Rick

by Peggy Jaeger

  When he got closer to the bed, she grabbed his wrist and yanked him down closer to her.

  “This is for taking care of my sister when she was sick.” She lifted up and kissed his cheek. “And this is for keeping her safe.” She kissed the other side. “Thank you. She never likes to ask for help, even when she needs it.”

  “I think stubbornness is a genetically linked trait in your family.”

  “It is, and between Abby and Gemma they got the lion’s share. But Gem has Ky. Abby has…well, no one she can lean on. So, thanks.”

  “None are necessary, but you’re welcome anyway.”

  She tilted her head as she continued staring up at him. “Josh told me about her client’s husband and what he did. I can tell you the day I saw him in Abby’s office, I was terrified to my toes. He’s a scary, violent man. The way he screamed at Abby, I was afraid he was going to hit her. I think if the security guards hadn’t come in when they had, he would have.”

  Rick’s jaw tightened. Not gonna happen. Not while he was around. Not ever, truth be told.

  “Josh also told me how you’ve been protecting Abby in case he shows up intending to harm her.”

  Rick shook his head and grinned. “I owe your sister an apology now because I didn’t believe her when she said there was no way Josh wouldn’t tell you. He wasn’t supposed to because we didn’t want you to worry, especially when you were so far along.”

  “It shows you haven’t been married if you seriously thought that was never going to happen,” she said with a laugh.

  “Yeah.” He threw a speaking glance at his partner, cocked his head at him. “He said the same thing. But listen, she’s safe with me. Really. I’ve got it covered, so please don’t worry. No one is gonna get close to her. That’s a promise. One you can take to the bank. You concentrate on resting and taking care of the little clone.”

  His joke filled its intended purpose when Kandy laughed. She grabbed his hand and squeezed it. “Thank you again.”

  He bent and kissed her forehead. “Any time.”

  Holding the baby one-handed, Josh stretched out his hand.

  “Yo, bro,” Rick said, taking it and nodding at the baby. “You guys did good.”

  “Kandy did all the work.”

  “You were around for the fun parts,” she said from the bed.

  “And on that note.” Rick lifted his hands. “I’m out.”

  Abby pounced the moment he came out of the room. “What was that all about? What did Kandy want?”

  “To quote you, ‘nosy, much?’ ” He kept walking toward the elevator until she grabbed his upper arm and pulled him to a stop.

  She had her determined lawyer face on. Eyes focused and laser sharp, mouth a solid, take-no-prisoners line, chin tilted up enough so his hand itched to cup it and plant a big wet kiss across her mouth.

  “Is everything okay?”

  He pried her fingers from around his arm and twined his own through them. With a subtle yank, he started walking again. “Everything is fine. She just wanted to thank me.”

  “For what?”

  The elevator arrived immediately, and because it was filled, Rick shook his head and squeezed the hand he held.

  “Okay, James Bond,” she said once they were in the lobby. “Tell me.”

  “You talk about me being single-minded. She thanked me for staying with you when you were sick. She was worried and upset she couldn’t come to see you herself.”

  “That’s all? Because she could have phoned or texted for that.”

  With a shake of his head, he led her to the parking garage. “God, you’re determined. I bet witnesses for the opposing side just vomit up information when you start pecking at them.”

  “Your reaction solidifies she did say something else. I knew it. Tell me.”

  Once he was settled in the car and had turned them into traffic, he said, “I’m gonna tell you this, but I don’t want any gloating. Do I make myself clear?”

  “I don’t gloat.”

  “Sweetheart, gloat is your middle name.”

  “That’s mean. And don’t try to distract me. I hate that.”

  His lips shifted upward as he snuck a quick glance at her. “Nobody’s fool, that’s you.” He took a deep breath. “Oh, what the hell. Kandy thanked me for making sure you were protected while Genocardi is still on the loose. Apparently, Josh told her everything.”

