by Zoë Lane
“Met him in Clemson. At the Panthers’ stadium last week. Great guy. Thinking about partnering with him and a few of his associates.”
Carter’s eyes got bigger. “Are you now? You know, when you came over the other day with my daughter, I wasn’t so sure about you.”
I kept my mouth from smirking.
“Not good enough for my daughter.” He chuckled and slapped me on the back. “All fathers are like that, though. Don’t take it personally.”
If he didn’t get his hand off my back, it was going to get real personal really quick.
“I’m thinking this is fate,” he continued.
I took a sip of the drink in my hand. “What do you mean?”
His gaze penetrated mine. “You know Malik, right? Saw you at his house.”
I nodded. “We go way back. He’s offered me a business opportunity as well.”
“You thinking about it?”
“You’re in business with him?”
Carter smiled. “I’ve been a part of this community for decades. When I see a chance to get involved, I take it.”
Get involved. Right. This guy was money-hungry.
I looked around the room, pretending this was a casual exchange when my heart rate was anything but relaxed. It hadn’t stopped thumping in my ears since I had seen him standing beside Dr. Kavoska. “I’m thinking this is fate, then. I meet you, Malik, and Dr. Kavoska all at the same time.”
“Good things come in threes,” Carter said with a grin.
Uh-huh.
Carter leaned in close. “Been trying to get Dr. Kavoska on board with Malik. I’m sure you could put in a good word for me.”
Wait, they weren’t already working together? “Sure. What do you think is the problem?”
Carter shrugged. “My instinct tells me it’s Malik. He’s…” He cocked his head to one side and smiled.
“Black?” I asked, my throat tightening.
Carter laughed. “Not exactly. Thuggish is a better term for it. I mean, you’re here, right?”
“Ah. I’ve got money.”
“It’s all about the money. That’s all Dr. Kavoska wants to see.”
And this guy had money? “How do you know Dr. Kavoska?”
“I was on the force a long time. We know all the wealthy people in town. Had to make sure their neighborhoods were kept safe. I did some patrolling around here when I worked the street.”
I took a drink, trying to keep casual. “You meet Malik that way?”
Carter laughed. “I collared Malik a long time ago. Sent him to prison. Then…” Carter’s smile turned devilish. “We came to a mutual arrangement. He met a lot of people in prison. People with connections.” He tipped a glass in the direction of Dr. Kavoska.
Dr. Kavoska came forward. “Good of you to make it, Sean. What do you think the chances are this week?”
“Good, good.” I chuckled and took another swig.
Dr. Kavoska simply smiled. He slapped me on the back. “Well…good.” His eyes landed on Carter for a few seconds before they came back to me. “Enjoy yourself this evening, Sean. We’ll talk again soon.” And then he left.
Crap. I’d ruined it. Something I’d said, or hadn’t said, but the shift in the air was evident. The way he looked at Carter…
“Well, I’m probably going to call it an early night,” Carter said. “Pregnant wife and all.” He downed the rest of his drink and then placed it on a passing waiter’s tray. “I’ll see you around, Sean. Say hi to my daughter for me.”
Nope. Not going to do that.
Carter turned away and then faced me again. “I was a little abrupt with the two of you during your visit. Wanted to apologize.” He showed his teeth. “No hard feelings.”
“Sure. Yeah, no hard feelings.”
After Carter left the room, I wrestled Nico away from a group of women hanging on to him like a coat and Bat from the bar where he was acting interested in what a few old guys had to say about stocks, and we left.
“Did you get anything?” Bat asked after we settled into Nico’s car.
“Yeah.” Nico held up his phone. “About half a dozen phone numbers.”
Bat slapped his hand down while Nico laughed.
“Only that I know how Carter is connected to Malik and Dr. Kavoska, but I think I blew it.”
“You think they figured out that you’re not really on their side?” Bat asked.
I stared out of the window at the large beautiful houses that lined the streets of the gated neighborhood. I couldn’t say for sure, but I felt it.
But that wasn’t the only issue. Carter was probably the linchpin. As a former corrupt cop, he probably knew plenty of people involved in the scheme. If I told the FBI, they’d arrest him for sure—or try to make him a source. I had little confidence Carter would be on the right side of the law, not after what he had done to Landyn and Lacey, and what he was doing now.
If I told the FBI, Lacey would kill me. He was her link to finding her mother.
He’ll never talk…
28
LACEY
I greeted Sean at the front door with a smile. He smiled back. We both stepped forward and retreated.
I didn’t know how to do this. Be friends with a guy I was really attracted to. I’d never had guy friends in school, and the only ones I’d interacted with, I’d slept with and moved on.
“Hi, Lace,” he said softly. Shyly.
I loved the deep, melodious sound of his voice when he said my name. It steadied my racing heart. Calm. It calmed me down.
“Hi, Sean.”
He came all the way in. He placed his hands on my upper arms and kissed my forehead. My heart sank a little until I lifted my gaze to his eyes. Hunger stirred in those dark brown depths. Unmistakable hunger.
He lowered his lips, brushing mine.
“I was wondering when you were going to do that again.”
He stepped back and the warmth from his nearness cooled.
