Storms Of Change

What she hadn’t expected was the tenderness and understanding in KT’s eyes when they met in the hall.

“Hey, Vic,” KT said softly, closing the chart she was studying and sliding it into a slot on the closed door beside her. “How are you doing?”

Tory shook her head and walked past her into her office. When KT followed, she held out a hand behind her. “Go back to work. I’m all right.”

KT closed the door. “That’s crap.” She carefully took Tory by the shoulders and turned her to face her. Then she skimmed her fingers over Tory’s cheek and into her hair. “You never could lie to me.”

Tory smiled shakily. “You’re such an arrogant bastard.”

KT grinned. “And you always loved that about me.”

“True.” Tory looped her arms loosely around KT’s waist and rested her head against her shoulder. “I don’t know why I’m so scared. There are thousands of men and women over there. Trained to do this job. The casualty rate is very low.”

“Because you and I know that statistics are meaningless.” KT lightly stroked Tory’s hair. “We deal with tragedy every day. Meaningless events that defy rationalization. We know that one in a million is an empty statistic if it happens to you or someone you love. It’s an occupational hazard, Vic. That’s what’s got you so bent out of shape.” She skimmed her hand down Tory’s back and up again, a gentle caress. “That and the fact that you love her like crazy and you’ve never been apart before.”

Tory leaned back, her hands on KT’s hips. “Pia has been very good for you.”

KT pretended to be affronted. “Now that hurts.”

“You’re right, about all of it. But the part about us never being separated before…you wouldn’t have gotten that a year ago. It’s because you understand”…she touched KT’s chest above her heart…“in here, about being in love.”

“Tory,” KT said tenderly, her eyes troubled. “You know I lo…”

“Loved me?” Tory touched KT’s cheek. “Of course I know. I loved you. Still do.” She laughed. “I wouldn’t have been able to say that a year ago. So maybe we both found places inside ourselves these past years that let us love differently.”

“Okay,” KT said, her voice tight. “I can buy that. Differently. Not better.”

Tory smiled. “Speaking of Pia, why don’t you go now and spend the rest of your weekend with her.”

“There’s a hell of a patient list still to go through. I can stay.”

Tory shook her head. “No. It’s good of you, really. I know what your days are like in the trauma center. You need this time to unwind. And you need to be with Pia.” She rested her fingers against KT’s chest again. “And she needs you. Go home.”

“Thanks, Vic.” KT kissed Tory’s cheek and then shrugged out of her lab coat. “When do you expect to hear from Reese?”

“Today, I hope. When she arrives. She said she’d call if she could.”

“If she could? What the hell does that mean?”

“I gathered things are moving quickly, and she’s going to be right in the thick of it as soon as she arrives. She can’t always…”

“Oh, that’s just cra…”

“Why you so angry with her?” Tory asked mildly.

“Because she hurt you, God damn it. This whole war business, it’s just ego and politics.”

“That may be,” Tory said, “but it’s not Reese’s doing or her fault.”

KT scowled. “She should’ve gotten out when the baby was born.”

“Maybe,” Tory conceded. “Neither of us wanted to believe this was really going to happen, and I couldn’t ask her to give up something that was part of her.”

KT made a disbelieving sound.

“I know you don’t understand it, but part of the reason I love her is because she believes in things like duty and responsibility.”

“I get that,” KT said. “Sort of.”

“You should. I fell in love with you for the same reason.”

“Oh, unfair.”

Tory smiled. “Go home, KT. Go home and tell Pia how much you love her.”

“Okay,” KT said grudgingly. “Tell Reese I said hi, and to get her goddamn ass back here soon.”

“Oh,” Tory said softly as KT left. “I surely will.”

Chapter Fourteen

Tory closed her eyes and dropped her head onto the back of her chair. The headache that had been threatening for the last three hours had finally erupted as a staccato burst of light and fury behind her eyes. She groaned softly and tried not to think about the fact that she had three more patients to see and it was almost nine p.m. Somehow the afternoon and evening had gotten away from her, but despite the breakneck pace, she had not been able to keep Reese out of her thoughts. Whenever she stepped away from a patient to jot a note in a file or search for a lab report, she remembered that when she finally went home, Reese would not be there to hold her. She hadn’t realized how much she had come to depend upon Reese’s strength and utter constancy. Without Reese near, she felt frighteningly unsteady.

Opening her eyes, Tory reached for the next chart. She had patients who relied upon her, a daughter who needed her, and a lover who trusted her to get through whatever lay ahead for them. And that’s exactly what she intended to do. She opened the chart and withdrew the patient’s most recent EKG. When the phone rang, she reached for it absently, her attention on the report.

“Dr. King.”

“Hi,” Reese said.

Tory dropped the chart and sat up straight. “Reese? Are you at the base?”

“For a few more hours, then I’m shipping out. How are you?”

“Oh God, I miss you.” It hadn’t been what she’d meant to say, but the sound of Reese’s voice made her forget her resolutions.

“Same here. I don’t suppose that’s going to change any time soon.”

“No, I guess not,” Tory said with a small smile. “I’m so glad you called.”

“Still seeing patients?”

“Mmm.”

“Tor,” Reese said, her voice low and husky, “it’s late. You should be home.”

“Almost. Just a few more minutes,” Tory said, feeling a little bit of her world slide back into place with the familiar sound of Reese’s concern. “How about you? Is everything all right?”

“Fine. Just a little hectic.”

“Is your father there?”

“No,” Reese said. “I have a message to call him as soon as I arrive.”

Tory laughed. “Insubordinate already, Colonel?”

“I needed to hear your voice.”

Tory caught her breath. “Oh, sweetheart. Me, too.”

“So,” Reese said after a few seconds of silence, “I guess I can expect Reggie to be spoiled beyond recognition, what with all the time she’ll be spending with Kate and Jean.”

“Undoubtedly.”

Reese laughed. “Small price to pay. I’m glad you have them. That we have them.”

“I’d be lost without their help.”

“I’m sorry, Tor…”

“We’re past that now, sweetheart. We love you. All of us, so much.”

“I love you too, baby.”

Tory closed her eyes, imagining Reese’s face, absorbing the sound of her voice as if it were a touch. “Can you tell me anything? Where you’re going? What you’ll be doing?”

“I’ll be onboard ship for the next week or so until we reach Mosul, and then our unit is headed for Baghdad.”

“Well,” Tory said, clenching the pen she held in her right hand so hard her fingers ached, “I’m not surprised.”

“We’ll mostly be doing cleanup, Tor…transport, escort, and containment. The main resistance is broken.”

“Of course. I know.” Tory didn’t believe her. She watched television. She listened to the news. She knew it wasn’t that simple, but she wasn’t going to argue. Reese was trying to protect her, and she needed to believe that she could. She needed to be secure in the knowledge that Tory was all right. Tory inhaled slowly and forced a note of lightness into her voice. “Still, you’ll probably be busy polishing whatever it is that you Marines polish with such devotion, so I won’t worry if you don’t call every day.”

Reese laughed. “Phone calls might be tricky, but everything is computerized. I’ll e-mail as often as I can. Just don’t worry if you don’t hear from me…”

“I understand,” Tory said quickly, wondering how in God’s name she was going to stand not knowing what was happening to her over there. “I’ve got a message for you from KT.”

“Oh yeah?”

Tory smiled at the faint edge in her lover’s usually calm voice. Although Reese and KT got along well, they were too much alike not to feel the tiniest bit competitive. “She said to tell you to get your ass back…no…your goddamn ass back as soon as possible. I agree.”

“You can tell her from me that’s at the top of my list.” After another pause, Reese said, “I’ve got to go, Tor.”

The sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach hit so fast, Tory was nauseous. She dropped her pen and pressed her hand hard against her abdomen, waiting for the sensation to pass before trying to speak. “I love you.”

“That’s just what I need.” Reese cleared her throat. “Kiss Reggie for me.”

“I will.”

“I love you, Tory. I’ll talk to you soon.”

“Bye, darling.”

“Bye, baby.”

The line went dead and Tory dropped the receiver onto the desk. She pressed both hands to her eyes and took deep breaths, willing the sick surge of panic to dissipate. She’s going to be fine. She won’t get hurt. She’ll come home soon. Nothing will happen to her.

“Tory?” Randy said tentatively from the doorway. “You okay?”

Tory brushed her palms over her cheeks and sat up. She smiled at her receptionist, who looked worried. “Yes. Just tired.”

“I can reschedule the last three. They’re all regulars.”

With a shake of her head, Tory braced her hands on the desk and pushed herself upright. “No. I’ll see them.”

“Was that Reese?”

“Yes.”

“Is everything okay?” Randy asked softly.

“Just fine.” Wondering when, if ever, she would begin to believe her own lies, Tory lifted a chart from the desk. “Don’t worry. Everything is fine.”

Carter wanted to see Rica. She hadn’t thought of anything else all day. Somewhere in the last twenty-four hours she’d gotten completely off track. In her line of work, she was used to events moving rapidly. She’d learned to shift alliances in the blink of an eye, had become adept at altering her cover story just enough to divert suspicion at a moment’s notice, and could fake almost anything, from anger to an orgasm, with little effort.

Now, she couldn’t find her groove. She couldn’t get her mind off the many images of Rica…weary and vulnerable that first night at her father’s, reserved and aloof in the gallery, sensual and seductive that morning. The memory of Rica’s voice, her touch, drew Carter along Commercial Street toward the gallery like a salmon struggling upstream to die. She couldn’t stop herself.

She walked with her head down, her hands in her pockets, mentally arguing with herself. She knew she needed to back away, because every atom in her body wanted to take up where that kiss had left off. And she couldn’t afford to be thinking with her hormones in the middle of a case. Not just for the sake of getting laid. And obviously that was what Rica was interested in. Her remarkable turnabout since the day before…her very, very sexy change of heart, Carter thought…was clear evidence that was all Rica was interested in.

And what the hell is wrong with that? That’s exactly what you want, Carter muttered under her breath. Let her call the shots. Let her think she’s in control. It’s a perfect setup to gain her trust and find out what you need to know. Carter laughed. Who are you kidding? She is in control. You don’t know what the fuck you’re doing, and she’s got you tied up in knots.

Carter tensed when a hand closed around her arm, and she automatically pulled away. The grip tightened, and surprised, she stopped to face the interloper.

“Jesus Christ, what are you still doing here?”

Special Agent Marilyn Allen dragged Carter out of the stream of pedestrians into the mouth of a narrow unpaved alley that led down to the beach. “You’re the one who’s walking around talking to herself. What the hell is wrong with you?”

“Nothing.” Carter glanced worriedly across the street. They were in direct eyesight of Rica’s gallery and the lights were still on, which meant she was still there. “Look, this is a bad idea. We can’t be seen together.”

“We need to talk.”

“Fine. But not…aw, shit.”

The lights went out in Beaux Arts and Rica stepped out the front door.

“What?” Allen said, her voice rising.

“Quiet,” Carter snapped and yanked Allen a few feet further down the alley into the shadows. She risked one look back toward the gallery and cursed again. Then she shoved Allen against the nearest building, treated her to a full body press, and clamped her mouth over Allen’s open, astonished one.

Rica pushed redial on her cell phone as she cut diagonally across Commercial Street toward the path to the beach. It was one of those early May nights that felt more like summer than spring, and she’d rather walk home along the water than dodge the unseasonable late night crowds.

She frowned as she listened to Carter’s phone ring unanswered, annoyed that she didn’t even know her cell number. The only listing that directory assistance had available was for the law office, and it probably didn’t ring in Carter’s apartment.

On the other hand, it was ridiculous that she was even contemplating chasing after a near stranger when they didn’t know each other well enough to have exchanged telephone numbers. She turned down the alley toward the harbor, snapped the phone shut in disgust, and dropped it in her shoulder bag. A low moan drew her attention to two figures in the shadows. There was barely enough light to make out the shapes of two women writhing in the heat of passion, arms and legs twisting about one another, hands frantically grappling for purchase. One yanked the other’s shirt from her pants, exposing a pale patch of skin to the moonlight.

Quickly, Rica averted her gaze, but not before she’d seen enough to send a searing bolt of arousal through her. She imagined Carter as she’d seen her that morning, sleek-bodied and strong, with her narrow hips pumping between Rica’s spread thighs, pounding against her swollen sex until Rica came screaming beneath her.

“God,” Rica whispered, walking faster until she sank into the warm, soft sand. She stopped a few feet from the water’s edge and opened the top button of her blouse. Her body was flushed with heat. She tilted her head back and let the damp breeze wash over her face and neck.

She had wanted women before in her life, some with hunger, some with need. Some for hours. Others for far longer, or so she had thought at the time. Some she’d considered friends, other strangers. Carter was all of them, and like no one she’d ever met before. Sitting out on the deck with her the evening before and that morning, she’d found Carter easy to talk to…charming and open. Unassuming and even a little bit uncertain. And then a look that was more raw than simple desire had come over her face, a dark shadow had eclipsed her clear gaze, and something dangerous had leapt to the surface. Her mouth had been hard and demanding, yet she had held back. Even as they kissed, Carter hadn’t pushed, hadn’t tried to take from her more than she was ready to give. Hadn’t even tried to take what Rica wanted to give. Rica had felt desire tremble between them, had felt the swift clench of muscles when she had brushed her fingers over Carter’s abdomen. There was want there, every bit as urgent as her own. And still Carter had hesitated.

“Why?” She wrapped her arms around herself, suddenly chilled. Take a chance, Angie had said. Rica wasn’t certain she even had a choice.

She thought about calling Carter’s number one more time but decided that she didn’t want to hear the unanswered phone. She didn’t want to wonder who Carter was with. Whose mouth she might be tormenting with irresistible, unbearable pleasure.

Groaning, Agent Allen dug her fingers into Carter’s back and plunged her tongue into Carter’s mouth. Carter felt as if the air was being sucked from her lungs as Allen threatened to consume her with the voracious kiss. A hand snaked between her legs and squeezed down so hard she grunted in surprise. Then just as quickly, Allen elbowed Carter viciously in the ribs and jammed her knee between Carter’s legs in the exact spot her fingers had just been exploring.

“Oh, fuck,” Carter gasped as she released Allen and staggered away, collapsing against the wall. She locked her knees to keep from falling while she doubled over and struggled not to vomit.

Allen gripped a handful of Carter’s hair and yanked her head back. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

Carter found herself staring into Allen’s furious face. “Trying not to puke. Let go.”

“Jesus,” Allen said in disgust and stepped away. She pushed back her hair with trembling hands and stared into the street.

Carter braced a palm against the crumbling planks of the building and slowly straightened. She squinted down the alley, blinking tears from her eyes. She couldn’t see Rica. Her groin pulsed with pain, but the nausea was subsiding.

“That was Rica who passed us a minute ago,” Carter muttered through gritted teeth.

Allen swung her head around. “What?”

“Rica. I didn’t think…it would be a good idea if she saw us together.”

“I didn’t see her.”

No, you were too busy trying to swallow my tongue. Who would have guessed you were that kind of hungry. Carter rubbed her ribs. “Nice shot.”

“You could have faked it. You didn’t have to assault me.”

“Believe me, I didn’t enjoy it.”

Allen stiffened. “You’re not only ineffective at your job, Wayne, you’re dangerously unbalanced.”

Carter straightened up, wincing at the lingering ache in her crotch. “I’m so happy we shared this time together. Have a nice night.”

When Carter started to step around Allen, who stood between her and the street, Allen gripped her arm again.

“I said we needed to talk.”

“It can wait. I need a drink. And some aspirin.”

“You can have all the alcohol you want as soon as you’re debriefed. Then I couldn’t care less what you do.”

Carter stopped. “Debriefed? What are you talking about?”

“I said, not here.”

“Christ.” Reluctantly, Carter followed Allen across the street and up one of the narrow streets that connected Commercial to Bradford. Toome was parked halfway up the block in the familiar gray sedan. Obviously, they’d never left town.

“If you two keep hanging around, you’re going to blow my cover,” Carter said as she slid carefully into the backseat. Allen packed a lot more power than her thin frame suggested.

“You’re not going to have to worry about that any longer,” Allen said as she lifted a briefcase onto her lap and extracted a folder from inside. “And it’s lucky for you that we did stay in town. At least someone involved is gathering vital information.”

Carter leaned her head back against the seat. “And I’m sure you’re going to tell me.”

“We’re taking you off the case. This part at least.”

“What?” Carter snapped, jerking forward. She was pleased to see Allen recoil even though the front seat was an effective barrier between them.

“It’s come to our attention that the initial intelligence on Pareto’s daughter was wrong.”

“You mean Rica isn’t going to lead us anywhere because she’s not involved with the business,” Carter said, a surge of relief rushing through her.

“No,” Allen said sharply, “we have no evidence that Ms. Pareto is not part of the organization. But our new information makes it very clear that you’re not going to be of any use to us as far she’s concerned.”

Carter shook her head, wondering if the kiss had deprived Allen of essential oxygen. “You want to try speaking English?”

“She’s not a lesbian, Wayne. She’s Lorenzo Brassi’s lover.”

Carter laughed. “Wherever you’re getting your information, it’s wrong.” She wasn’t about to tell them about the near tryst she’d had with Rica that morning, because she didn’t intend to tell Agent Allen anything that she didn’t have to. And for some reason, the time she’d spent with Rica had felt personal. It wasn’t about business.

Allen leaned between the seats and dropped a file folder into Carter’s lap. She shone her Maglite on it. “Open it.”

“Christ,” Carter muttered, shaking her head. She flipped the folder open and blinked as the glare of the intense light reflected off the shiny surface of the photograph. Lorenzo Brassi stood with his arms around Rica, one hand nearly cradling her breast. His mouth was against her neck. The bastard looked like he was one step away from fucking her standing up. Carter recognized the gallery in the background.

“That was last night,” Allen said with a hint of triumph in her voice. “I’d say they look rather friendly, wouldn’t you.” She flipped the photograph aside with one neatly trimmed fingernail to reveal another underneath.

This time Rica’s hands were on Lorenzo’s chest and their hips were almost fused together. Carter couldn’t see Rica’s face because her hair had fallen forward to cover most of it, but Brassi had a look of arrogant pleasure on his. Carter wanted to kill him. She closed the folder.

“This doesn’t mean anything.”

“We followed them while they took a lovers’ stroll through town and out onto the pier. They were very cozy the entire time.”

Carter looked at Toome. “You take the photographs?”

Toome nodded.

“You agree with her?”

Again, the agent nodded. “It’s been rumored that Brassi and Ricarda might marry. The old man is in favor of it.”

Carter felt another swell of nausea, and it had nothing to do with the blow to her groin. She hadn’t been wrong in what she’d seen in Rica’s eyes, or in what she’d felt when they’d kissed. If marriage was in the works, she couldn’t believe it was anything other than family business. “That doesn’t change anything.”

“It makes it less likely that you’re going to get anything substantial from her,” Allen replied. “You’ve already got a strong contact with Rizzo, and there’s no point in risking that. You’re to back off on the daughter. We’ve got surveillance on Brassi. That will be enough.”

“I don’t take orders from the FBI.” Carter opened the door and stepped out. “I’m not changing anything until I talk to my team.”

Allen powered down her window. “Talk all you want. It’s already been decided.” She smiled at Carter. “Have a nice night. And take care of that…headache.”

Carter watched them drive away. She wasn’t thinking about her sore ribs or her throbbing groin. She was thinking about the image of Lorenzo Brassi with his hands all over Rica Grechi. It was just as well she hadn’t been the one to see it, because even now she wanted to wipe that smug look off his face with her fist.

Chapter Fifteen

Carter slid into a booth in a roadside diner in Eastham, thirty miles up the Cape from Provincetown. Her partner, State Investigator Kevin Shaughnessy, sat across from her with a plate of eggs, sausage, and pancakes and a look of unbridled lust on his florid Irish face. “You’re early.”

“Don’t let me interrupt,” Carter said sarcastically, “because I’ve only been trying to reach you for three days.” She managed a smile for the young waitress, who magically appeared at her side, and turned her coffee cup right side up. “Just coffee, thanks.”

