by Kris Calvert
“I’ve combed through the Intel and IT records. I have a bead on the IP address the emails were sent from, and I’ve got IT hacking into the Autumn Valley system as we speak.”
“What else you got?”
“I’ve got an in to the records and files. I’m going to see a source tonight.”
“Shake a leg, man. We need you back in D.C. Speaking of which, Micah said you might be requesting time off? What’s that about?”
“You mean other than the fact I’ve not had a vacation in over eighteen months?” I shot back sarcastically.
“I hear ya,” Dan grumbled. “So are you requesting vacation after this?”
“I don’t know anymore. I’ll let you know after I wrap the case.”
“How is she?” Dan asked.
“My mom?”
“No dickhead, your dad’s car, Pussy. Yes, your mom.”
“She’s not doing so great,” I snapped, not finding humor in his joking manner. “Look, I’ll call you after I meet with my insider tonight, and hopefully I can wrap up the case by the end of the week.”
“Thanks,” Dan said, hanging up the phone.
I knew he was right. I’d been dragging my feet to stay in Shadeland as long as possible. If I’d come to any other small town, I would’ve been in and out quickly—bustin’ ass all the way.
Looking at my watch, it was now five o’clock. I was supposed to pick up Sam in an hour, but I hadn’t called or texted her all day. Now that I knew she might have feelings for King, maybe it was best for me not to act like such a lovesick fool. I needed to get into that office tonight to look around, and I had an idea how to do it.
MAC: Hey beautiful. I hope you’ve had a wonderful day.
SAM: Hello, stranger. I was getting worried about you. I’ve had Mac withdrawals today. :)
MAC: I’ll be there soon. I was wondering how you felt about Chinese.
SAM: You mean as a food, or a culture?
Even in the middle of a crappy day, she found a way to make me smile.
MAC: I meant as a food, but we could totally discuss the Chinese government over dinner. Do you have a favorite place you like to eat? Or a favorite dish?
SAM: Of course I do. Kung Pao at China King.
MAC: Sounds good baby. I’ll see you in an hour.
SAM: Can’t wait. xo
Once in the car, I Googled and called China King to place our order. The drive would take close to forty-five minutes and I was thankful for the time to think. I was in uncharted waters. I knew I was falling in love with Sam. I’d never felt this way about any woman. Ever. I wasn’t the type of man who wanted to be part of a ready-made family, and yet I was uncontrollably drawn to her and Dax. Now I have to hear this horseshit about King? What was he up to?
I picked up our dinner and stopped at the wine and liquor store to look for Chinese beer. The shop wasn’t as busy as it had been on Saturday, but the same clerk was working and he had company.
“Good evening, Mr. Callahan.”
“Hello again—Adam,” I said, glancing at his nametag.
“Can I help you find anything, sir?”
“No thanks. I know exactly what I’m looking for,” I said, making my way to the beer section. I was surprised that a store in Shadeland carried Chinese white beer, but who was I to judge? I was just happy to have a cold one for the first time in a couple of weeks. And after today, I needed it.
Walking to the checkout, I overheard Adam’s conversation. “Ricky—dude, whatever. I’m not beta testing your game. I’m in the home stretch of school and I don’t have time.”
I handed the six-pack to Adam. “Good plan,” I agreed. “Work before pleasure.”
“Wow, I didn’t know you sold Chinese beer,” Ricky remarked, creeping on my purchase.
“We’ve sold it for a couple of years now,” Adam replied, visibly exasperated by his friend. “Why?”
“Dude, that’s what the programmers in China drink. I’m gonna have to try it.”
“Ten-sixty, Mr. Callahan,” Adam said, bagging the beer as he gave his buddy the stink-eye. “Dude, your momma would freak on you if you brought beer into her house.”
“I don’t care what that old hag thinks. I’m getting rid of her anyway.” He laughed, but he was the only one. “She’s gotta go, and I’m givin’ her the boot myself.”
