by Lee McKenzie
“Stop! Listen to yourself. You don’t even know that you are pregnant.”
She had been on the Pill for a long time, so missing a few probably didn’t even matter. There was really only one way to find out. She dug her phone out of her pocket and called the clinic, relieved they had a last-minute opening that fit right between her morning clients and her afternoon open house.
Years ago she’d seen the doctor, albeit under different circumstances, and that time she’d been given the morning-after pill. But she’d been a freshman then, young and inexperienced. This was different. She was a responsible adult, and she wanted a baby. Last night she’d been with the man she had fantasized about for four years while they were in college, and a few more after they lost touch. So okay, she was the woman who slept with a man on a first date. But the woman who tricked a man into having a baby he didn’t want? No way. Claire DeAngelo was not that woman. If she was pregnant, she would figure out a way to deal with it on her own. If Luke didn’t want to be a father, he didn’t have to be one.
* * *
ON THE ELEVATOR TO THE parking garage, and for the first time since she and Donald had moved in here, Claire felt nervous, and it was because of him. She pressed the unlock button on the key fob as she crossed the parking lot, then slid behind the wheel and locked the door as soon as she was inside.
With her resolve stronger than ever, she called Sam and after she had her on the line, connected them to Kristi.
“Good morning. What’s up?” Sam asked.
“I was wondering the same thing,” Kristi said.
“I’ve made a decision,” Claire told them. “I’m selling the condo.”
“Finally!”
“It’s about time!”
“Wow,” she said. “I didn’t realize you both felt so strongly about this.”
“Sweetie,” Kristi said, “it’s a big decision and it’s none of my business so I would never offer advice on something like this, but that place is so not you.”
“Not to mention that it’s time to wrap things up with Donald. Clean break, fresh start and all that.” Trust Sam to be so direct.
“You’re right,” Claire said. “I’m kind of kicking myself for dragging my heels over this.” Although if she hadn’t been taking her time, chances were she wouldn’t have run into Luke. One night with him had made putting up with Donald’s phone calls worthwhile.
“Did something happen to bring this on all of a sudden?” Kristi asked.
“I was wondering the same thing,” Sam said.
“You could say that.” How much should she tell them? Would it be better to wait until they met in person?
“I just poured myself a cup of tea, Nate’s taken the twins to their gymnastics class and Jenna’s still sleeping,” Kristi said. “I have all the time in the world.”
“Me, too,” Sam chimed in. “Our housekeeper just made a fresh pot of coffee, and AJ and Will have taken the dog to the park. I’m all ears.”
Claire took a long, deep breath and plunged in. “I ran in to an old friend yesterday. He suggested we go out for dinner and it was...nice.”
Sam laughed. “Okay, so you hook up with a guy, start making major life decisions within twelve hours and it was nice? That would make you queen of the understatement.”
“Who is this mystery man? How long have you known him?” Kristi asked.
“We were friends in college. We never dated or anything, mostly we just studied together. Anyway, he’s a detective with the Seattle P.D., he’s working on some undercover assignment, and I bumped into him yesterday afternoon and—”
“Did you bring him back to your place after dinner?”
“Kristi! I’m not going to answer that.”
“Sweetie, you just did.”
“And now for the obvious question...” Sam said. “Did he get under your cover?”
Kristi laughed.
“Is it that obvious?” Claire asked. It was as if these two had suddenly become clairvoyant.
“You phone us out of the blue on Saturday morning and announce that you’re selling your condo.”
“And then you tell us your decision is based on dinner with an old friend.”
Put that way, she supposed it was obvious.
“Okay, fine. Yes to both questions.”
Her business partners squealed and giggled like a pair of teenage girls at a sleepover, and repeated what they’d said when she told them she planned to put the condo on the market.
“Finally!”
“It’s about time!”
“Have you told Donald?”
Jeez, maybe these two really were psychic. The truth was, she couldn’t wait to tell them about Donald’s unexpected appearance last night, and Luke’s very unexpected response to it, but that would have to wait. When she did tell them, she wanted to actually see the looks on their faces.
“I’m doing my best not to talk to Donald about anything. I see my lawyer on Monday, and I’ll let her tell his lawyer.”
“Good plan,” Kristi said. “Will you handle the listing yourself?”
“I can’t. It’s a conflict of interest.”
“Makes sense. Do you have someone in mind?” Sam asked.
“I do. Remember Brenda Billings? She’s been selling higher-end properties in the city for years and she seems to have no problem finding buyers.”
“Anything we can do to help?” Sam asked.
Claire was hoping they’d ask. “I’d love it if you’d both come over and do a walk-through with me before I list it. I don’t think it needs a lot, but it’s always great to have fresh eyes.”
“Are you kidding?” Kristi asked. “After everything you’ve done to help me find my dream home—”
“Not to mention your dream guy,” Sam added.
“That, too. Of course we’ll help you.”
“And when you start to look for a new place, I’ll do an inspection for you. Check out the roof, plumbing, electrical.”
The residual weight of the second thoughts she was having lifted and drifted away, replaced by the exciting possibility of finding a home that was right for her. An old character home and plenty of room for the family she hoped to have someday. But not too soon, she thought, experiencing another anxious twinge.