“You sure?” The blond waitress wore a short black skirt and a white blouse that was so tight it gaped open between her breasts, displaying a lovely expanse of creamy cleavage. She cocked her hips and gave Carter a special smile. “We’ve got a great menu here.”

“I believe it,” Carter replied, grinning despite her irritation at being made to cool her heels for three days before getting some decent information about what was happening with Rica and the investigation. “But nothing for me right now.”

“Well, if you change your mind”…the waitress slowly ran her fingers over her chest and tapped the plastic badge that said Kylie…“you be sure to ask for me.”

As Kylie sashayed away, Kevin swallowed noisily and said, “Jesus. That never happens to me.”

“Maybe that’s got something to do with your wedding ring.” Carter sipped her coffee. “Eat before your eggs get cold.”

“I can eat and talk.” To prove it, Kevin swiped his toast through the egg yolk on his plate and took a huge bite. “So what bug is biting your ass?”

“It’s not a bug, it’s more like a piranha. By the name of Allen.”

Kevin made a face. “Her. What exactly did you do to her, anyway?”

“Me? Nothing…” Carter couldn’t help but smile at the memory of Allen going native during that kiss, even though her crotch was still sore from the backlash. She bet Allen was still thinking about it too, unless Allen’s powers of denial were even better than Carter imagined. “…much.”

“Sorry I couldn’t get here sooner, but I was tied up meeting with the brass and the state’s attorney the last couple of days.”

“Not your fault,” Carter said with a sigh. “Look, Allen says they’re pulling me in. At least from this part. What do you know about that?”

“You know the feds never tell us everything, and what they share with the higher-ups doesn’t trickle down to us.” He held up a hand when Carter growled. “But, I do know that attention has shifted from the daughter to the nephew.”

“Why?”

“Since the daughter has been in Provincetown, there’s been more activity in the Manhattan gallery…especially after hours. And the interesting thing is, they’re not all Pareto people.”

“You sure?”

“Positive IDs.” Kevin shoveled in another forkful of breakfast and washed it down with coffee. “At least two customers have been Pareto competitors.”

“That doesn’t make a lot of sense.”

“It makes even less sense when they show up on the same day that Lorenzo Brassi pays a visit.”

“Brassi again,” Carter said with disgust, immediately remembering the photograph of him with his arms around Rica and his fingers splayed beneath her breast. “What’s your read on that? You think he’s branching out on his own?”

“Maybe, but if he is, he’s dumber than he looks. There’s already a rumor that some highly positioned people want him to succeed Pareto, and not Ricarda. He’d be crazy to risk that.”

“Some men don’t like to wait for power.”

Kevin laughed. “You got that right. Still, he’s got a sweet deal for a guy who’s not a blood relative.”

“What do you mea…oh, right. He’s a nephew by Pareto’s second wife. He and Rica aren’t blood cousins.” Which makes a marriage even more feasible, Carter thought sourly. “He’s been out here sniffing around Rica. If there’s interest in him, why pull me off?”

“Who knows, maybe they think you’ll get in the way of something he’s got going with her.” Kevin smirked and made a suggestive hand gesture. “Business or otherwise.”

Carter put her hands flat on the table and leaned forward, her eyes flashing. “I’m telling you, she’s not in it that way. Allen’s got nothing.”

“Whoa,” Kevin said, sitting back. “Take it easy. I’m just saying maybe she and Brassi are…”

“And I’m saying, they’re not.”

Kevin narrowed his eyes, all trace of frivolity gone. He hunched closer, his big body casting a shadow across the table. “What’s going on? Did you get up close and personal with her already?”

“No,” Carter said sharply.

“But there’s something.”

Carter stared stonily past Kevin out the window.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” Kevin made a sound like a load of gravel hitting the pavement. “All the women you’ve blown off after a night or two, and this one is the one that gets to you?”

“Leave it alone, Kevin.”

“You’re the one that has to leave it alone. Leave her alone.” Kevin shook his head. “It’s a damn good thing Allen wants you to back off before you get your ass in a boatload of trouble. Stay away from her, Carter.”

“It looks like I don’t have a choice.”

“I’ll have that crated and shipped to you by the end of the week,” Rica said, handing a receipt to the woman who had just purchased one of the most expensive paintings in the gallery. When the chime over the front door jingled, she glanced up automatically. It had been a busy morning, and after finalizing this last sale, she had planned to close for several hours and catch up on the attendant paperwork. She needed an assistant, but she enjoyed filling her time with work. She paused with the receipt extended when she saw Carter. Then she looked quickly back to her customer. “Thank you and I hope you stop by again.”

“Oh, don’t worry. I will. I love your selections.”

As the woman swept out, Rica followed in her wake and flipped the small sign on the front door to Closed. She snapped the lock and turned to face Carter. She hadn’t expected to see her again. It had been three days with no contact, and even though she’d risen early each morning to scan the path along the beach, Carter had not returned to jog along the beach trail.

Rica understood the signals perfectly well. Any woman who was interested would have contacted her by now, especially after the blatant invitation she’d made the last time they were together. In retrospect, she was glad she hadn’t reached Carter by phone that night. She would have been humiliated by a polite refusal from Carter after her own none too subtle actions that morning. She’d been motivated more by lust than by reason, and that embarrassed her.

Still, in her own defense, it was very easy to lust after a woman who looked so good in jeans and a faded denim shirt. Carter’s hair was nicely windblown and she looked ever so sexy. Rica couldn’t help but smile. “I’m sorry, we’re closed.”

Carter grinned. “Then my timing’s perfect.” She hefted the paper bag she held in the crook of one arm. “I brought lunch.”

“You’re always trying to feed me.”

“I’m trying to ingratiate myself, remember?”

Rica laughed.

“Besides,” Carter said, “this time we’re going to play tourist first, then have lunch.”

“Oh, are we? You’ve got it all planned.”

“Absolutely,” Carter said, lying with conviction. She hadn’t the slightest idea what she was doing, but she knew she wasn’t leaving town without seeing Rica again. Kevin had said the bosses wanted her back on the mainland, focusing her efforts on Rizzo and her inside connection. She hadn’t been exactly ordered to stay away from Rica, but she wouldn’t have much chance to see her either. So when she’d left the diner she didn’t think about what she was going to do next, she just acted. “We’ve got an outboard waiting for us at Flyer’s, and I’m taking you to Long Point for lunch on the beach. Have you got a jacket here? It’s going to be chilly on the boat.”

Rica stared. “In case you haven’t noticed, it’s the middle of the day in the middle of the week. I’m running a business here.”

Carter hooked a thumb in the direction of the door. “Says closed to me.”

“I’m in heels, Carter, and this”…Rica indicated her royal blue silk blouse and slacks…“is not picnic wear.”

“We’ll swing by your place. You can change and grab a windbreaker.” Carter took a step closer and kissed Rica lightly on the mouth. “Please.”

Rica felt a warning flutter in her stomach, far far more than she should be feeling from just a simple kiss. “You have to stop doing that.”

“What?” Carter asked, her voice husky.

“Kissing me.”

“Please tell me you’re lying.”

“All right,” Rica said, easing her arms around Carter’s waist. “I’m lying.” She kept her eyes open as she slid her mouth slowly over Carter’s. With a soft sigh, she pressed closer and teased her tongue along the inner surface of Carter’s lip, tugging ever so gently with her teeth.

“Rica,” Carter gasped when Rica pulled away.

“Hmm?” Rica unbuttoned the first button on Carter’s shirt and skimmed her fingertips inside.

Carter, feeling as if she had been washed in fire, broke out into a full body sweat. Even her vision was red. “We’re crushing the sandwiches.”

Rica struggled to make sense of the words, because she was seconds away from dragging Carter down to the floor. The reality of her, the hard length of her thighs, the soft press of her breasts, the hot taste of her mouth, was so much better than the dreams that had brought her to the edge of orgasm more than once in the last few days. She’d never been so helpless to resist a woman in her life. “Well,” she gasped, putting her palms flat against Carter’s chest and pushing back a few inches. She searched Carter’s eyes and smiled, satisfied when she saw her own desire reflected there. “We wouldn’t want that, would we?”

“You have no idea what I want.”

“Oh, I think I do.” Rica brushed a single fingertip along the edge of Carter’s lower lip and stepped away. “Let’s go for a boat ride and find out.”

Twenty minutes later, Rica had changed into casual tan slacks and a burgundy pullover. They’d collected some sunscreen, towels, and a blanket at Rica’s, and Carter was now steering the outboard away from the dock at Flyer’s boat rental.

“Cold?” Carter shouted above the wind and the roar of the motor.

Rica sat in the middle of the boat, facing Carter, her hands curled around the edge of the aluminum seat. She tilted her head back so that her hair streamed behind her in the breeze and the sun warmed her face. “Not at all. It’s great out here.”

“You look beautiful.”

“Thank you,” Rica said, meaning it. She’d heard it before, almost all her life. From boys and then men, and women. She rarely if ever believed them. It wasn’t their words she distrusted, but why they’d said them. Carter stood with her legs braced in the back of the boat, hips thrust forward, one arm stretched back behind her on the motor. Her shirt was wet from spray and plastered to her chest. When she wasn’t checking the water ahead for other boats, she was looking at Rica. Not just an idle glance, but an absorbing gaze that suggested she was trying to memorize everything about her. Rica shivered. “Watch where you’re going.”

The corner of Carter’s mouth flickered. “That’s exactly what I’m doing.”

Rica tilted her head back again and closed her eyes. She couldn’t keep looking at Carter because just the sight of her was making her excited. Her arousal was fast overtaking her common sense, and as much as she enjoyed the sensation, she needed to remember who she was, and more importantly, who Carter was. Sex was one thing. A very nice thing, to be sure. But what she was starting to feel when she looked at Carter felt dangerously like something else.

The motor quieted and alerted Rica to the fact that they were approaching the beach. It was still too early in the year for it to be crowded, and as she glanced toward the lighthouse at the very tip of Long Point, she could see that they were alone.

“Do you need me to get out and guide us in?” Rica asked.

Carter shook her head. “No. If you get wet, you’ll be too cold. I’ll just coast us up onto the beach.”

A minute later they grounded and Carter jumped out. She grabbed the bow of the boat and pulled it farther up onto the sand. “Toss me the gear.”

Rica did, and then climbed onto the small platform at the bow. Before she could jump off, Carter grasped her waist and swung her down. When she landed, they were body to body again, and it was the most natural thing in the world to wrap her arms around Carter’s neck and kiss her.

“Thanks,” Rica said when she finally broke the kiss. She skimmed her fingers through Carter’s damp hair. “It’s too cold to make love in the surf, so I’d suggest we take a walk instead.”

“Whatever you say,” Carter said, taking Rica’s hand and grabbing the gear with the other. Rica was in control and Carter knew it, and she didn’t know what to do about it. After leaving Kevin and knowing she was going to see Rica, regardless of anyone’s orders, she had finally stopped pretending that she was doing her job. Being with Rica had nothing to do with Rica’s father or Carter’s being an undercover investigator or Allen’s FBI sting operation. It had everything to do with the fact that Rica was an intriguing woman and just thinking about her made Carter ache to be close to her. Yes, she wanted her. Desperately, urgently. But just as much as she wanted to taste her again, to run her hands over the sleek lines of her body, she wanted to know what drove a young, intelligent, vibrant woman to leave everything in her life behind and seclude herself in a sleepy little town by the sea. Because that’s exactly what Rica had done. “You’re the boss.”

“Actually,” Rica said playfully, leaning close to brush a kiss along the edge of Carter’s jaw, “I’m not.”

It was the first time Rica had ever directly alluded to her father’s business, and Carter knew she should follow up on it. Instead, she swung their joined hands and pointed toward a natural cul-de-sac in the dunes where they would be shielded from the worst of the wind by the rising swells of sand on either side. “We can spread the blanket out in there and continue the conversation you started by the boat.”

“Not until I’ve had lunch and… did I see champagne in that gear bag of yours?”

“You did.” They stopped and Carter handed one end of the blanket to Rica. Together they spread it out on the sand and weighted it down at the corners with items from the bag. “Go ahead and get comfortable, and I’ll serve you.”

Rica stretched out on the blanket, leaning on her elbows to watch Carter put out their lunch. “This just gets better all the time.”

Carter shot her a grin. “Wait till we get to dessert.”

Rica was afraid she wouldn’t make it through lunch without begging Carter to touch her. She so desperately needed to get control of herself, and yet she loved the way being around Carter made her feel. For the first time in her life, she felt not only wonderfully alive, but completely herself. “I’ll try. But I’m not making any promises.”

“I’m not asking for any.” Carter knelt beside Rica on the blanket, the bottle of champagne cradled between her palms, and leaned down to kiss her. She kept it light and easy because she wanted it to be anything but. And it just wasn’t possible. “Let’s just enjoy it.”

“Yes. Let’s.”

Chapter Sixteen

Tory fumbled for a towel and wiped at the smear of pureed carrots on Reggie’s cheek. “Come on, honey, two more bites and we’re done.” She glanced at the clock. Ten minutes to two. She was going to be late for work. Again.

“Never mind,” Tory murmured. “It’s not your fault.” If she’d been sleeping better, the few extra hours she needed for child care without Reese home to help wouldn’t have mattered. But the bed was too large and achingly empty, and sleep just wouldn’t come.

“My schedule is just off, that’s all. Things will be fine in a few more days.”

Reggie smiled and blew carrot bubbles.

The crunch of tires over shells in the driveway drew Tory’s attention, and she set the spoon aside, wondering as to the identity of her unexpected visitor. She took three steps toward the screen door and jerked to a stop with a small gasp. She could just make out the dark-haired officer in the patrol car, and for a second, all she could think was Reese!

When Bri climbed out, the disappointment was sharp enough to make her moan softly. Still, she forced a smile as Bri rapped on the door.

“Come in,” Tory called, turning back to Reggie, who was making impatient noises. “We’re about done with lunch and then I have to take her over to Kate’s.”

“Are you working today?” Bri tossed her hat onto the counter, followed by her keys.

Tory watched the familiar action, thinking of how many times she’d seen Reese do exactly the same thing. Bri, with her thick, jet black hair, brilliant blue eyes, and confident walk, seemed more like Reese every day. Tory was glad to see her, but on some irrational level, it hurt.

“I’m due in the clinic in about five minutes.”

Bri looked at Reggie, who was eagerly reaching for the next spoonful of baby food. “Want me to finish that so you can get ready?”

“Are you on your lunch break?”

“Yeah.”

“I’d love for you to take her, but I’m warning you right now, you’ll probably end up with carrots on your uniform.”

Bri shrugged. “No problem.”

Tory smiled, knowing that Bri was every bit as particular about the appearance of her uniform as Reese was. God, could they be any more alike? She touched Bri’s shoulder lightly on her way to wash her hands. “Thank you.”

“Uh, Tory?”

“Mmm?”

“Have you heard from Reese?”

Tory dried her hands and folded the towel with more care than necessary. “I had an e-mail two days ago. She said she was about to ship out, and that it would be a while before she could contact me again. You?”

Bri shook her head. “I got an e-mail then too. She said everything was okay, that she was really busy, and wanted to know if everything was okay here.”

“Here, here?” Tory asked quietly. “Meaning me?”

“She didn’t say, exactly,” Bri said, looking uncomfortable. She adroitly avoided Reggie’s flailing hands and guided a spoonful of baby food into Reggie’s mouth. “She probably just meant work.”

“Probably.” Tory slid her arm around Bri’s shoulders. “I’m really glad that you came by. I’ve been going a little crazy just talking to Reggie, although it is nice that she never argues or contradicts me.”

Bri laughed. “So how are things.”

“I’m doing okay. You can tell her that, okay?” Tory rested her cheek against the top of Bri’s head for a second. “I really miss her, though.”

“Me too.”

“Are things all right with her gone and the busy season coming?”

“My dad rearranged the schedule some. It’ll be okay until Reese gets back. She won’t be gone that long.”

Tory gave Bri a squeeze. “I’m going to change, honey. Can you stay with her a few more minutes?”

“I can take her to Kate’s, if you want. She loves to ride in the cruiser.” Bri blushed. “The baby seat’s in the trunk.”

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re incredibly sweet?”

Bri grinned that cocky grin that had had her breaking hearts since she was sixteen years old. “Caroline does. Now and then.”

“I’ll just bet she does.” Laughing, feeling lighter at heart than she had since Reese left, Tory lifted Reggie from her high chair. “I’ll get her things together while you fix the car seat. And Bri? Thanks.”

“You know, I was sort of screwed up when I first met Reese, but she trusted me anyhow. Then the two of you took me in when Caroline and I had that bad spot last year,” Bri said quietly. “I think I might have been in trouble if you hadn’t.” She settled her hat low on her brows. “That makes us family, right?”

“Oh honey,” Tory whispered, kissing her cheek. “Yes, it does.”

Carter slid behind Rica on the beach blanket, extending her legs outside of Rica’s thighs, and wrapped her arms loosely around Rica’s waist. She nuzzled Rica’s neck just below her ear. “You’re shivering.”

Rica settled back against Carter’s shoulder, turned her head, and kissed Carter’s throat. “I’m not cold.”

“Sure?” Carter leaned to one side and retrieved the champagne bottle that she had propped up in the sand while they ate the sandwiches she’d picked up earlier. She refilled Rica’s plastic cup and then her own.

“Mmm.” Rica grasped Carter’s forearms and drew them securely around her middle. “The tide’s going out.”

Carter eased forward until her breasts and abdomen were tight to Rica’s back. “We’ve got a little bit of time.”

Rica tilted her head to see Carter’s face. “Do we? Funny, it doesn’t feel that way.”

“I do have to go back to the mainland for a while.” Carter had been wondering how to bring up the subject of her leaving, but now that the opening had arisen, she didn’t want to talk about it. She didn’t want to think about it.

“For how long?” Rica’s voice was steady, almost emotionless.

“A few weeks. There are some important meetings I’ve been putting off, and now they’ve caught up with me.” She slowly caressed Rica’s stomach with one hand, stopping just below her breasts. “But it’s close enough for a visit now and then.”

“What is it that you do for my father?”

Carter sucked in a breath. “What happened to our deal?”

“The rules have changed.” Rica shifted around in Carter’s arms, drawing her legs up over Carter’s thighs as if she were sitting sideways in a chair, her torso nestled against Carter’s chest. Her eyes were wide and serious.

“Have they?” Carter asked, brushing her mouth over Rica’s.

“I’m afraid so.”

“Why?”

“Because we’ve been here for over an hour, and you’ve asked me about my work, and where I went to school, and what I like to do to relax.” Rica ran her tongue along the pulse that beat in Carter’s neck. “And because I told you.”

“Were they secrets?” Carter lifted the lower edge of Rica’s sweater and slipped her hand underneath. Her camisole was silk and glided beneath Carter’s fingers. Carter was grateful for the thin barrier that kept her from touching the firm, warm flesh beneath it. If she had been able to run her palm over Rica’s skin, she wouldn’t have been able to stop until she held Rica’s breast in her hand. Even as the muscles in her thighs trembled and twitched, she contented herself with pressing her mouth to the hollow at the base of Rica’s throat. “I just want to know you.”

“Why?” Rica didn’t ask accusingly, but more curiously. She covered Carter’s hand, placing hers outside the sweater, and guided Carter’s fingers upward to her breast. She arched her back at the first touch. “Isn’t this enough?”

When Rica’s nipple tightened into a knot beneath Carter’s fingertips, the sensation was like a fist in her midsection. Carter groaned softly. “It’s wonderful.” She rubbed her hand in a gentle circle over Rica’s breast and then back down her abdomen, breathing deeply until she could think again. “You must know I want you.”

“I do. It’s been in your eyes since the first time you looked at me.” Rica hooked her nails on the edge of the seam along the inside of Carter’s thigh and dragged her fingers up until they rested in the vee of Carter’s crotch.

“Jesus, Rica.” The sun was starting to go down and the wind had picked up. “We can’t make love out here.”

“I know. We should’ve slept together already, and we haven’t.” Rica squeezed the denim gently in her hand and rocked her wrist in a slow, steady circle. “I could make you come like this, though, couldn’t I?”

