but the soft shirt he was wearing clung to the cut muscles of his chest and concealed the perfectly flat stomach beneath. Jeans encased his legs, and his beautiful feet were covered in socks. She could almost convince herself that he was just a normal guy.

  “Yes?”

  “I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the chemical stolen from DAVIENS is used in dry cleaning.”

  His face closed, but he nodded his agreement. “I know. It’s a message. There are dozens of more suitable chemicals for making a bomb.”

  “It will still do plenty of damage if he uses it. I hope you’re right about him coming after us and not anyone else.”

  He stood and walked over to her, wrapping her in his arms. “Me, too,” he said to the top of her head.

  She let him hold her for several long seconds, and then she pushed him away, letting her eyes drift down his body. They might be pretending to be together, but she knew that the total of their relationship was the sum of good sex and Keenan Shy. She was going to enjoy the sex while it lasted.

  “I think we need a break,” she said. “Meet me in my room in ten minutes.”

  LATER THAT EVENING, Maura stood in front of the full-length mirror in her room. Maddie lay on the bed, Hannibal and Porkchop snoozing together next to her. She was supposed to be working on her geometry assignment, but she’d been watching Maura get ready instead.

  “You look beautiful,” the girl told her, awe in her voice. “I didn’t know you could look like that.”

  Maura hadn’t known she could look like this, either. She smoothed the dress down over her ribs, telling herself that it was stupid to be so nervous.

  “Where are you going to put your gun?”

  “That’s my girl.” Maura smiled. “I don’t know. I hate to carry it in my purse, but I can’t think of how I could conceal it in this dress, or get to it if I really needed it.”

  Maddie picked up the small hard-case clutch from where Maddie had laid it on the bed and opened it, looking inside.

  “It should fit your gun and some lipstick.”

  Maura smiled at her. “All a girl needs.”

  “Yeah,” Maddie agreed, nodding.

  Giving the mirror one last look, Maura walked over to the bed and sat next to her niece. “I’m sorry about all this, you know. It must be hard to be away from school, your friends.”

  Maddie shrugged. “It’s cool. I like it here. I do miss my friends, but it’s okay.”

  “I notice you’re hanging out with Justin quite a bit.”

  The girl flushed. “No. He’s just around. Don’t embarrass me or anything.”

  Really concerned now, Maura ran a hand over the girl’s hair. “You know he’s a lot older, right? He hasn’t—”

  Maddie brushed her hand aside. “God, Maura. No. He barely talks to me. Most of the time he just asks me about you, about how you’re like my aunt but you take care of me and stuff.”

  “About me?”

  “Yeah,” Maddie said sourly. “I think he likes you.” She folded her skinny arms over her chest.

  Amused, Maura stood up and added her gun and badge to the purse. “Why don’t you help me with the lipstick?”

  The girl bounded off the bed, all too excited to dig through the ridiculous amount of makeup that Roland had included in a package from Barneys. “Nothing too pink. It looks horrible with your hair.”

  “Why, thank you,” Maura said wryly.

  The girl ran over to the vanity and began opening the lipstick boxes. “But I don’t think there’s anything here that won’t look good on you.” She opened a Tom Ford matte lipstick in velvet cherry. “I like this one.”

  Maura took it from her and applied it carefully, pressing her lips together in a smack.

  “Well, what do you think?”

  “I think that you should always wear lipstick, especially now that you’re dating Roland.”

  “Oh yeah? Why’s that?”

  “He’s rich and really famous and stuff. I bet he wants his girlfriend to wear lipstick all the time.”

  Maura snorted. “When have I ever worn lipstick every day?”

  Raising her eyebrows, Maddie shrugged. “Never. But I thought it would be different now.”

  Maura pressed her forehead against her niece’s. “I know everything’s crazy and I’m dating Roland, but I’m still the same. And a woman should always wear lipstick for herself, not some man.”

  “Can I try some?”

  Maura looked at her niece, only twelve and wanting to wear lipstick. “Promise not to tell Grandpa?”

  The girl grinned.

  Snow had begun falling as they rode to the restaurant where they were meeting Roland’s friends. Maura swallowed nervously as the limo pulled up to the valet stand. “Okay, so how do we play this?”

  “Don’t worry about it. Just be yourself.”

  She gave him a look as she wrapped a cashmere cape around herself in preparation to leave the car. “Uh-huh. I don’t think so.”

  “This is going to work.”

  His cheeks were freshly shaven, the smooth planes of his face glowing in the golden light from gas lamps outside the restaurant. “Kiss me.”