“Whatever, Ricky.” Adam rolled his eyes as he handed me my change.
“You boys have a good night.”
Just before opening the door, I paused and looked at the two young men, “Be good to your momma. She’s the only one you’ve got. Dude.”
I opened the car door to the overpowering scent of Chinese food. Placing the beer in the floorboard I began the short trip to Autumn Valley. Pulling into the parking lot, I felt my gut churn. Between the day I’d had with Mom and the weekend I’d had with Sam, I’d never been so undone. I was nervous—nervous and jealous. I had good old-fashioned butterflies in my stomach and I didn’t know what in the hell to do about it.
Taking a deep breath, I decided I would use the night to get to the bottom of a few things. By the time I left Autumn Valley, I wanted to know if Sam had a thing for King, how deep I needed to go to get the information I needed, and most importantly, if Sam Peterson loved me.
20
MAC
Obviously pulling the late shift, my favorite security guard met me at the door. “Good evening, Chuck,” I said.
Giving me the once-over, he grunted in obvious disgust. “I can’t let you pass unless you are signed in and have someone escort you to your destination.”
“I understand.” I shifted the food and beer in one hand to call Sam.
“Hello?”
“Will you come to the front, please? I’ve signed in, but Chuck needs you to escort me to my destination.”
“I can just clean up my desk, and we can leave. I’ll be right there.”
“Wait,” I said, turning my back to Chuck. “I brought dinner in. I thought we could just eat here.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, is that okay?”
“Sure.” She sighed and I could hear the disappointment in her voice. “I’ll be right there.”
“She’ll be right here.” I slipped my phone back into my coat pocket. “So, Chuck,” I said, making small talk to fill the silence. “Been workin’ here long?”
“Long enough.”
“Because I thought you looked a little familiar to me.”
He shrugged, so I needled him a little more. “Yeah, probably not. I work for the FBI, so our paths haven’t crossed. I mean it’s not like you’re an ex-con or anything, right?” I laughed, and waited for his response.
“You don’t know me,” Chuck said as he glared in my direction. “Let’s keep it that way.”
Sam breezed to the front entrance, beautiful as ever in a light blue sleeveless dress with buttons all down the front. She wore high heels that accentuated her sexy calf muscles, and was wearing her signature pearls. Just the sight of her got me hot.
She flashed me a huge smile. “Chuck, I will be responsible for him.”
He laughed at her and scowled at me.
“Thank you, Chuck,” I nodded as we walked away. “Nice chatting with you.”
“This is a surprise,” Sam said as she escorted me into the empty administration office. “I thought we were going out to dinner.”
Looking around to see if we were alone, I leaned in to kiss her full and beautiful lips before whispering in her ear. “I thought this might be easier. Is that okay?”
“Of course it’s okay. It just doesn’t seem like a very romantic notion from the guy who is über romantic all the time.”
I smiled at her. “Are we all alone?”
“Almost. Hector the janitor is still here. Hector?” she called to him.
“¿Cómo?”
“I’m locking up from the inside. We have a dinner meeting. Can you finish whatever you were doing mañana, por favor?”
“Si,�
�� Hector said, giving me the once-over. “No problema.”
“Thank you.” Sam smiled as she ushered him out with his cart. She locked the front door to the office behind him and motioned me down the hallway. “C’mon. I just need to get my phone.”
I followed her into her office, only to discover it was covered with stacks of paper. “What in the hell happened here?” I asked with a laugh. “It looks like something blew up.”
“Yeah, the Physician’s Development Corporation detonated in my office.”
“What’s the Physician’s Development Corporation?” I asked, wanting to hear her description of the LLC I knew from my report.
“It’s basically a group created by the Autumn Valley administration and the board of directors to house funds for physician and ancillary services for recruitment. They provide the funds for me to convince top notch doctors, physical therapists and pharmacists from all across the country to come to Autumn Valley.”