A muscle jumped along the edge of Carter’s jaw. “Yes.”

“Do you want me to?” Rica’s mouth hovered above Carter’s, her eyes so intense Carter felt feverish from the heat.

“Yes,” Carter gasped. “No. I mean, not…”

Rica relinquished the pressure. Her breasts were tight-nippled and distended beneath the cotton of her sweater. “That’s what I mean,” she said breathlessly. “You keep holding back. You want me, but you keep holding back.”

“It’s just…”

“I swore I’d never get involved with someone who worked for my father.” Rica gently removed Carter’s hand from beneath her sweater and eased back until her hips were no longer cradled against Carter’s crotch. “You make me forget things I shouldn’t.”

“This doesn’t have anything to do with that.” Carter knew she should let it go. That she should let Rica go now, but she couldn’t. “This is personal. It has nothing to do with your family.”

“It has everything to do with it, Carter. My whole life…everything I do…it all comes back to who my father is.”

“It doesn’t have to.”

“You know that’s not true.”

“It’s true if we say it’s true.” Carter didn’t know what she was talking about anymore. Rica’s father, her own job, the untruths between them…they all merged into one confusing tangle. She didn’t know which thread, if tugged even gently, would unravel the entire tapestry of secrets and lies. “Please, Rica, it’s just us here.”

“We should get back.” Rica stood and walked a few feet away, gazing out to the ocean, her arms wrapped tightly around her midsection.

“Damn it, Rica. Just talk to me.”

“About what?” Rica asked, her back still turned.

“Anything. Everything.” Carter stood, feeling helpless and frustrated. She wanted to make Rica understand things she didn’t understand herself. “I want to know who you are…every damn thing from the time you took your first breath.”

Rica laughed. “There’s nothing to tell.”

“Tell me about the first girl you ever kissed.”

“I was seventeen and she was in college. And we didn’t kiss…we fucked in the bathroom at a friend’s wedding. You?”

“I was twenty and so was she. I was so nervous I bit her lip and she bled on my shirt. I didn’t wash it for a month.”

“You’re not nervous when you kiss me.”

“Yes, I am.” Carter raked her hands through her hair, cursing herself for not being able to control her body. Not wanting to. She went to Rica, gently encircling her from behind again. She kissed the nape of Rica’s neck where the wind blew her hair away from her shoulders. “I don’t do anything for your father.”

Rica stiffened. “I know that’s not true.”

“I don’t, not directly. I’ve had some dealings with an associate of his.”

“It’s the same thing.”

“No. It isn’t.” Carter’s smoothed her hands over Rica’s shoulders. “I swear, it’s not what you think.”

Rica turned and studied Carter’s face. “I’m not sure that makes me feel any better.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

“So am I.” Rica smoothed her hand over Carter’s chest. “It’s probably good if we don’t see each other for a while.”

The arousal that had been churning in Carter’s stomach tightened into a heavy ball of disappointment. “Why?”

“Because then when we do see each other again, maybe instead of talking, we can just have sex and get it out of our systems.”

“I like talking.” Carter kissed her. “But I like this too. I’ll call you when I get to Boston…”

“No. I don’t want to talk to you when you’re there. Doing whatever it is that you don’t do for my family.” Rica took a step back, breaking contact with Carter completely. “I’ll see you when you get back here. Where it’s just us.”

“It might be a few weeks.”

“I know.”

Carter watched helplessly as Rica packed up the remains of their meal and started toward the boat. She quickly rolled up the blanket and towels and followed. She was shivering now too. She found the jacket she’d left under one of the seats and handed it to Rica. “Here. You’re going to freeze.”

“Thanks.” Rica pulled on Carter’s jacket and wrapped her arms around her knees. She watched Carter push the boat off the sand and jump adroitly in. She rested her cheek against her knee and studied the woman who was still so much a stranger, but who seemed with each passing hour to be more and more a part of her world. And that’s what she hadn’t wanted to happen.

From the time she had been old enough to understand what it was her father did, she had carefully separated herself from all that entailed. As she’d gotten older, it had become even harder to do. She’d come to recognize that every family gathering was always more than that. Men took her father aside for whispered conversations in the midst of a wedding party, birthday gifts were bestowed like tithes, and guests subtly vied for the coveted seats at the tables closest to her father’s. There was always an undercurrent of unrest and danger.

She wanted none of it, and she had distanced herself as much as she could considering her father’s agenda for her. Now she found herself almost totally alone.

Until Carter. Carter threatened to draw her right back into the very arena she’d fought so hard to leave behind. She couldn’t let that happen. Time was what she needed. Time to close the doors Carter had opened.

Chapter Seventeen

“Hi, good morning. Hello, how are you?” Tory greeted the patients already gathered in her waiting room as she hurried toward her office.

“You have a nice holiday now, Dr. King,” one elderly gentleman called.

Memorial Day weekend. The start of the busiest time of the year. Oh yes, it will be wonderful.

“Thank you. You, too, Mr. Durkee.” Tory gave Randy a harried smile. “Everything okay?”

“Dr. Burgoyne is here,” Randy said. “I sent her back.”

“Thanks,” Tory said, checking her watch. For once, she wasn’t late. “Give me fifteen.”

“You got it.”

When she reached her office, Tory found her new associate perusing the photographs of Tory during her Olympic rowing days. Reese had done the same thing, the morning they’d met, but the similarity ended there. Bonita was a petite African American woman of thirty, with almond skin and warm brown eyes. “Good morning. Have you been waiting long?”

Bonita Burgoyne turned with a smile. “No, not really. I was early. I’ve forgotten what it’s like to live in a small town where it just takes a few minutes to get from one place to another.” She laughed. “I’m still on big-city time. In Rhode Island I had an hour commute and needed to get ready two hours early for anything.”

“Did you get settled in?” Tory dropped her briefcase on her desk and gestured to the chair in front of it. She sat down and glanced automatically at the framed photograph on the right-hand corner of her desk. Reese was right, she looked gorgeous in her desert camouflage BDUs. For just a second, Tory forgot what she was doing and thought back instead to their last phone call, which had been almost a week before. The connection hadn’t been great, but it was clear enough for her to hear that Reese was tired, and more than that, troubled. Troubled by the things, Tory imagined, that she had seen or perhaps done. Things that she hadn’t told Tory, and might never tell her. Unconsciously, she reached out and ran her fingers along the edge of the silver frame.

“How long has she been gone?” Bonita asked quietly.

Tory looked up with a start, then shook her head ruefully. “I’m sorry. Just about a month.” Actually, thirty-one days, five hours, and seven minutes.

“I saw the picture on your desk when I was looking at the ones up on the wall. I don’t mean to pry, but I’ve got a cousin there, too. I can relate.”

“It’s all right,” Tory said. “I hope we’ll be friends as well as colleagues.” She added quickly, “But you’re not required to share anything that you don’t want to.”

Bonita laughed. “I don’t have any deep dark secrets. As I told you during the interview, I don’t like the pace of city living and I don’t like the kind of medicine I’m being forced to practice with all the restrictions and bureaucracy in a big hospital. I want a quiet life, and I want to practice medicine that matters.”

Tory noticed that Bonita neatly managed to avoid mentioning what she wanted in her personal life. Tory knew she was single. She didn’t know if her new associate was a lesbian. Indeed, she knew very little about Bonita beyond her professional credentials, which were exemplary, and the fact that she was easy to talk to and seemed to have a calm, centered personality. Just what Tory needed in a medical partner.

“That’s pretty much what you’ll get here,” Tory said. “Peace and predictability.” She looked at the photo of Reese standing outside a tent in the desert. She could feel the heat on her skin just looking at it. “Most of the time.”

“How’s she doing? Does she say?”

“She’s a Marine,” Tory said with a small smile.

“Ah. One of my sisters and two of my brothers are cops, just like our father.” Bonita shook her head. “And they never talk about how hard it can be, either.”

“How did you escape the call, then?” Tory wondered at the trace of bitterness in Bonita’s voice.

“Never even heard a whisper. I had enough of the tough-guy attitude growing up. It’s the last thing I wanted in my life once I became an adult.”

“I think I can understand that. But we don’t choose who we fall in love with. And I wouldn’t change anything about Reese.”

“Good for you,” Bonita said sincerely.

“Yes. I know.”

Carter snagged a drink from a passing tuxedoed waiter and moved off to one side of the stone patio into the shade of a huge flowering dogwood. At seven p.m., under the golden glow of the setting sun, the expansive gardens behind Alfonse Pareto’s home were a riot of color and fragrance. Their beauty, however, was eclipsed by that of the woman Carter watched as she sipped her 1995 Krug. She hadn’t seen Rica in three weeks, and while she hadn’t thought it was possible to forget how striking she was, she had been wrong.

Rica wore a white two-piece evening dress…a sleek sleeveless silk top subtly styled like a bustier and a floor length fishtail skirt…with heels that brought her close to Carter’s height. Her hair was pulled back from her face and held with a comb at the base of her neck. She looked exotic and untouchable. Every time she gazed in Carter’s direction, her eyes passed over Carter’s face as if they were strangers. Each time it happened, Carter felt the affront as if she’d been slapped. Finally, she couldn’t take it any longer.

Against her better judgment, she eased her way through the crowd and waited until Rica had stopped speaking to yet another of the men Carter recognized as Pareto’s captains. Then she closed the final gap between them.

“Ms. Grechi,” Carter said quietly, her eyes sweeping the crowd, relieved when she saw that no one was paying any particular attention to them. It wasn’t the smartest move for her to approach Rica in full view of people who might take notice, but she couldn’t help herself. Up close she could see that the top of Rica’s ensemble laced in the back, leaving her skin tantalizingly displayed beneath the thin silk strands. Carter’s fingertips tingled with the need to caress the small bare patches of skin.

“Carter,” Rica said.

When it seemed that Rica might not say anything else, Carter murmured, “You look amazing tonight.”

Rica slanted Carter a glance, then fingered the sleeve of Carter’s plain, black, tab-collared shirt while she slowly perused the belted trousers. “You’re probably the only woman in my father’s entire acquaintance who could manage to show up wearing this and not cause a stir. Prada?”

“Uh-huh.”

“I like the look.”

“I’m glad.” Carter sipped her champagne. “I called you when I was out on the Cape.” She’d only been able to get away once for more than a day in the last few weeks, and although she could easily have made the short trip out to the Cape with a smaller window of time than that, she was afraid she might be called back when she was there. She hadn’t wanted to rouse Rica’s suspicions by making another abrupt departure, so she had forced herself to stay away. But the longer she had gone without seeing Rica, the harder it had been to sleep. The harder it had been to concentrate. The harder it had been to do anything except think about Rica and how much she wanted to see her again. “I left a message.”

“I had to go back to Manhattan unexpectedly.”

Carter nodded. That didn’t explain why Rica hadn’t returned her call, but it was neither the time nor place to push her for further explanation. “Everything all right?”

Rica smiled fleetingly. Angie had called because she’d been worried about some odd transactions which they still hadn’t sorted out. “Business is good.”

“Glad to hear it.”

“I didn’t know you were coming today.”

“Neither did I,” Carter said, which was the truth. She wasn’t happy to be there, because she hadn’t wanted Rica to see her with Rizzo or anyone else related to Pareto’s organization. But Rizzo had reported to Special Agent Allen that something was happening. Apparently the captains had all heard various forms of a rumor that the competition was gaining strength, and Rizzo felt some kind of retaliation might be coming. Allen had fairly salivated at the news and had insisted that Carter get an inside look at who seemed to be in Pareto’s favor. “I wouldn’t have come if I could’ve avoided it.”

Rica gave Carter a curious look. “Why?”

“Because you don’t want me here. And I don’t want to put another roadblock in front of…” Carter gave an exasperated sigh. “Whatever we have going.”

“That’s very eloquent,” Rica said, but her eyes were smiling. “I’m sorry I missed you when you were in town.”

At that, some of the tension eased from Carter’s chest, and she was able to take a full breath again. “Good. Are you going to be here for a few days?”

“I don’t know. And I won’t see you here anyway. I told you that.”

“All right, but…” Carter swept the crowd again and this time locked eyes with Lorenzo Brassi, who stood directly opposite them across the patio, watching them with the stillness of a great cat judging the distance to its prey. Just knowing that he was watching Rica caused Carter to clench her fists. “What about next weekend? If I come to you?”

Rica regarded her thoughtfully. “Call me and we’ll see.”

Carter tried to look unperturbed as Rica turned and walked away, because she knew Brassi was watching them. It took all her willpower not to follow Rica into the house, because now that she’d seen Rica, she ached to touch her. It was as if she’d been starving and hadn’t been able to identify the source of her pain until just that moment. Now, with surcease so close, it was agony to wait. She narrowed her eyes as she watched Lorenzo Brassi walk briskly into the house after Rica.

Rica slowed once she was inside and turned down the hallway toward her father’s study. Even as a child she had gone there for comfort and to escape from whatever troubled her. The cool dark room still held the smells she associated with her father, her childhood, and more innocent times. Though she was too old now to believe that there was any place where she could truly escape, this was still her favorite room in her father’s house.

“Is that dyke what you think you want?” Enzo said from behind her.

Rica stiffened, angry at herself for relaxing her vigilance. She had been taken off guard by seeing Carter. Not just seeing her, but realizing just how much she had wanted to see her. It had been so hard to maintain her cool facade while under the watchful eye of her father and his men when all she’d wanted was to kiss her. As if that were possible when there were at least a dozen men observing her. The last thing she wanted was to incite curiosity about her relationship with Carter, because if it reached her father’s ears, he would have Carter investigated at the very least. Worse, if he had any doubts about what was happening between them, he would order one of his trusted lieutenants to shadow them.

While she had been struggling not to reveal how much she had wanted to be alone with Carter, she hadn’t noticed Enzo. And now she would pay for that lapse.

“Does she make you come, Rica?” Enzo whispered harshly.

Even before she felt Enzo’s hand on her arm, Rica stopped. She had to divert his attention from Carter at all costs. She hoped her expression was civil as she said lightly, “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Enzo. Can we please have just one family gathering without an argument?”

He ran his finger along the edge of her jaw. “You’ve always been a terrible liar, cara.” He moved closer, forcing Rica back a step. “But the way your…friend looks at you, she would have given you both away, anyhow.”

Rica’s heart sped up. She hated the thought of Enzo knowing anything about Carter. “Whatever you think you saw…”

“If she had balls, I would say that you have hers in a vise. She is dying to fuck you, isn’t she?”

“I’m going back outside.” Rica tried to sidestep him, but he crowded her into an alcove off the main hallway. “Enzo.”

When she tried to ward him off, he caught both wrists and shoved her against the wall, dragging her arms above her head. He crushed her hands together and gripped both wrists in one of his large hands. “You tease women like you do men,” he snarled. “But she won’t take what she wants, will she? I can see it in her face, how much she wants you. She’s sick with it. But you offer it in one breath and refuse her in the next. Bitch.”

For a fleeting second, Rica asked herself if that’s what she did with Carter, but then his body crushed hers, and her only thoughts were of survival. Her wrists screamed with pain and her fingers went numb. She jerked her head away as his mouth closed on her neck.

“Stop it,” she said urgently, trying not to raise her voice in case one of her father’s men was nearby. It was just like always. The horrible fear and humiliation…that he could do this to her over and over, and that only by admitting her helplessness could she escape. “Enzo. For God’s sake.”

He fisted her dress and raked it up her thighs to her hips, nearly exposing her completely. Rica struggled, writhing beneath him in a frantic parody of lovemaking, and he slapped her sharply with his free hand. The blow rocked her head back and she tasted blood on the inside of her lip.

“Hold still.”

She twisted and tried to drive her hipbone between his legs, but he slapped her again. He’d never been like this before, so wild, so crazed. Rica’s stomach clenched with a rush of pain and nausea as she thrashed against his weight.

“Do you fight her too?” Enzo rasped. He bit her neck and drove his hand between her thighs. He squeezed her tender flesh until she whimpered. “You want women because you can control them,” he grunted, forcing her legs apart. “You won’t make me like them.”

Rica felt his hand fumbling between them, and a terrible chill ran through her at the sound of a zipper opening. “You can’t rape me. Enzo, you can’t…”

“It’s not rape when you want it,” he snarled, transferring his hand quickly from her wrist to her throat.

He pinned her to the wall with his vise-like grip on her neck, and her vision dimmed while she struggled to breathe. She gathered all of her strength in one last effort to fight back, and then, miraculously, he was gone. She gasped for breath and, through tear-filled eyes, saw Carter.

“You son of a bitch,” Carter raged, driving her fist into Enzo’s throat. He gagged and dropped to his knees, both hands clamped to his neck. She pulled his head back with a fistful of hair and made sure that he saw her face. “Touch her again and I’ll kill you next time.”

She spoke quietly, with deadly calm, and stared into his eyes until she was sure her words had registered. When she was certain that he had heard her, she slammed her fist under his chin. He dropped unconscious to the floor, and she gathered Rica into her arms.

“I’m sorry,” Carter murmured, stroking Rica’s hair. “I should’ve come sooner. Jesus. Rica.”

Rica fisted Carter’s shirt and pressed her forehead hard to her shoulder, willing back the tears, struggling not to tremble. “It’s all right. He didn’t…he didn’t.”

Carter gently lifted Rica’s face, her eyes turning to stone at the sight of the angry red marks on Rica’s face. “The bastard hit you.”

“Carter, you have to get out of here.” With trembling hands, Rica smoothed down her dress and tried to tame her hair, which had fallen loose in the struggle. “Enzo. When he wakes up, he’ll come after you.”

“Fine.”

“No, you don’t understand. He’s my father’s second in command. You can’t do to him what you just did.”

“The hell I can’t.” Carter flexed her fist, which was starting to stiffen. “He was going to rape you, Rica.”

“He would have stopped. Even he wouldn’t do that.” Rica wasn’t certain, but she’d say anything to get Carter to settle down. Because Carter had a look on her face that was frightening in an entirely different way than Enzo had been frightening. Rica had never really understood the meaning of the words cold fury until now. “You can’t go against him this way, Carter. Please.”

Carter had never heard the edge of fear in Rica’s voice before, and she hated that she might have been responsible for even part of it. She cupped Rica’s cheek and very softly kissed her bruised mouth. “All right. But you’re coming with me.”

Rica shook her head. “I can handle him.”

“He’s crazy, Rica. To try to do what he just did?” Carter brushed a stray lock of hair off Rica’s cheek. “I’m not leaving you alone, especially not with him anywhere in the vicinity.”

Enzo moaned and twitched, and Rica caught her breath.

“All right,” Rica said impatiently. “All right. Where are we going?”

“Come on.” Carter took her hand. “I’ll take you home.”

Chapter Eighteen

“Where are we going?” Rica tugged her seat belt forward and shifted sideways in the bucket seat. With each mile that Carter put between Enzo and them, Rica regained a little more of her self-control. Still, every time she remembered the venom in his voice and the cruel indifference of his hands roaming her body, a wave of loathing washed through her. Looking at Carter helped banish the horror.

“Back to Provincetown.”

“That’s the first place Enzo will look.” Rica pulled the blue blazer she’d snatched from a closet closer around her. She had been in such a hurry to get away that she hadn’t said good night to anyone, not even her father. Carter had urged her to tell him she was leaving, at the very least, but Rica had feared that Enzo would intercept them at any moment. “He won’t care that you’re a woman. He’ll hurt you, Carter.”

“You’re shaking.” Carter turned on the heat, then reached across the gap between them and took Rica’s hand. Her fingers were cold. “He’ll want to hurt me. But he didn’t get where he is by being stupid. He won’t do anything until he knows what all the consequences might be. He’s not coming tonight.”

“But he will come.” Rica shivered despite the blast of hot air. Enzo had threatened her before, even physically accosted her, although he’d never come as close to raping her as he had that evening. Still, she’d never been so frightened, and it was more than the near rape. He had almost succeeded in stripping her of the one thing she clung to, her ability to define herself by her own rules and desires. She was not a pawn in her father’s game or a victim of circumstance if she controlled who touched her life, her body…her heart. “He won’t forget this.”

