Loving Night
Dream Catcher Series
Book 2
by Brynette L. Turner
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination and are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All references to the functioning of law enforcement agencies, while loosely based on research, are also fictitious.
Copyright © 2014 by Brynette L. Turner
All Rights Reserved. No part of this book or artwork may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the author or artist, except where permitted by law.
Acknowledgements
With each book, I am always amazed by the many people who encourage me and are patient while I use them as sounding boards for ideas and details. Naturally, the love and support of my family and friends keep me focused and encouraged. For this book, I would also like to thank my beta readers. Carina Turner, Quinda Smith, Juliette January, and Monique Williamson, your feedback helped me to clarify what I was trying to say and resolve areas that needed more attention. Without each of you, this book wouldn’t have developed into something I’m pleased to offer to my readers.
Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 1
On a Monday morning, a very happy Chaz was sitting at his desk going over reports from an FBI sting operation in Cleveland. Only part of his mind was focused on the task. The other part of his mind was smiling about the way his wife had kept him in bed most of the weekend. If she wasn’t already pregnant, someone might have come to the conclusion that they were trying to make a baby. He smiled brighter as he thought about how the previous weekend had started.
When he’d arrived home from the shooting range on Saturday morning, Stephanie had been standing in the upstairs hallway, leaning against the door to the room that would be their baby’s nursery. They’d moved into their new home a couple of months ago and she’d had him paint the room a golden cream color that would look good whether they were having a boy or girl.
“Are you trying to picture the room filled with furniture?” Chaz had asked as he came down the hall and stopped beside Stephanie. He pulled her against him and covered her mouth with a passionate kiss. Mmm. Their kisses always left both of them breathless.
“Actually, I was trying to picture you sitting in a rocking glider feeding our son or daughter a bottle in the middle of the night.” She wrapped her arms around his neck, her golden-brown eyes staring into his. Stephanie knew that her husband wanted a daughter, but she honestly didn’t think the gender mattered. “I can’t begin to imagine how spoiled our first child will be,” she’d laughed.
“First child?” A huge grin had spread across his face and his deep brown eyes sparkled. “I like the sound of that. We should plan for them to be close enough in age to be each other’s playmate.”
“We’ll see.” She sighed happily and rested her head against his chest. The faint smell of gunpowder clung to his clothes. “I missed you this morning.” Stephanie was usually awake long before her husband went to the FBI headquarters for his weekend routine, but Chaz had left earlier than usual. “You do know that pregnant women crave sex, right?”
“So I’ve been told. I guess I’ll have to make it up to you.”
“Uhm hmm. Right now would be a good time to start.” When he chuckled, she leaned away and gave him a stern look. “I’m not playing with you, Mr. Big FBI Agent. You owe me and I intend to collect.”
“All right, baby; whatever you say.” He walked backward to their bedroom, pulling his wife along with him.
Yeah, their sex life was amazing.
Chaz sighed. He dragged his attention away from the memory and back to the mess on his desk. He was only halfway concentrating on the paperwork in front of him when he saw a name that caught him off guard and demanded his full attention.
Paul Watkins.
This was a very dangerous man. Watkins was connected to the gambling case Chaz had been undercover on while he was loaned to a multi-regional task force and sent to Erie, PA. The prosecution of the local criminals had been successful, but Watkins was the higher level boss who the FBI was still collecting data on. His activities spread over at least three states and was being watched by multiple FBI field offices. He was also the man who’d ordered someone to shoot Chaz as a way of intimidating him into selling the pool hall and, more importantly, the private gambling room beneath it. Watkins didn’t know that the businesses were secretly being run by undercover officers and agents. Chaz could still remember the evil vibes that poured off that man and the way his presence had shaken Stephanie because she’d dreamed of his encounter with Chaz shortly before it happened.
Stephanie’s gift of having dreams that came true had pulled her right into the middle of Chaz’s case. She saw things no one else could have and was a tremendous help in wrapping up that investigation; only Watkins hadn’t been their target. It was decided—mainly at Chaz’s request—to not extend the gambling case to include Watkins because it would have meant extending the investigation indefinitely. He’d been ready to walk away from being an undercover field agent so that he could pursue a relationship with Stephanie.
Now, here Watkins was, again. Although Chaz now analyzed reports generated by investigations and occasionally participated in the arrest of criminals his efforts helped bring to justice, he didn’t like seeing this man’s name.
Watkins’ possible involvement in this prostitution case made Chaz nervous. From what he knew, prostitution wasn’t a venture that would normally interest Watkins. Was he involved in even more types of crime than the FBI was previously aware? Nothing was clear from the report other than the fact that the name had been mentioned to the State Police officer’s informant and was passed along. Chaz made a notation in the file for the task force’s team leader to cross-reference it with the Erie case and entered notes into the computer that would flag both investigations. The Cleveland FBI office needed to be aware of the depth of Watkins’ viciousness and to be given as many avenues for building their case against him as possible.
