The Past Between Us

by Kimberly Van Meter

He hated to see her looking so lost and worried. It was a side of Cassi he’d never seen when they were kids. She’d been fearless and even reckless in her disregard for rules, discipline or anything that didn’t subscribe to her individual brand of independence. She’d had the charisma of a superstar and hadn’t been afraid to use it. He smiled and her brow furrowed.

  “What’s so funny?” she asked, pushing her hand through her hair in an agitated motion. “My friend is dead, and we’re no closer to proving anything about Lionel and yet, I’m about to turn myself over to the mercy of the FBI, which coincidentally, hasn’t been known to have a soft side, so I’m not seeing anything worth grinning about.”

  He leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers, silencing her. When he pulled away, she met his gaze and held it. “I’m scared, Tommy,” she whispered.

  “I won’t let anything happen to you,” he promised, gently pulling her from the chair, leading her to the bed. “Come lie down. You look exhausted.”

  “Thanks,” she said wryly but she climbed onto the bed nonetheless, her mouth twitching with a smile as he followed. “What’s on your mind?” she asked, leaning back against the numerous pillows plumped against the headboard.

  “You.”

  A shiver cascaded down her body and he wanted to follow it with his tongue. He climbed her lean form until he was right above her, looking down into that beautiful face as she smiled. “And what do you plan to do with me?”

  Pounding need rushed his shaft and all thoughts of the case fled his mind. All he could think of was Cassi and how little time they had before everything got very real. He didn’t know how things were going to end when they got to the field office in Pittsburgh. He felt fairly certain it would go their way but there were too many variables he couldn’t control. His job had been to bring her back. And he hadn’t forgotten that. For now, he had her in his arms and that was what he was focusing on. Tomorrow would bring its own troubles. Tonight was all about pleasure. He gathered her tight and growled against her mouth right before taking it, “Everything.”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  THOMAS WENT THROUGH security with Cassi behind him and felt eyes on him as he passed through the Bureau office in Pittsburgh. They’d gotten up early and driven straight through, making good time on the seven-hour drive from Virginia Beach. The ride was mostly silent but Cassi had bitten her nails down to the quick.

  Thomas went straight to the director and closed the door behind them.

  Director George Zell eyed Thomas and then Cassi before asking, “Mind introducing me to your friend?”

  “This is Cassi Nolan.”

  Zell sat a little straighter, his gaze darting from Cassi to Thomas and then back to Cassi again. “Any reason she’s not in cuffs, Agent Bristol?”

  “We have new evidence in the case, sir. Barbara Hanks is dead and Winifred Jones has recanted her statement. We also have reason to believe someone tried to kill Jones to keep her quiet after she took money to issue a false statement against Ms. Nolan.”

  Zell, a hard man with a shock of white hair on his Charlie Brown head, pursed his lips at the revelation. “Your job was to bring her in. You’ve succeeded. Now take her to booking.”

  Thomas felt rather than saw Cassi’s alarm and rising panic. “Sir, I think there’s more to this case than we originally thought,” he began, but Zell cut him off.

  “That will be all, Agent Bristol. Take her to booking and then report back to me when you’re through.”

  Cassi’s eyes widened and she gave a minute shake of her head and he knew she was going to bolt. “She’s innocent,” he protested but two agents appeared and grabbed her arms. She shrieked and started kicking and Thomas felt the situation sliding out of his control. He moved to his superior’s desk and slammed the surface with his hand. “Listen to me, damn it. She’s innocent! The man who sent the Bureau after her is a killer. He’s used multiple aliases to prey on rich women. I’ll show you!”

  Zell motioned to the agents and they dragged Cassi away even as she twisted and jerked trying to get free. Thomas moved to follow but Zell’s voice commanding him to stay put stopped him. He bit back the swear words filling his mouth. He was this close to tanking his career and for what? He couldn’t very well bust her out of lockup. His best bet to help her would be to stay calm. He knew this intellectually but right now he was tempted to say “Screw it” and charge after the agents muscling Cassi from the room. He turned to Zell and he knew his eyes were hot. “What the hell is going on?” he demanded.

