Determined: To Win (Determined Trilogy Book 3) (12 page)

“Please.” Ted affirmed.

The lead investigator shot a quick, emotionless look to the rest of the team and they all got up and left the room. David got up from behind his desk and came over to me. Ted stayed, but kept his distance.

“David, what the hell is going on?” I hissed. “I don’t know what they think they know, but…”

“Samantha, they are just doing their job.”

“I get that, but wouldn’t it be better if they were actually going after the person who did this to Curtis, instead of investigating Kate?”

David closed his eyes briefly. I could tell he was exhausted from the series of events. “They are just in the process of crossing off possibilities. They’re being thorough. Please, be patient. They will be done soon enough. Just keep answering their questions. Ted here will interrupt if he needs to.”

I was too drained to argue. Besides, I knew he was right. I wanted to find out what had happened just as much as David did. I nodded and he invited the agents back into the room.

“Agents, is there any reason Samantha couldn’t go to work tomorrow?” I looked at him, glad he remembered to bring this up. Despite the events of the day, I wanted to go in tomorrow. It was still barely my first week at the new job. I couldn’t start calling in sick, that wasn’t like me. Now I just needed the okay of the agents, to appease David.

“Is this the location in Tiburon?”

I mumbled an affirmative.

“I think it would be prudent to do a sweep of the location, and once it’s cleared you should be fine, provided Elliot remains with you.” David’s face looked unconvinced. But the agents had given me the O.K., so I grabbed it.

“Wonderful. Thank you. Agent Williams, Agent Callaghan, Detective Lopez, it was very nice to meet you. I’ll be out in the living room if you need anything else.” And I slipped out of the office without waiting for a reply.

Back in the living room, Kate looked up from the sofa.

“Hey, Sam, Greg just texted me. I told him about what happened, and he is on his way over.”

I blinked at her, trying to craft a response. This was not a good time to have Greg over to the house. David was in full protective mode. The last thing I needed was for him to get all alpha-male while I had my friends over.

“Um, that might, I mean—it might not be the best time,” I said, trying to figure out an explanation.

Kate looked at me blankly. I motioned for her to join me in the other room. We slipped into the kitchen.

Kate looked confused and lowered her voice to a whisper. “Hey, Sam, if you aren’t cool with him coming over because of your history, that’s okay. I understand.”

“No, no, that’s not it.” I lied. That was
part
of it. Another part was that I didn’t really feel like watching them get all lovey-dovey on the couch. But I pressed forward with the third truth. “It’s just that David doesn’t like me spending time with him. I mean, I can tell him that you two are dating, but he might not care. I don’t want it to be awkward for you guys.”

“Oh, of course, I get it,” Kate said. She put her hands up and nodded “Look, I can meet him in the lobby. We can go to my place.”

“Thanks for understanding, Kate. Sorry.”

“No, don’t worry about it. We’ve got to keep our men happy, right?”

I gave her a weak smile. “When is he getting here?”

“Actually, I think he just texted me.” She glanced down at her phone. “Yep, that’s him. He’s downstairs.”

I walked Kate to the elevator, and we said our goodbyes. Having dodged that bullet, I returned to the living room. Carrie and Eve were still there.

“Did Kate leave?” Eve asked, turning to me.

“Yeah, Greg came and picked her up.”

Carrie sat up and stretched. “We should probably be going, too.”

“Are you guys sure? You can always stay. There’s an extra bedroom.”

Carrie shook her head. “Thanks Sam, but I think I want to be in my own bed tonight. Eve, do you need a ride?”

Eve mumbled an agreement, and they both got their things together to leave.

“Let us know once you hear about the service?” Carrie asked as she slipped her purse over her shoulder and got onto the elevator.

“Of course. Thanks for coming over guys,” I said as the elevator doors closed.

20

It was late at night. Nervous and restless, I exited the elevator and found myself in the lobby of Keith Ventures. I was looking for David. Most of the lights were turned off for the evening. I instinctively made my way down the hall towards his office.

I passed the main reception desk; it was empty of course. Everyone had gone home hours ago. It was creepy being in the office so late at night. I heard my heels echo on the marble floor as I rounded a corner and started down a short hallway toward David’s office. I needed to see him. I hated having him gone so much.

