Fatal Scandal: Book Eight of the Fatal Series (21 page)

“How’s life in the White House?”

“The jury’s still out. Anything new?”

“I met the guy this morning. Scotty looks like him.” That news had Nick’s heart sinking. He enjoyed thinking that Scotty looked a little like
him
. “I told him I represented his adoptive parents and asked if he’d be willing to sign away his parental rights so that Scotty could be adopted by a loving family.”

Nick felt like his heart was going to stop while he waited for the other shoe to drop. “And?”

“He had no idea he has a son. His shock was quite genuine. He’d like to meet him before he signs anything.”

“Ugh,” Nick said with a groan. “And how do we do that without him finding out who Scotty’s adoptive parents are?”

“I believe the Secret Service detail might be a giveaway.”

“Damn it, Andy. What do we do? Can we offer him money?”

“You’re getting way ahead of the game worrying about that. And besides, no matter what happens, I wouldn’t do that. It can come back to bite you in the ass in a number of unpleasant ways.”

“If you’re talking politically, I don’t care about that.”

“I mean legally. The court frowns on money changing hands in custody situations.”

“Son of a bitch,” Nick whispered. “What if he doesn’t want to meet his real father?”

“I don’t think he has a choice if he wants the adoption to go through. The other option is to continue to be his legal guardian without formally adopting him. If his father doesn’t file for custody, then there’d be nothing preventing him from living with you until he’s legally an adult.”

“I don’t like that option. I want him to be my son legally and every other way. It’s what he wants too.”

“Then we have to go through the motions, I’m afraid.”

“I want to know everything there is to know about this guy.”

“My investigator is working on a report. I’ll get it to you as soon as I have it. In the meantime, why don’t you talk to Scotty and see what he has to say about it?”

The thought of talking to Scotty about this topic made Nick queasy. Just when the boy was starting to feel comfortable in his new home and life, this was going to rock the foundation of that new life. “I’ll do that and get back to you.”

“Sounds good. I know this is a tough situation, but if we do it by the book, we shouldn’t have any trouble.”

“I don’t like that word—
shouldn’t
.”

“There’re never any guarantees, but I’ll do everything I can to get you all the outcome you want.”

“Thanks, Andy. I’ll talk to you soon.” He ended the call and tossed his phone on the desk.

“That sounds worrisome,” Terry said.

“It is. His biological father didn’t know about him and wants to meet him before he’ll sign away his parental rights.”

“Damn.”

A knock on the door preceded Lauren, one of the receptionists from his Senate staff who had come with them to the White House. “Are you available for a Mr. Scott Cappuano, sir?”

“Always,” Nick said, his smile wide even though his heart ached from what he needed to tell Scotty. “Send him in.”

“This is so freaking cool,” Scotty said when he came into the office wearing his “work clothes,” as he referred to the navy blazer, light blue dress shirt and blue and red striped tie that matched Nick’s. The khaki pants were new since he’d grown out of the others.

“I believe ‘freaking’ is on Mrs. Littlefield’s swear list,” Nick said as he got up to hug his son.

“Sam says it’s not a swear.”

“Do
not
take her advice on swearing, buddy. You’ll end up in detention.”

Terry laughed. “I gotta say your dad makes a good point.”

“She does have a potty mouth,” Scotty said.

“Speaking of my lovely wife, is she with you?”

Scotty shook his head. “My detail brought me over.”

“So she wasn’t home yet when you left?”

“Nope.”

To Terry, Nick said, “Sam was worried about being able to get in here if she wasn’t able to come with Scotty and his detail. Is there someone we need to tell at the gate?”

“I’ll go check on that.”

“Thank you. Please tell them to make sure the second lady gets in when she arrives or there’ll be hell to pay.”

Smiling, Terry said, “Will do.” He left the office, closing the door behind him.

“I can’t believe you actually work here now,” Scotty said. “It’s so,
so
cool.”

“I’m glad you think so.”

“The kids at school think so too. They treat me different now.”

Immediately on alert, Nick said, “Different how?”

“Like I’m super cool because my dad is the vice president. Don’t worry. It’s a good kind of different.”

“Oh,” Nick said, relieved to hear that. “Okay. You’d tell me if something bad was going on at school, right?”

