Sweet Surrender

CHAPTER 26

Gray spent a restless night arguing with himself. In the early hours of the morning, he gave up on the idea of sleep and sat in his kitchen nursing a cup of liquid caffeine.

Had he fucked up any chance he had with Faith? And just when was it that he’d actually started entertaining the idea of a relationship with her anyway? Relationship? He had to be out of his damn mind.

First there was the fact that he was lying to her and using her. She was a means to an end. Then there was the fact that his life, what little he had, was in Dallas. Funny that he hadn’t given much thought to his career since arriving in Houston, but the fact remained he was a damn good cop.

There’s no reason you can’t come clean. Tell her the truth. She’s an intelligent woman. She doesn’t want anything to do with her mother anyway. Quit making excuses. She wants the same thing you do.

When put that way, it seemed perfectly simple. He’d simply tell her the truth about why he was here. Then, with that out of the way, hopefully she’d cooperate. He could investigate Samuels’s involvement in Alex’s death, and then maybe he and Faith could explore the attraction between them.

Attraction. Hell. The word didn’t do justice to this entity between them.

Mick would shit a brick, but he’d have to deal. It wasn’t his ass down here on the line; it was Gray’s. As long as justice was served, it shouldn’t matter one iota to Mick how it came about.

Now that he was finished convincing himself, he was eager to get to work and figure out how he was going to break things to Faith. He honestly didn’t know how she’d react. But he wasn’t willing to take the deception any further. Not when he very much wanted to explore a relationship without any baggage.

There was that damn word again. But if he was honest, he knew he wanted something other than a casual fuck. And the sort of relationship she said she wanted was exactly what he wanted as well, and assumed he’d never find.

He collected his keys and walked out to his truck, feeling lighter than he had in a while. He glanced down to see Faith’s car still parked, which he thought odd, considering she usually beat everyone in to the office. A quick glance at his watch told him he was earlier than usual, though.

He briefly thought about going to her apartment to talk to her, but she was likely getting ready, and he didn’t want to ambush her. He’d just wait until he could get her alone at the office.

When he got to the office, he found Pop and Connor already there. Pop looked up when Gray walked by his office then called out to stop him.

Gray backed up and stuck his head in the door. “What’s up?”

“Faith’s not coming in this morning,” Pop said. “Connor and I are going out on a bid, and Micah and Nathan won’t be in until later. Can you sort the mail and hang around here for a phone call I’m expecting? I have to be back around ten for a conference call with an important client, so I could use the help around the office.”

Gray blinked in surprise. “Faith’s not coming in?”

“Yeah, I know; no one knows where a damn thing is but her,” Pop grumbled. “She’s spoiled us rotten. Gonna be a bitch without her today.”

“Is she okay?” Gray asked, half fearing the answer to that. Had he upset her? That was an asinine question. Of course he’d upset her, but was he why she wasn’t in, or was it something completely unrelated?

Pop shrugged. “Said she wasn’t coming in. She doesn’t call in enough for me to question her the one time she does.”

Gray frowned then said, “Sure, I can get the mail and hang around here. It’s not a problem.”

“Thanks. I’m expecting a call from Sherman Winston. When he calls, patch him through to my cell. I’d originally planned to be here, but this bid came up, and I need to handle it.”

Gray waved and headed on to his office. He guessed Faith had enough of his shitting on her. Not that he could blame her. He had a lot of groveling to do, and that was only if she’d even speak to him after he told her the truth about why he was here.

At nine, the postman carried in a white tub full of mail and heaved it onto Faith’s desk. Gray thanked him then grabbed handfuls of envelopes and began sorting out the obvious checks from the other correspondence.

He was halfway through the pile when he came across an envelope addressed to Faith Martin. He frowned as he took in the scrawled name and address. There was no return address, and it obviously wasn’t from a business.

Faith Martin? Martin was Faith’s mom’s last name. No one who had any dealings with Faith would have called her anything but Malone.

The hair on his neck stood up. Not sparing an ounce of guilt for opening her mail, he eased a letter opener into the corner and sliced the top. He didn’t want to disturb the seal in case DNA could be taken.