“Neither will I.” Carter’s hand tightened on the wheel as she remembered coming around the corner and seeing Enzo molesting Rica. Her dress had been bunched around her thighs, and he was grinding himself between her legs. Rica’s cheek was flaming from where he’d struck her, and her eyes were wild with panic. Carter knew if she’d had her gun, she would have put it to the back of his head and pulled the trigger without a second’s remorse. She still wanted to. And because she knew that Rica would sense her anger, just as she sensed Rica’s lingering panic, Carter forced the image from her mind. All that mattered was that Rica feel safe. “How’s your cheek? Should I stop for ice?”

Rica tentatively probed her left cheek. Her entire head throbbed. “My jaw hurts a little when I move it, but I think it’s just swollen.”

“Maybe we should have it checked.”

“No. No doctors.”

“Rica, if you’re hurt…”

“I’m not. I’m fine. Please, just take me home.”

Carter heard the panic just below the surface, and the sound tore at her. She knew that Rica had to be hurting in more than just her body for her control to slip enough for her fear to show “Hey, it’s okay. Why don’t you put your seat back and try to get some sleep. We’ll be there in about an hour.”

“You should stop somewhere and I’ll rent a car. There’s no need for you to take me home.”

“Rica,” Carter said softly. “What do you take me for? I’m not leaving you alone.”

Rica studied Carter’s face, which was obscured by shadow. Who was she really, this woman who had come into her life and made her feel safe? She knew nothing of her except things she wished were not true. “You just said he wouldn’t come tonight.”

“He won’t. But I’m not leaving you alone after what happened.”

“I’m all right. It’s not the first time Enzo has been…difficult.”

Carter’s fingers tightened around Rica’s. “How long?”

“Since we were teenagers.”

“Bastard.” Carter glanced at Rica. “Did he force himself on you then?”

“He tried,” Rica said, her expression distant. “I always managed to stop him.”

“I’m surprised your father let him live.” Carter’s voice hardened. “He didn’t blame you, did he?”

“I never told him.”

“Why?” Carter lifted Rica’s hand and brushed her lips over Rica’s fingers, hoping to soften the question.

“He would have killed Enzo,” Rica said with certainty. “And I didn’t want that.”

“I’m not following, honey,” Carter said gently.

“Because even when we were young I could see that Enzo was the son my father had never had.” Rica stared at Carter. “Don’t you see? As long as he stays in my father’s favor, Enzo will take his place, not me. Most of the family will welcome him as successor.”

“Jesus,” Carter murmured. “So you kept quiet all these years so you wouldn’t be pressed to take over?”

“Yes.”

“And now I’ve made things a lot more difficult for you.” Carter thought bitterly of the irony that by investigating the suspicions that Rica was connected to organized crime, she’d made Rica’s efforts not to be involved even harder. Everything was turned around. “Jesus, I’m sorry.”

Rica leaned over and kissed Carter on the corner of her mouth. “No. You’ve made everything better, if just for a little while.” Then she leaned her head against Carter’s shoulder and closed her eyes.

Carter drove on, wondering how long it would take Enzo to make his move on her, and if she could make things right for Rica before he did.

“Rica.” Carter stroked Rica’s shoulder and kissed her forehead. “We’re here.”

“Mmm.” Enjoying the sensation of Carter’s arm around her and the heat of her body, Rica rubbed her cheek against Carter’s shoulder. The stabbing pain brought her awake and she jolted upright. “Oh, God.”

“What is it? Your jaw?”

“Cheek.”

Carter swore. “I’m going to find someone to check that. There’s gotta be a doctor in this town.”

Rica curled her hand around Carter’s thigh, restraining her as she pushed her door open. “No. Please. It just startled me. It’s not that bad.”

“We’ll take a look at it inside where we can get some light on it.” Carter added frustration and helplessness to her long list of confused emotions where Rica was concerned. But none of her discomfort was Rica’s fault, and she carefully kept her unease from showing. “Just wait here for a few minutes while I check the house. Let me have your key.”

“For what? I thought you said you weren’t worried about Enzo.” Rica gripped Carter’s forearm. “God, he could have been here by plane an hour ago. You’re not going in there.”

Carter took Rica’s hands in hers. “He’s not inside. There’s no way he would have left your house early. He wouldn’t risk missing a meeting with your father or rousing his suspicions. Just the same, I’m not letting you walk in there until we’re certain that he didn’t send one of his friends.”

“You don’t know who might be in there,” Rica said urgently. “You might be brave, but you’re no match for Enzo’s muscle.” She slipped one hand behind Carter and patted her back and hips. “You’re not even armed.”

“Don’t worry.” Carter gently pulled away from Rica and reached for the trunk release. “Let me have your key, Rica. Please.”

“I don’t even have my purse.”

“No spare key under the flower pot?”

Rica managed a small smile. “They’re inside, but the keypad next to the garage door opens it with a code. It’s not very noisy.”

“Well, if there’s anyone inside, they already know we’re out here. What’s the code?”

“0-7-0-5.”

Carter slid out of the car. “Be right back.”

Carter retrieved her Glock semiautomatic from the compartment in the side panel of the Explorer’s cargo area, taking care to tuck her badge and ID down out of sight before closing it again. Then she walked quickly toward the house, staying in the shadows and avoiding the seashells that liberally lined the drive. She wasn’t quite as certain as she had professed to Rica that Enzo hadn’t sent one of his boys to scare them, or, if he was as crazy as she suspected, to manhandle Rica back to Boston. No cars were parked on the street, and none in the nearby driveways looked out of place, but that didn’t mean someone couldn’t have parked a few blocks away and walked. If they had come over by plane from Boston, they wouldn’t have arrived much sooner than she and Rica.

Carter keyed in Rica’s security code and ducked quickly underneath the garage door as soon as there was clearance. By the time the door was all the way up, she was inside the kitchen in the dark. She steadied her breathing and listened, hearing nothing but the sounds of an empty house. The refrigerator running, the wind rattling the windows, the tick of a clock. But then, anyone who was any good would not be making any noise. She moved methodically from room to room, checking closets, shower enclosures, and the dark recesses of the hallways. The house was empty.

She pushed her gun beneath the waistband of her trousers at the small of her back and turned on the outside lights. By the time she started down the driveway, Rica was almost to the porch.

“There’s no one here,” Carter said.

Rica regarded her contemplatively, then nodded. “Thank you.”

When Rica walked past her into the house, Carter followed. She wasn’t surprised that now that Rica was home, she was starting to withdraw. Carter had seen enough traumatized victims to know that most of them just wanted to be alone in safe surroundings. She had no intention of intruding, but she wasn’t leaving.

The kitchen was empty when Carter walked in. She stood still for a few minutes, listening, and when she heard the shower running upstairs, she went through the counter drawers until she found a plastic bag. She checked a few more cabinets, then filled the bag with ice and sat down at the kitchen table until she heard the shower go off. She waited a few more minutes and then went upstairs.

“Rica,” Carter said after tapping on the closed bathroom door, “I’m leaving some ice out here for your face. I didn’t see any aspirin in the kitchen, but if you’ve got some in there you should take…”

The door opened and Rica, wrapped in a towel, her hair wet and tangled about her shoulders, pointed down the hallway to the right. “The bedroom is at the end of the hall. I’ll be right there. Can you find a bottle of wine in the kitchen and bring it up?”

“Sure.” Carter made a concerted effort not to look anywhere except at Rica’s face, but she was painfully aware that the plush sea green towel knotted above Rica’s breasts slanted open a few inches as it fell, revealing a slice of tanned thigh. The swell of unbidden arousal was tempered by the sight of the bruise that marred Rica’s cheek. Rica didn’t need to be groped by any one else that night. Carter looked away. “I’ll give you a few minutes.”

“Just get the wine and come upstairs.” Rica skimmed her fingers over Carter’s shoulder as she passed. “Thanks for the ice.”

Rica stood in front of the open French doors, listening to the sound of Carter’s steady footsteps approaching down the hall. She’d toweled off her hair and pulled on a robe. She hoped the wine would warm her, because she seemed to be frozen all the way through. Where she pushed her hands inside the sleeves of her robe, her body felt warm under her fingertips, but just beneath her skin where she couldn’t touch, she was cold.

Carter stopped inside the door, a wine bottle in one hand and a glass held by its stem between the fingers of her other. “I could only find red. Is that all right?”

“Yes,” Rica said, turning. She’d switched on a reading light in the far corner of the room and Carter’s face looked softer than usual in the lamplight. When Carter’s eyes swept down her body and then quickly back to her face, the look left a thin trail of heat in its wake. Surprised by the odd burning sensation, Rica moved toward her, out of the cold.

“I’ll just leave it here.” Carter backed up a step and set the wineglass and bottle carefully on a bureau next to the door. “You really should get some res…”

“Look at me,” Rica said, opening her robe.

“Rica,” Carter whispered, glancing down despite herself. Rica’s breasts were flushed, as if from the warmth of the shower, and her nipples tight pink buds of invitation. Carter’s stomach clutched.

“I don’t feel anything.” Rica swept her fingers over her chest and cupped her breast. She strummed her thumb across her nipple. The pink turned to red. “Nothing. Except where you look at me.”

“You need to rest,” Carter said gently. She knew it was some kind of shock, some reaction to the assault. She knew that. She knew, but her body was doing crazy things as Rica moved to within inches of her, her long, slender fingers continuing to play over her breasts and down her abdomen. Carter took another step back and hit the door.

“Enzo said you were dying to fuck me,” Rica whispered, her naked thighs brushing Carter’s pants.

“Enzo is an animal.” Carter brushed her thumb tenderly over the bruised cheek. “Listen to me. You need to lie down. You’re in pain, and frightened…”

“I know what I’m doing, Carter,” Rica said. “My face hurts like hell or I’d kiss you right now. I’m not trying to block out what happened.” She grasped Carter’s wrist and guided Carter’s hand to her breast. She smiled when Carter groaned. “I’m cold because I’ve had to be for so long…to fight Enzo and the rest of them…and now I can’t get warm. I can’t feel anything. Except where you touch me. Touch me.”

“No,” Carter whispered. Everything in her screamed wrong time, wrong place, wrong reasons, while her hands shook and her stomach knotted with the delirious scorching need to feel her.

“Please.” Rica covered Carter’s hand and squeezed Carter’s fingers down around her nipple. She tilted her head back and moaned.

“Oh, Jesus.” Somehow Carter’s other hand found its way into Rica’s hair, and she held her head gently while she raked her teeth down the center of Rica’s exposed throat. The sound of Rica whimpering vibrated against her lips, and she couldn’t think of anything except hearing, touching, tasting more of Rica’s pleasure. She cupped Rica’s breast with her whole hand, continuing the rhythmic pinch of thumb and fingers on the swollen peak. Harder and harder, twisting and tugging, until Rica slumped against her.

“Oh, so good.” Rica clutched Carter’s shoulder to steady herself and pressed her sex against Carter’s thigh. Heat flooded through her even as it flooded from her, drenching Carter’s pants. “So good, Carter.”

Carter took a nipple in her mouth.

Rica gasped. “I’ve dreamed of you making me come.”

Carter lifted her head and looked into the depths of Rica’s wide, dark eyes. Then she was swirling and tumbling and about to drown in the vortex of pure and simple desire. Rica’s lips trembled as she pumped her hips in long, hard strokes over Carter’s thigh.

“I’m afraid I will,” Rica whispered, her eyes glazing. “I’m so close to coming already. Oh Carter, don’t let me come before you touch me.”

Carter’s heart squeezed painfully. Rica was so beautiful, so open, so…trusting.

“Rica, I can’t,” Carter groaned, and released Rica’s breast. But she was too late.

Rica caught Carter’s hand and thrust it between her legs, her breath hitching on a thin cry. “I’m going to…” She plunged Carter’s fingers into her aching sex, took her deep inside, and drove down against her palm in short, hard thrusts. She came on Carter’s hand with a broken wail.

Carter wrapped an arm around Rica’s waist and caught her as her legs gave way, lifting her into her arms. “It’s okay, baby, it’s okay,” she murmured as Rica whimpered with the last ravages of her climax. “It’s okay.”

But just like so many times in her life when she’d held a woman in moments like this, she was lying. And this time, the lie was tearing her apart.

Chapter Nineteen

Rica awakened cold and naked. The room itself was warm, and she was covered by a light sheet, but Carter was gone and she’d taken the heat with her. Rica remembered sleeping in Carter’s arms. She remembered the faintly rough texture of Carter’s shirt beneath her cheek and the surprisingly erratic beat of Carter’s heart somewhere in her distant dreams. It had been months since she’d awakened with anyone in her bed, and longer than that since she’d allowed anyone to actually hold her while she slept. Dropping into an exhausted stupor next to the woman who had just made her come was a far cry from what had happened with Carter.

And what had happened with Carter? Oh, she knew what had happened, at least the easy part. Rica skimmed her hand down the center of her chest. She could remember Carter’s mouth and hands on her breasts. Her nipples were still swollen and pleasantly sore. Her skin was nothing but raw nerve endings. She tensed, remembering how desperate she’d been to be filled, so wild to come with Carter inside her that she couldn’t think at all. Her whole body was still loose and languid after climaxing harder than she could ever recall. She slid her fingers along the inside of her thigh and over her sex. She was still wet. She wanted Carter again. Her body, no, not just her body, all of her, was out of control.

With a sigh, Rica rose and found her robe where it lay pooled in the sunlight by the bedroom door. She remembered the rest of it too. Carter had tried to stop her, but she’d been too far gone to hear. Carter had tried to stop her, and now Carter was gone. It shouldn’t have mattered, but it did. She shouldn’t have slept with her, but she hadn’t been able to get her out of her head all the time they had been separated. Three weeks had felt like three years. She should have been glad Carter was gone, because she didn’t need the complication now. Enzo’s demands, business and personal, were becoming harder and harder to turn aside. And now Carter was in the middle, and that was a very dangerous place for her to be.

“It’s just as well she’s gone.”

When Rica walked into the kitchen and saw Carter outside on the deck, talking on her cell phone, her heart leapt. A twist of desire nearly made her stumble and she stopped just inside the door to look at Carter. Just look. Carter still wore the clothes she’d had on the previous evening and her face was drawn and tired, as if she hadn’t slept. Even though she was rumpled and windblown, she looked beautiful. A wash of desire flooded Rica’s thighs.

“Oh God,” she whispered. This was far more than she had wanted to feel, and she feared there was no turning back.

When Carter turned sideways to lean her hip against the railing, still speaking urgently, Rica saw the Glock tucked into the small of her back. Rica flashed on Carter opening the cargo area the night before and then moving stealthily up the path to her house, her steps certain and sure. As if she’d done it before. A small note of warning sounded in Rica’s mind.

Carter glanced into the house and, meeting Rica’s gaze, quickly ended her call. She stepped back into the kitchen and kissed Rica softly, just a gentle brush of lips. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I owe you an apology,” Rica said, folding her arms over her breasts.

“No,” Carter said softly, “you don’t.”

“I don’t unusually throw myself at women.”

“Rica, last night was…”

“No.” Rica held up a hand, knowing Carter thought that the sex had been an attempt to block out the attack. “Last night was not about Enzo. It was about wanting you so much that I…”

“Last night was great.” Carter caressed Rica’s neck. “Last night was amazing.”

“Yes.” Rica smiled fleetingly. “I notice you didn’t stick around for seconds, though.” At Carter’s look of surprise, Rica grimaced. “God, I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’m sorry.”

“Maybe it has something to do with fighting alone all your life. Don’t apologize.”

Rica shrugged. “A bit late now. I should call my father and let him know where I am. At least he won’t send anyone out looking for me.”

“Good idea.”

“If you’ve got friends in my father’s favor, now would be the time to call on them. Before Enzo twists this around and makes you out to be a threat to someone besides him.”

There it was. The opening Carter needed to press for details about the organization. Who are the important people? Who should I call? Who are Enzo’s enemies? His friends? Carter said nothing.

Rica laughed bitterly and then winced at the sharp twinge in her jaw. Her face pulsed with pain. “I’m sure I don’t need to tell you how to handle these things. You’ve probably already called.”

“Yes,” Carter said, but it hadn’t been the call Rica imagined.

“Kevin? We’ve got problems.”

“That’s a fucking understatement. Where the hell are you?”

“Cape Cod. What have you heard?”

“That someone put Brassi on the floor at a family gathering last night and left him with his dick hanging out.”

“Who’d you hear it from?”

“A friend. You’re not the only one inside,” Kevin said. “It was you, wasn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“Motherfu…Jesus. Allen is busting a nut over this. She’s been trying to call you all night. Where’s your phone?”

“I’m talking to you on it.”

Kevin laughed. “Funny. Why didn’t you answer?”

“I was sleeping.”

“Sleeping. With a certain dark-haired princess?”

Carter was silent.

“Fuck me.” Kevin sighed audibly. “Allen went over our heads. Says you’ve compromised the whole operation. Says your judgment’s impaired. You’re off the case, Carter, all the way off. You’ll be lucky if you don’t end up with a suspension.”

“He was going to rape her.”

“So you had to ride to the rescue?”

“You would’ve done the same thing.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Kevin muttered. “Allen thinks it was probably just a lover’s spat and you got in the middle of it. After she warned you away from Grechi.”

“It wasn’t a spat.”

“You gotta come in, partner. Allen’s after your head. She already put Rizzo in witness protection, just in case Brassi makes the connection when he starts gunning for you.”

“Rica is not involved, Kevin. She’s not part of the organization.”

“Maybe she is, maybe she isn’t. And maybe your head’s not in the right place for this job right now.”

“I’m telling you, she’s clean,” Carter said. “I’m not leaving her alone for a few days. Brassi’s probably going to show up.”

“He’s probably going to be looking for your head on a platter, not hers. If he doesn’t get it, Allen will.”

“Brassi’s probably got people here in town already…watching Rica while they’re taking care of his other business. Allen can’t come in here and pull me out without raising suspicions. I’m safe here for a while.”

“You’re putting your job on the line for this woman, Carter.”

“I put her in a tough place, Kev. I’m not walking away from her.”

Kevin groaned. “Jesus, you’re stubborn. Maybe you’ve been doing this too long. Maybe you need a brea…”

Carter had disconnected when she’d realized Rica was awake and watching her from the kitchen. She would have hung up anyway; there was no way she could explain to Kevin why she wasn’t going to follow Allen’s directive. The kind of investigation Allen was running could go on for years without an arrest. Men like Pareto were rarely indicted even with testimony from insiders. Allegiances ran deep and betrayals were dealt with swiftly and mercilessly. In all the months she’d been working the case, she hadn’t uncovered one single bit of evidence to suggest Rica was involved even peripherally in her father’s organization or doing anything illegal. And now, with Rizzo out of the picture in WITSEC, her primary contact was gone. Her part in Allen’s operation was over. And even if it wasn’t, it didn’t matter anymore. She was done betraying Rica’s trust.

“Enzo won’t do anything hasty, Rica.” Carter carefully touched her fingers to Rica’s cheek. “Hurt?”

“Some.” Rica covered Carter’s hand with hers. “Still, you need to be careful.”

“I will be.”

Rica circled Carter’s waist and felt the Glock tucked into her waistband. She’d made a lot of assumptions about Carter, assumptions that might be wrong. Suddenly that mattered. “Are you really an attorney?”

Carter flinched. “Yes.”

“And what else?”

“Rica, we agreed…”

“Things have changed now, haven’t they?” Rica slid back a few steps until they were no longer in contact. She had to know. She’d broken her own rule when she’d let Carter get close, and she needed to know just how badly she had overstepped her own boundaries. “Tell me.”

A dozen replies came to mind. Lies she’d told so often they felt like truths. What was truth? Maybe it was something as simple as a woman sleeping in her arms. Carter didn’t know. She didn’t need to. She only knew there was only one answer now.

“I’m a cop, Rica.”

Rica sucked in a breath, her eyes never leaving Carter’s face. She wavered for just a second and then straightened. “Well, that makes things easy. I can stop worrying about Enzo. He’ll kill you, and that will take care of my mistake.” She slid past Carter, being careful that their bodies did not touch. “Get out.”