“Sure, I would. But I don’t want to talk about school now. I want a tour of the White House! Can we walk around?”

“We can take a walk.” Amused by Scotty’s enthusiasm, Nick put his hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Before we do, though, there’s something I wanted to talk to you about.” He’d promised to be honest with Scotty about the adoption proceedings, so he knew he couldn’t delay in telling him the news.

“Is it bad?”

“It’s not bad so much as it’s kind of a weird situation.”

“What is?”

“So you know that as part of your adoption, we had to make an effort to find your biological father so he could sign away his rights to you.”

“Yeah. Did you find him?”

“Yes.”

“Oh. So what does that mean?”

“You know my friend Andy, who is handling the adoption for us?”

Scotty nodded.

“He went to New Jersey this week to meet him. Your father.”

“He’s not my father!
You
are. You’re the only father I’ve ever had and the only one I want.” Scotty’s chin trembled and his brown eyes glistened with unshed tears. “You can’t let him take me away from you and Sam. You
can’t
.”

Nick felt like he’d been sucker punched both by what Scotty had said and how undone he was. He hugged him.

Scotty wrapped his arms around Nick and held on tight.

Nick ran his hand over the boy’s back. “No one is going to take you away from us, buddy. No matter what happens, you’re old enough to tell a judge where you want to live, and that will matter more than anything, if it comes to that.”

“What do you mean, if it comes to that? What’s going to happen?”

Nick stepped back from Scotty, but kept a hand on his shoulder as he led him to one of the sofas that made up the small sitting area in his office. “He says he didn’t know about you. He wants to meet you before he signs the document we need that will relinquish his rights to you.”

“What does that word mean? Relinquish.”

“Give up.”

“How is it possible that he didn’t know about me?”

“Well, sometimes women don’t tell the father about a baby.”

“Why would they do that?”

“Sometimes it’s because they don’t want the man in their child’s life. Other times, the couple breaks up before they find out about the baby, and the mother chooses not to tell the father.”

“That doesn’t seem fair to the dad.”

“It’s not, but it happens.”

“He really wants to meet me?”

“He does. How do you feel about that?”

“I’ve always sort of wondered about him.”

“Of course you have. That’s totally normal.”

“Where is he?”

“In New Jersey. In a place called Atlantic City.”

“They have casinos there. I saw a commercial.”

“That’s right and there’s a really cool boardwalk that runs along the beach too.”

“Will we go there to meet him?”

“I think we’ll have to if we want him to sign the paper. Would you be okay with that?”

Scotty was quiet for a long moment as he thought about it. “If we went there, the Secret Service would have to go with us, right?”

“Where we go, they go. And just think, we’d have to ride on Air Force Two to get there.”

“That’d be cool,” Scotty said with an uncharacteristic lack of enthusiasm. “So he’d know who you are.”

“He’d probably figure it out. Yes.”

“What if he’s not a nice guy? What if he tries to get money from you before he’ll sign the paper?”

Nick was impressed by Scotty’s grasp of the possibilities. “That could happen, I suppose. If it does, we’ll deal with it then.”

“How will we deal with it? Will you give him money to get him to sign the paper?”

“I’d give him anything he asked for if it meant clearing the way for your adoption. However, Andy has advised me that it’s not a good idea to let money change hands in these situations. The court tends to frown upon it.”

“Because it’s skeevy.”

“Right,” Nick said with a laugh. “Exactly.” He rested a hand on Scotty’s shoulder. “Listen to me. Are you listening?”

Scotty looked at him with those big brown eyes and nodded.

“There is nothing and I do mean
nothing
Sam and I wouldn’t do to keep you exactly where you belong. I don’t want you to be worried about this or sick over it or stressed out or anything else. It’s all going to be fine. We’ll go up there, we’ll meet him, he’ll sign the paper and we’ll get a judge to finalize your adoption.”

“It may not be that simple.”

“Maybe not,” Nick conceded, “but the end result will be the same. You’re ours. We’re yours. That’s not going to change. No matter what.”

“You’re telling me everything, right?”

“I promised you I would, and I always will. You can count on that.”

“He’s
not
my father,” Scotty said fiercely. “You are. I don’t want anyone to call him that.”

