“If you have a bad day at work, who do you go to?” I asked.
“I don’t know. My friends at the agency, I guess. We bitch to each other when things go bad.”
“That must be nice,” I murmured softly. “I’ve never been able to do that. Even my parents had each other. I never had anybody with me to, you know, listen or give advice. Who could I go to? What would they say? How long would it take for the cops to show up at my door? It was never worse than it was that final night, when I had no idea what to do. Should I take the necklace to the police? Should I hand it over to the client? Hell, should I give it back to Florsheim? And what would happen to me?” I shook my head. “I was all on my own, always. I used to thrive on that, since people can be a real pain in the ass.”
He chuckled. “Yeah, they can be.”
“But when push comes to shove, we need each other. People, I mean. Nobody can live all on their own. I got tired of that. My friends could talk about their work, and they were proud of themselves. I was always proud of my work, but I could never tell anybody about it. Who was I going to talk to? Erich?” I sighed when I thought about him. Poor Erich. He wasn’t a bad person any more than I was.
“So you were going to quit?”
“Yeah—for that reason and a lot of others. I have all the money I need. I thought about going back to school, or traveling for a while. Something more. Something I didn’t have to lie about all the time. That was probably the worst part. All the lying.” I lifted my head to look him in the eye. “You might not know this about me, but I don’t enjoy lying.”
“I never would’ve known that,” he grinned.
“I’m serious.”
His grin dissolved. “I know. I’m sorry to joke like that when it’s nothing to joke about.”
I settled back down beside him. “But then, during the job, I got a real wake-up call. I mean, I might have talked myself out of quitting otherwise. You know how it is—once something is over, you might talk yourself into thinking it’s not so bad. I probably would’ve given it a little time and thought, huh, it was a lot of fun to put together a plan and learn everything I could about the target. And it was exciting to get around a security system and take something without anybody catching me. I might have missed it after a while. Life probably would’ve seemed boring.”
I fell into silence as I remembered. After a long time, Dylan prompted, “What happened to change your mind?”
“I saw him. The old man.”
“Did he see you?”
“Oh, no. He was asleep. I walked past his bedroom door—turns out he sleeps downstairs now, instead of in the master bedroom. Maybe to keep from walking up and down the stairs, who knows? Anyway, there he was. According to the blueprints, it should’ve been the office. There was a hospital bed in it, instead.” I felt like a hand was tightening around my throat as the memory enveloped me. “He was in a fucking hospital bed, dying, probably. There was nobody with him—no nurse. That still bothers me. Why wasn’t there a nurse with him?”
Once the wave of guilt passed, I continued. I had gotten started, and there was no stopping until it all came out. “I forgot what I was doing for a second there. Can you imagine? Here I am, a professional. I’ve pulled dozens of jobs. Never once did the cops come close to me. But there I was, totally undone by the sight of this man. He looked like a withered old thing, nothing like he did in the papers years ago. He was big and strong and powerful back then. Where did that get him? He was dying alone.”
I closed my eyes and a single tear escaped. It ran over the bridge of my nose, then onto Dylan’s chest. “I was robbing this dying old man. And if I wasn’t careful, I would end up dying alone. Just like him.”
“Nobody says you would have to die alone,” he murmured as he stroked my hair. It was a gesture that usually comforted me, but not just then. I was too upset. The memory was too fresh.
“If I stayed where I was, I would have. I couldn’t ever get too close to anybody, man or woman, because eventually they’d want to know what I did for a living. I had to be a loner. When I saw him, that old man, all alone—even when he didn’t start off that way, since he had a wife—I saw myself. And it scared the hell out of me.”
He held me for a long time. “You don’t ever have to be alone if you don’t want to,” he whispered with his lips against the top of my head. “You don’t have to be alone again.”
“I don’t want to be.”
“I’ll be here, with you. If you want me.”
“I want you.” I looked up at him. “I want you, I want you, I want you.”
He held my face in his hands and stretched toward me for a kiss. I clung to him like he was the life preserver keeping me afloat. He was the only real thing I had ever known in a lifetime full of lies and deception, pretending to be anybody other than who I was. My parents might have taught me everything there was to know about their work, but they hadn’t taught me how to be a whole person. I had to figure that one out on myself—and once I did, I wasn’t sure anybody would want the real, whole me. But he did. Strangely enough, he did.
Epilogue – Dylan
“Okay, all of you.” Pax looked over the table with his usual stern expression. “Do good work today.” It was all I could do not to sketch a quick salute.
Spence was the last of us to get up. He had dark circles under his eyes and couldn’t stifle a head-splitting yawn as he stood, swaying a little. He was officially on vacation for a month but told us he wanted to stop in to get caught up on agency business. I thought he wanted the excuse to get out of the apartment and away from his newborn for a few minutes.
“Not that I don’t adore her,” he said. “Being a dad is, like, unreal. I can’t believe she’s mine. I can’t believe we made her. But I can’t believe she cries so fucking much, either. And, like, the pooping. How does something so small make so much poop?”
“You have spit-up on your shirt, buddy.” Christa pointed it out with a sympathetic smile as she passed.