  “Sit down, Bristol,” Zell commanded. “You’re losing your head over this woman. Your assignment was to bring her in. Job done. Now move on.”

  Thomas pressed his lips together in an effort to stay calm but his heart rate was erratic and all he could think of was that Cassi was probably thinking he betrayed her. “Sir, I have information—”

  “So do I,” Zell interrupted. He tossed a file at him. “We have new information on your friend.” Thomas grabbed the file and opened it while Zell kept talking. “Before we go any further, I knew you and Nolan had history. I figured it would work to our advantage in bringing her in. Seems I wasn’t wrong. But what you probably don’t know is that your friend—the one proclaiming to be innocent—is wanted for murder. The theft charges were a bonus.”

  “What?” he said in a breath, his chest hurting as if someone had thrown a sledgehammer into his ribs. “What are you talking about?” But Zell didn’t need to answer. Thomas could read it in black-and-white. Cassi was wanted for murdering her mother.

  “No.” He shook his head. “This is wrong. Where’d you get this?”

  “A good source,” he answered, but Thomas wasn’t ready to let it go.

  “This is still my case and I want to know where this new information is coming from. If it’s from Lionel Vissher, the information is no good. The man is a possible sociopath and it serves his purpose to have Cassi out of the way.”

  “What are you talking about?” Zell demanded. “Lionel Vissher has been nothing but cooperative with this investigation in spite of the personal embarrassment of having a criminal for a stepdaughter.”

  Thomas looked at Zell. Something about his statement sounded off-key to him. “You tight with Vissher or something?” he asked, throwing Zell off.

  “What?” Zell asked, his brow bunching in a fierce glower. “Just what the hell are you implying?”

  “Nothing. Just curious as to why you’re ready to crucify Cassi even though there’s evidence to the contrary that leads straight to Vissher.”

  “That’s a load of horseshit and I’m your superior so watch your mouth.”

  “I’d like to have Olivia Nolan’s body exhumed and tested for arsenic poison.”

  “Why?”

  “Because information I gathered in Virginia Beach supports the theory that Vissher isn’t who he says he is. I have information stating that Vissher was actually married before to another wealthy woman under a different name. Funny thing is, she died under suspicious circumstances.”

  Zell looked perplexed with Thomas’s information and Thomas sensed a crack so he pushed. “Listen, we’ve got a guy who seems adept at smoke and mirrors and you know the best way to take the heat off of yourself is to put it someplace else. I think Cassi got too close to the truth and that’s why he trumped up these charges. He paid those women to make a false statement and now one is dead. The other one is alive only because we discovered the contaminated food before she ate it.”

  Zell took a long moment before responding. Then he said, “Get a court order and exhume the body but keep it quiet. The last thing I need is Lionel Vissher in my office making waves over this until I have more to go on. In the meantime, your friend can stay here.”

  That wouldn’t work. Knowing Cassi she’d find a way to skip town and then the trouble would start all over. “Release her to me,” he suggested.

  Zell scowled. “Have you lost your mind? No.”

  “Look, you and I know that we don’
t have much to hold her on, given the new evidence, but if you release her into my custody I will make sure she stays in town.”

  Zell considered this, then barked, “Fine. But she’s wearing an ankle bracelet. You may be soft on the woman but I don’t trust that she’s not a criminal herself.”

  “A thief is not a murderer,” he said to Zell. “You have my word that I will bring her back if the evidence doesn’t support my theory.”

  “You willing to stake your credentials on this woman?” he asked.

  Thomas didn’t hesitate. “Yes.”

  He believed her. In his heart, he knew Cassi was innocent.

  He just hoped to God he wasn’t putting his trust where it didn’t belong. There was a whisper of a voice telling him to be careful but he was way past able to give it heed.

  He wondered if his father had had a similar voice going off in his head right before he lost his mind and killed his family.

  Thomas shuddered and shoved it all away.

  He had other things to worry about at the moment.

  CASSI PACED THE TIGHT quarters of the holding cell, about ready to jump out of her skin. She’d known coming here was a bad idea, right up there with sky-diving without a parachute or buying seafood from the trunk of someone’s car.

