Switch Master: 6 (Ink and Kink) (29 page)

“What are your earliest memories of him?”

“Sketchy, my mom didn’t go to work for him and Barbara until
we moved from Provincetown to Falmouth when I was in the sixth grade. At the
time, she took a boat to their home on Martha’s Vineyard when I was at school.”

“Anything else you can recall?”

“The summer before my senior year of high school, my mother
and I were invited to the Cormack compound and she became their live-in
housekeeper. That’s when I met Mark. Barbara treated me as if I was a parasite.
Martin kept his distance, making me feel as if I were walking on eggshells.
Ethan? What if Mark’s my…”

Unable to finish her thoughts, Sam felt bile rise in her
stomach. Fighting the nausea, she shoved the photos away, shot out of her chair
and raced to the nearest ladies room.

“Sam, open the door,” Ethan demanded, pounding on the door
she’d instinctively locked on her way in.

“I think the flu’s gotten to me,” she called back, her voice
hoarse.

“You can’t lie to your partner.”

Partner always came out pahtnah, just as it would if Taran
or Phalen were speaking to her. Their Southie-born-and-raised accents were
ingrained in them, endearing, but right then all Sam could think of was Martin
and her mother, together, which meant…

Sam splashed her face with cold water, praying she was
wrong, praying she didn’t get sick. She couldn’t have had sex with her half-brother!

“If you won’t talk to me, go and talk to Taran. He’s the one
you should be turning to right now.”

Splashing more water on her face, she felt calm enough to
leave. Opening the bathroom door, she wasn’t surprised to see Ethan standing
right there across the hall, back braced to the wall, arms crossed.

“Hi, partner. You okay?” he asked.

“I need to go, Ethan.”

“Okay. I’ll tell the captain you’re feeling sick.”

“Thank you.” She went over to her desk, gathered her things,
including the photos, and her favorite leather coat from the back of her chair.
“Taran’s in court right now. Tell him I’ll take a rain check for tonight.”

“Sam, don’t you dare go back into hiding because of some old
photos.”

“I’m not hiding anymore. I’m going to see my mom.”

“Fine, call her.”

“This isn’t a conversation that can be done on the phone.”

Ethan tried to step into her path. “My little brother’s
going to be pissed if you leave Boston without him.”

“I’m driving to Vermont to visit my mom, not leaving town
forever. Please, try to understand that this is something I should’ve done
years ago but was too scared to face.”

“You’ll be gone for hours.”

“Yes I will. Get out of my way or I’m pulling seniority and
kicking your ass into a holding cell.”

“Let me go with you.”

“You can’t, partner, you offered to cover for me.”

“How about calling Phalen?”

“He’s in Salem. It’ll take too much time for him to get
here. Ethan, stop worrying.”

“If you could see your face, you’d know why I’m worried.”

“Stop being so difficult, please. I can drive. I’ve been
doing it by myself for a long time.”

Unwilling to argue further, Sam danced around her partner
and headed out the door. She didn’t pause until she climbed into her cruiser,
started it up and took another look at the photographs.

Once the cruiser was warmed up, she put the photos away, set
the GPS to her mother’s address in Vermont, and pulled out of her parking spot.

Before taking off, a call came through the car’s Bluetooth
system.

“Sam, I know you can drive, I’m sorry,” Ethan said. “Just be
warned, Taran and Phalen are likely to kick my ass for allowing you to go to
Vermont without backup. Drive safe and get back here before the butt-whooping.”

“Thanks for putting your ass on the line. I’ll call Taran as
soon as I get to Vermont. I could text or leave a message, but this is
difficult to comprehend much less leave as a voicemail.”

“Sam, do you think your father is Martin Cormack? Is that
what’s freaked you out?”

“Yes, and I can’t be with Taran or become Luke’s foster
mother if I don’t have the answers to questions I should’ve asked my mom a long
time ago.”

“Then find your answers. Know before you go, Taran will
always love you.”

“I love him, Ethan, always, no matter what I find out.
Okay?”

“Where are you?”

“I haven’t left the parking lot yet.”

“Let me come get one of the pictures. Later tonight, I can
show it to Morgan. Maybe she’ll get an impression or have an idea of how to
deal with Mark.”

“Okay. Hurry,” she agreed.