“And I’ll help with color schemes, draperies and any other decorating you might want to do. It’ll be fun,” Kristi said.
“Have I told you guys lately how much I love you?”
“Are you kidding? You’re the glue that holds this company together. You name it, we’ll do it for you.”
Sam’s generous statement was flattering, but not even remotely true. The three of them made a solid team, and not a day went by that Claire didn’t thank her lucky stars for putting the three of them at the same meeting of a group of Seattle businesswomen a number of years ago. They had met and clicked, and within a matter of weeks, Ready Set Sold had been born.
“When can we get started?” Kristi asked.
“I have some time tomorrow afternoon,” Sam said. “Sundays are always quiet at my house.”
“Me, too,” Kristi said. “How ’bout we drop by and go through your condo, and if you’ve found any listings for places you like, you can show us those, too.”
“That’ll be great. What time?” Claire asked. If Luke spent the night again, she would need to have him gone before the girls arrived. It wasn’t that she didn’t want them to meet him. She wasn’t ready to share him yet.
Sam was the first to answer. “How about right after lunch? We’ll have Will down for a nap by then, and my mom always rests in the afternoon, too.”
“That’s good for me, too,” Kristi said. “One o’clock?”
“Perfect. I’ll see you both then.” That would give her all morning with Luke. If there was going to be a morning with Luke. And if there was, she would have to add grocery shopping to her growing list of things to do today. “Right now I’ve got to run. I need to stop by the office, then I’m showing properti
es for the rest of the morning. Wish me luck?”
She desperately wanted to ask for luck during her visit to the clinic, but that would mean admitting that she’d been stupid and irresponsible. Since her business partners thought she was the glue that held them together, she couldn’t bring herself to tell them that last night she’d let herself come completely unglued. Besides, there was a very good chance she had nothing to worry about. She started the car and left the parking garage.
Nothing to worry about. Hold that thought, she told herself. Hold. That. Thought.
* * *
ON HIS WAY INTO THE precinct, Luke stopped at the front desk, happy to see Kate Bradshaw on duty. She was a rookie, smart as whip, cute as a button and had a serious hate-on for male stalkers after a close friend of hers became a victim. If anyone would help him get a bead on Claire’s ex, it was Kate.
“Hey, Luke. How’s it going?”
“Good, good. Listen, I’m heading into a meeting but I’m wondering if you can do me a favor?”
“For you, anything. What would you like?”
“Can you see what you can find out about a Donald Robinson? He’s in his mid-thirties, works as an investment broker.”
Kate jotted the details on a notepad next to her keyboard. “This guy have a connection to your investigation?”
“No. He’s the ex-husband of a friend of mine. Seems he’s been stalking her.”
“Son of a bitch. I’ll get right on it.”
“Vehicle and plate number would be good, too.” Earlier that morning as he’d left Claire’s building, the hair on the back of his neck was sending out a warning. It could’ve been his imagination, given the events of the night before, but he didn’t think so. It might have been someone associated with the prostitution ring, or it might have been Donald. He could have ruled out the latter if he knew what Claire’s ex was driving.
“I’ll do some digging and let you know what I find.”
“Thanks. I’ll swing by after my meeting, see what you’ve come up with.”
Down the hall he joined the other team members who had already arrived. Sergeant Jason Wong sprawled in his chair, his long legs clad in black jeans crossed at the ankles, nose buried in a report. He’d been the perfect choice to run this investigation. He was in his early forties, a devoted family man and hands down one of the best cops Luke had ever worked with. He could also be demanding, but he never asked more of his team than he was willing to give of himself.
Derek Johnson, another detective on the case, was hunched over a laptop and using the hunt-and-peck method to send email. Officer Patsy Smithe, who liked to remind everyone it was Smith with an e, was on her cell phone. She gave Luke a wink and a wave without interrupting her conversation with, by the sound of things, her boyfriend.
She had transferred up to Seattle P.D. from Portland and had been over-the-moon excited to be included on the task force. She was Vietnamese-American and drop-dead gorgeous, and she’d known as well as anyone that had been the winning combo. If they needed to get someone inside, she could pull it off. So far it hadn’t come to that, but Patsy had proven herself to be one hell of a team player on the outside. Bringing her in had been a good call.
Jason closed the file he was reading and dropped it on the desk. “Luke, good to see you. After we spoke this morning, I called in the people who were free so you could run your ideas by them.”
All but two, it seemed.
“Where’s Cam and Dex?” Detectives Cam Ferguson and Lindi Dexter rounded out the team. They’d both joined the police force around the same time he had and sometimes it seemed as though he’d known them forever.
“Dex is holed up in a utility van in front of the building this morning, and she’s not particularly happy about it. Cam’s out at Sea-Tac. We got a tip from the Feds that one of Phong’s right-hand guys flew in late last night, so Cam’s out there going through footage taken by airport security cameras.”
Derek shut his laptop and joined the conversation. “He’s known to be one of Phong’s bodyguards. The suspicion is that he’s arriving ahead of his boss to scope out the situation, determine the security needs.”