  Silence came back at him. Snaking another glance her way, he wasn’t surprised to see the knowing grin on her face. “What? No comeback? No gloating comments?”

  “I’m saying them in my head.”

  He shook his head again and concentrated on the traffic.

  At one point, he gave voice to what he’d been thinking about in Kandy’s room. “You looked pretty comfortable with the baby in your arms. Very…maternal.”

  Abby snorted.

  He glanced over at her. “Not experiencing the need to procreate, Counselor?”

  When she didn’t respond, he glanced over again. “Abby?”

  “It’s not in the cards for me.”

  “What? Having a baby?”

  “Any of it. Marriage. Motherhood. It’s not for me.”

  She went silent again. He knew without a doubt if he stopped the car and turned to face her, she’d be biting down on a corner of her mouth. Something was upsetting her. Something he’d said? He tried to lighten the mood by asking, “Not hearing your biological clock ticking away?”

  “Is that a crack about my age, Bannerman?”

  Good. That was better. He knew how to deal with a snarky Abby.

  He tossed her what he hoped was a cheeky grin. Her blistering glare kicked him right in the stomach and shot down to his groin.

  “You’re, what? Thirty-five? Thirty-six?”

  “You know perfectly well I’m thirty-two. You were at my birthday party in the Hamptons, although why Kandy invited you I have no idea. I told her I only wanted people I liked.”

  She unwound her hands and crossed her arms over her chest.

  “Still, I read somewhere after, like, thirty-five, your eggs are considered geriatric. Or is it senile? I think that’s the term. Ellie would know. You should ask her.”

  The heat of her stare scorched the side of his face. It took everything in him not to laugh.

  “For your information, Fred, my eggs are hale and hearty.”

  Oh, he was gonna punish her for that. “Still, you and your eggs aren’t getting any younger. You need to find a guy, get married, and have some kids before it’s too late.”

  “You know, I can’t tell if you’re just being your naturally obnoxious self, or if you’re trying to get a rise out of me. Either way, you’re being a pain.”

  “Then tell me—seriously—why you don’t think you’ll get married and have kids. You come from a big, loving family. Everyone is supportive and despite the crazy lives you all lead, there’s relatively little drama.”

  “You think my family has little drama? Are you kidding me? We put the dysfunction in dysfunctional.”

  “From the outside looking in, you all appear pretty stable to me.”

  She was silent for a moment. He pulled the car into her parking garage for the second time that day.

  “Maybe,” she said while they walked to the elevator. “Maybe now we do. But when we were kids, when my father left and even before, not so much.”

  “All that was decades ago, Abby. You’ve all moved on, grown up. Even Hannah has. You should be past it by now.”

  She nailed him with the lawyer glare that both annoyed him and made him want to take her in his arms at the same time.

  “Are you? Have you gotten over what happened in your childhood?”

  “Different situation.” He shook his head when she unlocked her apartment door. “My childhood was filled with violence and physical abuse. When you’re surrounded by it, it leaves a visible scar.”

  She kicked her shoes off and picked up a screaming Moonlight. “Well, I may not have be
en physically abused, but the emotional and psychological torture was as real and as painful. Being abandoned by the one man who should love you more than any other man in your life, who basically tosses you out of his life like you were yesterday’s garbage, leaves visible and invisible scars, Bannerman.” The cat’s insistent purring had her raising her voice to be heard. “And makes you never want to be in the situation where you’ll be left again. So don’t talk to me about scars, because mine are so deep they ache on a daily basis.”

  She turned on her heel and marched into the kitchen.

  They’d left before cleaning up after dinner, and the kitchen was a mess.

  She put the cat down and turned the tap on. Before she could put the frying pan into the sink, he reached around her and turned it off.

  “Why do you always do that?” she yelled and turned to face him, fury and heartbreak in her eyes. “It’s infuriating.”

  “I’m sorry,” he told her. When her brow grooved, he reached up a finger and smoothed it again. “I’m sorry I teased you. Sorry I upset you. It was never my intention.”