He was careful to only handle the corners of the paper as he opened it. His gaze darted over the nearly illegible handwriting, and as he took it in, red-hot rage billowed over him.

Give us the money, bitch. Your old man has a lot of it from what I hear, and I bet he’d be willing to part with quite a bit of it to keep his pretty daughter from being hurt. We can do it the easy way or we can do it the hard way. Either way, we’ll end up with the money. Your choice.

Gray stuffed the paper back into the envelope then folded it and shoved it into his pocket. Goddamn bastard had just threatened Faith. He had to get to her apartment right away. Make sure she was okay and then make sure she wasn’t left alone. There was no time like the present to have their come to Jesus moment.

Faith leaned back in the leather seat and lazily watched the scenery fly by in a blur. It was a beautiful morning. Already hot, but the sun was shining, and the farther they got out of Houston, the bluer the sky got.

They drove through Galveston and headed west. The traffic and number of houses lessened as they got farther down the island. Finally, they pulled into the drive of a large beach house, the only house for at least a mile stretch of the coastline.

She stepped out and breathed in the salty air. It was perfect. She’d have complete privacy. No one to bug her or intrude. It was heaven.

The driver, who had identified himself as Sam, carried her suitcase up the two flights of stairs to the front door and unlocked it for her.

He set the luggage inside the door then dug in his pocket for a card. “Here’s my number. If you need anything, just give me a call.”

She took it from his hand and smiled. “Thank you, Sam. I really appreciate this.”

He nodded and headed down the stairs back to the Bentley, leaving her alone in the spacious house.

She walked through the living room to the back deck and stepped out of the sliding glass doors. The breeze caught her hair and flipped it around her head.

The gentle sounds of the waves rolling in soothed fraught nerves. She raised her shoulders then relaxed them with a great big sigh.

A lawn chair beckoned, and she couldn’t resist sinking down onto it. She propped her feet up and gazed out over the stained waters of the gulf.

Remembering she needed to call Pop and give him a better explanation than that she just wasn’t coming in, she dug around in her pocket for her cell phone and hoped she got service this far out of Galveston.

“Why are you calling on the cell?” Pop asked when he answered.

She smiled. “Because I’m not at home.”

“Everything okay? I assumed you were sick. You don’t sound sick, but you don’t sound okay either.”

“I’m fine,” she managed in a wavery voice. “I just need…I need a vacation, Pop. I hope you don’t mind me taking a few days. I know I should have planned ahead but—”

He cut her off before she could delve further into her explanation. “You don’t need to justify a vacation to me, girl,” he said gruffly. “You deserve one, and you should take it. I don’t want to see you in here for a week at least.”

“Are you sure?” she asked, though she’d already committed to doing just that.

“We’ll manage just fine around here. Coffee won’t be worth a damn, but we’ll get by.”

She laughed. “Thanks, Pop. You’re the best.”

“You just take care. You haven’t been yourself lately.”

“I love you,” she said softly.

“Love you too, girl.”

Gray left the office and tore out of the parking lot like he was heading to a fire. He needed to call Mick and tell him things had escalated and that Samuels was most assuredly in Houston or close, but first, he had to make sure Faith was okay and square things with her.

He saw her car still in the parking lot and wheeled in beside it. He rushed to her door and knocked loudly. When he got no response, he knocked again. “Faith, it’s Gray. Open the door. It’s important.”

Again he waited but got no response. Dread tightened his chest. Her car was here. Why wasn’t she answering the door?

He knocked one more time in case she was in the shower and waited several long seconds. Then he did what any other cop would do in the situation. He kicked the door in.

It flew open and hit the opposing wall with a bang. He rushed in, wishing like hell he’d brought his gun. Her apartment was dark. Not a single light was on. The only sound he could hear was the humming of the refrigerator.

He hurried through the apartment, searching each room, but came up empty. Panic surged in his stomach, leaving him with a nauseated feeling. Where the fuck was she? Had Samuels already gotten to her?

He raced back out to his truck and pulled out his cell phone. He called Mick on his way back to the office. Hopefully Pop or Connor could provide a perfectly sane reason why Faith’s car was at her apartment and she was not.

When Mick picked up, Gray quickly outlined the letter he’d intercepted. Mick’s breathing hitched up several notches.