To my surprise, he smiled. “She’s awesome. You have to come see her. Char’s been asking when you’re coming over.”
“I know. Vienna wants me to stop by the next time she visits, too.” I did my best not to roll my eyes. “She has baby fever. So. Thanks for that.”
“Don’t be a pussy,” he grinned. “Unless you really don’t think you can handle it.”
“I’m still surprised the woman hasn’t run away again in the last eight months. Let’s make sure she plans on staying in the country permanently before I get her pregnant, okay?” I handed in my finished paperwork from my last case, which Lydia took with a grateful smile.
“You’re always so prompt with this,” she said with a smile, then threw Spence a dirty look. “Unlike some people.”
“I have a baby now. I’m a father. I’m very responsible and prompt,” Spence argued.
“If you couldn’t get it done before, you sure won’t now.” Still, she patted his hand with an affectionate smile. “Give that baby a kiss for me.”
“Will do.” The two of us walked out to the parking lot together. It was early April, and the morning was soft and cool. I was looking forward to a few days off after my last case, which had lasted over two months. Vienna had been on me about taking a quick getaway, too, even if we only went to a bed and breakfast for a few days. I was in favor of that. I had hardly seen her over the duration of my stay in the Hamptons, where Mrs. Asher was waiting to testify against her late husband’s business partner—who also happened to be the man who killed her husband.
“You sure you should be driving?” I asked Spence as he slid behind the wheel. “Why don’t I drive you to your apartment instead? You can get a cab back. I’m afraid you’re gonna fall asleep on the way.”
“I’m fine. It’s just a few minutes. Thanks for offering.” I watched him pull away and made a mental note to check in with him later while I started for the police station. I wondered if Vienna’s boss would give her the afternoon off. I had something i
mportant I wanted to talk over with her.
***
I knocked on the open door to Ricardo’s office. He was sitting behind his desk, looking at something on the computer. “Hey there. Glad your case is closed up?”
I rolled my eyes. “Hell, yes. Nice house but it smelled like cats and moth balls.”
He laughed. “It did, didn’t it? Good thing you’re not allergic, like me. I went through more allergy meds every time I visited, I swear to God.”
I looked around. “Where’s your protégé?”
“Checking on a few reports our forensics team put together after a recent break-in at a bank downtown. She’s like a savant, I swear. Nobody knows what to do with her when she proves them wrong.”
“I’ve been trying to convince her to go to school for criminal forensics, like we talked about before. I think she’s into the idea.”
“Shit. She’ll be my boss one day, I’m sure of it.” He shook his head. “I might regret jockeying to get her a job yet.”
“No, you won’t.” Her arms wrapped around me from behind, and I lifted one arm for her to slide under it. “I reflect well on you, remember?”
“I should remember. You remind me at least once a day.” He looked at me, then back at her. “I guess you’re gonna tell me you want a few days off to spend with this guy, huh?”
She shrugged, looking up at me. “Depends on what this guy says.”
“He says yes.”
She looked at him. He nodded. “Go for it. You’ve been putting in sixty, seventy-hour weeks lately to make up for him being in the Hamptons.” He dropped me a quick wink while she went to get her things together. Oh, so he and Pax had been talking. Everybody knew what I had up my sleeve except for her.
We walked out together, and as always, heads turned. Even when she was wearing a suit, like she was then, she was worth staring at. But she only had eyes for me. That was a good feeling.
“So what do you wanna do first?” She looked up at me with a wicked grin.
“You know what I wanna do.” It had been a week since we last sneaked a quickie after a Monday morning meeting at headquarters. We had been grabbing a few minutes here and there ever since I took the Asher case. “But I wanna eat first. I need my strength. And it’s such a nice day. Let’s go to the park.”
So we picked up bagels and coffee and walked through the park together. It felt good to actually spend time with her, to catch up on what I had missed out on over the last several weeks. Talking on the phone was nice, but being with her, touching her, seeing her smile… There was nothing better than that.
We stopped at the carousel, where she told me she had spent a lot of time as a kid. The memories of that night had faded with the months that passed until she agreed on how brave she was. When she looked at herself that way, it didn’t hurt to remember.
“You feel like going for a ride?” she asked with a laugh.
“I think I’m a little too old for that. There’s another reason why I wanted to stop here.”
“Really?” She was totally clueless.
“See, and this might sound totally unromantic, but it was either here or the middle of the George Washington Bridge.”
“What was? What are you saying?”
“I’m saying I wanted to take you back to the place where I first knew I loved you. It’s a toss-up between here and there. I didn’t think anybody would like it if I stopped traffic. So I chose here.”
“Why?” Her chin trembled a little. Her eyes filled with tears. She was getting it.
I dropped to one knee. “To ask you to marry me. I don’t know when I’m gonna have the time to do something like this again, and I know it’s not super romantic, but…”
“Just. Don’t do that.” She beamed. “It’s perfect. It’s all perfect.”
That gave me a little more confidence. “You’re the perfect woman for me. You make every day better just by existing—and knowing you want me just makes life even better. You’re the center of my world. And I know it’s not always easy, being apart and stuff, but I promise to spend the rest of my life making up for every minute we’re not together. Please. Marry me.”