Just as he was emailing his notes to Steve McDaniels, the Team Leader on the gambling case, with copies to his supervisor and the Special Agent in charge of the Cleveland case, Chaz’s boss poked his head into the cubicle and requested Chaz come into his office.
“What I’m going to say does not leave this room,” Roy insisted as soon as Chaz had closed the office door and taken a seat. He waited for Chaz’s agreement before continuing. “I know you’ve been getting pressure to return to undercover work and I also understand your hesitation on the matter. However, an opportunity has come up for which you would be more qualified than anyone else on my team. It would be a promotion.
“Over the past few months, you’ve done an admirable job of making recommendations on ongoing cases, but I want
you in the field. That’s where you’re best. You wouldn’t be interacting directly with the criminal elements; instead, you’d be supervising all of the roles of the state and federal officials. You’d be able to stay in the background, but taking the position would mean being away from Stephanie for stretches of time—that’s something you need to seriously consider. I can guarantee some cases that will come your way will require you to be temporarily assigned to other cities—maybe even as far away as Minneapolis. Even though that’s unlikely, it’s possible.” He shook his head when Chaz opened his mouth to interrupt.
“Steve McDaniels is transferring here from the Erie office. He’s going to take lead on the Granger case that you’ve been analyzing. As you know, our target is trying to set up a brothel just south of the river between Newport and Covington. We’re jumping into the undercover portion of an investigation the Kentucky State Police already have going, so this operation shouldn’t take more than a couple of months and is local. You could make periodic trips home so that your personal life won’t be seriously impacted. Steve agrees with me that this would make a great first assignment for you, and he wants to mentor you on it. In fact, he requested to work with you. He’s not arriving for another couple of weeks; so, like I said before, take a few days to think about taking the promotion.”
Chaz nodded his understanding before asking, “What happens if I decide to stay where I am?”
“Honestly, I don’t know. Let me turn that back on you—where do you see your career in five years and how do you plan on getting there? I understand why you stopped working in the field, but it’ll be different this time; you won’t have to worry about getting shot.” He sighed and Chaz could hear the resignation in it. They both knew that bullet wasn’t the only reason Chaz no longer wanted to work undercover. “Talk to Stephanie about it. I’ll support whatever you decide.”
“Do you know why Steve is transferring?” Chaz had worked with the man on a couple of cases and knew that he’d been happy with his role in the Erie office.
“Yeah. There’s been some restructuring in Pennsylvania, much like what we went through a while ago, and he’s made it clear that there is a conflict of interest in working for his new supervisor.” Roy gave an amused smirk. “From what I’ve heard, they used to be good friends until the guy slept with Steve’s wife and spent three days in the hospital recovering from Steve’s temper.”
Both men chuckled and shook their heads. Chaz guessed that even analytical, even-tempered, insightful, and by-the-book Steve McDaniels had a breaking point.
“If you take the position,” Roy continued, “you and Steve will both report to me. It would make my life a whole lot easier to have such a strong team. No pressure, though. Let me know what you decide by the end of the week.”
With those words, Chaz was dismissed.
The only thing he could think about as he walked back to his cubicle was that his wife was pregnant, they were happy, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to risk the calm life they were building. But, Roy had a point—where did he see his career going? Even Stephanie had said she’d understand if he went back undercover. Would she really?
Chaz decided to take a couple of days to figure out how much he was willing to sacrifice before telling her about this conversation with Roy.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Stephanie woke up and stared at her husband. His face was inches from hers, his warm breath slid across her cheek, and his arm rested protectively around her waist. But her heart was pounding, thanks to the images that had floated through her mind while she slept.
The strangest thing about her dream was that it was clear, even though this was the first time she’d had it. Usually, the dreams were vague and she would have them more than once before all of the details were decipherable.
There was no ambiguity this time. History taught her that either the event had happened at the same time that she was dreaming it, or it was going to happen within the next day or two. Instinct told her that it would happen that day. She choked back a whisper of panic. Hadn’t she promised to be tough? Hadn’t she made a conscious decision that she would support Chaz in whatever he wanted to do with his career? Everyone thought he was happier as an undercover agent, and now the day had come when she would have to prove her fortitude.
She glanced at the bedside clock. The alarm would ring in half an hour. Carefully removing Chaz’s arm, she slipped from beneath the covers and quietly made her way to the walk-in closet. She closed the door behind her before turning on the light. It only took a few minutes to decide what she would wear to work and set the outfit aside. During that time, she decided that she’d tell her husband about the dream over breakfast. They had agreed to handle her dreams that way—no delaying anything that involved him or his job. She nodded as if agreeing with herself, took a deep breath, forced down her anxiety, and went downstairs.
Cooking would relax her. They’d have a big breakfast today.