“Okay, I get it. But why all the mess?”
“I couldn’t make heads or tails of the LLC when I got here,” she confessed. “There’s a lot going on that needs to be documented. I’m just covering my ass.”
“Why would you need to cover your ass when all you’re doing is matchmaking?”
“A couple of reasons,” she said as she sorted through the stacks looking for her phone. “There are legal, safe harbors that the medical recruiting world has to stay within,” she explained. “We can only do certain things to convince a doctor to join our staff, but once it’s done, signing bonuses and large guaranteed salaries for extended periods of time are the norm.”
“Damn,” I said, following Sam out of her office. “I should’ve gone to med school like King instead of law school.”
“King?” she asked, whipping around as she opened the door to the very large boardroom. “King Giles?”
“The one and only,” I agreed, putting our dinner on the boardroom table, not taking my eyes from her. “Do you know him?”
“Sure,” she said, looking down and organizing the even greater stacks of paper on the table. “He’s one of our doctors. How do you know him?”
“We’re both from Shadeland. Went to different prep schools, but both decided on Cornell for college. I went to Harvard for law school and he went to Johns Hopkins, I think.”
“That’s right.”
“Anyway, I don’t want to talk about King tonight,” I said, pressing her into my body and kissing her hard.
She pulled away first and looked at me. “We better eat before the food gets cold or the beer gets warm.”
I nodded. “It looks like the Physician’s Development Corporation blew up in here too.”
Samantha sighed and surveyed the room. “Yeah. It felt a little endless today, going through all of it.”
I opened up the large paper bag from China King, handing her a set of chopsticks. “I hope you know how to use these young lady.”
“I do. Thank you, kind sir. Are you also proficient with chopsticks?”
“I busted up a smuggling ring and took down a perp in a Chinese restaurant using only my bare hands and one chopstick.”
She laughed. “You’re joking, right?”
No. “Of course,” I replied with a grin, handing her the Kung Pao.
“Let’s move to the other end of the table where there aren’t fifty stacks of paper,” Sam said, picking up the beer and motioning with only her head.
I followed her, watching her every subtle move—she was fluid in all that she did. I took off my suit coat, loosened my tie, and waited for her sit. “Sorry, we don’t have plates,” I said, feeling bad I hadn’t thought of it before that moment.
“You’re really falling down on the job. I’m used to china, crystal and butlers. Tonight, I’m getting carryout in a carton on a boardroom table.”
“I’m sorry,” I apologized.
“I’m teasing you, Mac.” She laughed and leaned in to steal a kiss. Even the tiniest meeting of our lips sent a charge through my body.
“May I offer you a beer, Miss Samantha?” I asked as a phone rang in the other room.
“Will you excuse me, please? I’ve put in three calls to our attorney’s office today and I’m hoping they’re calling back.”
She left the room in such a hurry she forgot something extremely important. There it was—her cell phone—just staring at me. I picked it up and opened it to her texts. There was one to Polly that she wouldn’t be home tonight and also the texts from me. I looked through her recents and there it was: King Giles, MD. I listened into the other room to make sure Sam was still on the phone and opened the text dialogue.
KING: Sam this is King. I got your email. Let’s chat soon. BTW, I need to hear three words from you.
SAM: How’s Monday? Dinner Rose Hill.
KING: Perfect. I’ll catch up with you in your office.
Bastard. He’s hitting on her. Did they make dinner plans? Rose Hill is his family’s place. Shit. I took her phone to the home screen and put it back in its place, just in time for her to make her way back to the boardroom.
“Thank goodness I caught that. I would’ve been waiting on him forever.”
“Hmm?” I asked, distracted.
“The Autumn Valley attorney. He’s heading to Europe for two weeks with his family on spring break. I’m glad I got a chance to chat with him before he left.”
I nodded.
“Seems like everyone is going on vacation. Him, a couple of the nurses, even Stacy is making plans for a vacation in a couple of weeks.”
