The FBI Thrillers Collection

by Catherine Coulter

  Both children gave them a look like, So what’s your point?

  Miles felt pumped, ready to take on the world. He knew to his soul that he wanted to do this. “Katie, what do you say? Let’s do it. No reason not to.” Knew even deeper that making love with Katie, watching her laugh and love his son, was the right thing.

  Katie jumped to her feet, startling everyone. “Okay, guys, listen up. This is a huge decision for all of us. I’m going to think what this would mean before I commit to anything, you hear me? Sam, your father is going to be doing some heavy-duty thinking, too. You and Keely will have to be patient, and not pressure either your father or me into this.”

  Yeah, right, Miles thought, looking at his son.

  SUNDAY NIGHT

  GEORGETOWN, WASHINGTON, D.C.

  After the most delicious spinach lasagna Miles could remember, sautéed winter squash, and a Caesar salad, hot dogs and chips and a token salad for Sam and Sean, Savich handed Miles a cup of coffee, black, no sugar. “Sit down, Miles. You still look pretty wrung out.”

  “Nah, not really. Promise me you made the coffee, Savich.”

  Savich grinned. “Oh yeah. I’ve taught Sherlock just about everything I know, but coffee still defeats her.”

  Sherlock called out from the kitchen, “Did I hear my name being maligned?”

  “Not at all,” Miles called back. “You make a mean salad, all that feta cheese you add makes it really good, but, and I have to be honest here, you just don’t have the same knack with coffee that your husband has, which is amazing since he rarely drinks it.”

  “No one said you had to be honest,” Sherlock said, coming into the living room. She handed Savich a cup of tea, fresh-brewed.

  “Thanks.” He took a sip, closed his eyes in bliss.

  “I like your pirate face, Miles,” Sherlock said, “with all those little tape pieces. It’s sexy.”

  “You never said my back was sexy,” Savich said.

  She actually shuddered. “No, but I will once I stop shaking.” She added to Miles, “He’s much better, but it’s going to take another week before he can stretch without worrying his back is going to break open.”

  Savich and Sherlock sat across from Miles, listening with half an ear to Sean talking a blue streak to Sam, not much of it comprehensible, but Sam seemed to understand enough. He was rolling blocks to Sean, then helping Sean roll them back to him. They were in the designated kid part of the living room, where toys and chaos could reign without adults tripping over a stray ball and breaking a neck.

  Sherlock looked sleek in black slacks and a black lace top, her curly red hair flying about, her eyes blue as a summer sky. Miles saw Savich grinning at her like a fool, sighed, and thought yet again of Katie.

  It had been nearly a day and a half since he’d seen her. Those thirty hours felt like a decade.

  “They’re still getting lots of rain in eastern Tennessee,” Miles said. “I’ll tell you, it kept me real alert flying out of Ackerman’s Air Field, what with the rain coming down so hard. They’ve got several storms lined up with little respite in between. Katie and her crew were up to their noses in mud and downed wires, not to mention all the accidents, the odd cow bawling in the middle of the road, mail soaked because some kids poked holes in some mailboxes.”

  “Sounds like she has her hands full, all right,” Savich said and leaned forward so Sherlock could lightly scratch around the wound in his back.

  Miles sat back and closed his eyes. Things were really bad and he didn’t see how anything could get better. His guts hurt. Sam’s guts hurt. Cracker kept asking what was wrong with him. He’d stomped around his office at the plant like a wounded rhino even though there were very few employees there to see it on a Sunday afternoon. Then he’d gone back home and stomped some more.

  Even though Sam was safe, he sure wasn’t sound, but it was really early yet. As for himself, he felt like he’d left unfinished business he wasn’t in a position to finish, and that sucked, big time.

  Miles muttered something under his breath, his eyes still closed, and Sherlock figured they were better off not knowing what he’d said.

  Savich raised an eyebrow at him.

  Miles said, “It’s been a day and a half, well, maybe a bit more than thirty hours now. Isn’t that amazing?”

  “Yes,” Sherlock said, “absolutely amazing. Now, you’re moping, Miles.” She lowered her voice just a bit and moved her chair closer. “Sam and Sean are distracted. Tell us what’s going on here.”