  With a faintly quizzical expression, he complied, bending forward to kiss her, his lips taking hers slowly, thoroughly, as if he were savoring the taste of her. Maura gripped the back of his head and kissed him in return, sliding
her tongue along his, tasting him.

  The door to the limo opened, letting in light and an icy blast of air.

  Maura released his head and licked her lips, tasting him. “Okay,” she murmured, and landed a quick peck on his lips. “Let’s do this.”

  She heard him chuckle as she stepped from the limo. The valet took her hand to help her out, and she stood, freezing while Roland stepped out of the vehicle in his suit and coat. He’d pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and was wiping lipstick off his mouth.

  “Shit.” Maura raised a hand to her lips.

  “Roland!” A man’s voice shouted. Maura turned to see Milton and Regina in the door of the restaurant. “Hurry up.” Nick and Blake were standing nearby, blond heads shining in the light. The four of them together looked like an advertisement for high-end vehicles.

  Roland stepped up next to her and took her elbow, walking with her toward his friends.

  “I need to fix—” Maura gestured to her lips.

  She’d been speaking to Roland, but Blake overheard and took her arm. “Come on, Maura, Regina. Let’s powder our noses.”

  “I’ve always wanted to say that,” Regina said, her voice wistful.

  Blake grinned.

  Maura refrained from rolling her eyes, but it was a near thing. “I’ll be right back,” she told Roland.

  “Of course, sweetheart,” he replied.

  She blinked at the appellation. It all just seemed so surreal, the beautiful clothes, the beautiful people, and Roland Chandler smiling down at her and calling her pet names.

  “Thanks, baby,” she replied, putting her hand on his chest. Her smile might have been just a little too sweet because he laughed.

  He picked up the hand on his chest and placed a kiss on her knuckles.

  “Oh, you’re very welcome.”

  “All right,” Milton said as soon as the women left for the restroom. “What the hell is going on?”

  Roland had known that his friends would wonder what was going on as soon as he called them and asked if they would join him and Maura for dinner. He’d only explained that he had a new plan for dealing with Keenan, and that he needed their help, starting with an evening out.

  Nick had protested the loudest, not wanting to put Blake in any danger, but Roland had explained that he’d had this restaurant and four others swept for explosives and listening devices, and that security was stationed both outside and inside all four restaurants. He hadn’t told them which one they were meeting at until fifteen minutes beforehand.

  “I told you I’d explain later.”

  “Explain now. I know you were trying to get friendly with her to get ahold of the letters, but ‘sweetheart’? ‘Baby’? You’ve never called a woman ‘sweetheart’ in your life.” Milton paused in his diatribe. “Well, other than Blake.”

  Nick scowled.

  “All right. The fast version is that I’m trying to get Keenan to reveal himself by presenting Maura as my fiancée. We’re hoping he’ll target her and leave everyone else alone.”

  “Your what?” Milton asked.

  He’d known they’d find the idea a little difficult to believe. “My fiancée.”

  “You’re going to ask her to marry you just so you can catch Keenan?” Nick clarified.

  “No, we’re going to pretend that we’re in love and engaged. Not actually get engaged.”

  Frowning, Milton said, “I’m confused. So you bought her clothes, shoes, the whole shebang. She and her whole family are in your house. And you’re going to put a rock on her finger?”

  “Tonight.” Roland nodded, taking a long sip of his scotch.

  “Tonight?”

  Exasperated, Roland said, “Will you stop exclaiming like a teenage girl?”

  “And how would you know what— Oh, right, you’re living with a twelve-year-old.” Milton snickered, and then seemed to lose it entirely. “Roland. With a preteen. And an old man who hates him.”

  “And a dog and a ferret, if that makes you happy.”

  “A ferret!” Milton hooted. “I have to see this.”

  Annoyed, Roland leaned back in his chair, away from Milton and his snorts of laughter.

  “You have to admit, it’s kind of funny,” Nick said, much more levelly, though his eyes were laughing.

  “It’s just until we catch Keenan. I’m sure that he’s going to focus his attention on Maura and me now that we’re engaged. We’re going to make ourselves as public as possible while you guys stay safe.”

  “I don’t like this idea,” Milton said soberly, all his humor gone now that they were once again talking about Keenan. “Keenan is too dangerous for you to just stand in the middle of the field with a target painted on your head. And why involve Maura?”