  Her shoulders dropped, and she dipped her chin.

  Rick lifted it back up. “I get it, Abby, I really do. Your father’s betrayal sucked. For you, Hannah, and all your sisters.”

  Her mouth pulled into a thin line. “There’s a but in there. I can hear it, loud and clear.”

  He ran his thumb over her tight lips, pleased when they relaxed again. “But you shouldn’t allow what he did to ruin your chances of happiness.”

  “I’m happy.”

  “You know what I mean. When you were holding Sophie Grace, I was watching you. Love spilled out from every one of your pores and straight into her. You deserve your own family, husband and kids, to give that kind of love to.”

  Her eyes filled. So many fleeting emotions passed over her features as he stood there staring at her. Before her tears spilled over, she shook her head and swiped her hands across her face.

  “Love isn’t enough,” she said. “My father told my mother he loved her every day. And he still betrayed her and then left. Left her. Left his children. And he never looked back. Never cared what was going to happen to us. It didn’t matter to him if we went hungry or were forced out of our home. I will never allow myself to be put in a similar situation. Never.”

  His heart broke for the child she’d been, the hurt she’d endured. “Abby—”

  “No. I don’t want to talk about this anymore.” She scrubbed her hands down her face. “I’m tired, and I still have to clean all this up and prepare for tomorrow.”

  She’d shut down, and he knew pushing wasn’t going to help. Resigned, Rick stepped back. “Go do what you need to do. I’ll clean up.”

  “Rick—”

  “You cooked, Abby. I’ll clean. Go.” He reached down and lifted Moonlight, propped her in Abby’s arms. “And take the noisy tripod with you.”

  A tiny grin blossomed while she cuddled the cat. “Thanks.”

  Hours later he finished the internet search he’d been doing, checked to make sure the apartment was secure, and then slipped in beside her. They hadn’t discussed if he could spend the night again in her bed, and if she asked him to now, he would settle for the couch.

  She was almost out but must have sensed him because she turned and cuddled into him, a soft cry escaping through her lips. “You’re so warm,” she mumbled. “Like a blanket.”

  Rick tucked her under his arm and pulled her close. “Go to sleep, sweetheart.”

  “Hmm. Sorry about before. Sucks to know you’re not good enough to stick around for.”

  She yawned, and he wasn’t sure she knew how much that statement said about her. Or how much it explained why she was the way she was. The mild OCD, the zeal with which she defended her clients.

  Minutes later, he whispered, “No man you love will ever leave you, Abby.” He placed a soft kiss on her brow.

  “You will,” she murmured.

  And then she was out.

  Chapter Sixteen

  “Your Honor, Mrs. Hampton isn’t asking for the moon. She merely wants her ex-husband, the father of the four children named, to provide the child support he was ordered to according to the divorce settlement.”

  Rick’s eyes flicked to the opposing table. The ex-husband was furiously whispering to his lawyer as Abby pleaded her client’s case. While she continued, outlining to the letter and dollar what was being asked for, his gaze drifted over her.

  Today she wore a simple light-cognac-colored dress that ended a hair below her knee and was cinched at the waist. Her wardrobe, he’d found, was more sedate when she had to appear in court. Sedate, but utterly feminine. Three-inch ice-pick heels pushed her up to his eye level. For the first time since he’d been with her, she’d wound her hair into a stylish twist that had him fantasizing about all the ways he could unbind it.

  The little declaration she’d made right before falling sleep had kept him up half the night.

  Had she even realized what she’d said?

  Rick wasn’t hopeful enough to think he held a place in her heart. He knew he was more a burden she had to accept until he was convinced she was out of danger. The simple fact they’d become intimate was both a consequence of continually being together and four years of pent-up lust and hormones between them. There was no way he meant anything more to her than a way to relieve those urges.

  Was there?

  His beeper vibrated. A quick glance at Kyle Donovan’s number and he slipped out to the hallway.