  He cocked open an eye and said, “Yesterday morning I asked Katie to marry me and she turned me down.”

  Both of them stared at him.

  Sherlock said slowly, “You’re saying you asked a woman to marry you after—what was it?—not even a complete and full week after meeting her?”

  “That’s about the size of it,” Miles said. “Damned woman. What could I do? I even asked her about architecture and she said she liked colonials.”

  Sherlock lightly laid her hand on Savich’s leg. “I’ve never had much to do with colonials—they’re not what you’d call thick on the ground on the West Coast. Fact is, I would have married Dillon after three days, if he’d only known I was alive, colonial or not.”

  Savich said, “Oh, I knew, I knew.” He clasped her hand and said, “You’re not remembering things exactly right, sweetheart. You were so cut off from everyone at the time, including me, until finally, you happened to spend that night here, with me, and then . . . Miles has heard all of that story he’s ever going to hear.”

  Miles looked over to see Sean stuffing a graham cracker into his mouth. “I can pretend I haven’t heard any of it and you could give me some pointers, Savich.” He paused a moment, then said, shaking his head, “Isn’t it strange how Sam looks like me and Sean looks just like you?”

  Sherlock said, “So much for the indomitable X chromosome.” Then she added, “So, Katie turned you down?”

  “Yeah, I suppose because it’s been only a week. Too soon, really, just too soon. She wanted to think about it. I guess maybe I agreed with that. I don’t think she ever had a gun out of her hand. Strange time. She’s really pretty. Did you notice that?”

  Savich nodded, smiling, and said, “How long does she want to think about it? Did she give you any hope at all?”

  Miles shrugged. “I don’t know. We didn’t set a time, but I’ll tell you, Sam and I aren’t doing so well.”

  “You miss her?”

  “Well, yes, and Keely, but it’s Sam I’m really worried about.”

  “What, nightmares? Surely you’ve got him seeing a child shrink. What does the doctor say?”

  “No, no nightmares,” Miles said. “It’s Keely. He’s miserable without Keely. I’m telling you, those two kids bonded instantly. I’ve never seen anything like it. It was a nightmare separating them. Katie and I both felt like monsters, and there’s Katie’s mom, looking at us like she wanted to carry the pitchfork as she led the villagers. Sam is speaking to me now, but he’s miserable, too quiet—not sulking, just unhappy. I’m beginning to think it’s not going to go away.”

  “It’s only been a little over a day, Miles,” Sherlock said.

  Savich said, “So what does the shrink say?”

  “Evidently Dr. Jones called Dr. Raines in Jessborough and that’s why she agreed to see Sam this morning.”

  “So what did she say?”

  “She said I should do anything to get Katie to marry me.”

  They all laughed. Sam looked up, frowned at them, and went back to helping Sean build a block fort, which wasn’t going too well since Sean would yell and give it a karate chop when it got three blocks high.

  “So what are you going to do?” Sherlock asked.

  Miles sat forward. “You know,” he said slowly, “maybe it’s time I was a buccaneer.”

  “What’s a buccaneer, Papa?”

  “So you heard that, did you?” Sam, holding Sean’s hand, was standing next to his father. “He’s learned
he has to be real quiet if he wants to eavesdrop.”

  “Tell us, Papa.”

  That serious, so serious voice. “All right, Sam.” Miles lifted both Sam and Sean up onto his lap. “A buccaneer was a pirate who was given permission by his country to plunder enemy ships. They were take-charge kind of guys, Sam, who did things their own way. I’m thinking that it’s time for me to take charge. What do you think?”

  “You’re always in charge, Papa.”

  Sean burped against Sam’s arm, raised his head and said, “Mama, apple pie.”

  Sherlock laughed, got up, and went to the kitchen. “Apple pie coming up. What would the buccaneer like to have?”

  “Just bring me an eye patch.”

  Sam laughed, the first laugh that had sprung out of that little mouth since they’d left Tennessee.

  36

  At eleven o’clock that night, Miles landed his plane at Ackerman’s Air Field. Thirty minutes later, he was driving the rental car into Minna Benedict’s driveway.

  It wasn’t raining so hard now, but he could tell that it had really been coming down. A low-lying fog had come up, turning everything gray. The mountains brooded, blurred in a soft mist.