“I need you to know something,” Carter said to Rica’s back. She held her breath, waiting.

Rica turned at the doorway, her face a careful mask. “I should call my father now and tell him who you are. I’m sure he could find out who brought you inside. Who has betrayed him.”

“There’s no one to find, Rica.”

“Did you really think you could fuck me and I’d betray my father?”

“I know you wouldn’t.” Carter wanted desperately to go to her. To touch her for just a second. The cold disdain in her eyes was worse than anything she’d ever imagined. Anything except losing her. “I also know…”

“You don’t know anything about me if you think there’s anything in the world that would make me turn against my family. Especially”…Rica shrugged…“not for something I could get anywhere, anytime I wanted it.”

Carter absorbed the words as if they were blows. Her body ached. Her heart bled. “I don’t want you to betray him.”

“Then what are you doing here?”

“I’m in love with you.”

Rica laughed. “If you come anywhere near me again, I won’t wait for Enzo to do the job.”

Carter closed her eyes, knowing that when she opened them, Rica would be gone. Rica was still inside the house where they’d come for sanctuary and to make love, but she was as unattainable now as if they’d never met. The gulf that stretched between them echoed with recriminations and broken trust. She’d always known how the story would end, but even knowing, she’d been helpless not to play her part. Still, the empty room and the silent house hurt far more than she’d thought possible. After all the lies, it was the truth that would finally break her heart.

I’m in love with you.

Rica walked directly upstairs, through her bedroom, past the bed where she’d lain only hours before in Carter’s arms. She opened the French doors and stepped out onto the deck. The sky was heavy with clouds, thick gray layers of impending rain that obscured the shoreline and draped the lighthouse at Race Point in shrouds of fog. The air was dank and cold. She’d been wrong. Her earlier chill had had nothing to do with Carter abandoning her in the aftermath of their hasty passion, but only with the weather. Nothing had changed except the color of the sky. Women had come into her life and passed through with barely a notice before, leaving nothing in their wake but blurred memories. Pleasure was a fleeting sensation and after a time, empty.

I’m a cop, Rica.

Why hadn’t she known? Why hadn’t she sensed that something was terribly wrong? How had she allowed a handsome face and a little bit of attention to cloud her judgment so badly?

I’m in love with you.

She’d heard the words, but she refused to consider their meaning. Nothing Carter said could be trusted. She was a liar and a threat.

I’m in love with you.

Carter had asked her about her life. Her life. Not her father’s. She’d been interested in her work, her plans for the gallery, her struggle to build a future all her own. They’d never talked about her legacy. Carter had never asked about her father.

I’m a cop, Rica.

Nothing Carter had said mattered now. Her only reason for being in Rica’s life had been to destroy it. This was the reason that opening up to anyone but family was dangerous. At least family could be trusted.

Rica shivered, feeling the weight of Enzo’s body pinning her to the wall, his hard fury pounding between her thighs. Family.

I’m in love with you.

Rica closed her eyes, trying to erase the images of Carter driving her home through the dark, shepherding her to safety, pushing her to orgasm. Carter’s hands, tender and demanding. Her mouth, gentle and fierce. Her eyes, compassionate and devouring.

I’m a cop, Rica.

Why had Carter told her? Why risk the truth? Why had she held her all night?

Rica fought back tears and brutally contained her pain with fury and denial. The effort made her head scream; her face was a throbbing agony. Nearly blind with the pain, she stumbled into her bathroom and pawed through the medicine cabinet for painkillers. Nothing.

She curled up on top of the sheets, her arms clutched around her middle, her knees drawn up, her eyes tightly closed. The pain in her head and the ache in her heart threatened to consume her. She wished for oblivion but sleep wouldn’t come. She moaned as her stomach revolted. She smelled Carter on the pillow. With a cry, she pushed herself up and fumbled for the phone.

When she pulled out of her driveway thirty minutes later, she was too busy fighting back the nausea to notice the vehicle that fell into line a discreet distance behind her.

Chapter Twenty

Tory lifted the chart from the rack on the back of the door. When she didn’t recognize the name, she thumbed through to the intake form. Chief complaint: headache. The rest of the information was sparse. No significant past medical history, no drugs, no allergies, no unusual illnesses. She knocked on the door and walked into the examining room.

“Ms. Grechi? Hello, I’m Dr. King.”

The woman who sat on the examining table was sheet white, the skin around her luminous dark eyes tight with obvious pain, her lips pale. A noticeable hematoma marred her left cheek and a bruise discolored her flawless skin as far down as the edge of her jaw. Tory reached to the wall beside her and turned off the overhead fluorescents, leaving only the small lights under the cabinets for illumination.

“Thank you,” Rica said.

Tory gestured to the chart. “It says you have a headache.”

“Yes. An enormous one. I took some ibuprofen last night, but I don’t think that’s going to be enough today.”

“Do you have a history of headaches? Migraines?”

Rica started to shake her head, then stopped quickly with a wince. “No.”

“Any other symptoms besides the headache? Changes in vision…wavy lines, spots, blind areas?”

“No. I’m a little nauseated just at the moment. I’m sure if I can just get some sleep, I’ll be fine. I was hoping you could give me something for the pain.”

“Let me get a look.” Tory removed a small penlight from her lab coat pocket, examined Rica’s eyes, and then performed a complete head and neck exam. When she finished, she made a few notes, then set the chart aside. “How did you get the bruise on your cheek?”

Rica’s expression did not change as she contemplated Tory and the closed folder. The message was clear. Off the record. Not that it mattered, because she didn’t discuss private matters with strangers. She heard the words in her head and would have laughed if her face hadn’t been about to explode. When had she started lying to herself about herself? She had discussed a great many personal things with Carter with hardly a moment’s worry. She hadn’t even worried about letting her into her heart. Oh God, was that what she’d done? No. Of course she hadn’t. She might have been blinded by lust, but… She realized the doctor was waiting, regarding her with calm, accepting eyes. Whatever mistakes she’d made with Carter, she wouldn’t pretend it was only lust between them. That lie hurt too much. “Someone hit me.”

“When?”

“Last night.” Rica felt unexpectedly relieved at the opportunity to say the words out loud. She didn’t ask herself why, blaming the pain as an excuse for her lapse in caution.

“How many times?”

Rica thought back to the frantic encounter. She couldn’t remember the exact sequence, only her initial anger giving way to escalating panic. She hated him more for the fear than the violation of her body. He’d hit her when she’d struggled, and then again when she still wouldn’t give in. It was hard to remember it. Hard to relive it, but she recalled quite vividly the fury in Carter’s eyes as she’d confronted Enzo. And, after she’d hit him, the gentleness in Carter’s touch when she’d taken Rica into her arms. It was so much easier to recall the tenderness than the brutality. “Twice.”

“Did you lose consciousness?”

“No.”

“Has this person done this before?”

Rica grimaced. “No, he hasn’t.”

“Did you report it to the police?”

“No.” She met Tory’s eyes. “It’s a family matter.”

“Ms. Grechi,” Tory said gently, “in situations like thi…”

“Dr. King,” Rica said, “I know what the procedures are, and I know what you’re thinking. I’m not an abused partner. I don’t have a romantic relationship with this man and, believe me, I’m not trying to protect him. You’ll just have to believe me that it won’t happen again.”

“All right,” Tory said after a moment. Her new patient did not have the frantic, almost apologetic demeanor of the chronically abused. There was also something about her careful phrasing that made Tory believe this wasn’t the result of a love affair gone bad, either. “Did he assault you in any other way?”

Rica closed her hands tightly around the edge of the vinyl cushion that covered the examining table. She felt his hands on her thighs, his erection thrusting between her legs. She hated him and everything he represented in her life. His arrogant entitlement, his cruel dominance. All her life she’d lived in the shadow of men like Enzo. Her father was blind to the fact that his power made her nothing more than an object of desire, a prize to be won. Whereas his power defined him, it obliterated her. From the moment they’d met, Carter had seen only her, not Alfonse Pareto’s daughter. At least, that’s what she’d believed. Until this morning. Rica swallowed around the sudden constriction in her throat. Her voice was soft when she spoke. “No. He didn’t have a chance to.”

“But you believe you’re safe from him now?”

“Yes.”

Tory rested her fingertips on the chart and spun it slowly on the table, searching Rica’s face. “Part of your headache is due to the fact that your temporomandibular joint is badly inflamed as a result of the blows. I don’t see any evidence of intracranial injury, but you were lucky. The next time he could do far more serious damage.”

“It won’t happen again. Please take my word for that.”

“I can’t force you to file charges, and I do understand how difficult it can be, especially when it’s a family member. Will you call me if there’s another problem?”

Rica stared, surprised. “Why does it matter so much to you? You don’t know me.”

Tory smiled. “No, I don’t. But I care that someone hurt you, because no one has the right to do that.”

“Is it that simple for you?” Rica asked curiously. Nothing in her life had ever seemed to be black and white. Some of the things her father did for a living were illegal, but he was her father and she loved him. So she pretended that if she didn’t acknowledge what he did, she wouldn’t have to judge him. He had given her a life that appeared on the surface to be one of privilege, but underneath, it had been a prison. Carter had lied to her, and yet she’d felt more like herself with Carter than she ever had with another person. There was nothing simple about the truths of her life. “Do you always find the right and wrong of things so clear?”

“No, not always.” Tory’s eyes grew distant as she thought of Reese and wondered what she was doing at that moment. Some people believed soldiers like Reese blindly followed orders as if every decision was black and white, but Tory knew that wasn’t true. She could tell from their often aborted conversations that Reese questioned what she was doing in a country half a world away fighting for an agenda that was far from apparent. Reese believed in the ideals of the Marine Corps, but Tory knew her allegiance came with a personal price. Reese paid it, and so, now, did she. Tory looked into Rica’s eyes. “But this is one of those times when I think the right and wrong of it are very clear. He has no right to touch you, ever, unless you want him to.”

“It won’t happen again, but,” Rica said quickly, sensing Tory’s objection, “I’ll call you if I’m wrong.”

Tory nodded, satisfied. “Good. The medication I’m going to give you will make you sleepy. Do you have someone who can stay with you?”

“Yes,” Rica lied. Not anymore.

“Don’t take these until you get home if you’re driving.”

“No, I won’t. Thank you.”

As Tory wrote out the prescription, she said, “Call me tomorrow if the pain hasn’t improved or if your jaw gets stiffer. We may need to x-ray it.”

“Yes, of course,” Rica said, taking the prescription. “I appreciate your help.”

“Just take care of yourself, Ms. Grechi.”

“I will.” Rica made her way outside, steadfastly ignoring the pounding pain behind her eyes. Take care of yourself. Yes, that was just what she intended to do, and her first stop, even before the pharmacy, was going to be her gallery, where she kept a .25 caliber Beretta in the desk.

She was so focused on fighting off the headache until she could finish what she needed to do that she didn’t even notice the car that pulled out behind her again or the official-looking vehicle with the insignia on the doors that passed her on its way into the parking lot.

Tory didn’t look up at the sound of her office door opening, but continued making notes in a patient’s chart. “I’ll be ready for the next one in a minute.”

“Tory,” Randy said, his voice oddly hollow.

“Hmm,” Tory said tiredly, glancing toward the door. She dropped her pen and stood slowly, her eyes riveted on the man standing next to Randy in the doorway. She’d heard his voice several times over the phone, but she’d never seen him. He was very handsome, and with his dark black hair, laser-bright blue eyes, and strong bold features, he looked more like Reese than she’d expected. The chin was different; that Reese got from her mother. “Oh my God.”

The officer in the impeccable uniform smoothly closed the office door as Randy reflexively stepped back into the hall. Then he advanced swiftly until he was standing opposite Tory with his hand extended. His voice was a rich baritone. “Dr. King, I’m General Roger Conlon.”

Tory recognized the large gold ring with the Marine Corps insignia he wore on his right hand. Reese had one just like it, but she didn’t wear it. She kept it in a box in the top drawer of her dresser. She didn’t wear any jewelry, except for her wedding ring. Tory couldn’t bring herself to take his hand. She didn’t want him in her office. She didn’t want him in her life. She didn’t want him to say whatever he had come to say.

“I know who you are.” Tory braced her fingertips against the top of the desk. Her arms were shaking. She stared into his eyes, which were cool and unwavering. Hers stung with fury. “You couldn’t be bothered to come here before, when she was happy. When we were happy. Don’t you dare come in here now and tell me she’s dead.”

“We have no confirmation that is the case.” Not a muscle in his handsome face flickered. His voice was smooth and hard as granite. “I am here to inform you that Colonel Conlon is missing in action.”

Missing in action. What did that mean? That she was dead but they couldn’t find her body? That she was lost in the desert without radio contact? No, it couldn’t be something as simple as that, or he wouldn’t be there. It was something worse. Something she didn’t want to know. She wanted him gone. She wanted his war to be gone. She wanted Reese at home where she belonged, with the people who loved her, doing the work that mattered to so many every day. She wanted Reese beside her in the night, holding the baby, guiding Bri into adulthood with a sure and steady hand. She wanted her lover, her partner, her love, in her arms.

“Where is she? God damn you, where is she?”

“Colonel Conlon was in command of a unit escorting several high-ranking officials from Baghdad to a secure facility when her convoy was attacked by insurgents. Her vehicle and several others were separated from the main body during the firefight.”

Tory struggled to decipher what he was saying. “Separated. Where did they go?”

“The vehicles have been recovered along with a number of casualties. Colonel Conlon’s body was not among them.”

Casualties. Body. A wave of dizziness threatened to take her legs out from under her. Tory sat heavily and pressed trembling fingers to her mouth. She breathed deeply several times and called upon every bit of fortitude she had to think her way through what he was telling her. “So she might be alive.”

“Colonel Con…”

“Reese. Her name is Reese.”

Reese’s father nodded. “Reese and three others are presumed captured.”

“Do you know where she is?”

“Not as of yet.”

“But you are looking for her, aren’t you?”

Tory thought it impossible that Roger Conlon could look any harder than he already did, but his face transformed before her eyes into an unyielding wall of stone.

“Reese is a Marine. We don’t leave our people behind.”

With effort, Tory pushed herself up. “Then you find her, General Conlon. You find her, you get her out, and you bring her home. I’ve had enough of your war. Reese has done her duty, now you do yours.”

For just a second, Roger Conlon looked taken aback. “You have my word.”

“Does Kate know?” Tory asked, feeling hope replace despair. Reese was smart. Reese was tough. Reese would not leave them. She wouldn’t, not when she knew how very much they needed her.

“No. Colonel Con…Reese listed you as her next of kin.”

“I am.” Tory wondered fleetingly what it cost him to say that, but found that she didn’t really care. All that mattered was that he use whatever power he had at his disposal to find Reese. She scribbled on a piece of paper and handed it to him. “This is my cell phone number. When you find her, call me. If she’s hurt…” Her voice broke and she closed her eyes. After a second, she went on, “If she’s hurt, I want to know immediately…and I’ll want to talk to the doctors. You make that happen.”

“I’m in constant contact with the officers in command over there. I’ll know the moment there’s news.”

“Good. That’s good.”

“Try not to worry, Dr. King.”

Tory glanced around the room as if she weren’t certain where she was. Then she straightened, and her voice was stronger. “I’ll be at Kate’s for the next few hours. Our daughter is there.” She held Roger Conlon’s gaze. “Regina will be glad when Reese comes home. She misses her. We all do.”

“I understand.”

“I don’t imagine that you do, but I don’t need you to. I just want her home.”

“I’ll see to it.”

Tory waited until Reese’s father had left the room before slumping into her chair. She wasn’t certain who to call. She needed to tell Kate. She needed to arrange for the rest of her patients to be seen. Bonita couldn’t handle them all alone. She could call KT. No, KT was in Boston. Wasn’t she? Pia would know. She pressed her fingertips to her temples and closed her eyes. It was so hard to think. Why was it so hard to think?

She opened her eyes and saw the picture of Reese in her desert fatigues. Her hat was tucked under her arm and the wind blew through her hair. She was smiling.

“Oh God, baby, please come home. I love you so much.”

Chapter Twenty-One

Tory knocked on Kate’s front door, her mind a blank. On the drive over, she had tried to think of the right words to say, but none had come. None that would make the message any easier. It had all come down to one simple, unimaginable truth. Your daughter is missing.

She had delivered difficult messages before. I’m sorry, there’s nothing more we can do. I know this is difficult, but the medicine doesn’t seem to be helping. I wish I had better news… but this was Reese. Reese couldn’t be missing, not when Tory could feel her with every beat of her heart.

The door opened and Tory met Kate’s eyes. “Kate, I…oh, God, Kate…”

Kate pulled Tory into her arms and hugged her. “I know. Roger was just here.”

Tory held on, her eyes closed, her cheek against Kate’s shoulder. She let herself be comforted for another few seconds and then gently pulled away. Kate was pale. “I’m sorry, I should have called to let you know, but I wanted to tell you in person. I didn’t think he’d come here.”

“No, it’s all right. Roger was decent.” Kate held the door wide, recalling the shock of seeing him at her door after more than twenty years. When she’d recognized pain and not anger in his eyes, she’d known immediately why he had come. Before her heart had the chance to break, he’d said, Missing. Not dead. Three words she clung to. “It was good of him to come. If she weren’t his daughter, we wouldn’t even know she was missing. We’d be left to wonder why we weren’t hearing from her until there was some official word.”

“He’ll find her, won’t he?”

“Yes,” Kate said firmly as she led Tory through the living room to the kitchen. “He will.”

Jean sat at the kitchen table with Reggie dozing on her lap. Her eyes were red rimmed but resolute. “Hello, honey.”

Tory lifted Reggie into her arms and rubbed her lips against the silky hair, wondering at the innocence of childhood. “Hi. How are you doing?”

“Fine, considering. Roger didn’t shoot me, which was what he threatened the last time he saw me.” Jean kissed Tory’s cheek. “Reese is going to be all right. Don’t think for a second that she isn’t.”

“I know,” Tory said thickly. She said the words because she had to believe them, but how could any of them be sure?

“Have you eaten?” Kate asked briskly, caressing Jean’s shoulder on the way to the refrigerator. “We’re not going to know anything for a little bit, and no one is going to get sick while we wait.”

“I can’t right now.” Tory shifted Reggie onto her hip. “Would you mind awfully if I went home for a while? I have some calls to make and I’d just like to be around…Reese. Us.” She smiled just a little unsteadily. “Does that make any sense?”

“Perfectly.” Kate gave her another hug. “Is there anyone you want me to call?”

“Would you mind finding Bri and asking her to meet me at the house? Just tell her I need to talk to her.”

Jean went to the kitchen phone. “I’ll do it.”

“Thanks. And I’ll call you the second I hear anything,” Tory said, gathering the bright yellow plastic tote with Reggie’s things.

As soon as Tory arrived home she put Reggie down to finish her nap and called Pia. She had just hung up after explaining what had happened and asking Pia to call KT when a cruiser slammed to a stop in the driveway and Bri bolted from the vehicle. Tory steeled herself to repeat the news that she knew was going to cause unbearable pain.

“What’s wrong?” Bri said as she burst through the door, her eyes automatically scanning the room as if expecting an intruder. Her right hand rested on the butt of her holstered automatic. “Jean said you needed to see me right away. Is the baby okay?”

“Reggie’s fine.” Tory put both hands on Bri’s forearms and said gently, “Something went wrong with a mission that Reese was on, and she’s missing, honey. Her father just told me a little while ago.”

Bri stiffened. “Missing. Jesus.” Her eyes went a little wild. “Oh, Christ, Tory.”

Then, before Tory had a chance to offer the comfort she had planned along with the now-familiar, if empty, words of reassurance, Bri gathered Tory into her arms and held her against her chest. She stroked her hair and murmured, “Don’t worry. She’ll be okay.”

Bri wasn’t as tall as Reese or as muscular, but there was no mistaking her power now. The gesture was so different than the maternal embrace that Kate had bestowed and so much like the automatic protective response Reese would have made that Tory nearly broke. There had been so few people in her life that she had leaned on. KT, so long ago, and Reese. The two women in her life she had loved with all she was. The only two she had ever trusted completely; the only two whose strength she had ever accepted when her own had faltered. Now, it seemed, there was another.

