Midnight Reckoning

by Rebecca Deel

  “Don’t you?” he whispered. “I’m hoping you already love me, at least a little. I promise I’ll be a good husband to you and father to our son. I’ll do everything possible to make you happy for the rest of our lives.” He searched her gaze a moment. “And it would be for the rest of our lives, sweetheart. Make no mistake. The Winter clan doesn’t do divorce. That word’s not in our vocabulary. Whatever problems we might have, we’ll work them out. If we both give one hundred percent to our marriage, it will thrive and become something incredible.”

  Sophie searched his face for a moment. “If I agreed, when would you want to marry me?”

  “Soon.” Micah caught a falling tear on the tip of his finger. “I want our son born with the Winter name. There’s protection in that and I want you both to have it.” Another kiss. And another. “Take a chance, Sophie. Leap into the unknown with me. Let’s create a family filled with love and laughter and, once we round up all the bad guys gunning for both of us, safety. We’ll be amazing parents to Nathan and any other children we might be blessed with.”

  A broad smile bloomed on her lush, kiss-swollen mouth. “Yes.”

  He stilled. “Yes? You’ll marry me?”

  “I’ll marry you, Micah Winter.”

  “I love you, Sophie Valero.” He kissed the bare ring finger of her left hand. “You won’t regret your trust in me, baby.”

  “I just hope you know what you’re letting yourself in for.”

  “I can’t wait to find out.” Micah glanced at his watch. “In the meantime, we have a couple errands to run.”

  Her lips curved. “You ask me to marry you with one breath and announce we’re running errands with the next one?”

  Micah grinned. “You’ll like these errands. I promise.”

  #

  Sophie stared down at the two-carat, princess-cut blue diamond engagement ring sparkling on her finger. The gem caught the sun’s rays and bounced the reflection around the vehicle. A sting of regret pierced the happiness welling inside. Sierra would have loved the ring.

  “Do you like it, baby?”

  Her laughter filled the SUV’s cabin. “What’s not to like? I didn’t expect something so elaborate.” She eyed the ring, biting her lower lip. What if she lost it? A band tightened around her chest. Or worse, what if someone stole the ring? She wanted to laugh at the irony. A cat burglar, afraid of another thief stealing a treasured possession. But of all people, she knew how easily something of value might be taken.

  The possibility of losing the ring hurt, but nothing terrified her more than the thought of losing Micah or Nathan. Sophie didn’t think she would survive if she lost either one. Who knew the taciturn Secret Service agent would wind himself so deeply around her heart so fast.

  “If you want something different, we’ll exchange it later.”

  The reserved tone to his voice drew her gaze to his face. No emotion, no expression as he watched her response. Sophie’s stomach clenched. Her approval mattered to him. She hadn’t meant to hurt Micah’s feelings. Unsure what his financial limits were, Sophie had wandered the store while Micah consulted with the store owner about cut and quality. Thirty minutes later, Sophie walked from the store with a ring more beautiful than she’d ever imagined on her finger. She would have been happy with a simple gold wedding band.

  Her hand clenched over the ring. “No one is touching my ring.” Her voice conveyed the depth of her feelings for the ring, but mostly for the man who’d given it to her. “I will never trade it in. It’s perfect and will always remind me of you and how much I love you.”

  Micah froze in the act of cranking the SUV’s engine. His gaze locked on hers, blazing with an intense heat she’d not seen from him. “Now? You tell me you love me now when we’re in the middle of a parking lot in downtown Nashville and I can’t do anything to show you how that makes me feel?”

  “Seemed appropriate under the circumstances. Should I take it back?”

  He huffed out a laugh and tugged her forward for a blistering kiss. “No. Thank you for your gift, my love. Can you handle one more errand?”

  Sophie’s heart squeezed at the endearment. “Let’s go.”

  An hour later, she walked from the downtown building in a state of shock, a wedding ring snug against the diamond on her finger. Sunlight glinted off the matching gold ring on Micah’s left hand.