  It felt like coming home.

  He let Sam, so excited he could barely speak, knock on the door.

  Minna beamed at them, clearly startled. “Good grief, Miles, Sam! Come give me a big hug, sweetie. You, Sam, not your daddy. Oh my goodness, it’s wonderful to see both of you. Miles, your face looks all sort of romantic.”

  While Sam was enfolded in Minna’s arms, Miles looked over her head for Katie. “I called, but there wasn’t any answer, Minna. Where are Katie and Keely? Asleep? It’s nearly midnight. I’m sorry we’re so late. They are asleep, aren’t they?”

  Before Minna could say anything, Sam said, “We’re here because Papa decided at dinner that he had to be a buccaneer. My aunt Sherlock couldn’t find him an eye patch, that’s why you can’t tell.”

  “What Sam means, Minna, is that I’m here to sling my bride over my shoulder and cart her away.”

  “I see,” Minna said. She straightened, keeping Sam pressed against her side. She gave Miles a big grin. “Well, now, isn’t this the funniest thing? Katie and Keely took off in her truck this evening, headed for Virginia.”

  “What?”

  “Oh wow!”

  Minna smiled at the boy and the man, who, she suspected, would be related to her in no time at all. “Come in, come in. You can phone Katie on her cell. I’m surprised you didn’t get her number before you left.”

  “She wouldn’t give it to me,” Miles said. “She wanted time to think without my bugging her and without Sam guilting her.”

  “Doesn’t matter. Don’t worry, Sam, Keely’s been working on her around the clock.”

  “I told her I’d work on my dad,” Sam said and gave her a huge grin.

  “That’s my boy,” Minna said. “How long will it take Katie to drive to Colfax?”

  Miles felt ready to explode. His heart was pounding, his guts were in a knot. “Minna, please tell me exactly why Katie is driving to Colfax. Spell it out for me.”

  “She was coming to marry you, of course. She told me if you agreed, she’d call me and we’d work things out from this end.”

  “You’re not joking? She’s really coming to marry me? She and Keely just hopped in her truck and off they went?”

  “That’s it, Miles. She’s been stomping around here, driving everyone nuts, she’s growled at all her deputies, snapped at Mayor Tommy because he wanted every gory detail about everything, three times. What with all the rain and all the problems that’s brought, it hasn’t helped. She even snapped Linnie’s head off, blew a fit at Keely for her less-than-subtle hints, cried at her and Keely’s misery, and then she gave it up. Oh goodness, look at you, Miles. I love to see a man who’s trying to think.”

  Miles stood there with his mouth open, just shaking his head. She’d been acting just like he had, which had to mean that she was miserable without him, without Sam.

  “Katie’s a buccaneer,” Sam shouted. “Just like Papa!” Sam whooped, grabbed his father’s hand, and started dancing around.

  “Why don’t I get her an eye patch for her wedding present?” Minna said. “You flew your plane, Miles?”

  He nodded, blinking, still getting his wits back together.

  “Then I guess you’d best be on your way back home. You don’t want her to get there before you do, do you? And be careful, the weather’s terrible.”

  He thought of Cracker and hoped to God she’d let Katie and Keely in the house if Katie beat him back to Colfax.

  MONDAY NIGHT

  COLFAX, VIRGINIA

  “We’re married,” Sam said with a great deal of satisfaction to the group gathered with coffee, champagne, and Cracker’s special triple chocolate cake in the living room.

  Savich leaned over and ruffled Sam’s hair. He said, “Yep, it’s all official now, Sam.”

  Sherlock, holding a sleeping Sean in her arms, nodded. “You and Keely are brother and sister.”

  “Cool,” said Keely, and punched Sam in the arm.

  “Well, you can see where my kid stands on this,” Miles said as he handed a slice of cake to Cracker, who was still looking a bit shell-shocked.

  Sam leaned over and patted her hand. “It’s okay, Aunt Cracker, Katie’s really nice and she can shoot people dead if they bother you.”

  Cracker swallowed the bite the wrong way and began coughing. Sam was slapping her on the back, she was tearing up, and Keely handed her a glass of champagne.