“I am so damn scared,” Tory whispered.

“Yeah,” Bri murmured, seeing no point in pretending she wasn’t, too. She kept her arm around Tory’s shoulder and guided her to the sofa, where she continued to hold her even after they were seated. When Tory leaned her head against her shoulder, Bri experienced a swell of pride and terrible affection. She wanted to make Tory’s hurt and fear go away so badly she ached. She’d never felt this need to care for any woman other than Caroline, and even though this was different, she understood that it was love. “What happened?”

Tory told her what little she knew, realizing there were questions she should have asked that she hadn’t been able to think of when Reese’s father had been in her office. All she’d been able to think of then was that Reese might be hurt. That someone, for reasons she would never be able to understand, had wanted to kill the woman she loved. There was no way for her to understand that, to rationalize it, or to ever accept it, because she could not fathom anything, beyond protecting her child and Reese, that she would kill for. Beneath her confusion and pain, she was furious at the insanity of it.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t ask…” Tory trembled. “All I could think was that Reese…” She searched Bri’s face, wondering if she’d been right about the strength she’d imagined. Bri met her inquiring gaze calmly, her blue eyes dark with worry but steady. So steady. “I feel so helpless. Waiting. Not knowing if she’s hurt.”

“I know. It sucks.”

Tory laughed through her tears. “Oh God, sweetie. It really does.”

“Reese’s father was here?” Bri asked.

“Yes, he came himself to tell me what happened. He said he’d call me as soon as anything…as soon as… God, I don’t know what’s supposed to happen next.”

“Did he leave a number? Do you think he’d talk to me?”

Tory shook her head. “I don’t know. Maybe he gave something to Randy. God, I was so rattled I didn’t think…”

“You’re not supposed to have to.” Bri kissed Tory’s cheek and stood. “I’m going to call my dad. He needs to know about Reese, and I bet he can find out what’s going on.”

Tory smiled, touched by the faith Bri had in those she loved. Warmed by it. “You go ahead and do that, sweetie. Thank you.”

“I’m just doing what Reese would tell me to do, if she were here.”

“She wouldn’t have to tell you,” Tory said. “You already know.”

Bri blushed. “I’m going to call Caroline, too.”

Tory nodded, understanding the need to touch the ones you loved in the midst of life’s pain.

Half a block down the street from Rica’s gallery, Carter sat in her parked vehicle with the engine running, wondering what was so important that Rica would have gone directly there from the clinic instead of home. Every few seconds she checked her mirrors and scanned the streets on both sides looking for anyone else who was also watching Rica. So far she hadn’t seen anyone, but she expected to at any moment. She’d been trying to puzzle out exactly what Enzo’s next move would be, but putting herself in the mind of a psychopath was difficult despite all the practice she’d had playing them on the job. She wasn’t as certain as Rica that Enzo would seek retribution, because the last thing a man who’d been embarrassed by a woman wanted to do was call attention to it. She doubted that more than a handful of people even knew about the incident, if that many. In all likelihood, Enzo had crawled off to lick his wounds, figuratively speaking. Still, she didn’t believe that Enzo would give up in his quest for Rica, especially not now.

“So all right, so maybe it wasn’t the smartest move to challenge him,” Carter muttered, hating to agree with Allen even obliquely. “It’s not like I had a choice.”

No man wanted to be bested in a competition for a woman’s affections, and Carter had known very few men in her life who could tolerate losing to a woman. Enzo was not going to let that affront go, and she didn’t intend to give him the opportunity to vent his bruised ego on Rica. Unfortunately, she hadn’t quite figured out how she was going to watch Rica twenty-four hours a day, especially now that Rica wanted nothing to do with her.

If you come anywhere near me again, I’ll do the job myself.

When Rica had said those words, Carter had no doubt that she had meant them. Her face had been pale, but cold and hard as marble.

“You fucked this one up royally.” Carter rubbed her face and stretched her cramped legs beneath the dashboard. It wasn’t Rica’s anger that continued to gnaw at her, but the memory of those few seconds of shocked hurt that she had glimpsed in Rica’s eyes before Rica had locked her feelings down. She’d proven to Rica that she was just like everyone else in her life…someone who used her, someone who lied to her, someone who pretended to care about her, because of who her father was. That’s what Rica believed. Ironically, that’s what Carter should have done, but she’d made a fatal error. She’d caught a glimpse of the woman behind the mask, and she’d wanted her.

Carter tensed as the door to Rica’s gallery opened. Rica came out, locked the door, and walked briskly to her car, which she had left with the hazard lights blinking in the loading zone out front. Grateful for any activity to take her mind off the hollow ache in the center of her chest and the sick feeling she got every time she remembered Rica telling her to get out, Carter eased into traffic five cars behind Rica. She followed her as Rica drove directly home, slowing when Rica turned onto her street and driving past until she could make a U-turn in a motel parking lot a few blocks away. When she turned into Rica’s street and passed her house, Rica’s car was nowhere to be seen.

Probably already in the garage.

She made a thorough survey of the street and saw no one. The few cars parked in front of houses appeared to be empty. She stopped three houses away and settled in to watch.

At 9:30 p.m., Tory opened the door to Nelson Parker. She put her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek. “Hi.”

“Hi,” Nelson said gruffly, bestowing a quick hug. He followed Tory into the living room and nodded in the direction of the others congregated there.

Pia was in the kitchen making a pot of coffee. Kate and Jean were upstairs with the baby. They had arrived at suppertime, insisting upon fixing a dinner that Tory had not been able to eat. KT, who had flown over from Boston as soon as her shift had ended at eight p.m, was outside on the deck. Bri and Caroline were on the couch. Bri was no longer in uniform but wore a skintight black T-shirt and jeans with motorcycle boots and sat splayed in one corner with Caroline curled up in her arms. They looked like young lion cubs, ready to fight or make love with equal fervor.

“Is there any news?” Tory asked, trying not to sound as anxious as she felt.

“Well,” Nelson said, turning his cap in his hands, “I got through to General Conlon. It took me a couple of hours. You’d think I was trying to talk to the president.”

Tory took one step forward and faltered, knowing from the look on Nelson’s face there was no good news.

“He wouldn’t tell me anything at first, but I finally got him to come across with a couple of things.”

“Let me get Kate and Jean,” Tory said.

“We’re right here,” Jean said as they came down the stairs. “Reggie’s asleep.”

Jean settled into one of the overstuffed chairs and Kate perched on the arm. KT came to stand in the doorway between the deck and the large living room. Her eyes drifted across the heads of those seated to where Pia stood in the kitchen. Pia smiled softly and tilted her head in Tory’s direction. KT nodded, walked to Tory, and took her hand.

“Why don’t you sit down, Vic.”

“I don’t want to si…” Tory stopped, hearing the anger at the same time as the panic edged a little closer to the surface. She squeezed KT’s hand. “Thanks.”

KT and Tory sat on the sofa, and KT kept Tory’s hand in hers. Nelson perched on a stool he pulled over from the breakfast bar. He looked at his watch.

“This is what I know. Reese has been missing for just about twenty-four hours.”

Tory unconsciously drew KT’s hand into her lap and clasped it with both of hers. Twenty-four hours. If Reese was wounded, twenty-four hours could make the difference between life and death. If she’d been captured, God, what could they do to her in that amount of time?

“Don’t start thinking about maybes, Vic,” KT murmured. “Let’s just deal with the facts.”

“Keep telling me that,” Tory said.

“No problem.”

“Do they know where she is?” Tory asked.

Nelson shrugged. “If they do, he wasn’t going to say. He did say that it was standard procedure to prepare an extraction team. They’re going to go get her…all of them…as soon as they get a fix on them. That message was clear.”

“Are they going to tell us when?”

“I don’t think so,” Nelson said. “That’s SOP, too.”

“So we wait.” Tory wondered how long she could stand it.

Bri unwrapped herself from Caroline and stood abruptly. “I’m going out for some air.”

“Don’t take that motorcycle of yours,” Nelson said automatically. “Not when your head’s not on right.”

“My head’s just fine.” Bri glared.

Caroline grasped Bri’s hand and gave Nelson a small smile. “Don’t worry, I’ll go with her. We’ll be back in a little while.”

Nelson watched them walk out. “Damn kid.”

“She’ll be all right, Nelson,” Tory said, knowing that he had never really gotten over almost losing her. “She’s been a rock, and now she just needs the chance to get a handle on being scared. Caroline will help her with that.”

“Good thing. I don’t seem to be able to.”

KT clapped him on the shoulder and caught Pia’s eye. “Some of us take longer than others to get the message.”

Nelson grinned and even Tory smiled. Then they all found seats and settled down quietly to wait.

Just before one a.m., the last light in Rica’s house went out and Carter decided she’d turned in for the night. There’d been no activity on the upscale residential street since shortly after midnight, when a car full of partygoers had tumbled out and weaved their raucous way into one of the nearby houses. If anyone was watching Rica’s house besides her, they weren’t doing it from a vehicle. Street surveillance in this part of town made no sense, because if Rica were to leave in her car, she’d be gone before anyone could make their way to a vehicle without being obvious about it. Carter decided Rica was safe until morning, started her car, and headed home.

Bone tired and emotionally worn out, she pulled her SUV into the alley next to her building. The building next door, a converted garage that was now the office for one of the whale watch concessions, was dark. Still in the clothes she’d worn to the party the night before, she was hungry, she smelled, and she needed a shower. She just made it to the bottom of the stairs leading up to her second-floor apartment when a blow from behind caught her in the kidney and sent her sprawling onto the stairs. As she fell, she yanked the automatic from her waistband and twisted, trying to land on her back so she could get a shot off at whoever had hit her. She landed hard on her shoulder just as a foot connected with her wrist. Her hand went numb and she dropped her gun. Two dark shapes loomed above her.

“Get smart, bitch,” a gravelly voice grated. “Stop sniffing around pussy that don’t belong to you.”

Carter tried to place the voice. “I don’t know wha…”

A boot drove into her midsection, and she gagged as bile flooded her throat.

“Sure you do,” the other one said. “You’ve got good taste in cunts. You’re just trying to eat at someone else’s table.” He laughed, as if pleased with his own joke.

Carter kicked him in the knee and he howled. She almost got her feet under her when something flat and hard rammed her temple. Her vision dimmed and her legs wobbled. The next blow took her down for good. A short, harsh flash lit up the alley and her world went black.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Rica lay awake in the dark, listening to the wind and the night sounds. The codeine had helped ease the throbbing in her face, and she had dozed on and off throughout the evening. Now, well into the night, her head still pounded, but that wasn’t the pain that kept sleep away. And nothing that came in a bottle was going to dull the ache that had settled around her heart.

She had almost convinced herself that the previous night had been a dream. That the incredible rightness of Carter’s hands on her body, inside her body, had only been a perfect fantasy. A wish and nothing more. But it wasn’t just the heat of Carter’s mouth or her firm body and soft hands that she couldn’t forget, but the quiet way Carter listened when Rica spoke of her past and the hard fury in Carter’s eyes when Enzo had touched her.

Rica had changed the sheets, but she imagined that she could still smell her. And with that single fragile memory, all the rest came flooding back. The wanting, the yearning, the incredible freedom of being known. The rightness.

I’m a cop, Rica.

Furious with herself for being taken in by the understanding in Carter’s eyes, Rica threw the crisp, clean sheets aside and grabbed the bedside phone to call her father. She hesitated, her finger poised to speed dial, and considered what she would say. Papa, I’ve discovered an impostor who is trying to hurt you. That was Carter’s aim, wasn’t it? Her father needed to know, didn’t he?

She knew that her father, whose friends and allies could just as easily become enemies in the menacing world of shifting allegiances, was well protected. This time it’s different, Papa. She’s not one of us, she’s a cop. Surely the threat Carter posed was greater than that of the men who tried to wrest control from her father every day. Not one of us. When had she joined her father’s camp? Perhaps she hadn’t, but she couldn’t stand by and let him be hurt.

She stared at the phone. If she told him about Carter, what would he do? She wasn’t certain, because she had never wanted to know what orders her father issued to protect himself and his empire. Ignorance was innocence, or so she had let herself believe. More lies of her own making. Lies she had built her life upon. Would her father kill the woman who had held her in her arms? She shivered. She didn’t know.

One thing she did know. She wouldn’t be able to live with herself if she exposed Carter and Carter suffered for it. Right or wrong, enemy or friend, she could still smell Carter on her sheets. She had wanted her last night, last week, last month, and she wanted her now.

But what of the danger to her father? God, her head hurt. Carter had said there was no one else inside to find. Did that mean there was no danger, either? Why should she believe her? There was no reason to, but she did. She did believe her. But he was her father.

“Papa?”

“It’s late, cara. Are you all right?”

“Yes, I know. I’m fine.” Rica closed her eyes, although the room was dark. “I’m sorry.”

“You left without saying goodbye yesterday.”

“Something came up. An emergency here at the gallery.”

“Taken care of now?”

“Yes. Yes, I think so.” Rica steeled herself, knowing the phones could be monitored, choosing her words carefully. “I couldn’t sleep. Bad dreams. Can I tell you a story? That always makes me feels better.”

“Yes. Tell me what you…dreamed.”

“It was about friends who weren’t, one in particular. Someone we…I…trusted, who betrayed us. Hurt you.”

“Ah, broken loyalties. Infidelity of the worst kind.” Her father’s voice was soft, pensive. “This friend…he was secretly working with the enemy?”

“She.” Rica’s heart ached. “In my dream, it was a woman. I don’t know how, exactly, but I’m afraid…”

“I had a similar dream,” Alfonse said, “of a man I loved like a brother. He turned against me because he was weak and afraid. Don’t worry, cara. Dreams can’t hurt us.” He laughed softly. “When you were small, I would leave the light on so that you wouldn’t be afraid of the shadows in the corners. There will always be shadows, but you don’t have to worry about them. Go to sleep, cara, and forget about the dream.”

“You’re all right?”

“I’ll keep the light on for a while, but I’ll sleep well.”

“I love you, Papa,” Rica said softly, because it was the truth.

“I love you, cara. Come home soon when we aren’t giving a party. We’ll talk.”

“I’ll try. Good night, Papa.”

“Good night, Ricarda mia.”

Rica hung up, her head pounding mercilessly. As she lay awake, wondering who the man was her father had spoken of, she heard a car slow and stop somewhere nearby. She thought nothing of it until the crunch of shoes on shells penetrated her awareness. Listening more intently, she tried to discern if it was just a neighbor returning home. When the uneasy sensation of something not quite right became too much to tolerate, she crept to the window and looked down into the driveway. There was nothing but darkness.

She went back to bed and eventually fell into a restless half sleep, only to dream of running through endless dark streets from some formless horror that grew closer with each step.

“You should try to get some sleep,” KT said as she slid the screen door closed behind her and crossed the deck to where Tory stood at the railing. The slice of moon hanging over the water was nearly obscured by cloud, but she didn’t need moonlight to see Tory’s face. She’d lain down beside her countless nights, and every curve and plane of Tory’s being was carved into her soul. She rested her hand lightly on Tory’s lower back. “Reese will be pissed as hell if she comes home and you’re worn down to the bone.”

Tory stared at the harbor, but she wasn’t seeing the ebony surface, broken here and there by teasing slivers of starlight. “Do you think she’ll come home?”

“Yes,” KT said immediately. The terrible pain in Tory’s voice brought back memories of another time when the hurt had been of her doing, but she swiftly pushed those thoughts aside. The wounds she had caused Tory were in the past, and if she were to hope for absolution it would come not from apologies, but from whatever comfort and friendship she could offer her now. “She’s not dead, Vic. If she were, they’d have found her body by now, and we’d know.”

Tory shuddered but KT went on. She was no stranger to delivering hard messages, and she trusted Tory’s strength. “That means she’s a prisoner, because she’s too damn smart to just be lost and wandering around somewhere.”

“She could be hurt, lying out there in the desert.” Tory’s voice was an agonized whisper. “I can’t stand the thought of her being hurt and alone. I can’t.”

“They’ve got all kinds of aerial and ground surveillance equipment. Christ, they can put a missile down a chimney in the middle of a city. They don’t lose people.” KT slid her arm around Tory’s shoulders and squeezed. “Her father told you what happened, and I believe him. She’s been captured.”

“She’s a woman, KT,” Tory said in a strangled voice.

“She’s a fucking Marine. And even if those military types didn’t pride themselves on never leaving their people behind, her father’s a goddamn general. You can bet they’re tearing up the desert looking for her.”

“But it’s been so long. Anything could have happened…”

KT turned Tory to face her just as the moon escaped its cover. She framed Tory’s face as their eyes met. “Don’t. Don’t torture yourself thinking of things you can’t change. She’ll get through it, no matter what. So will you.”

“I’ve never felt this helpless.” Tory closed her eyes and pressed her cheek to KT’s palm. “So weak.”

“Oh, bullshit. Any one of us would be crazy out of our minds if it was our lover. Jesus, Reese would be ripping her way through the Pentagon by now.”

Tory laughed shakily. “She would.”

“It’s going to be okay. They’ll find her or she’ll get out. She’ll come home.” If it was a lie, KT knew it didn’t matter. In this moment, what mattered was hope. If the time came when there was none, they’d deal with that, too.

“I know you’re right. It’s just so hard not to be able to do anything.” Tory reached up and covered KT’s hand where it rested on her cheek. “You should go home. Don’t you have to go back to Boston tomorrow?”

“I traded a few days. I’ll be here for a bit.”

“Did Pia leave?”

“About an hour ago. She’s got early clients she couldn’t cancel.”

“She’s good for you,” Tory said.

“Yeah. She is.”

“She knows you’re not really so tough, doesn’t she?”

KT laughed. “Yeah.”

“In case you don’t know,” Tory said, “I’m glad you’re here.”

KT tilted her head until her forehead touched Tory’s. “Me too, Vic.”

“Good. Now that we have that settled, go home.”

Tory sounded stronger, and KT felt a little of her own worry lift. “Make a deal with you.”

“Oh no, I know what your deals are like.”

“I’ve changed.”

“Not that much.”

“I’ll go home if you go to bed.” KT touched a finger to Tory’s chin. “Please.”

“All right,” Tory said with a sigh. “You win this time. But don’t get used to it.”

“Not a chance.” KT kissed Tory’s forehead. “Thanks.”

Arm in arm, they walked into the house.

“Come back to bed, baby,” Caroline said softly. Neither she nor Bri had wanted to go home, so they’d bunked in the first-floor guest room at Tory’s.

“In a second,” Bri said, standing naked in the shadows by the window looking out. The low murmur of voices outside on the deck had drawn her from bed, and now she watched KT and Tory disappear into the other part of the house. After a second, she slid back into bed, propped some pillows behind her back, and pulled Caroline into her arms.

“If we split up, would you still love me?” Bri asked, combing her fingers slowly through Caroline’s hair.

Caroline drew her leg up over Bri’s and rubbed her palm over Bri’s abdomen. “No, because you’d be dead.”

Bri laughed. “How do you know I’d be the one who left?”

“Because I know.” Caroline shifted on top of Bri and kissed her. “Besides the fact that you’re the sexiest girl I’ve ever seen, so why would I leave you for sex that wasn’t as good, I love you.”

Even before she’d come back to bed, Bri had wanted to make love. She’d hungered to feel Caroline, to know that she was there and wouldn’t leave her, that the person she counted on most in life wouldn’t disappear. She’d had an ache deep inside all night, a burning urgency to touch and be touched, to feel Caroline arch beneath her hands and come with a cry against her mouth. She was wet and hard, wanting her.

I love you, Carre had said.

Bri had never quite been able to believe her luck, never quite gotten over worrying that Caroline would find someone else…someone stronger, someone braver, someone better.

I love you.

Suddenly the enormity of how much she needed that love washed over her, and out of nowhere came the tears. Bri buried her face in the soft warm curve of Caroline’s neck and cried.