  A fierce satisfaction pierced the haze. He was hers to guard and protect now. No one was going to take Micah from her and Nathan, including The Boss and the Kings. She glanced at her watch. “We still have a few hours before we need to change for Mrs. Graham’s party. What’s next?”

  “A stop by Natural Health.”

  Walking into the store with Micah at her back, she stared at the newcomer behind the counter with Kelsey. Who was that? A friend of Kelsey’s or was this woman one of the enemy?

  “Hi, Lily,” Micah said, his hand resting on Sophie’s lower back. “Anything yet?”

  Lily? Sophie studied the woman. She looked tiny as she walked out from behind the counter. And young. Jailbait young. Confidence oozed from her stride, blond ponytail swinging. Her casual clothes and open expression belied the sharp, assessing gaze, as if she were cataloging potential threats from her and Micah.

  Sophie revised her own assessment. Young appearance, old eyes. This woman was well acquainted with the harsh side of life. “Who is she?” she whispered to Micah.

  “She’s one of Brent’s people.”

  “Oh, Micah. Thank you.” He’d taken extra precautions to protect her workers from more danger. She smiled at Lily. “I’m Sophie Valero.” A quick squeeze from Micah and she caught her breath. A smile at his amused face, then, “Sophie Valero Winter,” she amended.

  “Sophie!” Kelsey squealed. “Congratulations! When did you get married?”

  “Less than an hour ago.”

  The storeroom door flew open and Todd raced toward the front, broom handle in his hand. He skidded to a stop when he spotted Sophie and Micah. “Everything okay? I heard Kelsey scream.”

  Lily moved her hand away from lower back.

  Sophie’s brows rose. Lily was armed? Of course. How could she protect the store’s workers if she wasn’t carrying a gun?

  “So what’s with all the excitement?” Todd asked.

  “Sophie and Micah just got married.” Kelsey said, grinning at her boyfriend. “Isn’t that fabulous?”

  “Congratulations, Sophie.” Todd wrapped her in a gentle hug. As always, he treated her as if she would break if he squeezed too hard. After releasing her, he held out his hand to Micah. “Take good care of her and the junior soccer player she’s carrying.”

  “You have my word.” Micah turned to Lily. “No problems?”

  “Nope. Pretty dull around here.” A quick glance at Sophie. “Sorry. I’m used to more active assignments. Brent’s keeping in contact with me by text. He asked if I had a little black dress. What is that about?”

  “We have to attend a black tie birthday party tonight,” Sophie said.

  Lily scrunched her nose. “I guess black fatigues won’t work at a shindig that fancy.”

  “What about black dress pants?” Kelsey suggested. “That’s always appropriate. And you already have accessories to match.”

  Todd rolled his eyes at his girlfriend’s remark. “You just like her gun.”

  “Brent wants you to attend Nelda Graham’s birthday party?” Sophie asked.

  “He wants another set of eyes watching over both of you.”

  Micah’s phone chirped. He reached into his pocket and checked the display. “Do you have a television in the store, love?”

  “There’s one in the breakroom at the back of the store. Why?”

  “Another problem. Let’s go. The rest of you stay here.”

  Sophie hurried after Micah, his long stride outpacing her shorter one even with his uneven gait. She caught up with him as he aimed the remote at the flat screen television mounted on the wall.

  Tony Garza�
��s picture dominated the screen. Under his mug shot, big white letters in a red box announced Garza’s death in one of the holding cells. Sophie grabbed the nearest chair and sat before her knees gave way. The reporter told what few facts were known. The shot shifted to a live scene showing an ambulance leaving the Metro jail, lights and siren off.

  “Micah, what does this mean?”

  He turned to face her, expression grim. “There’s a dirty cop involved in this and we just lost our best lead to the man behind all this.”

  #

  “Anything on Garza’s murder?” Micah asked Brent as he seated Sophie and shifted her legs to rest on the couch in Brent’s office.

  “Autopsy’s not scheduled until tomorrow, but early word is he was knifed in the chow line by another prisoner.”

  “How would an inmate get a knife?” Sophie asked. “They confiscate stuff like that, don’t they?”