Chaz wanted to laugh when he walked into the kitchen an hour later and took a look at the counter. Bacon, sausage patties, potato pancakes, biscuits, fruit salad, and juice. The scent of coffee mingled with everything else and made his mouth water. Stephanie, who was standing in front of the stove with her back to him, was vigorously whisking eggs.
“Good morning, honey,” she said a little too brightly. “How did you sleep?”
Chaz didn’t answer right away. Instead, he poured himself a cup of coffee, leaned against the counter while he sipped it, and studied his wife until she turned to him with a puzzled expression on her face.
“You always cook when you’re upset,” he explained after kissing her forehead. “Do you want to tell me now or after we eat?”
“Eggs will be ready in a couple of minutes.” She gave him a weak smile before turning her attention back to the stove. “I forgot to buy jelly, so there’s only honey for the biscuits.”
A few minutes later, she dumped half of the eggs onto each plate and joined Chaz at the table where he was already munching on a slice of bacon. She could feel him staring at her as he chewed and she took her time spreading butter on the fluffy bread. How she phrased her next words would be very important.
“I dreamed about your job. Steve is in town, even though you didn’t expect to see him yet. He’s a great guy, Chaz. I’m glad he’ll be the person helping with your transition. You’ll make a wonderful team leader.” She looked directly into his eyes now and was very sincere. “I don’t know how your going undercover again will affect our marriage, so I’m a little concerned. But, it’s our destiny to be together, Chaz, so we’ll be all right.” She paused briefly and let out a sigh. “You should take the job.”
He nodded and took a sip of juice. His eyes never left hers.
“What if I don’t want the job? Your dream told you what’s going to be discussed, but did it tell you how I feel?”
“Conflicted,” she answered.
“That’s right. This might be a good decision for my career, but honestly, I don’t want to be away from you,” he admitted. “I also don’t want to miss celebrating one single special moment with our child. I want to be on the floor teaching her to roll a ball and holding her hands while she’s learning to balance and taking her first steps. She’ll need to hear my voice reading goodnight stories from the moment she comes home from the hospital and feel my hands cuddling her when she’s grouchy from teething. She needs to know how much love is in my heart just for her. She deserves that; I deserve it.” He reached across the table and linked his fingers with his wife’s. “Besides, I don’t want you being a single parent for months at a time—and that’s what it might be. We’re building this life together, Stephanie. Together.” He stood and pulled her into his arms.
“When you were in Pennsylvania and I was here without you, part of my soul was missing, sweetheart. We were both miserable.” He kissed her very lightly. “I don’t want us to go through that again.” Another kiss. “And I don’t want you to be afraid, or lonely, or overwhelmed. I�
��ll figure out my career; there has to be another way. Leaving you isn’t worth it.”
Stephanie tightened her arms around him. What he said sounded wonderful. But she knew what she had seen, and her gift was rarely wrong. She returned his kisses and kept quiet.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Despite the confident words, Chaz knew that his decision was far from being made the moment Roy invited Chaz to join him and Steve McDaniels for lunch. They talked nearly the entire hour about Chaz’s future. Roy had promised to respect Chaz’s decision; so much for the promise of “no pressure.” Steve made assurances that Chaz was perfect for the job and complimented him on his natural ability to focus on the big picture. He’d proven that in his undercover roles as well as in his current position as a senior analyst. The conversation irritated Chaz. Regardless of this meeting, Roy had given him the entire week to consider his answer. He was determined to take every minute of it.
He was seriously tempted to tell them to forget the idea; but, as everyone kept pointing out, being the leader of an undercover team could only benefit him later in his career. His best friend, and fellow FBI agent, Sylvia was constantly saying that he wasn’t paying enough attention to professional opportunities. Chaz had never given the future much consideration. He hadn’t thought beyond being an undercover agent until he met Stephanie. She was the first person to make him feel like his life was incomplete.
Did she really think it was okay for their relationship for him to be away from home whenever the FBI needed him? The assignment to Erie had lasted for almost a year; Chaz couldn’t imagine being without his wife and child for that long. That wouldn’t be fair to anyone.
That evening, when Chaz stepped through the garage door into his house, he held a single long-stem yellow rose and a thank you card. Stephanie wouldn’t be home for at least another hour. He put the rose in a bud vase on the kitchen table, propped the card against it, and set candles on either side. Next, he pulled out the good china they used when entertaining and set the table. With that done, he washed his hands, put water on to boil for pasta, and pulled out vegetables he would add to the cream sauce: mushrooms, artichokes, and black olives. Somewhere in the freezer were strips of grilled chicken that were left over from a meal he’d prepared a week or so ago. When he heard the garage door lifting, he poured two glasses of sparkling cider and leaned against the counter to greet his wife as she stepped from the mud room into the kitchen. Her bright smile as she glanced around the room made his heart skip a beat. He would never get used to the way her smile lit up a room or her eyes shined with love for him.
Loving Night: Dream Catcher Series ~ Book 2 Page 1