  “Maura refused to stay out of it,” Roland argued, maybe a little too strongly. He hadn’t wanted to involve Maura in the first place, didn’t want anything to happen to her, but he couldn’t see any way to keep her safe, either, not when she wouldn’t drop her hunt for Keenan.

  “So what do you want us to do?” Nick interjected, holding out his hands like the referee at a prizefight.

  Roland explained his plan, which included having security follow him and Maura to every event, but also getting Milton and Nick to track any messages that Keenan might send via proxy servers and to monitor surveillance and any chatter they could track down on the Darknet.

  “No offense, Roland, but that’s a pretty vague plan,” Nick said, scowling.

  “I’m all ears if you have a better one.” Roland spread his arms and waited, knowing that if they were able to think of a better plan, they would have shared it already.

  His two best friends looked at each other and finally shrugged. “All right, we’ll trust you.” Milton leaned forward into Roland’s space. “Can we see the ring?”

  Maura looked at her reflection in the mirror of the restaurant bathroom as she fixed her lipstick, avoiding meeting the eyes of the other two women, whose expressions were just a little too curious. They were both wearing bright colors as well, Blake in red and Regina in a deep blue.

  “You’re beautiful,” Blake assured her, accepting the cloth handed to her by the attendant.

  “Thanks,” Maura said, and swallowed. There was no reason to be nervous; she was only pretending to get engaged.

  Regina stepped up to the mirror as well, patting the back of her French twist to make sure it was still secure. “I have to say, I’m pretty surprised we’re out tonight, especially with what happened at the police station. Blake, I thought Nick would have you locked up till next Christmas at the very least.”

  Blake pursed her lips. “I know, it’s weird.” She narrowed her eyes at Maura. “You wouldn’t happen to know what the boys are up to, would you?”

  Maura started to deny it, but both women were studying her with knowing expressions. She huffed. “Damn. I bet Nick and Milton aren’t able to keep any secrets from you two.”

  Blake smiled sweetly. “They know what happens when they do.”

  “You’re kind of scary,” Maura told her with a laugh. “I don’t think I knew that about you.”

  Pulling out her own tube of lipstick, Blake touched up her makeup. “I’m a quick learner. With our boys, you have to stay on your toes.”

  Regina agreed. “So tell us, Maura. Why exactly are we here?”

  Roland had arranged for a reporter from The Globe to be in the restaurant and seated close enough to photograph the proposal, but he found himself irritated with the idea and wished that he’d made other plans.

  Patting his pocket, he checked for the presence of the ring again, startled when he didn’t feel the small jeweler’s box. He had refused to show the ring to Milton, not wanting to cause a scene prior to the big event, but clearly Milton hadn’t taken no for an answer.

  “You’re pretty distracted tonight,” Milton said next to him, looking at the ring. “You suck, you know. This is bigger than the one I gave Regina.”

  Normally Milton wouldn’
t have been able to remove the ring without Roland noticing. “It’s just for show,” he snarled. Maybe doing this in public had been a bad idea. The ring he’d chosen, a three-and-a-half-carat emerald-cut Harry Winston with two baguette side stones, sparkled in the light of the chandelier overhead.

  “Yeah?” Milton looked doubtful. “I’m no expert, but I think this is the kind of ring a man gives a woman he intends to keep.”

  “Speaking of women,” Nick said, nodding toward the three women as they approached the table. Milton snapped the ring box shut. A second later, Roland felt the gentle tug as the ring was deposited back in his pocket.

  Maura’s hair shone like light through a glass of red wine, and her eyes, as gray as morning fog, looked even bigger than usual. She was short compared to the two other women, a small figure of creamy white skin and red hair.

  “I get to be best man,” Milton informed him in a quiet voice.

  “Shut up, Milton,” Roland replied, standing as the women reached the table. He pulled out Maura’s chair, while Nick and Milton did the same for Blake and Regina.

  When everyone was seated, the maître d’ came to the table and discussed the chef’s creations for the evening while another waiter poured the wine that Roland had selected. Maura listened attentively, but her mind was clearly elsewhere. She was scanning the room, undoubtedly looking for possible threats—once a cop, always a cop. He would bet his Rolls she’d put her gun in the clutch she held in her lap.

  His plan was to give her the ring during the dessert course, with a short speech to toast their engagement, but about halfway through dinner, Milton began talking about Keenan.

  “You’re sure the hospital is protected from Keenan, right?”

  Maura paused while eating a winter vegetable medley, her eyes going to Roland’s.

  Roland nodded to reassure her and turned on Milton. “You made the plans yourself. You know everything we’ve done to keep the kids safe.”