“Adam’s name came up in a joint investigation by the ATF and FBI into terrorist cells, using people’s homes to make bombs and computer geeks to detonate them from distances.”
Her eyes widened and then narrowed. “Came up? How?”
Jack continued, “It came up twice in correspondence with one of the suspects. There’s nothing to link him to the activities, but it has brought up suspicions.”
Her lips thinned in irritation. She met each man’s gaze as her eyes swept the circle around her. Suddenly her mind took a turn and she twisted around to look into Chad’s face. He knew the instant her mind went down the road he was afraid of—so did everyone else.
“Is this what brought you back around, Chad? Your investigation here? Tell me you didn’t just waltz back into my life right when your boss needed to dig into Adam.” Her voice rose with each question and she shifted out from under his arm and attempted to stand.
“Oh, no you don’t,” Chad argued. “What we had…what we have…that’s got nothing to do with this. I was afraid your mind would lead you to this conclusion and I’m sorry, but our investigation’s got nothing to do with my feelings for you. And if you’d calm down and think…really feel, you’ll know I’m telling the truth.”
She sat, her body perfectly still as her eyes held his. Her breathing was heavy…matching her heart. Her mind swirled with confusion. Adam, what kind of mess did you leave me with? Did I even know you at all? Finally heaving a huge sigh, she nodded. “I know, Chad. I know you’re telling me the truth.”
Letting out a breath he did not realize he was holding, he squeezed her shoulder once more, offering her his strength.
Dani sat for another minute, wondering how on earth she was going to share any part of her life with Adam with these strangers. It was too personal…and agonizing. Goddammit Adam, does it never end? Eventually facing Jack, she asked, “What do you want to know?”
“Anything you can think of. Maybe at the time, there were things you didn’t notice that now you can look back at and see more clearly.”
She chortled loudly. “You’re kidding, right?”
“Dani,” Chad’s soft voice gentled her. “No one here is judging.”
Hanging her head for a moment as though lost in thought, she jerked up and pierced Jack with a glare. “I know what you meant, but I’m sure you’ve investigated me as well, so you’ve discovered I was the wronged wife…the proverbial last one to know that my husband was cheating on me. So if you’re looking for clear remembrances from when we were together, then you’ve probably come to the wrong person.”
No one said anything and the awkward silence slithered over her. Chad leaned in and whispered, “Baby, no one wants to make this any worse on you than it already is.”
“I’ll do better with direct questions, Mr. Bryant,” she said, leaning back into Chad. “I’m afraid I can’t focus right now to just talk about my life with Adam.”
“Fair enough, and call me Jack,” he directed gently. “Did Adam’s schedule change, especially in the last couple of months of his life?”
Hating the discussion, Dani forced herself to answer rotely, pulling herself away from the emotions. “Adam and I worked in different offices of the ATF. I had a little bit further of a commute so I would leave before him in the mornings, although we were up at the same time. Because his hours could be unusual, especially if on an assignment, I would generally get home before him. Even with his extracurricular activities toward the end, his daily schedule did not change much. I suppose this was to keep me from knowing.”
“Did you ever read his email or snail mail?”
Her eyes flashed and she said, “Nope. He didn’t read my emails and I didn’t read his. As far as delivered mail, if I got it first, I sorted it and laid it on the kitchen counter. I dealt with mine and he dealt with his. But before you ask, no, I never saw anything unusual.”
“What about his down time? Did he spend more time on the internet? More time out with friends? Was he more depressed or easily upset?”
Barking out another rough laugh, she said, “You had to know Adam to understand him. Adam loved life. He joked, laughed, worked hard and firmly believed in playing hard. Since there’s no reason to hold back with you, I’ll tell you we got married because of a drunken one-night stand.”
“Babe, you don’t have—”
Twisting around, she said, “Chad, I’ve got nothing to hide anymore. Adam’s dead and I’m working through that and his personal betrayal, but now you’re investigating him as someone who was in contact with terrorists. What the hell would keeping secrets do for any of us?”