“I didn’t know if I should.”
“Why?”
He shrugged. “The way we started off, Lace. It wasn’t exactly…conventional.”
“I hate convention,” I said swiftly.
His grin was slight. “I like it, actually. Haven’t had much of it in my life. I’ve had stability without it, but…you miss out on things like friendship. Really getting to know someone.”
I nodded, understanding his point. “When you put it that way…”
“So, what are you saying? You’re going to court my sister?”
Over my shoulder, I saw Landyn’s amused smirk. Rose playfully slapped him on the arm. “Don’t tease him!”
Landyn growled and wrapped both arms around her waist, lifting her clear off the floor. “Woman, if I have to tell you one more time not to hit my arms…”
Rose grinned wickedly. “You’ll what?” she asked sweetly.
“When’s the last time your booty’s been—”
“Yeah, okay!” I stomped past them, my hand firmly gripping Sean’s and dragging him with me.
“You didn’t have to invite me,” Sean said. “This is a family thing.”
We settled on the couch, and I leaned into him. “You’re like family,” I insisted. “I mean, I’ve met yours and you’ve met mine, right?”
He chuckled. “Unconventional.”
I relaxed against his shoulder. “Mine might be, but yours is pretty normal to me.”
Rose sat on Landyn’s lap in a large armchair across from us. Landyn cleared his throat. “I spoke to the detective on our mother’s case earlier today and…” He let out a breath, visibly upset. “And we need to consider…”
“Getting on Carter’s good side,” Sean offered.
My gaze shot up to his.
Landyn’s eyes narrowed. “That was a good guess.”
Sean’s calm facial expression remained unchanged. “It makes perfect sense. He was the last person to see your mother—that we know of. Does he know there’s an open investigation?”
“We’ve asked the detective to avoid him as much as possible,” Rose offered. “We don’t want to spook him. Although they can’t avoid him forever. It is an investigation, and it wouldn’t be complete without questioning the prime—”
“Only,” Landyn corrected her.
“—suspect in the case.”
Sean looked at me. “How are you going to do that?”
I averted my eyes. Memories of my childhood had rapidly resurfaced once I’d accepted what he had tried to do. The beatings, Landyn stepping in and sacrificing himself, the lack of food.
The cigarettes.
There were moments when the emotions were so overwhelming that I feared crying. If I gave in, would I come out on the other side?
My therapist said it was necessary to heal. But I didn’t want to heal yet. I wanted to keep as much strength for as long as possible.
“I think it should be me,” I said. Landyn’s mouth opened, but I continued. “Landyn, he knows you hate him, but I’ve been to visit him. He’s not sure how I really feel.”
“Are you sure of how you really feel?” Landyn asked quietly.
“Yes,” I lied. “I can do this. He’s the one that can answer our questions, right? If I can get him to open up, maybe he’ll say something that’ll point us in the right direction.”
I looked at Sean for approval, but he was frowning.
I laced my fingers with his. “It’s a good idea, Sean.” He only nodded.
“Well, you’ll have to tread lightly,” Rose said. “Talk to the detective. He’ll likely know how best to approach him.”
“What if I invite him over for dinner?”
Landyn shut his eyes, dropped his chin to his chest, and groaned.
“I think that’ll give him a false sense of security,” I argued.
Landyn looked at me. “I know, but to have him in our home…”
“I’ll do it when you’re away.”
“That doesn’t help, Lace.”
“Well, what are you going to do about it?” Rose and Landyn shared a look. I hesitantly asked, “What was that?”
Rose answered. “I had Carter—in the presence of his attorney—agree to stay out of the media and leave you two alone. He’s abided by the contract, but because of how the terms were presented—”
“My woman’s a badass,” Landyn said, looking admirably at her.
Her cheeks tinted. “It’s probably in Landyn’s best interest to hang back on this. Allowing Carter to come here is probably going to be all he can do, for now.”
“Uh…” I took a moment to process. I vaguely remembered details after Carter’s on-air interview. It had left me in a fog for days. “Okay. You threatened him?”
Rose sat up straighter. “Everything I may or may not have said was legal and aboveboard—and signed off on by his attorney.”
Sean chuckled. “Well, that answers that.”
Landyn loudly smacked a kiss on Rose’s cheek. “In other words, Carter may be harboring some animosity against me for it.”
“Yup, I bet,” I answered.
“Him coming here would be a step in the right direction,” Rose said again. “It might help to soften his opinion of Landyn, which probably isn’t the greatest right now.”
“Who wants dinner?” Landyn asked loudly. He dug into his back pocket and pulled out a phone. “Chinese?”
No one objected.
Sean squeezed my hand. “What are you thinking?”
“That I need to do this. I know we tried before but…I need the truth if…if I’m ever going to really get better.” I rolled my eyes. “So my therapist says. I’m willing to try again. Why were you frowning earlier?”
He raised his brows. “When?”
I didn’t challenge him. “Do you think it’s a good plan? I do. It’s the only one we’ve got.”
“There’s nobody else you can talk to?”
“The detective isn’t getting anywhere with our half-aunt. She lives out of state. I was thinking of visiting her, but…”
“You can’t leave?”