  Rick connected the call. “Bannerman.”

  “You got a few minutes?”

  Since Abby was safe and secure in the courtroom, he asked, “What’s up?”

  “I wanted to tell you your hunch about the cases being connected is dead on.”

  Rick’s pulse jumped.

  “I went and had a little visit with Edwards’ last roommate at the prison yesterday after we spoke in Abby’s office. Edwards had a plan for when he got released.”

  “He was gonna make the people who helped put him in jail pay, right?”

  “Pretty much. He really had a boner for the social services crew, though, that took him away from his son. Judge Aaronson and Fields were the names he bitched about the most. Not the most intelligent thing to do, declare your intentions to another inmate. The roomie told me Edwards boasted about what he was gonna do to the people who wrecked his life. The kid’s been a frequent visitor to the jail since he aged out of foster care. Once a month, he made the trek upstate for the day. Probably when they concocted their revenge plan.”

  “Any idea where the son is?”

  Donovan’s sigh had an edge to it. “No. He wasn’t required to leave any contact info with social services after he turned eighteen. Kid’s turned into a ghost.”

  “He has to be flopping somewhere,” Rick said. “What about Edwards senior? You’ve got to have a location on him. He’s gotta clock in with his parole officer, do his mandated drug screens.”

  “Yeah, about that.”

  “Don’t tell me he hasn’t been checking in.”

  “Not since the first two visits. His PO told me he hasn’t seen or heard from him in almost eight weeks.”

  “I’m assuming there’s at least a warrant out for him?”

  “Yeah.”

  “The judge’s attack and the murder of a respected lawyer like Fields has to help with finding him. The brass isn’t gonna want to drag its heels on this. I can help.”

  “Not gonna happen, Bannerman. Look, I know you’re good at your job. I had you checked out. Impressive military and civilian record. But that’s what you are—a civilian. We need to keep this info in house and deal with it our way. The only reason I’m calling is because Pecorrini cares about Abby and wants to ensure you keep her safe.”

  Rick bit back the oath threatening to shoot from him. “That’s my first priority.”

  “Good. Then we’re on the same page.”

  Not even close.

&
nbsp; “I’ve gotta go,” Donovan said. “Hopefully, we’ll be able to find these two soon now that we know who we’re searching for.”

  Rick ended the call and went back into the courtroom just as Abby received a hug from her client. A quick gander at the opposing team solidified who’d won this legal round. Clinton Hampton’s face was boiled tomato red as he scowled over at Abby and his ex-wife. The idea flitted through him to put himself in front of Hampton’s face and let him see who he’d have to get past to get to the lovely lawyer. One glance at Abby’s face as she regarded Hampton and his counsel, and the thought dissolved. This was her world, and she could more than stand up for herself.

  Rick stayed back while Hampton’s lawyer crossed to Abby. After they shook hands, the lawyer escorted his still-scowling client from the room. As they passed him, Rick had to clamp down on the uncontrollable urge to bump into the ex-husband and watch as he stumbled.

  “Another check in the win box for you,” he said while Abby stuffed papers into her briefcase.

  “It should never have come to this.” She shook her head. “Clinton Hampton should have abided by the terms of the child-support settlement from the beginning instead of trying to get it overturned. Now the judge has not only ruled Hampton has to make restitution for everything he owes, he’s seriously considering upping the monthly payments because he thinks they’re too low. This is what happens when people don’t abide by legal decrees. It causes unnecessary trouble.”

  Rick reached over and took her briefcase from her hand. For a moment, their fingers connected.

  “Where did you go?” she asked.

  “Donovan called.” With a hand pressed against the small of her back, he guided her out of the courtroom while he explained the details of the conversation.

  She stayed silent until they were on the courthouse steps. Then she stopped and turned to face him. “My name is on the Edwards social service case.”

  “Yes.” He moved one step down and faced her.

  “And Edwards has already tried to hurt me.”