“Of course, I will.” I managed to pull the diamond ring from my pocket and slid it onto her finger before standing. She launched herself into my arms, laughing and crying at the same time.
***
It was mid-afternoon. The windows were open and a cool breeze floated into the bedroom. It hit the sweat building up on my skin and made me shiver as I thrusted into my fiancée.
I slid in and out in a smooth, steady rhythm as I took her from behind. Her feet were on the floor while she leaned against our bed, pushing back against me to match my movements.
“Yes!” She threw her head back, a curtain of golden hair fanning out behind her. I caught some of it, wrapped it around my fist and pulled until her head tilted back. She cried out in relief—over time, I found out she liked it a little rough, which was fine with me. I smacked her ass with the other hand and she moaned, thrusting harder against me. I felt her tightening all of a sudden, gripping me hard, before she bore down and started shuddering from the inside out. “Yes! Dylan, yes, baby…” She fell forward onto the bed and shivered, moaning into the mattress.
She whimpered with disappointment when I slid out, but I wasn’t finished. I flipped her over and pulled her toward me by her hips until her ass was at the edge of the bed. With her legs against my chest, I slid back inside and leaned forward until I had a hand on either side of her head. “Yes!” she gasped as I pummeled her with hard, sharp thrusts. We were both crying out by the time she came again. I felt her muscles trying to milk me as I moved.
I was closer than ever before, so I slowed down. Shewrapped her legs around my hips and drew me further inside. I took on a slower, more sensual rhythm, grinding against her. It was heaven, losing myself in her heat. I drank in the sight of her on the bed, rolling her head from side to side, face and chest flushed, lipstick smeared, hair in all directions. She whimperedand sighed, and the sound was music to my ears. I would never get tired of hearing her, feeling her around me.
“Your turn. Let me watch you,” I said as I slid from her and stretched out on my back.
She eagerly climbed on top and settled herself over me. First, she kissed me, and our tongues wrestled as she hovered over my cock. It was sweet torture, waiting for her to give me what I wanted. I held her head close, thrusting my tongue in and out the way I wanted to thrust in and out of her.
She broke the kiss and sat up so she could guide me inside. Then she leaned back, hands on my calves, and started rocking back and forth. Her eyes were closed, her head thrown to the side. She was lost in pleasure—all I could do was watch her, amazed at how she knew just what to do to get herself off again while pleasuring me.
“Oh Dylan!” she cried out, thrusting harder as another orgasm built. I reached down to stroke her clit, wanting to watch her explode when I did. She shrieked when it hit, and I lost control seconds later.
She fell to the side with a groan. I closed my eyes to soak in the last few waves as they washed over me. “Wow,” I panted, “if I knew it would be that good after, I’d propose to you every day.”
She giggled. “And if you bought me a new ring every day, I would accept.” I wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her to me. She snuggled up to me the way she always did and we both fell into that sort of half-sleep that comes when you’re between being awake and dreaming. In my almost-dream, I imagined her in a white gown walking toward me down the aisle, and I smiled.
She only thought her last job was the one that brought us together. No, the last thing she stole wasn’t a famous necklace. It was my heart. She had it forever.
BOOK 4: MARCUS
Prologue – Pax
It was a rainy night. Cold. The sort of night that makes a person want nothing more than to be at home, doors and windows closed, heat turned up, fireplace burning if they’re lucky enough to have a fireplace. Coz
y. Something light on TV or a good book.
What a person doesn’t want to be doing is exploring an abandoned factory for a missing girl and her kidnapper.
Rain dripped off the floor above me and ran down the back of my neck, catching me between discomfort and disgust. There were rustlings all around me, but I didn’t know if it was the sound of animals who’d called the factory home since it went dark years earlier or something more menacing. I’d been after Smythe ever since the girl disappeared a month earlier. He’d been sending us little mementoes of her ever since—hair, mostly, or a piece of clothing, something from the little purse she’d been carrying when he took her. This along with photos of her holding the daily paper. She was usually naked in these photos. Only twelve years old.
I’d done nothing but work on the case ever since she disappeared and I was so close to her. So close. She was in there somewhere, in that abandoned building. We’d tracked him there after questioning one of his so-called associates, the one he’d hired to bring food and supplies to his little hide out. He swore we’d find Smythe and the little girl, Madison, up on the third floor in what used to be one of the boss’s offices.
I tiptoed up the stairs from the second to the third floor. There was a shift in the energy up there, for sure, like an electrical charge in the air. He had a space heater running, and a portable TV. That’s what his contact told us. Whether it was those things or just the presence of other people, it made my hair stand on end.
There were three teams converging on the floor, using all available stairways. I was in the lead. I knew the others were waiting on my signal to move. She was somewhere up there, waiting for us to save her. I tried not to imagine the horror she had experienced even though that horror was all I’d been able to think about for weeks. It was the only thing that drove me, kept me awake and working long into the night and sometimes for days straight. I’d just about forgotten what my wife and baby looked like, and Suzanne liked to remind me that our daughter wouldn’t be able to bond with me if I was never around the house. Like I needed more pressure just then.
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