“You’re going to make me cry, buddy.”

“Men don’t cry.”

“They do when a boy they love with all their heart says something so sweet.” He reached for Scotty and enveloped him in another hug. “It’s all going to be okay. I swear to you.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“I’m always right.”

Scotty snorted with laughter. “Now you sound like Sam.”

Laughing, Nick released him and stood. “Let’s go do our tour before the party starts.”

“Hey, Nick?”

“Yeah?”

“I love you too. You and Sam, you’re the best parents ever, and I feel really lucky that you want me so much.”

“We’re the lucky ones. We say that every day.” As he followed Scotty out of the office, he silently vowed to protect him and the family that meant so much to him with everything he had.

Chapter Twenty

Sam watched Stahl as he made a dozen or more trips from the garage into the family room, carrying items that had clearly been placed there in anticipation of this situation.

Even though she was still berating herself for the stupidity that had put her here, she took tremendous satisfaction from his pronounced limp, which had resulted from the time he attacked her on her own front stoop. He’d left that confrontation with a broken kneecap and a ruptured testicle. That was probably why he had such a hard-on for her, a thought that turned her stomach.

Sam honestly believed she could get through anything he had in store for her as long as he didn’t touch her that way. The thought of being assaulted by him...
No.
Don’t go there.
Do not go there
.
Think about Nick and Scotty.
Think about being with Nick in the loft and in Bora Bora.
Think about the love and the joy and the life we have together
.
Don’t give him one second of any time you have left.
And don’t think like that either.
That’s not going to help anything.

Watching Stahl unzip a bag that contained a semiautomatic weapon, Sam had to acknowledge the possibility that this wasn’t going to end well for her. He had her tied so tightly she couldn’t do a thing to help herself. She was completely at his mercy, just the way he wanted her.

She wanted to know how he and Marissa had come together to form this unholy alliance. She wanted to ask what he hoped to gain by taking her hostage. He had to know the entire police department would be looking for her. Maybe that’s what he was counting on, and judging from the arsenal laid out in front of her, he was ready for the entire department.

She shifted in the chair, trying to find a comfortable position, which only reminded her of how badly she needed to pee. She absolutely refused to give him the satisfaction of watching her wet her pants. Her bladder could explode before that would happen. The movement sent a shaft of pain through her face and skull, making her see tiny dots of light that often meant the onset of a migraine. She moved her jaw, painfully, trying to determine if it was broken. Didn’t seem to be.

Were they looking for her yet? Freddie and Hill weren’t working today, which meant two of her closest colleagues wouldn’t know she was missing. Gonzo would wonder where she was when she didn’t meet him as planned at HQ. He’d begin to ask questions.

Would he call Nick?

God
,
Nick
,
I’m so sorry for doing this to you
,
my love.
If he kills me
,
I
hope you know I was thinking of you and Scotty and my family.
But mostly you
.

To pass the time and to give her something else to think about besides whatever unpleasantness Stahl had planned for her and how badly she needed to pee, Sam let her mind wander from the moment she first met Nick on a deck at a party, to the next time she saw him in John O’Connor’s apartment after his boss and best friend had been murdered. She’d tried to resist him in the midst of the politically charged investigation, the first one she’d been on after the Johnson case had ended in disaster.

Truth be told, she’d actually done a horrible job of resisting him. The night she’d gone to his place in Arlington, they’d been so hot for each other, they’d practically done it standing up against his door the minute she walked into the house. They’d done it against a wall the very first time, she recalled. The night they’d met seven years ago. At the time, it had been the hottest sex of her life, but he’d topped himself many times since then in the year they’d been back together.

She smiled to herself, and then winced in pain, when she recalled the bet she’d made with him—that he couldn’t make her come three times in thirty minutes. Not surprisingly, he’d won the bet and set their wedding date for six short weeks later.

Their wedding, which had been the most incredible day of her life. Nick’s mother had shown up uninvited, but Sam had gotten rid of her before she could ruin anything for him. They’d had the same words, “You’re my home,” inscribed on the inside of their wedding bands. Despite the ropes tied tightly around her wrists, she could reach her ring with her thumb, rubbing back and forth against the cool metal reminder of all she had to live for.

