Sam wasn’t much for funerals. She stood away from the gravesite, hanging back beneath the yawning branches of an oak as she watched the graveside service.
Max was there, dressed in a dark suit, his face grim. Sunglasses hid his eyes, but she knew that he wouldn’t be crying.
Quinlan stood beside him. Pale. Weak. No sunglasses for him, and she saw him swiping away tears with the back of his hand.
Beth hovered at Quinlan’s side. She’d wrapped her arm tightly around his waist. Beth wore a stylish black dress and a small black hat perched on her blond hair.
No tears from her either. Mascara stains probably wouldn’t go so well with that perfect image.
Sam eased back but kept watching.
At least two dozen mourners were gathered around the gleaming coffin. A giant stream of red roses covered the lid. Blood red.
They’d delayed the funeral until Quinlan could be there for the service. And there he was.
Frank Malone would be in the ground soon, and then the family would gather for the reading of the will. Sam would be there for that part, too—courtesy of orders from Hyde.
But for now she watched and waited.
Quinlan shuffled forward, with Beth close to offer help. Did he know about her secrets?
Quinlan bent down and placed a trembling hand on the casket. Sam saw his lips move as if he were talking to Frank. Maybe he was. He could be telling his father that he was sorry. Maybe whispering good-bye. After a moment, Quinlan straightened and walked away, his head down.
One by one, all the other mourners followed suit. Some approached the casket. Some just walked away. Soon they were all gone.
All but Max. His shoulders weren’t hunched—they were thrown back, strong, and he wasn’t looking at the coffin. No; he’d shifted his position. Even with the sunglasses on, she knew he was looking at her.
Sam just waited. Taking his time, Max came to her. A slow, deliberate stride brought him under those hanging limbs and close to her.
“I thought the SSD was giving us some space,” he said. His sunglasses reflected her image back at her.
The SSD had been staying back. Not anymore. Hyde wanted the gloves off, and he wanted the interrogations to begin.
“Can’t even give us time at the grave, can you?” Anger boiled beneath his carefully controlled surface.
“There have been some… developments,” she told him. Like the fact that the money is gone. Gone. The SSD had searched every location linked to the crimes and the perpetrators. They’d turned up nothing. “I wanted you and Quinlan to be aware that there is a very strong possibility another suspect was involved in the kidnapping.”
He took off his sunglasses. His blue stare locked on her face. “Any agent could have come and told me this.”
She knew what he meant. “I requested the assignment.” She’d needed to see him.
“I haven’t heard from you in six damn days.”
Her breath caught. Did that mean he’d wanted to hear from her? “You wanted space. You were grieving.” One shoulder lifted, fell. Staying away had ripped me apart. She kept her voice level, saying only, “Hyde gave orders that the family was to have privacy.” But she’d thought about him. No, she’d worried about him.
“Hyde.” Max’s lips twisted. “Yeah, from the sound of things, he gives a lot of orders.” His head inclined toward her. “Why’d you ask for this job?”
“Because I wanted to see you.” She couldn’t get more honest than that.
He looked away, glancing back over his shoulder at the grave. “When I close my eyes at night, I see you.” His gaze slowly came back to her. “What did you do to me?”
She shook her head. “No, Max, I—”
“Max!” Quinlan’s yell.
She took a quick breath. “The cars are leaving.” The black limo waited up at the front with the back door open. “You need to go.” She’d see him at the house. This wasn’t the end. Not even close. Hyde wanted to know what the will said.
So did she.
Max caught her hand. “We both know you’re going for the will reading.” The faint lines around his eyes deepened. “What is it? Your boss thinks maybe I had something to do with all this? That I tortured my brother with some sick idea that he’d attack my—”
“We believe the kidnappers planned to kill Frank.” She could reveal that. “Calling him, telling him the location—we think it was a setup. We found the phone records. We have proof that Frank received a call from a cell phone recovered at the scene, so we know they lured him there.”
His fingers tightened. “You think I set him up? For money?”
“No, I don’t.” Honest. But Hyde wanted more than her belief. Hyde wanted cold, hard evidence.
“I’m not getting a damn thing from that will.” His thumb brushed over her wrist.
“Max!” Not Quinlan’s cry this time. Beth’s. The SSD would be getting to her very soon. Kim had already dug deeper into her past. Now it was time for a trip to the SSD and a one-on-one interview.
“I believe you.” And Sam meant it. She’d started trusting someone again—him.
“Should have been different,” he said. “A different time…”
“Different place.” She forced a smile. So much lay between them. Half-truths. Blood. Death. Was there any going back from that? Could they even try?
His left hand lifted, and his knuckles brushed over her cheek. “I wanted you from the minute I saw you.”
Her heart jumped.
He dropped her hand and stepped back. “I still do. Probably always will.”
• • •
Sam and Jon waited outside the lawyer’s office. When the door opened and she saw Max’s face, Sam snapped to attention.
“Why are they here?” Beth’s fierce demand. Her grip on Quinlan was still deathly tight.
Max strolled toward them. The lawyer, Kris Jared, followed right behind him. Max shook his head, and his gaze drifted from her to the ever watchful Ramirez. “I got it all,” he said with a tiger’s smile.
Not what she’d been expecting.
“Only until Mr. Malone turns twenty-five,” Jared interjected, wiping a sweaty brow. “Then Frank Malone’s estate will revert back to his biological son, Quinlan.”
Holding it in trust. Sam gave a nod. Okay, right. The SSD agents had known this outcome was a possibility. Squaring her shoulders, she faced Quinlan. “I know this is a difficult day for you…”