“Could be the break we’ve been waiting for,” Luke said. They could have executed a search warrant weeks ago, after the first prostitute died from a drug overdose, but that would only net them a couple of Phong’s underlings and a handful of sex trade workers, most of whom had been smuggled into the country illegally. That would put an end to this setup, but it would also force Phong and his associates underground for at least six months. Been there, done that, more than once. This time they were waiting him out.
Patsy tucked her phone into her shoulder bag. “So, Luke. Jason tells us you might have a new vantage point for us.”
“I do, if I can get it to work. Turns out a...um...friend of mine has a penthouse in the next tower and it faces our target. If I can get in there with some good surveillance equipment, we should be able to see everyone who comes and goes.”
“Nice to have friends in high places,” Derek quipped.
“Tell us about your friend,” Jason said.
“Her name’s Claire DeAngelo.” Watching his sergeant jot her name in his notebook caused Luke a moment of regret. Claire would hate to know she was being talked about, checked out, but it had to be done. “I knew her in college. She’s a real estate agent, lives there alone. Ran into her yesterday, got myself invited up and liked what I saw.”
Jason set his pen down and gave Luke a long, steady look. “You sleeping with her?”
He probably should have seen that coming. If he had, maybe he wouldn’t be blushing like a schoolgirl right now.
Derek laughed. “Lucky, you dog, you.”
Jason picked up his pen. “That could work to our advantage. I don’t like to involve civilians if it can be avoided, but if there’s any chance you can get yourself moved in there...?”
It was an open-ended question that only Luke could answer. “I’ll see what I can do.”
“If you work it out, call me. I’ll line up the equipment you’ll need.”
“I can’t be too obvious about this,” Luke said. “Otherwise she’ll be asking questions.” And giving him the boot, unless he could convince her that his main reason for being there was to be with her. Which was partly true, although no one in their right mind moved in together this early in a...whatever this was. It was way too soon to call it a relationship. Besides, he disliked the R-word almost as much as the one that started with L.
“We’ll make sure you’re the soul of discretion,” Jason replied. Then he finally cracked a smile. “At least as far as surveillance goes.”
Still, Luke’s mind was filled with second thoughts. He genuinely wanted to spend time with Claire. Daytime, nighttime...the more time, the better. So it wasn’t like he was using her, right? He was making the most of a good opportunity. Not to mention that if she let him stay, he’d be there if loser Donald made an encore appearance. So why did he suddenly feel like a piece of crap?
Because you’re not being up-front with her, asshole. He hated when people did that to him. That’s how he and Sherri had been with each other, it’s the way his parents operated, but it didn’t have to be that way with Claire. He could be open about plenty of other stuff, so that when it came time to explain about the undercover op, she would understand. He hoped.
“Everyone have today’s assignment?” Jason asked.
“Sure do,” Patsy said. “I’m heading downtown, looking for a couple of girls who used to work for Phong and managed to get out.”
“I was wondering what that getup was all about,” Derek said.
“You got something against fishnets and platform shoes?”
“Not a thing. What does your boyfriend think of them?”
“Better not to go there,” she replied. “I’ll see if I can get these girls to open up, tell me how things work on the inside, who delivers the drugs.”
“Now that these girls are on the outsid
e, they might not be willing to talk. They might think it’s a setup,” Derek said.
Patsy batted her heavily mascaraed eyelashes at him, then grinned at Jason and Luke. “Apparently the man’s not aware of my powers of persuasion.”
Luke returned the smile. He’d been thinking the same thing. “I’m technically off duty today. I’m running a check on someone, shouldn’t take long. Unrelated to the undercover,” he added quickly. “Then it looks like I’ll be cooking dinner tonight.”
“Lucky lady,” Jason said.
“Derek, what about you?” Luke asked.
“I’ll take over from Dex this afternoon. She’ll pull the utility van out of there and I’ll bring in the motor home, make it look like I’m there for the night. Actually I will be there for the night.”
Luke’s radar went off. “Was someone from the team there last night?”
“No,” Jason said. “This is our first shot at watching who comes and goes from that building. Why?”
“No reason. Just keeping abreast.” And getting closer to confirming it was Donald who’d been watching him and Claire last night. They needed to nip that in the bud. If Luke was going to spend as much time there as he hoped, having that jerk hanging around could complicate things. Luke hated complications. He hoped Kate had been able to dig up something on him.
“So if we’re done here...” He’d stop by the front desk on his way out, then he needed to come up with a plan to convince Claire to let him stay. Dinner was a good start, then he figured a repeat of last night’s performance in the bedroom just might seal the deal.
Nice work if you can get it.
Yeah, and it’s that kind of thinking that will get you into serious trouble with Claire.
He had two objectives here, and if he was going to be successful, he needed to watch his step on both counts. He’d always liked her, a lot, but things were different now. There was a chance he might actually be worthy of her. Now he had to prove he was no longer the party animal she’d known in college, the guy who coasted through with mediocre grades and a perpetual hangover, and had a hard time keeping his pants zipped. Much as he wanted to believe he was no longer that man, he wanted Claire to believe it more.