“Oh, hey. Baby.” Caroline wrapped her arms around Bri and held her as tightly as she could. She didn’t tell her not to cry, because it was such a rare event for Bri that she knew it must be necessary. Instead she murmured, over and over, “I love you. I love you so much. Don’t worry, Reese will come home. It’s all right, baby. Everything is going to be all right.”

“Fuck,” Bri gasped, finally pulling away. “Oh man, Carre, I’m sorry.”

“For what?” Caroline stroked the tears from Bri’s face. “For not being tough all the time? For letting me take care of you?” She punched Bri lightly on the arm. “I’m a lot stronger than you think.”

“I know.” Bri heaved a deep breath and felt her insides settle. She brushed Caroline’s hair back from her face, then traced her thumb over Caroline’s mouth. “I know just how strong you are. Sometimes, I wonder why you’re even with m…”

“Baby. Shut up.” Caroline sealed her mouth to Bri’s, plunging her tongue between her lips while she snaked a hand between them and into Bri’s crotch. She gave a deep murmur of approval when she found her hot and wet and open. She didn’t wait but slid through the heat and inside her.

Bri jerked and moaned and writhed while Caroline drove into her and drove out her fears and her uncertainties. When she came, stifling her cries against Caroline’s breast, Caroline whispered, “I love you.”

While all around her was chaos, Bri clung to Caroline and let their love be her strength.

Carter came awake to a world of pain. Something warm and thick ran down her forehead, into her eyes. Blood. She recognized it from the smell. When she tried to raise her arm to wipe it away, she couldn’t. She blinked and her vision swam.

“Fuck.”

She turned her head and vomited.

Bits and pieces of the beating came back to her. She was still on the stairs. It was dark. Still night. How much time had passed? Her ears were ringing. She tried hard to listen for sounds in the alley. She thought she was alone. Had they gone? She was dead if they came back now.

She struggled to isolate her pain. Shoulder. Hand. Stomach. Back. She took a breath. Hurt. Not too bad though. She shifted her legs. Knees were okay. Sweat broke out on her face, ran down her back. Cold, sick sweat.

She wasn’t certain she could feel her hands and feet. Hard to tell through the agony that screamed along her nerve endings every time she moved. Had to get up. Inside. Call Kevin.

Rica. Jesus, Rica. Sickness flooded her. If they’d touched her. Kill them.

“Time to get up,” she gasped.

She got one hand braced against the stairs but when she tried to push upright, the world did a slow circle in front of her eyes. She vomited again, slumped over, and passed out.

Just before dawn, Rica gave up her restless battle with sleep and dragged herself from bed. She showered, hoping to wash the weariness from her mind as well as her body. She felt more awake afterward, but no less sad.

What she needed was coffee and work. Dwelling on mistakes was not her nature. She had done her duty, although it seemed her father already knew something of what was happening. Still, now she could forget about Carter and all the rest of it.

Feeling resolved if not particularly better, she dressed casually in jeans and a blouse for a day of office work and went downstairs. When she opened the kitchen door, an envelope that had been pushed into the space between the door and the jamb fluttered to the deck.

With trembling hands, she opened it and extracted a Polaroid photograph.

“Oh my God,” she moaned.

She dropped the photo in horror and raced from the house.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Rica’s lifelong vigilance against doing anything that might attract the attention of the police prevented her from speeding down Bradford, despite her frenzy to get to Carter’s apartment. The image in the Polaroid print kept flashing through her mind. The harsh light had captured Carter’s unconscious body with brutal clarity. With her eyes closed and uneven trails of blood streaming down her face, Carter looked smaller, broken. She might have been dead.

No. No, of course she isn’t. That’s impossible. They wouldn’t. He wouldn’t.

She had no idea who had ordered the retaliation. It might have been Enzo, furious at having been physically rebuffed by Rica and bested by a woman whom Rica favored over him. That seemed most likely, but she couldn’t help wondering if it had been her father’s order that had resulted in the devastation. She couldn’t allow herself to believe that. She couldn’t believe that one person she loved could do that to another she lov…

No. That’s not what I feel for her. It isn’t. It can’t be.

Feeling physically ill with apprehension at what she might find, Rica careened into the alley next to Carter’s building. Carter’s Explorer was there. She slammed to a stop behind it, jumped out, and started for the stairs. Then she saw her.

“Oh my God, Carter,” she cried, rushing forward. When she reached her, she wasn’t sure if she should touch her. Carter lay as she had in the photograph, her legs on the ground and her upper body twisted sideways on the stairs. There was blood on her face and her clothes and on the stairs. For one terrible moment, Rica feared she really was dead. Moaning, she whispered Carter’s name again and tentatively touched her cheek. Her skin was warm, and Rica felt a flood of relief.

“Carter?”

Carter twitched.

“Oh thank God.” Rica fell to her knees beside her and stroked her face. “Carter. Carter, darling. Can you hear me?”

Carter’s eyelids fluttered and she groaned.

Rica looked over her shoulder toward the street, wondering if anyone could see them now that the sun had risen. She wanted to go for help, but it was so hard to break the habits of a lifetime. She hesitated to involve the authorities when she wasn’t certain what had happened. She was relieved to see that they were still alone.

“Rica,” Carter whispered.

Rica felt almost dizzy as a tiny bit of her fear subsided. “Oh, Carter. What happe…”

“Go…away.” Carter tried to turn onto her back, but the motion sent a shaft of pain through her. She groaned again and lay still, breathing heavily. “Not safe here.”

“Don’t be silly,” Rica said sharply, fear and fury warring within her. She wanted to kill whoever had done this. She’d never felt such hatred in her life. “You need help. I’m going to call for EMTs.”

“No. Don’t.” With supreme effort, Carter rolled over onto her back and fought to bring Rica’s face into focus. “Help me upstairs.”

“You need a doctor.”

“I’ll be okay.” She could breathe, she could see, and most of her parts were working. She could even finally think a little. Carter was pretty sure nothing was irreparably damaged, but she didn’t know if her late-night visitors were still lurking around. She didn’t want Rica endangered. “Go. Please.”

“No. I need to find a phone.” Rica was frightened by how pale Carter looked and how much blood had pooled beneath her face on the stairs.

“My cell. Belt,” Carter whispered. “Need to…call my…partner.”

Rica checked Carter’s belt, but there was nothing there. “It’s gone. Maybe it fell off when they…” Pressing her lips tightly together, Rica peered into the alley and underneath the stairs. She saw Carter’s phone and retrieved it.

“My gun. Lost it.”

“I didn’t see it.” Rica looked again, even bending down to search underneath Carter’s vehicle, but she couldn’t find it.

Carter closed her eyes, exhausted.

“Carter?” Rica knelt again. “Darling?”

“Sounds good,” Carter muttered.

Rica smiled unsteadily and caressed Carter’s shoulder. “It’s going to be all right.”

Carter opened her eyes and braced her good hand against the stairs. She was weak, but some of the nausea had subsided. “Help me up.”

“I don’t think…damn it,” Rica exploded, hastily wrapping an arm around Carter’s shoulder as Carter pushed herself into a sitting position. “God, you’re so stubborn.”

Winded, Carter rested her cheek against Rica’s shoulder. “Ditto.”

“Can you walk to the car?” Rica cradled Carter’s face gently against her breast, feeling the sticky blood beneath her fingers.

“Rather go upstairs.”

“Yes, I know, but you’re not going to until a doctor has seen you. You either let me drive you somewhere or I’ll call 911.”

“Rica,” Carter said as firmly as she could. “We need to keep this quiet. You’ll be exposed…if this is documented.”

“I don’t care.”

“Clinic.” Carter was too weak to argue.

Tory snatched up the phone on the first ring. “Hello?”

“Dr. King? This is Rica Grechi. I’m sorry to disturb you so early, but this number is listed at the clinic for emergencies.”

Tory had been so prepared to hear the sound of Roger Conlon’s voice that she struggled to orient herself. She couldn’t place the woman’s name. “I’m sorry. I don’t remember…”

“I saw you yesterday afternoon. I had some injuries to my face.”

The image of the beautiful young woman who’d been seriously battered snapped into place. “Of course. I’m sorry. You’re at the clinic now?”

“Yes. I’m afraid it’s a bit of an emergency.”

“What’s the problem?”

“It’s rather complicated, but…there’s been an assault.”

So Rica Grechi was wrong that he wouldn’t come after her again. Tory glanced at the clock in the kitchen. 6:30 a.m. She’d been up since five, feeding Reggie and pacing. She could call KT or Bonita to run over to the clinic. Either one of them would be willing to see an emergency patient for her.

“I’m so sorry to call like this,” Rica said, her voice trembling. “It’s my lover. She’s been hurt, and we can’t go anywhere else.”

Two battered women. Whatever was going on, it had the potential to be very dangerous for one or both of them. “Is she conscious?”

“Yes, but…it looks bad.”

“Is there any chance that you’ve been followed? That he’ll attack you again?”

“No. I don’t think so.”

“All right, but keep an eye out and be prepared to leave if you need to. I’ll be there in ten minutes.” Tory hung up and went to the guest room. She tapped on the door. “Bri?”

“Yeah?”

Tory opened the door and then quickly averted her gaze when a naked Bri jumped from bed. It didn’t matter that Bri was twenty years her junior, she was a beautiful young woman and Tory was not her mother. “Sorry. Can you watch the baby for a little while? I’ve got to go to the clinic.”

“Now?” Bri frowned as she searched for her jeans. “I mean, I don’t mind watching Reggie.” She pulled up her pants, zipped them, and tugged on her T-shirt. “But isn’t it awfully early?”

“Emergency.”

“Jesus, Tory.” Bri ran a hand through her thick, unruly hair. “Can’t you let someone else do it? You must be beat.”

Tory smiled softly. Obviously, everyone she knew thought she was fragile. “I’ve got my cell phone. I gave that number to Reese’s father, so when…when he calls, I’ll get it. I won’t stay. I just need to see this one patient.”

“Okay. I told my dad I wasn’t coming in today unless he really needs me. I want to be here when they find Reese.”

“Good. I want you to be here, too.”

Bri’s certainty was almost contagious, and Tory allowed herself to believe in it as she left for the clinic. It had been just over thirty-three hours since Reese had disappeared. Surely it wouldn’t be much longer.

When Tory turned into the clinic parking lot she saw a silver Lexus idling by the side entrance to the clinic. It was the only vehicle in the lot and invisible from the road. She pulled up nearby and got out at the same time as Ricarda Grechi jumped from the Lexus. They met by the front passenger door.

“Thank you so much for coming,” Rica said. She opened the door and bent down. “Carter? The doctor’s here.”

Tory peered into the vehicle. “Let me take a look before we try to move her.”

Carter carefully turned her head and squinted. The woman looked familiar. “I can walk. Slowly.”

“Is your neck okay?” Tory asked.

“Seems to be. Head hurts like a bastard, though.”

Tory eyed the three inch laceration running along the woman’s right temporal hairline. Her hair was matted with dried blood. “I’ll just bet it does.”

“Sorry about all of this.”

“No need for apologies.” Tory scooped an arm around Carter’s waist as Rica helped ease Carter from the car to an upright position. “Here, let’s take it slow.” Five minutes later she and Rica helped Carter onto an examining table in the quiet, empty clinic. As Tory washed her hands, she said, “Fill me in on the details.”

Rica, who stood by the side of the examining table with her hand on Carter’s shoulder, looked down at her inquiringly.

“It happened about one o’clock this morning. I took a couple of shots to the back, a couple to the stomach, a kick to the right wrist, and blunt force trauma to the head. A sap, I think. Twice. Knocked me cold.”

Rica moaned softly and stroked Carter’s hair with trembling fingers. “Who was it?”

“Don’t know.” Carter lifted her uninjured hand and caught Rica’s. “It’s okay.”

“That’s where you’re very wrong, Carter.”

Tory studied Rica, surprised by the anger and resolve in her voice. This situation was not what she had expected. These were not lovers battered by an angry spouse or boyfriend. They seemed to be lovers, but there was some other tension between them. And Rica Grechi looked ready to exact vengeance from someone. “Have you called the police?”

Carter held Rica’s eyes. “I’m a Massachusetts State Police detective.”

“I see.” Tory sighed. “And I assume there’s a reason why you’re here instead of calling for backup and an ambulance?”

“Several,” Carter replied, still looking at Rica.

“All right. Let’s worry about you first. Then we’ll talk.”

After completing her examination, Tory said, “I’m going to need a urine specimen. Can you make it to the bathroom?”

“I’ll help her,” Rica said.

“Just help me get over there,” Carter said. “I can handle it from there.”

Tory smiled. “Not too sick to forgo pride, I see. Cops are all alike.” At Rica’s curious expression she said, “My lover is the sheriff here.”

“Conlon?” Carter asked. At Tory’s nod, she started to shake her head and then winced. “I remember you now. That day at the beach. You had some young kid riding bodyguard detail.”

“Bri Parker. Family friend.”

“Conlon due back soon?”

Tory struggled to keep her expression neutral. “Soon. We hope soon.” She took Carter’s elbow. “Come on. Let’s get you to the bathroom.”

Rica paced uneasily in front of the closed door. “I don’t think we should leave her alone in there.”

“She’ll be all right for a few minutes, but she’s in no shape to be making decisions, Ms. Grechi.” Tory kept her voice low. “She has a concussion. The two of you are obviously in danger, and she’s not going to be able to protect you.”

“I can.”

Tory believed her. “I know that if Reese were here and something like this happened, there’d be hell to pay if Carter kept quiet about it. Whatever’s going on, Carter should be able to get all the help she needs from the local authorities.”

“She’s worried about me,” Rica said softly.

“I gathered that. Try to convince her to get some backup in case there’s more trouble.”

“I will.”

The bathroom door opened and Carter leaned against the door frame. “Mission accomplished, but I don’t think I can make it back to the table.”

Rica rushed to her and put an arm around her waist. “Lean on me. Come on.”

“I’ll be right back.” Tory took the specimen cup and went next door to the small lab.

In the few minutes it took Rica to get Carter settled again, Tory completed her analysis. “You’ve got traces of blood in your urine, which probably is due to a bruised kidney.”

“Should we go to the hospital?” Rica said immediately.

“It would be the prudent thing to do, yes,” Tory said, watching Carter’s face take on a set expression. “But Detective Wayne isn’t going to. Which means, Detective, you are going to go home and get into bed. You are to drink plenty of fluid. Tylenol only for pain. I’ll give you a small dose of codeine to augment it. No aspirin. No ibuprofen. Nothing that could increase the chance of bleeding.”

“Okay,” Carter said.

“And,” Tory went on sternly, “you need to be observed for at least twenty-four hours. You’ve got a serious concussion and all too frequently we see other problems develop as a result. You need to be on the lookout for visual changes, confusion, increasing nausea, dizziness, weakness. I need to know about it immediately.”

“I’ll stay with her,” Rica said.

Carter said nothing.

“And I need to suture that laceration on your temple.” Tory looked at Rica. “I assume you want to stay while I do that?”

Rica kept her eyes on Carter. “Yes.”

When Tory finished, she found two business cards among the pile of prescription pads in a drawer and handed one to each woman. “Call me if anything changes. I won’t be in for the rest of the day. Possibly not for several.” She wrote a prescription and handed it to Rica. “One every four hours. No more for the first twenty-four, then you can double the dose.”

“I understand.”

“If I hear that there’s any further violence involving either of you, I’m going to Sheriff Parker. I don’t care what this investigation is all about.”

Carter held out her hand. “Thank you, Dr. King. I can promise you there won’t be any further problems.”

“Just go home and go to bed, Detective.”

Carter slumped into the front seat of Rica’s car with a faint groan. “Jesus. She’s not happy with us.”

“I got the feeling she’s well versed in cop bullshit,” Rica said as she headed toward town.

Carter smiled faintly. “Yeah. I got that too.”

“I’m going to get you settled first, and then I’ll pick up your prescription.”

“I don’t need it. Tylenol will be fine.”

“Uh-huh.”

Carter narrowed her eyes against the bright sunlight and checked the street signs. “Where are you going?”

“I’m taking you home.”

“This isn’t the way to my apartment. “

“No,” Rica said calmly. “But it is the way to my house.”

Carter swore. “Rica, you can’t be seen with me.”

Rica turned her head briefly, gave Carter a measured look, and then turned her attention back to the road. “Carter, you are in no position to be giving orders.”

“You don’t have any idea how dangerous the situation is. If these guys come back…Christ, I don’t even have my weapon.”

“Somehow,” Rica said conversationally, “you’ve gotten the wrong impression. I’m not a pampered rich girl. I’ve had to protect myself my entire life. And I know how to do it.”

“Why are you doing this?”

“What makes you think I’ll tell you the truth?”

“Because there’s no point in lying anymore,” Carter said wearily.

“I suppose you’re right.” Rica turned into her driveway and shifted to meet Carter’s eyes. “I don’t know why. Let’s just say I don’t want any more of your blood on my hands.”

Carter wasn’t certain what she had hoped to hear, but she was in no position to ask for more. “Twenty-four hours. Maybe that will give us enough time to sort this out.”

“Maybe.” Rica shrugged. “Either way, tomorrow we say goodbye and call it even.”

“Right.” Carter watched Rica come around the front of the vehicle to help her out. They could pretend all they wanted that none of this had ever happened, but she wasn’t going to be able to forget.

Chapter Twenty-Four

“It’s probably just as well that we don’t see one another in the future,” Rica said as she slowly guided Carter upstairs to her bedroom. “Our relationship doesn’t seem to be very good for our health.”

Winded, Carter settled onto the side of the bed. “You think?”

Rica forced herself to relinquish her hold on Carter, even though she had an almost obsessive desire to keep touching her. The terror of finding that photo and thinking for an instant that Carter was dead still haunted her. She folded her arms around her middle. “The last forty-eight hours would indicate that.”

“What happened to me isn’t your fault,” Carter said. “It’s mine.”

“Someone nearly beat you to death because of me.”

“We don’t know that.” Carter closed her eyes, absurdly glad that she hurt in more than one place so that she couldn’t actually focus on where the pain was greatest. “I need a shower.”

“You can barely stand. Get some sleep, and you can shower later.”

“I’m not getting into bed without one.”

“God, Carter,” Rica exploded. “Can’t you do anything the easy way? Do you have any idea how bad you look right now?”

“It looks worse than it…”

“Don’t. Just…don’t.” Rica walked quickly to the other side of the room, afraid that Carter would see the tears that had taken her by surprise. God, she didn’t want to feel any of this. She flinched at the light touch on her shoulder.

“I’m sorry. For all of this.”

“I don’t want to talk about it now,” Rica said, her back still turned. “Can you manage the shower by yourself?”

“Yes.” Carter hesitated. She should contact Kevin and tell him what happened. She should heed Allen’s call to come in. She should be anywhere but in Rica Grechi’s bedroom. And all she could think of was easing the pain she could hear in Rica’s voice. “I never lied to you about how I feel about you.”

“Just about everything else.” Rica couldn’t keep the bitterness from her voice. She turned, refusing to allow the sight of Carter’s injuries to assuage her anger. “Is that supposed to make it all right that you deceived me for weeks?”

“No,” Carter said quietly. “I can’t make it all right. I should’ve backed off when I realized I was falling in love with you, but I didn’t want to admit it.”

“I don’t care what you feel or don’t feel about me.”

“I know.” Carter touched her fingertips lightly to the bruise on Rica’s cheek. “This is looking a little better.”

Rica said nothing as Carter slowly made her way into the bathroom and closed the door quietly behind her. She wanted to follow. She wanted to help her undress and bathe her wounds. She wanted to wash the blood from Carter’s hair and from her own memories. She forced herself to stay where she was, because she wanted so badly to touch her.

“Here you go, babe,” Bri said with a flourish, sliding an only slightly burned grilled cheese sandwich onto a plate in front of Caroline, who sat at the breakfast island with Reggie on her lap. “You sure you don’t want one, Tory?”

“No. I’m fine. Thanks.” Tory stood at the open door to the deck, staring at the cloudless blue sky and wondering if Reese could see the sky from wherever she was. It was night there already. Dark. Forty hours. She’d been missing forty hours.