  She’d believed him and the asshole had served her up like a noonday meal to his superior. She was hot—so angry that she was fairly certain she could melt metal with her eyes—but there was more than anger simmering under the surface. She felt betrayed. And that was infinitely worse.

  Tears pricked her eyes and she dashed them away, angry at their appearance. She felt weak and pathetic and needy. Three things she despised.

  The door opened and she stopped abruptly to stare at Tommy as he entered. She glared. “What do you want?”

  “C’mon,” he said, gesturing. “We’re getting out of here.”

  His statement threw her. “What do you mean? They’re just letting me go?”

  “More or less,” he said, but he was holding something in his hands.

  “What’s that?”

  “A new accessory,” he quipped, but she didn’t find it funny, especially when she realized what it was. She wasn’t amused at all. He exhaled loudly and she was incensed that he had the gall to be annoyed. “Listen, work with me here. I had to make a deal. In order to let you out on your own recognizance, you have to wear a GPS bracelet. It’s not a big deal.”

  She eyed him coldly. “Then you wear it.”

  “I’m not the one in trouble.”

  She glared and looked away but after stewing for a minute she lifted her pant leg and thrust her foot at him. “Fine. But don’t think for a second that I’m happy about this,” she warned him, looking away as he clicked the latch in place, securing the bracelet and officially putting her on the FBI’s radar. “Great. Now the U.S. government can find me no matter where I go, whether it’s to the grocery store or to the toilet.”

  “Having tracked you for the past two months I’d say that’s a blessing. Especially around bathrooms,” he teased, but she wasn’t ready to forgive him. He sighed and gestured. “Let’s get out of here. You’re in my custody until further notice.”

  “What else is new?” she retorted, sending him a dark look. “And if you think I’m sleeping handcuffed to you again you’re crazy.”

  He gave her a sideways glance that heated her blood in spite of how pissed she was, and he warned in a low tone that sent goose bumps across her skin, “If I put you in handcuffs again…you won’t be sleeping.”

  She gasped and stalked past him. “Keep dreaming, Tommy boy,” she growled. “Keep dreaming!”

  MAYBE HIS RELIEF WAS premature but he was just glad to have Cassi out of that cell and back with him. He knew their problems weren’t over but given how dangerous Lionel Vissher seemed and the fact that no one but them seemed to realize this made him edgy. Call him a Neanderthal but he preferred to keep Cassi close for her own protection. Of course, he had to laugh at that sentiment because Cassi was plenty able to take care of herself. But it was the way he felt and he wasn’t inclined to spend too much time analyzing it.

  “Where are we going?” she asked, as they pulled out of the Bureau parking lot. Her arms were crossed over her chest and every now and again she glanced down at the bracelet in disgust. His chances of a pleasant evening were dwindling so he figured he’d take her to the one place she was sure to behave herself.

  “First, my apartment here in Pittsburgh, then Mama Jo’s. It’s only about two hours from here.”

  She turned to stare at him, then she stammered an emphatic, “No.”

  “Why not? You used to love Mama Jo and I know the feeling was mutual. Besides if she finds out that you were in town and didn’t stop in…she’ll turn me inside out.”

  “I don’t want to see her,” Cassi said, but there was fear in her voice that he didn’t understand. “Take me to a hotel.”

  “What’s going on?” he asked.

  She refused to answer. Her mouth pinched and she appeared mutinously silent.

  He pulled over to the shoulder, startling her, and demanded to know what was wrong. When he received nothing, he was perplexed. “What did Mama Jo do to upset you like this? She thought the world of you.”

  “I know that,” she said.

  “So?”

  She whirled to face him, tears sparkling in her eyes. “So I don’t want to see her disappointment. Don’t you think I deal with enough of that on my own just by looking in the mirror? I can’t deal with Mama Jo’s disappointment, too. I know you probably told her about the last time we saw each other. I said some bad things and some of it was insulting to Mama Jo and I hate that of myself. I just don’t know if I can handle seeing her right now.”