A minute later, Ethan emerged from the back door, rushing to
the car. Sam slipped a photo out of the package, handing it over.

“Ethan, take care of Morgan. If she gets a headache while
touching that picture, take it from her please.”

“I’ll be sure to. Be safe, Sam,” he stated, squeezing Sam’s
shoulder. “You know I love you like a sister, right?”

“Love you too, little brother,” she said, her way of
reminding him that she was older than him and avoid giving into tears.

* * * * *

Taran left the courthouse at four thirty, pleased that the
hearing he’d been in had gone well. Eager for his date with Samantha, he
remembered there was a florist shop close to where he’d parked his car. Heading
that way, he stopped in to pick up a dozen long-stemmed red roses for Samantha.

He was in his courtroom finest, a dark-navy suit, pale-blue
shirt, matching tie and polished shoes. His hair was pulled back into a tight
ponytail and he’d say he was more than presentable for his date with his
favorite lady.

Placing the roses on the passenger seat, he started his
truck and backed out of his parking space. With afternoon get-out-of-town
traffic and red lights, it took longer than usual to reach the police station
and park in one of the spots in the lot marked for attorneys.

Getting out of his truck and locking the door, he looked
around. His brother’s Acura was in the lot, but he didn’t see Samantha’s
unmarked cruiser. If a case had come in, she’d have texted to let him know.

Maybe she had to make an errand, he guessed, flashing his
driver’s license for the guard station at the front entrance. Waiting for the
telltale buzz, he made his way inside and up the stairs.

Going through the door marked MPCCHD, Missing Persons and
Cold Case and Homicide Division, he immediately noticed Sam’s desk was neat as
a pin and empty. Ethan was doing some serious work, his attention on his
computer.

“Hey, bro,” Taran said, walking up to his brother’s desk.

Ethan looked up. The frown that greeted Taran said a lot.

“Don’t kill me, Taran.”

“Why would I do that? Where’s Samantha?”

“She should be in Vermont by now. She hasn’t called you
yet?”

“Why did my girlfriend go to Vermont?” Carefully, Taran set
the roses on Samantha’s desk, reminding himself to remain calm.

“To visit her mother after Mark Cormack sent her an envelope
of these.”

Ethan pushed a photograph toward Taran. Reaching for it, he recognized
the familiar angles and beauty of the woman’s face in the black-and-white
photograph. She looked uncannily similar to Samantha.

“This is Samantha’s mother,” Taran stated, holding the photo
higher for better light.

“With Martin Cormack,” Ethan pointed out.

Taran looked at the young man again. It took a second to
realize the carefree teenager in the picture was the silver-haired
seventy-year-old Martin Cormack most often shown on the news or in newspapers
from the Cape, Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard.

“Martin Cormack and Sam’s mother were lovers,” Taran
concluded, taken aback.

“Yes, and now Sam’s afraid that Martin’s her father.”

“Fuck it all, bro, you just let Samantha handle it alone?
That’s a head trip if there ever was one.”

“You were in court. Sam’s a good driver and she wanted to
handle it herself.”

“If it were Morgan, would you want to be with her?”

Ethan lowered his eyes. “What was I supposed to do? Lock Sam
in the slammer? Cuff her to a chair?”

“If necessary to keep her safe, yes, you should have!” It
took superhuman strength of will not to pound his fists into his brother’s
face. “She can be so independent sometimes, bro, it drives me crazy.”

“Admit it, that’s one of the many reasons you love her,”
Ethan challenged.

“There are too many to count. She’s upset. That’s what
pisses me off! I’m telling you right now, if something happens to Samantha, I
will tear you a new asshole, deal?”

“How about you keep your voice down, think and listen?”

Taran didn’t realize he’d been shouting until Ethan pointed
it out. Catching Samantha’s chair, he drew it out and plopped down in the seat.

“When did the pictures arrive?” he asked, flashing the
picture to Ethan.

“They came in shortly after I came back from lunch. We were
talking about Mark Cormack’s phone.”

“Sam and I thought it was a throwaway,” Taran commented.

“Correct. I managed to trace it to a convenience store in
Nashua, New Hampshire.”

“I think it’s time to pay Mark a visit. Do you remember the
address on the envelope?”

“Sam took the envelope with her and I don’t have the numbers
or street, but it’d been sent from Plymouth. Between the two of us, we can
track him down.”