She turned back to the others and continued, ignoring their expressions of sympathy. “Adam wanted to get married. We were both hurt at Chad’s decision to go overseas, made a drunken mistake one night that resulted in an unplanned pregnancy. I had no intentions of getting married, but Adam felt insistent that his child not grow up fatherless and…well, to be honest, I was overwhelmed and we made the decision to marry. I lost the baby and told Adam that we could file for divorce. It was Adam who did not want to, saying that I gave him stability. We had a marriage based on friendship…that was all. Not true love. But affection. I was willing to settle for that since the man I loved had moved away from our lives. That part is staying between me and Chad, but as long as I was married, I was married. No cheating…not even in my mind. I thought I shared the same ideals with Adam, but found out his hound-dog days were not over. But never—never—did I see anything that would have indicated he was acting with terrorists. If you only knew him, you’d know that was the last thing he’d do.”
Exhausted from her tirade, she leaned back against Chad again, who now circled her body with both his arms as he kissed the top of her head.
“Did you find anything in his personal effects that didn’t seem to belong?” Monty asked. “Anything that made you wonder where it came from?”
“I confess that after the wake, I packed up everything and moved closer to my parents. I quit my job with the ATF, no longer wanting to be around people that purported to be our friends…my friends, and kept Adam’s infidelities from me. It wasn’t until recently that I went through his things. I found nothing that I did not expect to find. Clothes, pictures, some books.”
“May I ask what you did with his things?” Jack asked.
“I donated the clothing that was useable and threw out the socks and underwear. Mementos were given to his parents, but there wasn’t a lot. He wasn’t very sentimental and didn’t save a lot of things. I put everything else back into the boxes to decide later what I want to do with them. There were a few books and some photos.” Sighing heavily, she added, “These were the boxes that had been opened by the intruder.”
“Dani, I’m truly sorry,” Blaise said, regret in his eyes. “I’m sure this whole investigation sucks for you, but can I ask about blackmail?”
Her eyes cut over to the large, handsome blond who looked like he could have stepped off the bow of a Viking ship. “Blackmail? I’m afraid I don’t understand.”
Blaise’s gaze caught Chad’s and he hesitated. Chad took over the explanation, saying, “Terrorists, down through history, have sometimes used blackmail to recruit others to work for them. Since at some time while you were still married, Adam had affairs, do you think someone could have blackmailed him to work for them?”
This line of thinking caught Dani off-guard. Biting her bottom lip, she looked back at Chad as she pondered the query. Heaving a ragged breath, Dani said, “Gentlemen, I’m sure it’s easy to imagine Adam being caught in an indiscretion and someone blackmailing him to keep either myself or his employers from finding out. I assure you the ATF did not care about his…habits…as long as he did his job, which he was very good at. And as for me? Adam would never betray his country to keep me from finding out about his affairs.”
Licking her dry lips, she noticed Jack stand and move to the kitchen. He returned with a chilled bottle of water, handing it to
her. “I appreciate how difficult this is for you, Dani.”
Nodding, she gratefully took a long drink. Replacing the twist top, she leaned forward to set it on the coffee table. She lifted her hand to rub her forehead, a slight headache building.
Chad squeezed her shoulder, saying, “Babe, I don’t want you to wear yourself out. It’s not good for you to have this much stress.” His eyes cut to Jack. “She’s had enough.”
Jack nodded, but Dani shook her head. “No, let me at least answer the rest of the question. I already told you that after I lost the baby, I talked to Adam about a divorce. I was not only willing to have the divorce, but I was all for it. It was Adam who wanted to stay married. He said I made him want to be a better man. Whatever you think of our arrangement, we did have fun together. Talks, walks, good times. We went to ball games, ATF functions, sometimes just hanging at the house. But, while Adam wanted to be married, believe me, we did not share a great love. And if we had divorced, he would have been fine, so if someone was trying to blackmail him about his affairs…he would have laughed in their face.”