  “Just what I needed,” Cracker gasped and downed the champagne.

  “Oh dear,” Katie said. “Would you believe, Cracker, that I’m actually known more for keeping our teenagers on the straight and narrow? No kid under eighteen smokes in my town when I’m around.”

  Cracker took another bite of cake and said, as she closed her eyes in bliss, “That’s not gory enough, Katie. Sounds like Sam thinks you’re the Terminator.”

  But Sam and Keely weren’t listening to the adults. They were whispering to each other in the corner of the living room, every once in a while sneaking looks at their parents.

  Savich stood, picked up his boy and gently laid him over his shoulder. “It’s nearly ten o’clock. We accomplished the impossible—got you guys licensed and married, all in one day.”

  “Thanks to the no-waiting laws in old Virginia,” Miles said. “Lucky the circuit court clerk is real good friends with one of the judge’s wives.” Miles grinned from ear to ear. “One-stop shopping.”

  “Married,” Katie said, and her eyes crossed. “I’ve known Miles for a week, and I’m married.”

  Sam evidently heard that clearly. He and Keely both hooted with laughter.

  “Not only can she kill bad guys dead, she can even cross her eyes, Sam,” Sherlock said. “What more could a guy ask for?”

  “Oh yes, Mama,” Keely said and crossed her own eyes. “I can do that, too, Aunt Sherlock.”

  Katie said to Sam, “Are you still going to be happy about this when you do something bratty and I have to nail your hide to the floor? I’m tough, remember, Sam.”

  Keely laughed. “I told him that if he acted stupid, you would put him up in a tree, like a cat.”

  “Hmm,” Miles said. “Sam’s pretty good with climbing trees, Keely, maybe I should give Katie some pointers.”

  “I’m never bad,” Sam said. He smiled beatifically and sat back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest.

  On that cue, Sherlock and Savich took their leave, Sean giving little snorting snores as his father carried him out.

  It was nearly midnight before the kids were in bed, Keely in a lovely bedroom of pale rose and cream connected to Sam’s room through a bathroom. Keely just couldn’t get over that. Katie heard her tell Sam not to step a single foot into her side of the bathroom or she’d bust him. It didn’t matter that her side had the toilet. Sam made sure to stick his t
oe over to her side before he went to bed.

  Cracker had a suite in the large former attic with its curious sloping corners and polished wooden floors. As Katie brushed her teeth, she hoped that Cracker would soon get over the intense suspicion Katie had felt coming off her in waves when she’d opened the door to Katie’s knock. “You’re here for what?” she’d said when she’d answered the door.

  “Keely and I are here to see Miles. I’m Katie Benedict. Sheriff Katie Benedict.” She’d stuck out her hand and had it hesitantly shaken, then dropped.

  “You’re the one who saved Sam? Oh dear, Miles isn’t here. He said something weird about being a buccaneer, gave me a big hug, told me to wish him luck, and off he went with Sam, I don’t know where. I guess you must come in.” And she’d stepped back and been perfectly pleasant until Keely said, “Mama’s here to marry Miles so Sam can be my brother and Miles can be my papa.”

  The woman looked like she’d been slapped in the face. Speaking through a rictus of a smile, she said, “Little girls say the cutest things, don’t they?”

  It seemed an eternity ago, yet it had only been the previous evening. Katie brushed out her hair. She started to braid it, then dropped her hands back to her sides. This was her wedding night. How very peculiar that was. Miles was right about the one-stop shopping. They’d plunked down thirty dollars and were in business. During the brief ceremony Sam stood straight and important beside his father, Keely beside her, and everyone else just a couple of steps back. It was a pity that her mother had been fogged in, no flights out at all for the entire day. Minna promised to come in the next couple of weeks. She wanted to give them some time to themselves.

  Conrad Evans, Miles’s right hand at the plant, had looked as shell-shocked as Cracker. He’d been quite nice, no choice, really. The man looked like a linebacker for the Titans, and had hair as red as Sherlock’s.

  Katie looked down at the plain gold band. Married. She was married again. She’d killed two kidnappers, an idiot former postal employee had burned her house down, and here she was, in Virginia, married. For the second time. She felt very strange, as if her life had taken a one-eighty, which indeed it had.