“Yeah, well, everyone needs to get away from time to time,” I said, feeling deflated.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” I said the word and then suddenly realized if I wanted my life to be honest and authentic, I needed to be honest and authentic. “Actually, no.”
Sam put down the beer she’d just poured into one of the bar glasses from the boardroom. “What is it?” she asked, seeing the concern on my face.
“Sam, I need to ask you something.”
“You can ask me anything. Nothing between us, right?”
Holy shit, I can’t believe I’m going here. “Are you seeing anyone else?”
“Am I seeing anyone else?” She repeated my question with a laugh.
Catching the somber expression on my face, she quickly lost her smile. “You mean am I sleeping with anyone else?” she asked, dropping her head and looking defeated.
“No.” I withdrew the question quickly. “Well, yes. I suppose if you are seeing someone, you could be sleeping with him.”
She was visibly upset and taken by surprise. “Why are you asking?”
“I’m not trying to hurt your feelings, or insult you. I just want to know.”
“What do you take me for? Some easy lay that gets around?”
“I know you aren’t that kind of girl.”
“Then why ask the question?”
“It’s just…” I love you. “Stacy led me to believe that you and King were possibly…”
“Possibly what?”
“A thing. Together. I don’t know. Jesus, I suck at this.” I pounded my fist into the table. “She made it a point,” I said, attempting to calm myself down. “To let me know you were intimate with him today.”
“Intimate? And you listened to her?” Sam asked, noticeably upset.
“I’m sorry.” I dropped my head in embarrassment.
“Are you jealous, Mac?” she asked with a tiny hint of a smile.
“Only if I have something to be jealous of. Do I?”
“I’m just a little surprised.”
“Answer the question, Sam,” I demanded, calmly allowing years of interrogation to rear its ugly head.
“Why?”
“Please answer the question,” I said, unruffled.
Without expression, she stared at me. “Not until you tell me why.”
“Jesus Christ, Sam.” I ground the words out between my teeth. “Will you just answer the
fucking question?” I immediately despised myself for being cross with her.
“Why are you doing this?” Tears began to well in her eyes.
“Dammit!” I shouted, raising my voice to her for the very first time. Running my hands nervously through my hair, I found myself suddenly pacing the boardroom. “Are you really going to make me do this? Here? Now?”
“You’re scaring me,” Sam cried as I watched her beautiful lips quiver with adrenaline.
I looked across the table into her blue eyes—the eyes in my dream, the woman of my dreams. I stopped and put both hands on the back of a leather chair as if to brace myself.
“I—” I began and then dropped my head, pausing for only a moment before looking up to her. “I’m falling in love with you.”
Her distressed face softened into astonishment and she whispered one word. “What?”
“I said,” I paused again to wrap my own head around the words coming out of my mouth. “I love you, Sam.”
Tears streamed down her face as she slowly walked to me, closing the gap of silence between us. Looking down, she took my hand and steadily brought it to her face. I brushed her tear-stained cheek gently with my thumb and waited for her to say something. “I love you, Mac.”
Emotion flooded my body at the sound of her words. I swallowed hard, choking back the tears I’d buried deep for so long. Pulling her to me, I pressed my open mouth to hers. I kissed her neck and worked my way to her ear, biting at her sexy jawline. She leaned into my body, and for the first time in my life, I felt completely conscious of love. I pulled her to me and kissed her hard, running my hands down her back. I couldn’t get close enough to her. I needed to possess every part of her—worship every inch of her being. My physical expression could never truly show her how much I loved her. But I would certainly try.
I pressed into her, my manhood standing at attention through my suit pants. Sam held my face in her hands. She smiled and kissed me deeply. Sliding her fingers down my chest, she lingered at my waist. Unbuckling my belt quickly and efficiently, I kiss her beautiful mouth and could feel my body lurching to be free from the confines of clothes. Dropping her hands, she lightly stroked me through my pants as she moved away from me.