The room was quiet and Dani stood suddenly. “Now, if there’re no other questions, I’d like to go home. I’ve had a rather long day.”
Chad stood as well but Dani put her hand out to him, palm up. “No, Chad. I drove myself here and want to drive myself home. I really want to be alone right now.”
“Not a good plan,” he said, moving closer to her as the others surreptitiously slipped away. “I’m not having you go into your house alone.”
She hesitated, knowing he was right but angry for the inability to handle things on her own. Standing for a moment in indecision, she finally acquiesced. As she headed toward the door, she halted, then turned back to the assembly. “Jack?”
The Saints all looked up at her as she spoke. “I’d like to think that I’m right about Adam, but it wouldn’t be the first time I made a mistake. I don’t want my impressions of my deceased husband to cloud my judgment. I’ll be glad to have you look at Adam’s personal effects that I boxed up. They’re in the spare bedroom.”
Jack nodded, saying, “We’d appreciate that, Dani. I know this has been difficult and for that, I’m very sorry.”
Giving a curt smile to the group, she turned and walked out of the door. Chad gave a tight nod to the other Saints as he followed her.
“Fuck,” Marc said, leaning back heavily in his seat. “That was brutal.”
Bart nodded, running his hand through his hair making it stand up at odd angles. “It’s a helluva lot easier interviewing someone you’re not personally involved with. I just hope she doesn’t turn this back on Chad.”
Jack rubbed his beard and observed, “She won’t. With her training with ATF, she knows we have to investigate everything…every lead that was given.” He watched the couple out of the front window as they moved to their separate cars after Chad hugged her tightly. “But I don’t know if her instincts about Adam Turner are right. I’ve got a bad feeling she may be in for a difficult surprise.”
Chapter 13
As Chad drove home behind Dani, his frustration was at an all-time high. His mind swirled with Adam—snatches of conversations they had about girls, about Dani, about life, even love.
We sat on a low wall, beers in our hands near the National Harbor, the setting sun creating patterns in the sky that seemed to make both of us unusually mellow.
“You ever think about settling down one day?” Adam asked.
Shocked by his uncharacteristic question, I shot him a long look, but he continued to stare toward the sky. My mind immediately fell to Dani, but before I could speak, Adam continued.
“My dad bolted toward the door when I was real little and never came back. I always figured love was for the stupid and I’m not stupid.”
Staying quiet, I let him talk, not sure what to say to this pensive version of Adam.
“Mom got married a couple of years ago to a good guy. Spent the weekend with them and really like him. Kinda surprised me, but,” Adam took a pull on his beer and continued, “mom told me that her problem was picking the wrong man to begin with and that the right one makes all the difference.” Chuckling, he added, “Said the only thing the first husband gave her was me and that I was the prize.”
Noting his embarrassed shrug, I realized he was now self-conscious. Deciding to alleviate the heavy moment, I questioned, “You? A prize?”
We both laughed before I added, “But yeah, one day, with the right woman, I want to settle down. Get married. Have kids.”
Adam nodded beside me. “Don’t get me wrong,” he joked, “I still like variety…love the pussy that comes my way. But some day…with someone like Dani.”
My head jerked involuntarily around, staring dumbly at him, his comment ringing in my ears.
“Not Dani, of course. She knows too much about me,” he laughed. “But someone like her. Smart. Gorgeous. Sexy. And someone who would make me be a better man…and won’t put up with my shit!”
Pulling into the driveway, parking behind Dani’s car, Chad’s memories only made him more frustrated. Not only did Adam put Dani’s life at risk with his inexplicable behavior, but he finally ended up with not only a woman like Dani, but Dani herself…and still continued his philandering ways. What the fuck were you thinking, man?
Chad had planned on having Dani stay at his house, but here they were, back at her place. He jumped out of his truck, hustling to the door ahead of her. Entering, he secured the house before walking back to her at the front entrance.