“He’s there. I knew the son of a bitch wouldn’t be able to resist hitting the daughter up for money. This is a perfect opportunity, Gray. We can use her as bait, draw Samuels out and nail his ass to the wall.”

“Whoa, wait just a damn minute, Mick. We aren’t using Faith as bait. Use your head. She’s an innocent victim here. No way I’d place her in that kind of danger.”

“You use your damn head,” Mick growled. “She’s our best chance at nailing this bastard. You shouldn’t even think twice. You know it’s a good idea.”

Gray had to swallow the angry retort. He sucked in a breath and tried to remain calm. “Mick, you’re worked up. You need to calm down and think rationally about this. No way catching Samuels is worth putting an innocent woman in harm’s way.”

“You’re thinking with your goddamn dick,” Mick said furiously.

“I will not involve Faith in this,” Gray ground out. “I think it’s best that I go to Pop and tell him everything. Get his help. He has a daughter to protect, and we have a killer to catch. We can bring in the local authorities and do this by the book.”

A string of curses erupted over the line.

Gray gritted his teeth and counted to ten. “I’m right, and you know it, Mick. I can’t believe you’d even consider using Faith like that. You’ve lost all perspective. I think you should step away and let me handle this.”

Silence fell over the line. “No, no, you’re right of course. Do what you need to do. I’m coming down there. I can be there in five hours. I’ll call you when I get in.”

Gray started to say that it wasn’t necessary, and actually preferable if Mick stayed in Dallas, but Mick had already hung up.

Gray bit out a curse and tossed the phone onto his seat.

He’d screwed everything up. Mick was way over the line, and Gray should have seen it before. He never should have let Mick talk him into this crazy-ass scheme.

But a small voice inside his head reminded him that if Mick hadn’t asked him to come down, Faith would still be in danger. A danger that no one would know about if Gray wasn’t here. If he could just find her before Samuels did, if he hadn’t already, then he could make things right. And make damn sure she stayed safe.

When he arrived back at the office, he barreled down the hallway to Pop’s doorway. He threw open the door and met with the irritated stares of Pop, Connor and Nathan.

“Where’s Faith?” Gray demanded as he strode in.

Pop quickly pushed the speakerphone button and picked up the receiver. Then he covered the mouthpiece with his hand and glared at Gray.

“This is an important call,” Pop bit out.

Gray put his hands on Pop’s desk, ignoring Nathan and Connor, and leaned toward Pop. “Faith could be in a lot of danger. Do you know where she is?”

“I’ll have to get back to you,” Pop said right before he hung up the phone.

Connor and Nathan surged to their feet about the time Pop’s feet hit the floor.

“What are you talking about, son?” Pop demanded. “I just talked to Faith a while ago. She seemed well enough.”

Gray nearly wilted in relief. He sagged into a nearby chair and blew out his breath in a deep sigh.

“I need to know where she is.”

Connor folded his arms over his chest and stared menacingly at Gray. “I don’t see that it’s any of your business where she is, but I’d sure like to know why you think it is.”

“I want to get back to the part where you think she’s in danger,” Pop interjected.

In response, Gray pulled out the letter he’d opened and flipped it onto the table. “Careful,” he said when Pop reached for it. “That’s evidence.”

Pop scowled but carefully slid the paper out of the envelope and gingerly opened it. His frown deepened as he read, and Nathan and Connor crowded over his shoulder so they could see as well.

“What the fuck?” Nathan said.

Pop’s hand shook as he set the letter back down. “What do you know about this, and where did you get it?” he asked Gray.

Gray twisted his lips and shook his head knowing he’d have to come clean with the entire story. “Faith’s mother has been calling her and asking for money,” he said, after deciding to start with the more pertinent information. He’d get to his deception in a minute.

“Goddamn it,” Connor swore. “I knew something was bothering her.”

“But what does her mother have to do with this?” Nathan asked. “You don’t think she—”

Gray shook his head. “Celia is mixed up with a man who is suspected of murdering my partner,” he said softly.

Three sets of eyes drilled holes in his skull.

“I have a feeling I’m not going to like what I’m about to hear,” Pop said in a near growl.