  “Happens all the time,” Brent said. “Prisoners find ways to make weapons. In this case, someone slipped the other inmate a hard plastic shiv. Cops have both men in isolation and confiscated the weapon. Don’t know who ordered the hit.”

  “The Boss has influential friends.” Sophie dropped her bag to the floor and slumped deeper into the sofa.

  “Good intimidation tactics.” She looked exhausted. Maybe he should insist on skipping the party tonight. Nelda Graham would never want Sophie to put herself or the baby at risk.

  Micah limped to the small refrigerator in the corner and took out two bottles of water, carried one to Sophie, drank from the other himself. He ignored her grimace. She needed the water. He’d help her to her feet when she needed to get up. “Inside source?” he asked Brent.

  A sheepish grin, then, “An old girlfriend in the medical examiner’s office.”

  “What’s next?” Sophie asked. “We don’t have another lead to the guy pulling the strings.”

  “Glad you asked,” Brent said. He spun around to his computer. “One of my techies just sent this to my inbox.” With a few keystrokes, a large flat screen television lit on the side office wall.

  A picture of some black tie event flashed on the screen. Micah set the water bottle on Brent’s desk and moved closer to the wall. “Who are these people?”

  “Art patrons. These people collect paintings.”

  He studied the faces. None of the women he and Sophie visited in the last couple days were in the picture. What was he missing?

  “Check the background, Micah.” Another keystroke sounded behind him and the screen picture shifted, enlarging the view of the background.

  “Hello, Detective Abbott.” Looked as though the good detective was working security. Moonlighting. No crime in that. But it made the hair on the back of his neck prickle.

  Behind him, Sophie gasped. “Brent, can you shift the picture more to the left?”

  “Sure.”

  Micah examined the screen closer. Nothing caught his attention. “What do you see, baby?”

  “Look at the painting at the very edge of the screen. That’s one of Sierra’s portraits.”

  “How do you know it’s one of hers?” Brent asked. “I can’t blow up the picture anymore without losing clarity. Can’t check the artist’s signature from this shot.”

  Micah studied the painting. The style was similar to the ones he and Sophie delivered. A closer examination of the portrait in person would net them the name of the artist, though. Provided the gallery hadn’t already sold it.

  “I saw it in one of Sierra’s painting journals.”

  A connection, however tenuous, between Abbott and Sierra Winter. “Can we identify these people in the foreground, Brent?”

  “Working on that as we speak. Here are a few more pictures.”

  The screen shifted again. Another black tie event, this time in a hotel ballroom from the looks of the background. Maybe Vanderbilt Plaza. He’d been assigned a vice-presidential detail there a few years earlier.

  He didn’t recognize anyone in the foreground of this picture either. Brent shifted the view and once again Abbott popped into prominence. The shots progressed and Micah noted the detective showed up in the background of various art events, several of which featured Sierra’s paintings. One snapshot captured Sierra and Abbott in the same frame.

  Micah checked the date stamped at the bottom of the frame. Six weeks before David and Sierra’s fateful trip to Gatlinburg.

  “Coincidence?” Micah murmured.

  “No such thing.”

  Was Abbott dirty or someone on his investigative team? Tension zoomed through his body. Was Abbott responsible for the threat to his wife and son? “What has your tech squad learned about Abbott?”

  “Surface. Nothing in his financials yet. He’s not living in a home too big for his salary and his car is a tan Ford Fusion. Still making payments.”

  Micah rubbed his jaw, beard stubble rasping against his fingers. Wouldn’t be easy. Abbott had been on the job too long to make rookie mistakes if he was dirty.

  “If Abbott is The Boss, maybe he’s not selling the jewelry,” Sophie said. “What if he plans to sell the pieces later?”

  Something about that scenario didn’t fit. Those pieces were all very distinctive and the wealthy always covered their valuables with insurance to recoup losses. He considered the possibility of the thief taking jewelry out of the country. Make it harder to trace, but not impossible. Still, the sheer bulk of some of the missing jewelry would be prohibitive in transporting it and it wasn’t something you stuffed in the luggage. What if the airline lost the bag or another enterprising thief discovered the cache and lifted it? “Maybe he’s not selling the jewelry. Too distinctive and too hard to transport. What if he takes the jewels out of the mountings and keeps the stones until he’s ready to leave the country? Easier to transport loose stones with the right container or just sell one of the stones and hire a private plane.”