Dani kicked off her heels before skirting around him to walk into the small bedroom. Sighing heavily, Chad followed, stopping at the door. Leaning against the door frame, he watched as she unzipped her skirt, noticing how it stretched over her stomach and hips. Pulling her light pink sweater off, she tossed it into the laundry hamper in the corner. She said nothing to him as she continued to dress comfortably. Pulling on stretchy yoga pants and a t-shirt, she finally turned around, lifting her eyes to his.
“You gonna ignore me all night?” Chad asked, his face unreadable.
Her eyes flashed irritation as she crossed her arms over her chest, cocked her hip and began tapping her foot. “I’m not ignoring you! I was just…changing clothes.”
“Dani, I get you’re in a snit, but the questions had to be asked. Better us than you being called into the local FBI office.”
Pursing her lips, she wanted to retort, but it felt empty. Heaving a deep sigh, she uncrossed her arms.
Chad pushed off the doorframe and moved to stand right in front of her. She leaned her head way back to hold his gaze. He placed his hands on her shoulders, giving a slight squeeze before moving into her space. She face-planted into his chest, then mumbled something. He pulled her back slightly, asking, “What?”
“I said I wasn’t in a snit. I don’t have snits.”
Leaning his head back, he laughed. “Babe, you can throw serious attitude when you’re in the mood.”
“I don’t throw attitude,” she huffed.
“I remember you’d give Adam shit when he tried sniffing around you when we first met. And then again when he was being an ass.”
Her lips curved at the corners as she wrapped her arms around his middle. “Okay, so maybe I do throw a little attitude…but only when warranted!” They continued to stand, offering each other steadiness and warmth for another minute before Dani leaned back again. “I don’t know what to think, Chad. I thought I used to be so good at understanding people, but ever since the funeral, my thoughts about Adam are all twisted up in my head…and my heart.”
“I know, babe. I feel the same way. I want to staunchly defend him, but feel like I have to be objective or we could miss an important part of the investigation.”
Dani nodded, laying her head against his chest again. She reveled in Chad’s warm embrace, feeling as though she had found the missing half of her soul when she was in his arms. Just then, her stomach growled, breaking the tension.
“Come on, let’s get some food in us and then we’ll sort through the mess we’ve got.”
The idea of fixing dinner was daunting right now, even though Dani loved to cook. Just then the doorbell rang and Chad appeared unsurprised as he headed down the short hall. His large body kept her from seeing who was there, but soon the smell of pizza quickly wafted down the hall.
“Ooh, you ordered pizza!” she squealed, running down the hall and jumping on his back.
Grabbing her ass with one hand, holding her in place on his back while the other hand held the pizza box, he made it to the kitchen table. Tossing the box onto the table, he turned and set her down on the counter. Twisting his body around, he stayed between her legs. The extra height had her face closer to his as he leaned down and claimed her mouth.
Capturing her moan, he slid his tongue into her warmth as he held her face gently in his hands. The kiss lasted several minutes and the pleasure had his cock raring to go. Forcing his dick to behave, he slid his mouth from hers with a little kiss at each corner. Then kissing the freckles across her nose elicited a sought after giggle.
She mewled at the loss of contact when he leaned back, but he said, “Gonna feed you, sweetheart. You’ve had a rough evening and you need to eat.”
She nodded her agreement and it did not take long for them to settle at the table, decimating the pizza. After only two pieces, Dani was full but watched in amazement as Chad finished off the other six pieces of the large, meat lovers, extra onions, and cheese pizza.
“Damn, no wonder you’re so big,” she joked.
“Yeah, in the past hauling around the bomb disposal equipment gave me my workouts. Now I hit the gym about four times a week.”
Eyeing him, she smiled. “Well, whatever you’re doing, it works.” Leaning forward to kiss a dab of pizza sauce off his cheek, she added, “Cause you’ve got a gorgeous body.”
Sacrifice Love: Saints Protection & Investigations Page 11