As I approached his office door, I noticed it was cracked open, and a light was on inside. I heard voices. Laughter. I slowed my pace and approached the door quietly. I heard David. And a woman. No, more than one. I couldn’t make out what they were saying, but I sensed they were celebrating.

I peered through the slit of the door. It was bright inside, and my eyes struggled to adjust to the light. I heard David excuse himself to the restroom and there was a brief pause in conversation before it started up again. There was a clink of glasses, and then the female voices got quiet.

I stood there, hiding behind the door, adjusting my angle, trying to pick up every sound when the door was flung open.

Standing there was the blond woman. The same blond woman I had seen get into the car with David. The same one I had seen in his office when I stopped by that afternoon with coffee. She was holding a glass of champagne.

I froze.

She looked me up and down and a menacing grin broke out on her face. “Hey Kate, look who’s here.” I glanced over her shoulder.
What the hell?
Kate Deveraux from the gallery was in David’s office. She was sprawled out on one of the leather sofas, wearing a tiny black dress, drinking out of a bottle of champagne.

“Oh shit!” she said when she saw me. She scrambled to get up and headed over to me. “You’re not supposed to be here, Samantha.”

“Yeah,” the blond chimed in. “She isn’t. But now she is. Come on.” She grabbed me forcefully by the wrist and yanked me inside the office. Kate came up on my other side and held me by my arm. I tried to pull away, but they were stronger than they looked.

“Actually, you are right, this is kind of perfect,” Kate said. “David’s been asking for this for a while.”

“Asking for what?” I hissed, as I tried to jerk free. “I heard him. He’ll be back any minute. You guys better let me go.” I yanked on my arms again, unable to break free.

“Aw. You don’t know, do you honey?” the blond looked over at Kate and then at me again. “She doesn’t know. Isn’t that sweet?” Her voice was pure evil.

“What doesn’t she know?” A male voice demanded. Our heads whipped to the far side of the room. It was David. He was drying his hands with a towel.
Oh thank God.
I felt a wave of relief upon seeing him.

“David, can you please tell these women to take their hands off of me? They are hurting me.”

“Oh well. We wouldn’t want that, Ms. Sharp,” he said, putting the towel down on the conference table before he made his way across the room to me. “This is supposed to be a pleasurable experience. Relax, Ms. Sharp. Fighting them is only going to make it more painful.” His eyes darkened, and his jaw tightened as he approached me. He looked up at blondie and Kate and barked, “Tie her up.”

Blondie and Kate nodded and took me over to one of the conference chairs. They took a roll of tape from David’s desk and started to fasten my wrists and ankles to the chair.

I looked up at David in terror. He seemed remote, aloof. “What are you doing?” I asked.

He came over once I was fastened to the chair and stroked my cheek with his fingers. “Samantha. Beautiful. Baby.”

“Why are you doing this? What is Kate doing here? And who is she?” I demanded, looking at blondie.

“Samantha, you know I have needs.”

“But you said I was the only one.”

“Did I, Samantha? Are you sure? You knew my history. Did you really think I could limit myself to just one woman? I’ve fucked half of San Francisco, Samantha. Why do you think I’d stop now? For you?”

The girls giggled.

“What are you going to do to me?” I hissed.

David glanced over at the girls and then back at me. “Maybe it would be easier to show you,” David said calmly. Kate and Blondie started to walk over to me. I bucked against the layers of tape. And then I stared right at David and started to scream.

21

“Samantha, Samantha, baby, wake up.”

I sat up, my heart pounding. I was covered in sweat, and my eyes struggled to make sense of the darkness. I felt David next to me, and I pulled back sharply.

“Samantha,” he said gently, as he turned on the bedside lamp, “Baby, it’s okay, it was just a dream. You were having a dream.”

I looked over at him. He had grabbed his glasses from the bedside table and was looking at me with deep concern in his eyes.

I took a deep breath. “Oh, my God. Thank God,” I whispered.

He pulled me in to him and gently massaged my tense back. “It’s okay. What was it? What were you dreaming about? Was it Curtis? You were screaming.”

Oh, God, Curtis. Right. The events of the previous day came crashing back to me. They had kept me tossing and turning most of the night, but when I finally was able to sleep, my thoughts weren’t for my deceased friend. No, they were selfishly for me.