Her mind drifted to the blissful days and nights they’d spent in Bora Bora on their honeymoon. She wanted to ask him if they could go back again this year to celebrate their first anniversary. What was the first anniversary gift again? Paper. That’s right. She would write him a letter and tell him how much she loved him and wanted to spend the next fifty or sixty years with him.

Fifty or sixty years. Right now she’d be perfectly satisfied with fifty or sixty more hours with him.

That all his greatest fears for her safety could’ve led to
this
broke her heart into a million pieces, imagining him getting the news that she was missing and maybe dead.

Tears made her eyes burn, so she closed them tightly to keep the tears from escaping. She wouldn’t give Stahl the satisfaction of seeing her bawl either. But oh, how she wanted to bawl when she imagined how Nick would suffer over losing her. And there was no way Stahl would let her out of here alive. Not when he’d already tried to kill her once.

It occurred to her, as she contemplated the possible end of her life, that she’d been extremely lucky up to now. She’d gotten through situations that should’ve killed or badly injured her. And she’d managed to steer clear of her many enemies.

Until now.

As Stahl readied for battle, Sam prepared for the worst. If her life ended today at his hands, she could only hope that Nick would know that her last thoughts had been of him.

* * *

Captain Malone drove Gonzo and Farnsworth to MacArthur Boulevard. Gonzo breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Sam’s car parked at the curb.

“Thank God,” Farnsworth said, the first words any of them had spoken since they left HQ. “Let’s get SWAT out here.”

“All due respect, sir,” Malone said, “I’d like to know what we’re dealing with before we decide what we need.”

“I want her out of there,” Farnsworth snapped back.

“We all do, Joe. But we’ve got to do this right. We’ve got to protect her and the rest of our team.”

“Let’s go take a look.”

Gonzo got out of the car and followed them up the sidewalk, glancing around at the other nearby houses. Ever since he’d been shot, he was constantly worried about it happening again. You never knew who was aiming for you.

On the Springers’ stoop, they glanced inside through the glass windows that framed the black door.

“Oh, Jesus.” Malone pointed to the feet and pool of blood they could see on the foyer floor. He stood up taller, tipping his head down trying to get a better look. “It’s the maid.”

“Have you seen what you need to see?” Farnsworth asked.

“Make the call,” Malone said to Gonzo.

They went down the stairs and tried to see in the basement windows, which were covered by blinds.

“Someone needs to tell Nick,” Farnsworth said grimly as they returned to the car.

“I’ll call Christina,” Gonzo said. “She’ll know how to get through to him.”

“Do you think she’s already dead in there?” Farnsworth asked, seeming older and more defeated than Gonzo had ever seen him.

He’d watched Sam grow up. Something like this would hit him even harder than the rest of them. And then Gonzo thought of Sam’s father and had to swallow a growing lump of fear that settled in his throat. What would any of them do without Sam Holland at the center of their lives?

Before he could let the panic get the better of him, he made the call to Dispatch asking for SWAT. Then he called Christina. “Hey, baby. I need a favor.”

“Sure, what’s up?” He tried not to notice the unusually chilly tone of her voice. She was mad at him for going back to work before the doctor said it was okay.

“I need you to get in touch with Nick for me. Sam’s in trouble.”

“What kind of trouble?”

“We believe she’s being held hostage at the Springers’ house.”

“Where all the kids were killed?”

“Same place.”

“Oh my God, Tommy. Is she...”

“We don’t know anything yet. Her car is parked outside, the maid is dead on the floor inside and no one has heard from Sam in more than an hour. We’re operating under the assumption that she’s in there and being held against her will.”

“What am I supposed to tell him?”

“I would just say we’re not sure yet what’s going on, but we think she’s being held hostage.”

“He’ll want to come there.”

“The Secret Service won’t let him anywhere near here.”

“He’ll lose his mind when he hears this. There’s nothing else you can tell me?”

“We’re doing everything we can. That’s all I can tell you right now.”

“I’ll make the call. Keep me posted? Please?”

“I’ll try.”

“Tommy.”

“What, baby?”

“Please don’t get hurt again. I don’t think I could take it.”

