He’d left the office frustrated, only to be met with many sympathetic stares from fellow cops. Many murmured their opinion that no way had Alex done anything wrong. But the fact that they had to say it pissed Gray off to no end. There should be no question. It had raised questions in his mind about the direction the investigation was going.
Mick walked in the door, not bothering to knock. Gray met his gaze and found raw determination simmering there.
“So now you know,” Mick said quietly. “Are you going to help me?”
“I arranged for a six-month leave,” Gray said shortly. “Now tell me everything you’ve found out so we can nail this bastard.”
Mick walked over to the couch and sank down on the cushion. He eyed Gray purposefully. “I need you to go to Houston.”
“What’s in Houston?”
“Faith Malone.”
Gray folded his arms over his chest. “What does she have to do with Eric Samuels?”
“Maybe nothing. But she’s the only lead I’ve got right now.”
“So what about her? Who is she?”
Mick scratched at the back of his neck then shifted his head. “Eric Samuels hooked up with her mother right about the time of the shooting. They both disappeared just a few days after Alex got shot. No one’s seen them. I had her investigated. Pretty much a loser like Samuels. Goes through jobs like candy and has a history of drug abuse.
“Her daughter works for William Malone, the man who adopted her. He owns Malone and Sons Security. Top-notch firm. Colors outside the lines. You’d like him.”
Gray waited impatiently for Mick to get to the point. It didn’t much matter if he’d like Malone or not. All that mattered was whether or not his daughter could lead them to Alex’s killer.
“Apparently Faith took care of the mother for most of her life until a few years ago when the mom OD’d, and Malone stepped in and took Faith back to Houston. Since then, Mom has sporadically called the daughter up, mostly wanting money from what I’ve gathered.
“Last time she called her was a year ago. Now, my thought is, if the mom is in the habit of calling up the daughter when she needs money, she might very well start calling her again now that Samuels has entered the picture. Samuels is desperate. He needs money now that he’s on the move. Money that the mother doesn’t have.
“If you get close to the daughter, do some snooping, she might very well lead us to Samuels through the mother.”
Gray nodded. So far it made sense. Mom and boyfriend were on the run. Probably low on cash. She might very well contact Faith and ask for help. For all he knew, the girl might know exactly where her mother was.
“My buddy Griffin is friends with Malone, and Malone owes him a favor,” Mick continued. “I’ve arranged for you to have a job with his security company. He knows who you are, that you’re a cop and that your partner was killed.”
“But nothing else, right?”
Mick shook his head. “What he knows is that you’re on leave while you deal with the death of your partner and make the decision about whether or not you want to return to the job.”
Gray looked sharply at Mick.
Mick shrugged. “It seemed a plausible enough explanation.”
Whatever. He didn’t give a damn what Malone thought his reasons for taking a leave of absence were.
“Does Malone figure into this in anyway? Does he have anything to do with Faith’s mother?”
Mick shook his head. “Griffin filled me in on this much. They were briefly married ten years or so ago. Hasn’t had anything to do with her since. He’s a good man. His son is ex-military. He has two other guys working for him. One was in Special Forces, and the other was a cop before an injury took him out of the line of duty. They do good work.”
“So it’s only his daughter I need to be concerned about then.”
Mick nodded. “Exactly.”
It sounded simple enough. Go in, get the information and get out. Hand it over to the department on a silver platter. Sounded like a cakewalk after some of the cases he’d been handed over the years. And yeah, he could use the break. Then he wouldn’t have to think so much about returning to a job without his partner.
Mick stared at him for a long moment before he seemed to crumple right in front of Gray. “Thanks, son. I knew I could count on you.”
“You don’t have to thank me,” Gray said shortly. “Alex would have done the same for me in a heartbeat.”
He walked over and sat down by Mick. Neither spoke for a long moment, and then Gray reached out and put his hand on Mick’s shoulder. “Alex will get the justice he deserves, Mick. I swear it.”
CHAPTER 2 HOUSTON, TEXAS
Faith Malone curled into John’s limp arm and tried, tried really hard not to allow the slow roll of disappointment to wash over her.
Her lover’s soft, even breathing filled the room even as he gathered her closer to his chest. His hand curled into her hair, stroking the back of her neck.
She pressed her cheek further against him and tried to relax. Tried to find some measure of contentment in the aftermath of their lovemaking.
“Was that good for you?” he whispered.
“Yes,” she lied. Well, it wasn’t really a lie. She’d certainly had worse, and John was a considerate lover. But he was extremely passive.
She sighed and rolled over on her back and stared up at the ceiling. What was wrong with her? Why couldn’t she find satisfaction? Why was she so afraid to push for more?
“Faith, I’ve been thinking.”
She turned her head back to John. Panic hit her square in the chest. Surely nothing good ever came of a man saying he’d been thinking. Men just didn’t think, and they certainly weren’t prone to expressing those thoughts over pillow talk.
He shifted until he lay on his side facing her.
“I’ve been thinking too, John,” she blurted.
He raised his eyebrow. “You first.”
She rose up on her elbow and stared nervously down at him. Her mind raced to come up with a coherent way to put what she wanted to say.
“Why don’t you plan our date tomorrow night? You decide what we’ll do, where to eat. And maybe afterwards we could come back here, and you could…I don’t know, tie me up, or do something kinky. Basically whatever you want to do. Your choice.”
What a disaster. Could she have stated it any more awkwardly? She bit her lip as she waited for his response.
His eyes widened. Was that surprise or was it excitement?
“Uhm, I’m not sure I follow,” he said uneasily.
Definitely not excitement.
“I want you to take charge,” she said softly.
He sat up in bed and rubbed his head. “Faith, where on earth did this come from?”
Her cheeks burned, and she swallowed. God, she felt stupid. Nothing like sending a man running in the opposite direction.
“Are you unhappy with the way things are? Is that what you’re trying to say?” he asked.
She thought about lying and backtracking. It’s what she’d done in the last relationship. And the one before that. But that wasn’t getting her anywhere.
“I wouldn’t say unhappy. Exactly.”
“Then what would you say?” he prompted.
“I’m not satisfied,” she said quietly.
“You mean sexually?”
She looked up to see him staring intently at her, irritation lighting his eyes.
“No. It’s not just about the sex, John. If it was, maybe I could deal with it. It’s more than that. I want…I want a man who can take charge. Make decisions. Be…in control. And not just in the bedroom.”
“And I’m not that man.”
She twisted her fingers together, bending and squeezing. “You haven’t been.”
He cursed softly under his breath. “You want me to change?”
She gazed sadly at him. “No. That’s not fair. To you or me. I guess…I guess I just hoped maybe you could be that man.”