“Um, kind of. I was dreaming about Kate,” I said, rubbing my eyes. “Those agents must have gotten to me.”

“Kate?” David looked concerned and surprised. “But they didn’t say she had anything to do with it.”

“I know. It was probably a brain garbage dream. You were in it, too,” I said tentatively, without looking at him.

“Oh, so it was a good dream then?” he joked.

I smiled weakly, trying to mask what I was really feeling. I wasn’t going to reveal my deepest fears to him right now. “There was another person. A blond woman.” I paused, unsure of how far I wanted to push. That nightmare had felt so real. And it hurt. A lot. “Do you, uh, know any blondes?”

David chuckled and stroked my hair. “Sure, babe. Most people do.”

“I mean, at work. Wasn’t there one at your office last weekend?”

David was silent for a moment. I couldn’t tell if he was trying to remember or thinking of an excuse.

“You know, when I brought you coffee.”

“I remember, Samantha. I didn’t realize you were peeking into the office.” He moved his body weight and made me lay down. “What else did you see that afternoon, Ms. Superspy?” he said with a grin as he held my wrists above my head.

I gave him a hard look, both for the name calling and for keeping me immobile. “Nothing. Why, you have something to hide? Like a blond mistress?”

“She’s not my mistress.”

“Ah ha, so she does exist!” I said, eyes gleaming. I wasn’t happy with the verification, but I was glad to know I wasn’t totally crazy.

David turned serious. “Samantha. Yes. There was a blond in my office on Saturday. There are many blondes in my office during any given week.” I frowned at him. “Not like that. They all work for me.” He reached down and kissed my nose. “Just like the one on Saturday.”

I wasn’t giving up that easily. “What does she do for you?”

“That, baby, is a topic for another day. You need to rest. You have a big day tomorrow.”

“David.”

“Samantha,” he mocked as he played with my hair. “What? Babe, what is going on?”

I closed my eyes, somehow feeling like it would make what I was about to say safer. “I don’t know, I just have a bad feeling about her. I’d feel better if I knew you weren’t going to see her again.”

“Samantha, I have to work with her.”

I looked at him, and I knew the pain in my expression was evident.

David acquiesced, letting out a gentle exhale. “Fine. If that is what it takes to make you happy, then I won’t see her again, Samantha.” He put his arm around me and pulled me in to him. “Now, can we go back to sleep?”

“I can’t sleep now. That dream got my blood pumping.”

“Well, let’s see if there is something we can do about that,” he said with a wicked grin.

22

The next morning came quickly, too quickly. My body and mind were still trashed from the day before. The pain should have been from a Mai Tai hangover, but instead it was from the sudden and painful loss of a dear friend. The alarm went off, and I hit the snooze button three times before finally surrendering to its incessant buzzing. David and I got up together and shared a shower in silence before dressing quickly and hurrying out the door. I had another day with Gina on the agenda, and I was ready for the distraction.

The ride up to Tiburon was rainy and wet, and the traffic was a mess. As we crawled over the Golden Gate Bridge, I texted Gina to let her know I’d be a few minutes late.

No problem Sam, I have hot coffee and pastries for when you get here.

Okay, maybe she wasn’t that scary after all. I mean, a divorce is not easy. It was probably stressful enough to make any sane person flip out. I sat back in the heated leather seat as Elliot carefully navigated the slick streets to Gina’s home.

Once we got to the house, Elliot and I both walked to the front. I knew I had to explain to Gina about the security sweep, but I wasn’t sure how. Finn greeted us at the door as usual, and I was surprised that he didn’t bark at Elliot. Gina came over and threw open the door.

“Come in, come in. Come on, get out of the rain, you two,” Gina said, ushering us inside.

“Gina, this is Elliot. I don’t think you’ve met.”

Gina held out her carefully manicured hand. “Nice to meet you, Elliot. Gina Moretti. I recognize you from the driveway.” She smiled.

Elliot was brief in his reply “Correct, Ms. Moretti. Pleased to meet you.”

“Gina, Elliot needs to do a quick security sweep, and then he’ll head back to the car.” I mouthed to her
I’ll explain later
, as Elliot scanned the area.