“I won’t. Love you.” Gonzo didn’t care that his captain and chief could hear him. He’d recently learned a hard lesson on how easily and quickly his life could be taken from him. He’d never again worry about such trivial things as his superiors hearing him tell his fiancée he loved her.

“I love you too.”

Gonzo ended that call and placed another to Cruz. “You need to get over to the Springers’ house on MacArthur,” Gonzo said when Freddie took the call. “They’ve got Sam in there.”

“Who does?”

“We’re not really sure yet, but the maid is dead on the floor inside the front door, and Sam’s car is parked at the curb. No one has heard from her in more than an hour.”

“
Shit
.” Since Cruz rarely swore, that said it all. “How do you know she’s in there?”

“We don’t know for sure, but we’re operating under that assumption.”

“I’ll be right there.”

“Call the rest of the squad, will you? I don’t want to put it on the radio.”

“Yeah, I will. Gonzo...”

“I don’t know, man. I don’t know anything.”

“I’m coming.”

* * *

Marissa pulled back the blinds to peek outside. “There’re cops out there, Leonard.”

“Close the blinds and come away from the window,” Stahl said.

“I just want to see what they’re doing.”

“Marissa, do what I tell you to!”

“Don’t snap at me. You wouldn’t even be here if I hadn’t called you, and you certainly wouldn’t have
her
without me.”

“Shut your mouth and come away from that window. I’m in charge now.”

“The hell you are! This is
my
house and
my
plan.”

With speed and dexterity Sam wouldn’t have thought him capable of, Stahl raised a nine-millimeter handgun and shot her in the gut.

Marissa gasped as she went down, a look of shock on her face as a gurgling sound came from her mouth. The gut shot had been intentional. He didn’t want to kill her instantly. He wanted to make her suffer. She whimpered pathetically, but Sam didn’t have an ounce of sympathy for her. That’s what happened when you got in bed with the devil.

The blast, occurring three feet from Sam’s head, was deafening. Her ears rang and the spots before her eyes became brighter. She shook off the shock to take note of what Stahl was doing.

He pulled a roll of something that looked like wire from a duffel bag. Then he grabbed a pair of work gloves and put them on. Carrying the spool of wire, he approached Sam.

She curbed her natural impulse to shy away from him. In fact, she refused to look at him, even when he grabbed her chin and tried to force her to.

“You know what I hate most about you?” he asked, his breath hot and moist against her face.

Sam stayed focused on a picture of what looked like the Rocky Mountains that hung on the wall.

He grabbed a handful of her hair and pulled hard. “Look at me when I talk to you!”

She remained stubbornly focused on the picture.

He pulled her hair until tears came to her eyes, but she never looked away from the picture as she imagined cool mountain air, crunchy snow beneath her feet and Nick on skis. Did he like to ski? She wasn’t sure, and she hated that she didn’t know, that they’d never gotten around to talking about skiing.

She’d sucked at it the two times she’d tried it.

“
Are you listening to me?
” Stahl roared as he slapped her hard across the other side of her face. “I fucking hate you because you think you’re better than everyone else.”

I
am better
.
I’m better than you ever dreamed of being
.

“You showed up right out of the academy acting like a hotshot because of who your father was—and don’t get me started on him. He had his dick so far up Farnsworth’s ass, and
everybody
knew it. How else do you think he made it to deputy chief? Someone must’ve been seriously pissed about that to shoot him.”

Sam wanted to ask him if he was that someone, but again, she wasn’t going to play his game. Not now or ever.

As he ranted about her father, he began wrapping the wire around her. Her heart skipped a beat and a bead of sweat ran down her back when she glanced down to discover it was razor wire.

“And then they give you
my
command. Tell me something. How long have you been fucking the chief? Has it been since you were a kid? Is that why he looks at you like you hung the moon? Do you have a magic pussy or something? I wish I had the time or the desire to find out, but the thought of fucking you makes me want to puke.”

Right back atcha
.

She almost sighed—audibly—with relief to know that particular atrocity wasn’t in his plans, but she maintained her silence, which she could tell was getting to him. He’d expected her to be her usual mouthy self, and he didn’t know what to do with silent Sam.
Silent Sam
. If she weren’t tied to a chair and being wrapped in razor wire that was already poking through her clothes to puncture her skin, she’d find that funny. When was she
ever
silent?