“No, you probably won’t,” Gray said. “I came down here as a favor to my partner’s father. Alex, my partner, was killed in the line of duty. The investigation wasn’t going anywhere, and there was a lot of finger pointing, most of it directed at my partner.

“Mick did some poking around on his own and came up with Eric Samuels, a man who happened to have hooked up with Faith’s mom right before the murder. Then they both disappeared.”

“That doesn’t explain why you came down here,” Nathan pointed out.

Gray met Nathan’s gaze then looked back at Pop. “Mick’s investigation also turned up the fact that Celia Martin liked to lean on Faith for money when she was in dire straits.”

“That much is true,” Pop muttered. “Damn bitch. I should have known better than to think she’d get out of Faith’s life permanently.”

“So you came down here to get close to Faith, hoping Celia would turn up,” Connor said in a dangerously low tone.

Gray sucked in his breath and took the last plunge. “Mick arranged for me to get a job here through a mutual acquaintance of his and Pop’s. I bugged Faith’s office and home phone and waited for her mother to call. She actually called the first day I met Faith, but I hadn’t gotten the tap in place yet.”

“Son of a bitch,” Connor seethed. “And you didn’t think to tell us any of this?”

“You’ve been using her,” Nathan observed quietly. “I knew something weird was going on between you two. Just how close did you get to her in this little investigation of yours?”

Connor took a menacing step forward, and Pop put his arm out to halt him. “Not now, damn it. I want to hear the rest of this.”

Gray stood, meeting Connor’s unspoken challenge. “A few days after that first phone call, she called again, and I found Faith in her office extremely upset. Later, when I listened to the playback, I could hear Samuels in the background making threatening remarks to Faith’s mother. Mick gave me a report that he and Celia had been spotted in Huntsville, so we thought they might be headed this way.”

Pop bit out an uncharacteristic swear word.

“This morning I found this in the mail,” Gray said, pointing to the letter on the desk. “The bastard is here, which is why we have to find Faith and keep her safe.”

Connor clenched his fists at his side and his neck muscles bulged and flexed. “She wouldn’t be in any danger if you had been honest with us from the beginning. It’s kind of hard to protect her when we’re kept in the fucking dark.”

Pop picked up his cell phone and punched in a number with trembling fingers. He stuck the phone to his ear and stood, twitching impatiently. A few seconds later, he bit out another curse before he closed the phone and dropped it on the desk.

“I got her damn voice mail.”

“You don’t know where she is?” Gray asked incredulously.

“No, I don’t damn well know where she is. She called and said she needed a vacation. I told her to take one. I didn’t even think to ask her where she was. I didn’t think it was important at the time.” Pop sank down in his chair and rubbed a hand over his hair. “I need a minute to think, damn it.”

“Do you have any contacts with the Houston PD?” Gray asked. “We need to have Faith’s apartment watched. Maybe even set up a decoy. If Samuels is watching, he’ll likely go for her there. Faith has a set routine that she normally doesn’t deviate from.”

“Yeah, you’d know wouldn’t you,” Nathan said with a grunt.

“We could set a trap for the asshole,” Connor said. “Sounds like he’s pretty damn desperate.”

“That was my thought,” Gray said. “We need to find Faith, tell her what’s going on and stash her someplace safe.”

Pop shook his head. “No.”

Gray, Connor and Nathan all looked at him in surprise.

Pop stared back at them in turns. “I don’t want her to know about any of this.”

Gray shook his head in confusion. “How are you going to keep it from her? And why would you keep it from her? She needs to know.”

“Just give me a damn minute to think,” Pop growled. He put his forehead in his hands and looked down for a long moment.

“I’ve got a plan,” Gray said slowly, his brow furrowing as he gave more thought to the idea forming in his head.

“Maybe you should let us handle this,” Connor said acidly. “I’m not too crazy about your plans so far.”

Pop held up his hand. “I’m not too happy about any of this myself, but right now, the most important thing is making sure Faith is safe. Everything else can wait.”