Taran shot out of the chair. “Let’s go, bro.”

A big presence made itself known behind Taran. He didn’t
have to look around to know Phalen was looming back there.

“He’s behind me, isn’t he?”

“Yes he is,” Phalen answered. “What’s going on?”

“There’s a problem. You feel like taking a trip to
Plymouth?”

“Now? Where’s Sam? I’ve got some news for her. I found Carys
Ellison, the nurse I’ve been trying to track down this past week.”

“Samantha’s on her way to Vermont, hopefully there by now,”
Taran answered.

“She’s driving alone?” Phalen asked.

“Yes, and, yes, we’re going to Plymouth. I need to talk to
Mark and pray to God I don’t knock his teeth down his throat. Samantha can take
care of herself.”

“Right with you on knocking out his teeth,” Phalen said.
“You two tell me what’s going on while I drive.”

“I can drive,” Ethan offered.

“Okay, it’ll give me time to do some work on my case,”
Phalen agreed. “By the way, if something happens to Sam while she’s away, I’m
knocking both of your heads together.”

Taran paused, picking up the roses. Smelling them calmed him
down.

“She’s my woman, Phalen. I was pissed when Ethan told me,
but he was right. She needs to talk to her mother on her own terms. I need to
respect that.”

“All right, let’s go,” big brother declared. “Ethan, call
Morgan, let her know where we’re going.”

Ethan had his phone in hand. “I’m on it. I was going to have
her touch the photograph. It’ll have to wait.”

“Photograph?” Phalen asked, stilling.

“This one,” Taran said, handing the picture to Phalen.

“This has to be Sam’s mother. The man’s Martin Cormack.”

“Who Sam thinks may be her biological father,” Taran
revealed. “Considering the relationship she had with Mark all those years ago,
you can guess why she needed to speak to her mother. Phalen, it’s killing me to
know I’m not with her right now. This trip to Plymouth’s the only thing I can
do to help her.”

Phalen let off a string of curses that would make a sailor
cringe. Taking out his phone, he called Cassie, asking his wife to meet up with
Morgan and for the two to stay together in Salem until they returned from
Plymouth.

They chose to take Phalen’s Lincoln Navigator, but Ethan got
into the driver’s seat. He’d called Morgan, who’d rattled off the description
of a small hospital or medical facility in Plymouth and that she’d sensed Mark
would be there.

Taran adored his sister-in-law. Sometimes her freaky talents
left him speechless. This time, he was grateful. She’d worked her mojo when
they needed it the most.

They’d reached the main highway to the Cape when Taran’s
phone went off. “Hi, baby doll, you okay?” he asked, knowing Samantha’s
ringtone.

“I’m fine and very sorry for driving off without you. I
really needed to do this alone.”

“I understand. We’ll talk when you’re able. Are you at your
mom’s?”

“Just got here,” she said. “There was some sort of accident
that tied up traffic for two hours.”

“We’re heading to Plymouth.”

“We?” she asked.

“I’m with my brothers. We’re going to get some answers from
Mark. Can you snap a picture of that envelope he sent, primarily the address,
and text it to me?”

“Sure can. I’ll use my other phone,” she agreed. She was
silent for a bit. “Done and sent. Hey, I really am sorry again for taking off
the way I did.”

“You’re a big girl, Samantha. I trust you.”

“You’re not mad?”

“As long as you’re safe, I’m not mad or in danger of
committing bodily harm to Ethan for letting you drive in the first place.”

“Ethan covered for me at work, give him a break. Taran,
considering the time and the conversation ahead of me, I’m going to stay the
night with my mother. You okay with that?”

“Do what you need to. Call me later tonight so I don’t
worry, please.”

“I will. I love you.” She ended the call before he could say
so in kind.

“Dammit, I feel helpless! I should be there with her,” Taran
exclaimed.

“Now you know how I feel when Morgan gets a migraine,” Ethan
said.

“And how I felt every time Cassie got morning sickness and
wouldn’t let me in the bathroom. At one point, I took the bathroom door off the
hinges,” Phalen admitted.

“Trust me, big bro, I know how that feels,” Ethan stated.

“Keep driving, Ethan. I’ve got to call Luke and let him know
our plans for tomorrow night have changed.”