I shook my head. “Probation sucks.”
He laughed softly. “Better than jail, probably.”
I groaned. “I know you’re right.”
He kissed the side of my head. “If you need me with you—when you go see her—I’d be happy to do it.”
I smiled at him. “Thanks. I still have a bazillion hours left for my community service.”
He wrapped an arm around my shoulder and I snuggled closer. “That just means I have plenty of time to see you at work.”
“Maybe I’ll get a job there, for real. Not as a janitor. I hate cleaning toilets.”
His smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Sounds like a plan. What about school?”
I hadn’t thought about returning next semester. At my pace of sixty hours a week working at the Rhinos’ HQ, I wouldn’t be finished with my community service until probably next summer.
“I’ll think about school when I’m finished with my community service.”
He just nodded while staring at his phone.
“You got a side-chick I don’t know about?” I lightly teased.
His face turned to stone before my eyes. His arm nearly decapitated me as he swung it around when he leapt off the couch.
“Sean!”
He ran from the room at a pace I’d seen him use so many times on the field.
“Grandma’s been shot!”
29
SEAN
I darted around people milling about the hospital hallway until I finally found my grandmother’s room in the intensive care unit. I halted at the doorway. Tubes ran from her arms and mouth. Plastic and tape covered most of her face. The steady beep from a monitor beside her bed helped to regulate my own heartbeat. I breathed a short sigh of relief. Her heart was still working.
“Are you Sean Miller?” a male voice said behind me.
I saw an older man in glasses and a white coat. “Are you the doctor?”
He nodded and held out his hand. “How about we go inside and talk?” He gestured for me to enter the room.
I hesitated. If I stayed out here, then I could freeze time. She was alive, I knew that. If I walked in, it might change.
“Mr. Miller?”
I sighed and forced my legs to move at the doctor’s question. I dragged a seat to the side of my grandmother’s bed. After sitting, I held her hand.
“I’m afraid there’s no easy way to say this.”
Please, God…
“Your grandmother is comatose.”
I let out an audible noise that sounded like a cross between a gasp and someone choking on their own blood.
“She was shot multiple times, two hitting her chest and one striking her in the head.”
My gaze snapped to her head. It was heavily bandaged.
“One of the bullets that entered her chest was lodged close to the spine, which we removed with no issue. The other bullet passed clear through, hitting no major organs but nicking a rib.”
“But the one to the head…”
“Yes,” the doctor said softly. “That is the one that caused the most damage, I’m afraid. We were able to remove it from the back of her skull without damaging that part of the brain, but her frontal lobe sustained significant trauma.”
I heard my heavy breathing, felt the quake rise up from my nauseated stomach into my chest, my lungs under such intense pressure I could barely breathe. My eyes trained on my grandmother’s face. It looked bloated. Or maybe it that was the tape crisscrossed all over her face.
“If—and this is a big if—she wakes up, she will not be the same person, Mr. Miller.”
I closed my eyes. Hot tears burned my cheeks.
“Mr. Miller?”
I shook my head.
“Mr. Miller, I’m going to need you to look at me.”
I struggled to lift the heavy lids of my eyes. My vision blurred.
“Mr. Miller, I need you to understand what
you’re facing. I need you to hear that your grandmother—I’m so sorry to say—but the woman you knew, is…gone.”
I hung my head and wept.
“She’s breathing with assistance from a machine. I don’t think she can survive without it.”
My head hit the bed beside my grandmother’s hand. The doctor put his own hand on my back. “Son, I am so sorry. We will do what we can for her.”
I don’t know how long I stayed there, but Lacey’s voice pulled me from my trance.
“Sean? Can you hear me?”
“You’re not supposed to be here.” My voice sounded muffled and garbled. “Family only.”
Warmth from her hand radiated across my back, fighting against the cold I felt. “I’m your family,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry. There’s a chance, right?”
I shook her hand off. “No,” I stated firmly. I raised my heavy-as-hell head from the bed and wiped the lingering moisture from my grimy face. “The bullet to the head messed everything up.”
“Oh, Sean… how did this happen? Have the police been to see you?”
Strangely, no. Didn’t matter. I knew who had done this.
Malik.
Had to be. Nothing else made sense. He was the only one who’d threatened her. Maybe it was something Carter had said, I didn’t know, but what did it matter?
I looked at Lacey’s sweet face. Her dark hair hung around her shoulders, her large blue eyes filled with so much sadness and something else that pierced my heart and caused it to beat a tiny bit faster. I looked away, not wanting to know what it was that sent energy surging through me.
All night I had wrestled with telling the FBI about my suspicions because of her. She was trying to get her father to open up about the disappearance of her mother, but the woman was long dead. My grandmother was clinging to life now. If he knew anything about it, I wanted him to talk.
If he had anything to do with this, I wanted him to pay.
My head pounded, and I rubbed at it and groaned. Lacey would hate me forever for messing this up for her.
“Sean? What happened?”
“Shot. Standing on her front porch.”
She gasped. “You have to talk to the police. Find out what they know. See if they’ve caught whoever did it.” I heard her voice whisper, “Do you think it was Malik?”