Gray cleared his throat uncomfortably and continued. “I can’t be involved in this, not officially, I mean. We find out where Faith is, and I go to her. Keep a close eye on her until this is resolved. You can coordinate with the Houston police here and work out a way to catch Samuels. Maybe even go with a decoy like we mentioned earlier. I’ll let Faith know what’s going on, and you can keep us posted on your progress.”

Again Pop shook his head. “I don’t want her to know about this.”

“She has to know,” Gray said. “There’s no way to keep this from her.”

“You don’t goddamn tell me what I will or won’t tell my daughter,” Pop said in an explosion of anger. His lips tightened, and he appeared to be trying to regain control of his temper. “Look, Faith is the most tenderhearted girl I know. Even with all her mother has done, it would break her heart to know her mother was involved in something like this. I can’t let that happen to her again. She’s already been let down too many times by that bitch.”

“You can’t protect her from everything,” Gray argued.

Pop looked him straight in the eye and held up a finger. “I’ll protect her from as much as I can. There is no need for her to know. She’s on vacation. I told her to take a week. We’ll find out where she is, and then you can go make sure she stays put and is safe.”

“I don’t like it,” Connor interrupted. “I don’t want him anywhere near her.”

Pop held up his hand. “I’m not any happier about this damn mess than you are, Connor, but Gray’s right. He can’t be involved in this, and I need you and Nathan and Micah here if we’re going to catch this son of a bitch. Someone has to make sure Faith stays safe.” He stared Gray down. “Can I count on you to do that?”

“I don’t like lying to her,” he said through gritted teeth. “Not about something like this.”

“But you’ll lie to her about everything else,” Nathan pointed out with a scowl.

Gray’s fingers curled into fists. “I did what I had to do to find the man responsible for murdering a cop. That bastard killed my partner. I had a responsibility to do whatever was necessary to bring him to justice. I didn’t like deceiving any of you, and I don’t want to lie to Faith any more than I already have. I…”

“You what?” Connor demanded.

He ignored Connor and looked Pop in the eye. “I care about your daughter. I’ve tried my best not to. I’ve tried to stay away from her. I’m the reason she took this damn vacation. I upset her, and now it’s time for me to make things right. I can’t make it right if I’m stuck lying to her some more.”

Pop didn’t so much as flinch. He met Gray’s stare with a steady gaze. “You can make it right when the bastard who is threatening her is behind bars. There’s no sense upsetting her needlessly. Her mother has caused her enough grief. If she knows what her fool mother has done, you won’t be able to keep her away from here. She’ll worry that Celia is in trouble. It could be days before we catch this guy. There’s no sense in having her worried sick the entire time.”

“I don’t like it,” Gray said.

“I’m not that crazy about it either,” Connor muttered. Gray noticed the sideways glance Connor threw at Pop.

“She’s not a child,” Gray pointed out.

“You didn’t seem to have any problems keeping the truth from her when it suited your purpose,” Pop said, anger rising in his voice again.

Gray looked up at the ceiling in frustration. They were wasting so much valuable time in a ridiculous pissing match. He needed to find Faith and make sure she was protected. He returned his gaze to Pop. “Look, when I got here, I had no idea if Faith was innocent or not. How was I supposed to? For all I knew, she was completely aware of her mother’s situation. I didn’t know Faith. I had to treat her like any other potential suspect. I know now that she’s not involved, and I don’t like lying to her any more than I already have.”

“And I don’t want her hurt,” Pop said quietly. “She’s my daughter. I love her. If I can keep the knowledge that her mother was willing to allow her latest boyfriend to harm her own daughter over money, then by God I will.”

Gray closed his eyes. “All right. Fine.”

What an impossible situation. His mind raced to find a way to make everything work. How was he supposed to just show up, crash Faith’s vacation and act like he didn’t have an ulterior motive for being there? He doubted she’d be overjoyed to see him. He imagined being able to level with her but instead he’d be going to her with more deceit.

But everything else would have to be real. He’d have to show her what was real. And what was real was his attraction to her, his need to see if they had any shot at the kind of relationship they both wanted.

Could he pull that off as the real reason for tracking her down? That part wouldn’t be a lie. He’d very much wanted to level with her and then pursue this thing between them. Only now, he’d have to go about it bass-ackwards. Pursue, then level.

Hell.