  Thomas was floored by her admission. He recalled that night. She’d been partying pretty hard. She’d called him to come and get her from a party. She’d been strung out on cocaine and whatever else had been floating around the place. But when he’d gotten there she’d changed her mind and didn’t want to leave.

  He’d been pissed. Not only at her actions, begging him to come out there at 3:00 a.m., but her actions up to that point, too. She’d been sliding further and further from the person he knew into this drugged-out socialite mess who drank too much, partied too hard and refused to take responsibility for anything. Her so-called friends were no different, which was why he refused to have anything to do with them. He’d yelled at her and tried to drag her into the car. She’d refused. And in her mental state she’d said a few harsh things about his childhood and his foster mother.

  Looking across at her, seeing her obvious shame, he realized he’d forgiven her a long time ago. He knew that hadn’t been her saying those things. But he could see that she was a long way away from forgiving herself. He also knew that until she faced her shame and dealt with it, it would never go away. The best way to do that was with tough love. “Well, then, this is a perfect opportunity to get it off your chest,” he said, ignoring her outraged groan. “You have to deal with it sooner or later. Sooner, in my experience, is better than later. Besides, I already called and let her know that after I picked up a few things we’d be on our way.”

  “You’re a sonofabitch, Thomas Bristol,” she shouted. “You can’t force someone to deal with their is sues just because it fits within your time schedule. You’re a stubborn mule of a man, you know that? Hard headed, too,” she spat.

  “As hardheaded as the woman beside me.” He laughed when she turned away from him. Hopefully, Mama Jo had hot corn bread waiting. Cassi had always been a fan of Mama’s cooking.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  THE TWO-STORY APARTMENT complex was everything Cassi imagined Tommy would look for in a place he used to simply shower and sleep.

  It was nice without being fussy, gated to keep out the riffraff and perfectly utilitarian.

  “Decent place,” she noted, her gaze bouncing over the manicured lawns that in spite of the winter were still gr
een and lush. Perhaps they were fake, she mused.

  “Thanks.” He pulled into a parking spot and exited to open her door.

  He led her to the second floor of the unit closest to them and unlocked the door. The air smelled like musty apartment, as if no one had lived there in months. It was bare, with little on the walls, and lacking in personality. She wrinkled her nose. “Your decorating style stinks,” she announced.

  Caught off guard, he closed the door behind them and locked it, probably from habit. “What do you mean?” he asked.

  She gestured to the room. “This. It’s so boring. Where’s the pizzazz? The signature style that says, ‘This is my space. Love it or leave it’?”

  “This is rich coming from the woman whose decorating style from what I could see in New York was abject squalor.”

  “Hey, that wasn’t my style. That was just what was available in my price range. What’s your excuse?”

  “I don’t care that much about that stuff. It’s just a place to—”

  “Sleep and eat?” she supplied for him, and he nodded.

  “Exactly. And since I’ve been trailing you for the past two months, I haven’t had much reason to hang out here. Besides, some weekends I drive to Bridgeport to spend time with Mama Jo so she’s not all alone.”

  His concern for Mama Jo warmed her heart but she didn’t let it show. She simply tucked it away in a private place where all the rest of her true feelings for Tommy resided.

  He gestured toward the bedroom. “I’ll be right back. I just need some fresh clothes and then we’ll be on our way.”

  “Take your time,” she muttered, not the least bit ready to face Mama Jo. Heavens, she’d almost do anything to avoid that homecoming. She was ashamed of her past behavior, and Mama Jo was the only one who could make her feel the burn of it. She wandered to the kitchen and opened the fridge. Empty except for a few beers. Talk about a bachelor pad. She opened his cabinets and peered inside. A whole lot of boxed macaroni and cheese met her eye. He’d always loved the stuff, though Mama Jo swore it would probably cause a brain lesion or something equally horrible with all the preservatives. Cassi had been surprised Mama Jo even let it into her house when they were kids. She was of the homemade persuasion when it came to cooking. In fact, the foundation of what Cassi knew how to make came from Mama Jo’s kitchen. “I’m gonna tell on you,” she chortled to herself about the macaroni and cheese. Maybe she could deflect the attention from her to Tommy.