The cell phone on her belt chimed. Tory snatched it off and stared at the readout. Private caller. She knew it could be anyone. Her mother had promised to call at midday to see if there was any news after Tory insisted that her parents not make the ten-hour drive just yet. She’d given her private number to quite a few patients in case they had questions about new medications or needed to report a change in an unstable medical condition. It might just be a wrong number. Her hand shook.

“Hello?”

She heard a garbled voice. A male voice, she thought. Then faint static gave way to silence. Something in Tory’s face brought Bri hurrying around the counter, but Caroline caught her arm and stopped her.

“Hello,” Tory said urgently. “This is Victoria King. Hello?”

“Hi…baby…me.”

Tory covered her mouth to stifle a cry. She stared at Bri and Caroline, both of whom seemed to be frozen in mid-motion, like figures in a snapshot.

“Reese?” Tory’s voice trembled. “Sweetheart? Reese?”

Six thousand miles away, Reese Conlon motioned for the medics to hold off lifting her stretcher into the UH-60Q Black Hawk medivac helicopter. “I’m okay. Tory, baby, can you hear me? I’m okay.”

“Where…you?”

“Germany. I love you.”

“Hurt? … you hurt?”

“Nothing much. Don’t worry. Tory, I love you.”

The connection went dead and Reese swore.

“Time to go, Colonel,” the medic said.

“Just try again,” Reese pleaded.

“Load her up. Now,” a familiar voice snapped.

Reese turned her head, gritting her teeth as the movement pulled at the burn on her shoulder and arm. Her father’s face was in shadow, his body outlined against the night sky by the spotlights from the helicopters. “If I could just try the call one more…”

“We need to move. You got your call.” Roger Conlon squatted beside the stretcher and rested his hand on the blankets covering Reese’s thighs. In a softer tone, he said, “And you need to have those wounds seen to.”

“I’m fine, sir. How are my Marines?”

“The others are already airborne. They’re all going to make it.” He touched her hair, then drew his hand back. “You did a fine job. I’m proud of you.”

“Thank you, sir.” Reese fought to stay awake. “Thank you for the call, sir.”

“I’ll see you in Germany, Colonel.”

Reese fumbled for her father’s hand. “Call her, Dad…please.”

General Roger Conlon stood and waved to the medics. “Get this Marine to the hospital.”

“Yes, sir,” the men called back.

By the time the medics secured her stretcher and the last of the Special Ops Black Hawks were in the air, Reese was asleep.

Tory stared at the phone, afraid to believe the words she had just heard. What if it was a dream? Her legs suddenly felt rubbery and she braced a hand on a nearby chair. She looked up, dazed, when Bri gently removed the phone from her hand and cupped her elbow.

“Was it Reese?” Bri’s voice was a hushed whisper.

“It was.” Tory’s eyes glistened with tears. “Oh my God. She called me.” Laughing now, she threw her arms around Bri’s neck. “She called me.”

Letting loose with a whoop of joy, Bri lifted Tory and swung her in a circle. “Oh yeah. Oh yeah oh yeah.”

Reggie giggled and clapped as Caroline danced her about.

Breathless, Tory gasped, “We have to call Kate and Jean and…”

“Not on your cell phone.” Bri reverently handed it back to Tory. “Reese might call again soon. Caroline and I will call everyone on ours.”

“She’s alive.” Tory sat on the sofa. “My God. She’s alive.”

Caroline slid down beside her and handed Reggie to her. She slipped an arm around Tory’s waist. “Did she say where she was?”

“I…Germany, I think,” Tory said, puzzled, still replaying the fractured call in her mind. Then she stiffened. “That’s where the main military hospital is.”

“Hey. You just talked to her, remember? She’s all right.”

“She must be hurt.” Tory jumped up. “Reese wouldn’t tell me if she was hurt. She must be, if they’re taking her to the hospital.” She stared around the room as if seeking an answer. “God. This is driving me crazy. Why can’t they just tell us what’s happening?”

“It’s probably only been a little while since they found her,” Caroline soothed, grasping Tory’s hand and tugging her back down to the sofa. “Reese’s father said he’ll call. Do you think he will?”

“He raised her. He taught her some of the things I love most about her,” Tory said almost to herself. “He’ll call.”

Three hours later the phone rang again.

Every person in the room went silent. Kate took Jean’s hand. Pia wrapped an arm tightly around KT’s waist. Bri hugged Caroline from behind, cradling her against her chest. Nelson patted Reggie’s back as she slept on his shoulder.

Tory watched her family and friends, drawing strength from their love. “Hello? This is Tor-”

“General Conlon, Dr. King.”

“How is she?”

“Colonel…uh, Reese…is resting comfortably at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in western Germany.”

“What are her injuries?” Tory asked with a calmness she didn’t feel.

“Second-and third-degree burns scattered over her torso, and a fractured clavicle, sustained when her vehicle ran over a land mine.” He sounded as if he were reading a laundry list. “Nothing life-threatening, the doctors assure me.”

“She’s conscious? No head injury?”

“They sedated her to treat the wounds, but she was quite alert in the field.”

“I appreciate all you’ve done, General,” Tory said, “but I’d like to ask another favor. Can you arrange for me to see her at the hospital? I’ll try to get flights for tomorrow. I can be there…”

“That won’t be necessary, Dr. King. Ordinarily, she would go from here to a stateside military hospital as soon as possible for whatever rehab is needed. If the doctors clear it, I’ll see that she comes home.” He paused. “Reese’s request.”

Tory took a long breath to steady herself. “I can assure you, General Conlon, that she will get all the care necessary right here.”

“I don’t doubt that, Doctor. I’ll be in touch.”

“Thank you.” Tory ended the call and regarded the anxious faces watching her. “Well. I didn’t think I’d ever say this, but it’s very nice to have a general in the family. Reese is coming home.”

Amidst the cheers, Kate made her way to Tory and gave her a hug. “One thing I never doubted was that Roger loved her. I’ll always be grateful to him for this.”

Tory nodded. “So will I.” Then she laughed. “She’s coming home. God, Kate. She’s coming home.”

Carter knew Rica was there before she opened her eyes. She could smell her, a faint whiff of mandarin and spice.

“Opium,” Carter murmured.

Rica laughed. “No, but that’s very good. It’s a custom fragrance but there are some similarities.”

Naked beneath the sheets, Carter gazed at Rica, who sat nearby in a white wicker chair, framed by the colors of sunset beyond the open French doors. A breeze teased her hair and a hint of a smile lingered. She looked so achingly lovely that Carter wished with all her heart that she could stop time.

“How long have I been asleep?” Carter vaguely remembered falling into bed after her shower. Rica had not been in the room then.

“About four hours. How are you feeling?”

“Cleaner.” Carter studied Rica’s remote expression. They might have been strangers. “Why am I here?”

Rica drew her legs up and sat sideways in the chair with her feet tucked beneath her. “You’re in no shape to travel or defend yourself. If they come back, they’ll kill you.”

“If they wanted to kill me, they would have last night.”

“Maybe,” Rica said. “But I’m not willing to take the chance.”

“You didn’t feel that way yesterday morning.”

“This isn’t about you and me,” Rica said sharply. “If I wanted you dead, I wouldn’t hire thugs to beat you. I’d hunt you down and shoot you myself.”

Despite the fact that she hurt more than she’d imagined possible in every bone of her body, Carter laughed. “I believe you.”

“Good.” Rica regarded Carter intently, ridiculously relieved that she was awake and seemed stronger. She’d watched her sleep for hours, irrationally terrified that she’d stop breathing. She wondered if she’d ever be able to get the image of Carter lying in her own blood out of her mind. “Do you know who did this?”

“I might recognize one of the voices, given a little time. Head’s too fuzzy just yet.” At Rica’s expression of alarm, Carter added quickly, “It wasn’t Enzo. Him I would know.” Very carefully, she inched her way up until she was sitting upright against the pillows. It didn’t register in her still slightly befuddled mind that the sheets had fallen away, leaving her chest exposed. “I’m pretty certain it was someone I met…doing business.”

“My father’s people,” Rica said tonelessly. And now she knew the answers to so many of her questions. What her father was capable of. What price her loyalty would exact. What toll love would demand. “I’m sorry. It wasn’t what I wanted to happen. I never wanted you hurt.”

Carter considered the words. “You told your father.”

“Yes. Did you think I wouldn’t?”

“No,” Carter said quietly. “I thought you would.”

“And still you told me. Why?”

“I told you the reason.”

Rica laughed bitterly. “Because you love me.”

“Yes.” When Rica looked away, Carter said, “It might not have been your father.”

“Enzo would have killed you,” Rica said.

“Not necessarily. I’m not certain Enzo has the clout to order a hit on his own. I doubt your father wants that kind of attention drawn to him or any of his people. Chances are Enzo just wanted to teach me a lesson. Or teach you one.”

“Then he would have sent them after me.”

“No. He’d never do anything so blatant. Your father would kill him and he knows it. He’s probably regretting the marks he left on your face right about now, believe me.” Just thinking about Enzo striking Rica made Carter’s heart hammer with rage. Jesus, she still wanted to kill him. “You wouldn’t tell your father about the sexual assaults…” At Rica’s sound of protest, Carter said harshly, “That’s what they were, Rica. He knew you wouldn’t go to your father with that, but bruises can’t be hidden.”

“He’s never hit me before. Now I understand why.”

“How did you know to look for me?”

“A photograph.” Rica closed her eyes. “Someone sent me a photograph of you lying…” in your own blood. “Unconscious.”

“Let me see it.”

Even though she never wanted to see it again, and would never need to, not with the image so clearly branded in her memory, Rica went downstairs to retrieve it. It still lay on the floor next to the envelope. For the first time, Rica realized there was a message scrawled on the envelope. The photograph had been so horrific it was the only thing she had been able to see.

“I think you might be right,” Rica said, handing the envelope to Carter.

Carter read the message, Next time, say yes. Then held out her hand. “Where’s the photo? Hand it to me by the edges.”

Rica hesitated.

“I’m not going to put it on the record, Rica. Jesus. But it would be good if we know who Enzo’s using to threaten you. I doubt there are any prints, but we can check.”

“If this was Enzo’s way of warning you away from me,” Rica said, passing Carter the Polaroid, “or showing me what would happen if I refused him again, you could still be in danger from my father. He may want you…out of the way…for completely different reasons.” She stared around the room as if expecting someone to burst through one of the doors at any second, then rose and walked to the dresser. She took out her Beretta and returned to the chair.

“I’m going to pretend I don’t see that.” Carter slid the photo into the envelope and set it on the bedside table. “Eject the clip and stash that somewhere.”

“You don’t give me orders, Carter.”

“What are you going to do, Rica? Shoot someone?” Carter leaned her head back and closed her eyes. “Did you tell your father I was a cop?”

“No.”

“Did you tell him my name?”

“No.”

Carter opened her eyes. “What exactly did you tell him?”

“I tried to warn him that he’d been betrayed, but I got the feeling that he already knew.”

Rizzo. He must know Rizzo is missing by now, so he figures he’s turned. Carter said nothing, but she thought it possible that Pareto knew nothing of her involvement.

Rica didn’t want to, but she asked a question she been thinking about for twenty-four hours. She didn’t know why it mattered, but it did. “Is Carter Wayne really your name?”

“Carter’s my first name, but Wayne is my grandmother’s name. You won’t find a cop officially listed by the name of Carter Wayne, if you or anyone else goes looking.”

Rica didn’t care what Carter’s last name was. She was just absurdly glad that the name she had screamed in her mind…or was it out loud?…when this woman had been inside her was the truth. “And the part about being a lawyer?”

“True.”

“The place in town?”

“I really own it.”

Relieved, and irritated that any of it mattered, Rica snapped, “Would you mind very much covering up?”

“What?” Carter looked down and realized for the first time that she was bare to her hips. “Oh.”

“Thank you,” Rica said, relieved when Carter drew up the sheet, as if that would erase the image of Carter’s body from her mind. Carter was beautiful. Firm upright breasts, defined arms and shoulders, and a long tapered waist beneath arching ribs that called out for a caress. She had felt that body through her clothes, sensed the power of it by watching her move, but she hadn’t expected the graceful combination of femininity and strength. She wanted to touch her, and reminded herself of all the reasons why she couldn’t.

“I’m in no shape to make a pass,” Carter said gently.

“How much does it hurt?” Rica hated the purple discoloration that spread over Carter’s ribs from just below her left breast to her navel. She hated the person who had put that mark there even more.

“I’ll live.”

“That’s convenient, because I don’t want your death on my conscience.”

“Nothing is going to happen, but even if it did, you’re not responsible.”

“Perhaps you’ve forgotten what happened at my father’s house with Enzo, and here when I begged you to fuck me,” Rica said angrily. “But I haven’t. I can’t. If I’d known who you were I never would have let you touch me. I certainly wouldn’t have let you touch Enzo. God, Carter, what were you thinking?”

“I was thinking that I didn’t want his hands on you. Not then, not ever.” Carter held Rica’s gaze. “And I’m very very glad you let me touch you.”

“Well, now it doesn’t matter anymore.”

“You’re wrong, Rica,” Carter said quietly. “It still matters to me.”

Rica rose and slipped the small Beretta into the pocket of her tailored silk slacks. “As I predicted when we first met, what happened between us is of no consequence to me.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

The sun was shining the next time Carter woke, and she had no idea what time it was. Or even what day it was. Her cell phone, wallet, and keys were on the bedside table along with a white envelope Rica had given her. Stretching carefully, wincing at the pain that burned down the center of her back and burrowed into her pelvis, she palmed the phone and eased back against the pillows. To her relief, it still held a charge, and she focused long enough to speed-dial.

“Kev? It’s me.”

“Jesus Christ and all that’s holy. Where are you?”

“Still on the Cape. I had a bit of trouble.”

Kevin sucked in air. “Define trouble.”

“I’m still breathing. Just a little beat up.”

“When?”

“What day is it?”

“Christ, Carter. It’s Tuesday afternoon.”

“Uh…about thirty-six hours ago, I guess.”

“I’ll come and get you.”

“Yeah. I don’t think I can drive just yet.”

“Where exactly are you?”

“Rica’s.”

“Where’s your head? She could be behind…”

“No. Look…”

“Forget about it. Give me the address.”

“They could be watching the place.”

“So they know you’re there. If she moves you, they’ll know that too. Stay put.”

“Yeah. Okay.”

Carter gave him directions, closed the cell phone, and then carefully swung her legs over the side of the bed. She closed her eyes against a wave of dizziness and fought to breathe slowly until it passed. Her clothes were folded in a pile on a nearby chair. It took her fifteen minutes to dress. It took her almost that long to get downstairs.

Rica met her at the bottom of the stairs. After a moment of silence, Rica brushed her fingertips over the stains on Carter’s silk shirt. “I couldn’t get all the blood out of your clothes. This is ruined, but I thought you’d prefer it clean.”

“That’s okay. Thanks.” Carter steadied herself with a hand against the wall. Rica wore jeans and a white sleeveless tank top. She looked tired. “I’m going to get out of your hair in a couple of hours.”

“How?”

“My…brother is picking me up.”

“Your brother.” Rica searched Carter’s face. “Don’t lie to me. There’s no reason to any longer.”

Carter cupped Rica’s neck and skimmed her thumb along the edge of her jaw. She wasn’t going to identify Kevin as a cop, on the chance someone was watching the house. “I wouldn’t, if it were just me. If I could go back and do things differently…”

“Don’t.” Rica pressed her fingertips to Carter’s lips. “You can’t change who you are any more than I can. And I don’t think you would have done anything differently.”

“You’re wrong.” Slowly, Carter leaned forward, and when Rica did not move away, she gently kissed her mouth. She let her lips linger on Rica’s, softly savoring the taste and the heat. She felt Rica’s hands come to her waist, and Carter tangled her fingers in Rica’s hair, carefully, tenderly, holding her close. Her body ached, her mind was a confused miasma of conflicting allegiances and desires, but this kiss… This was right. They were right. “God, Rica. Tell me you can feel it, too.”

“No,” Rica lied, even as her heart said yes. Enzo would kill Carter the next time. Regardless of whether her father sanctioned it or not, regardless of how long or how often Rica refused Enzo’s demands, Enzo would kill Carter because he had seen what Rica had resisted for weeks. She loved Carter, and Enzo knew it. It didn’t matter that Rica was not his to claim. He believed, had always believed, that eventually she would be his. He’d said he could tolerate her affairs with women, and maybe he meant it. But he would never accept her loving another woman when he knew that she would never love him. “It’s just sex, Carter. Nothing more.”

“You have to tell your father about Enzo,” Carter murmured, stroking Rica’s cheek. “He’s crazy, Rica.”

“My family matters aren’t your concern.” Laughing bitterly, Rica stepped back. “Of course, that’s not true, is it? I should have said my personal business is not your concern.”

“I’m not interested in your family business anymore.”

“No? It’s that simple?” Rica gestured with her head toward the living room. “Go sit down. You’re not going to be able to stay upright much longer.”

“I’m okay.”

“Just do it. I don’t have the patience for your stubbornness right now.”

Carter grinned. “Okay.”

Rica pressed her hand to Carter’s back as they moved to the sofa, then sat beside her. “I don’t want to know what you’re going to tell your associates about me or my father. But I know you can’t just walk away. And that’s why I want you to walk out of here and out of my life.”

Carter rarely believed what people said, because it was easy to tell lies and, after a while, even easier to believe them. For a minute, when they had kissed, she’d thought she’d felt the truth in Rica’s touch. But whatever had been there then, it was gone now, and she owed it to her to go.

“I’ll go, Rica. And I swear, I won’t hurt you.”

Rica shook her head and rose, her face a careful mask. As she left the room, she said steadily, “Don’t make promises you can’t keep. Just go.”

Carter waited alone in silence until she heard a car pass by slowly on the street and then return a minute later. She went to the front window, looked out, and saw Kevin parked at the curb in his battered Jeep Wrangler. It was going to be a long, bumpy, painful ride home, but she didn’t care. She didn’t feel much of anything any longer except numb. She let herself out and quietly closed the door behind her. She didn’t look back when Kevin pulled away.

“You look like shit,” Kevin said.

“Yeah. Thanks. See anything in the neighborhood?” She checked the side mirror and didn’t see a tail.

“There’s no one watching the house unless they’re sitting in a tree. Been to a doctor?”

“Yeah. Just bumps and bruises.” Carter pointed. “Slow down up there and pull into that alley behind my car. I think they got my weapon, but we should check again.”

Kevin parked and got out. “Stay put. I’ll look.”

A minute later, he slid back in, started the car, and backed out onto Bradford. “Nothing except some old blood on the stairs. I guess that’s yours.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Fuck, Carter. You’re lucky they didn’t kill you. Do you think Pareto is on to you because we pulled Rizzo in? If Allen almost got you killed, I’m gonna…”

“No. I don’t think it was Pareto. It was Enzo Brassi, and it’s personal. He’s got a thing for Rica, and he’s nuts.”

“Great. And you’re fucking her.”

“Easy, Kevin,” Carter said softly.

He glanced over. “Oh, perfect. She’s really got you messed up.”

“No, she doesn’t.” Carter turned to watch the town disappear, feeling the hollow ache inside her expand until she was nearly choking on the emptiness. “I’m the one who messed it up.”

“You’re not going to be able to dodge Allen much longer, partner.”

Carter sighed. “I know.” She eased her seat back and tried to get comfortable. “Jesus, can’t you get a car made for adults?”

“I didn’t plan on needing an ambulance,” Kevin snapped. He rubbed his face. “Sorry. I’m used to you disappearing, but it’s the first time you’ve ever showed up looking like…you might not have showed up.”

“They knew what they were doing.” She reached across the narrow space between them and squeezed his forearm. “They didn’t intend to kill me.”

“Nice. Glad to hear that.” The muscles along the edge of his jaw bunched. “What did they want, do you think?”

“It was a message to Rica. Don’t cross Enzo, especially for a woman.”

“Sorry.”

“Yeah. Me too.”

“Do you think she’ll come home in an ambulance?” Bri asked Tory as she hopped up onto the deck. She glanced at her watch. “When do you think she’ll get here?”