  “Explains the absence of a money trail,” Brent said. “I’ll call in a favor, get the names of Abbott’s team. We’ll start deep background on all of them.”

  The more Micah thought about the loose stones theory, the more it resonated in his gut. He turned back to the wall screen, zeroed in on the shot of Abbott and Sierra together. “Sophie, look at Sierra’s face. What do you see?” He didn’t know his sister-in-law that well. Hadn’t spent enough time in country, but Sierra didn’t appear happy.

  “She’s angry. It’s the same expression I saw each time she discovered I returned a piece of jewelry she stole.”

  “Wish we had a video clip of that meeting and a lip reader.”

  “That shot was taken at the Lauren Art Gallery. High class place like that has top notch security with cameras inside.” Brent’s fingers tapped on his keyboard again. “I’ll ask around, see who has the security contract. Maybe we’ll get lucky and they’ll have security footage of the event still on file somewhere.”

  It was a long shot at best, Micah knew. That kind of footage ate a lot of memory. He shook his head. “Other priorities. What’s your gut say?”

  “I’ll chase it down, but it’s a waste of time. I can assign it to one of the new tech trainees. Good exercise.”

  “Agreed.” Micah eyed his friend for a moment as Brent’s fingers flew over the keyboard. Yet another reference to his company’s rapid expansion. His friend needed help and Micah wanted to be a full-time father to his son, not a part-time absentee parent who never knew when he’d be in country next. He didn’t want Nathan disappointed when Micah missed birthdays, ball games, holidays. He didn’t want to sacrifice his family for his career. Yeah, it was time to submit his resignation.

  Now the decision had been made, Micah found himself anxious to get to a computer and take care of paperwork necessary to separate himself from the Secret Service. He’d given enough of his life to protect the Washington elite. His shifted priorities were wrapped, at the moment, in one small bundle. “Brent.”

  His friend paused, eyebrow raised.

  “Get my paperw
ork ready.”

  Brent looked smug. “Already completed. Just needs your signature. We’ll discuss specifics when the threat to Sophie is resolved.” He reached in his desk drawer and slid a sheaf of papers across the desk in his direction. “Welcome aboard, Micah.”

  “What’s going on?” Sophie looked puzzled.

  Micah signed his name with a deep sense of satisfaction and rightness. “I’m joining Brent’s company.”

  “Are you sure? I don’t want you to regret the choice. I’d rather deal with you being gone a lot than home and miserable. If you want to stay with the Secret Service, we’ll make it work. Military families deal with more absences than what we would.”

  “I want to be a full-time husband and father. The only choice I would regret is missing one moment of my time with you and our son.” He shot a glance at Brent. “Anything from your new field operatives?”

  “Abbott’s chasing his tail. He’s on the Donovan case and been leaving messages for you here.” Brent grinned. “Each one more belligerent than the last. If I didn’t know better, I’d say that man’s ticked.”

  Didn’t bother Micah in the least. As long as the man didn’t harass Sophie, he’d deal with the detective’s ire. “Same message?”

  “Yep. Wants to interview you both again.”

  Micah checked his watch. His lip quirked up at one corner. What a shame. Too late to call the cop this evening if they planned to make Nelda’s birthday party. In fact, he barely had enough time to buy dinner before they changed for the party.

  He turned to Sophie. “Any dinner requests, baby?”

  “Salad with grilled chicken and sweet tea.”

  Micah shuddered. He’d buy Sophie as many salads as she wanted so long as he didn’t have to eat them. “Grass clippings with grilled chicken. Got it. Brent?”

  “Anything but that.”

  He leaned over and kissed his wife. Micah had a hard time believing she was really his, but those gold rings on her finger were indisputable proof that she belonged to him. And he was hers. Man, she had him good. He wondered how long it would take before she realized he’d do almost anything to make her happy. “Don’t go anywhere by yourself, not even to the restroom.”