L.A.P.D. Special Investigations Series, Boxed Set: The Deceived, The Taken & The Silent (42 page)

The shore. New Jersey-speak for the beach. “That’s really nice.” She couldn’t imagine her parents doing the same if they’d had grandchildren.

“Maybe you and Rico will join us.”

It wasn’t exactly a question and before Macy could refuse, Josephine said, “But I know Rico will be too busy as usual. Too busy to come home to visit, too. It’s that job.” She enunciated the word job with distaste. “And I suppose he’ll be too busy for Disneyland.”

Oh, geez. Macy felt as if her own mother were talking. “I know how he feels. It’s difficult to make time for both a career and a family.”

Josephine rolled a lump of hamburger in her hand, pushing and shaping it into the perfect patty. “Working that much isn’t good for anyone. Family is important. Very important.” She smiled then. “Rico needs to settle down with a good woman. Have lots of kids like his brothers and sisters.”

What could she say to that? I hope he finds someone?

“Macy,” Rico called from outside. “Can you come here for a minute?”

“Excuse me,” she said to Josephine and made a quick exit.

When she got close to Rico he whispered, “I thought you might need to be rescued.”

Mario was cleaning the grill and they’d already set up extra chairs and small round tables near a very large redwood picnic table. Hercules leaped across the grassy yard like a gazelle, taking advantage of freedom from a leash. His personal nirvana. “Herc really likes the run of the yard, but I’ll have to come out and pick up any messes before people arrive.”

“I already did that.”

“Really? That was nice of you.”

He waggled his eyebrows. “I’m a nice guy. Glad you realized it.”

How could she not.

“So, how’s it going? My mom can be a little overwhelming sometimes.”

“We were having an interesting conversation. I like her.”

“No talk of me getting married? That’s usually first on her list.”

Macy laughed. “She did mention it.”

“Well, just ignore all that and try to have a good time.”

Just then another voice came from the house. “Rico, baby.”

Macy looked up and saw a stunning woman with almost blue-black hair. Looking at her, Macy felt an odd sense of déjà vu. The woman seemed so familiar, but Macy couldn’t think of where she might’ve seen her before. And since the family lived in New Jersey, it wasn’t likely she had.

“Maria.” Rico went over to give her a hug. “I’d appreciate it if you’d quit the baby thing. I’m not the youngest in the family.”

She pinched his cheek. “But you’re the cutest,” the woman said, giving Macy a once-over as she moved rapidly toward her. “You didn’t tell me you were bringing a date.”

“This is my friend Macy Capshaw. Macy, this is my bossy older sister, Maria and—” Rico turned “—her husband, Tom.”

Macy hadn’t even noticed the man behind Maria.

“Have you told Macy you have a commitment phobia?” Maria said on her way to hug her father.

“Knock it off, Maria,” Tom piped up. “Give the guy a break.”

Macy’s head practically spun listening to their banter.

“My big sister always knows what’s best for everyone in the family. But that’s just because she doesn’t know what to do with herself now that she’s celebrated her fortieth birthday and all the kids are in school or gone. Speaking of which, where are they?”

“They’re coming with their favorite uncle,” Maria needled.

Macy knew they were teasing each other, but she wasn’t used to all the kidding around and felt the odd man out. She couldn’t think of a single thing to say and they’d probably all see her as some stuck-up prude. And after seeing Josephine’s perfectly pressed skirt and blouse and Maria’s fancy slacks outfit, she glanced down at her super casual clothes, pretty sure her short shorts and tank top weren’t the right attire for this particular barbecue. Usually she was the one who overdressed.

“It’s about time,” Maria said glancing toward the back door. Macy saw three kids scoot down the steps, followed by another younger woman with dark hair and the face of an angel. With her, a blond man who towered over the rest of the group.

At Macy’s side, Rico placed his hand at the small of her back. “This is Macy Capshaw, everyone.” Then he looked at the smaller children. “And this is Anna, Tony and Michael.” Rico touched each child’s head as he said their name. “And the proud parents of this gang—” he made a wide sweep with his arm “—my middle sister, Angela, and her Viking husband, Eric.”

“Pleased to meet you everyone,” Macy said.

The dog bounded over and the little girl, Anna, squealed. Macy wasn’t sure if the child was excited or frightened. “This is Hercules—” she said quickly, “—and he really likes to play with children.”

Michael frowned. “Hercules isn’t a dog’s name.”

“Michael!” Angela said. “People can name their dogs whatever they want.”

“Don’t mind him,” Eric said, shaking Macy’s hand. Angela hugged her. By then, the children were chasing after Hercules and suddenly a half dozen other people burst through the door.

“Okay, everyone,” Rico said holding up his hands, “I’m only going to do the intros once and then it’s up to you. This is my friend Macy Capshaw, and the rest of this gang are—” he pointed to the new arrivals individually “—my sister Carly, the youngest and the only unmarried female in the group, my brothers Vinnie, Tony and Marco, and their wives, Nancy, Anne Marie, and Delaney. The rest of these rug rats—” he pointed to four or five kids who’d already joined the others in the yard “—are my nieces and nephews, and you might get their names if they ever sit down.”

Josephine came out the door. “Well, that’s enough to confuse the poor girl for the rest of the day. Don’t worry if you don’t remember everyone’s name, dear. I forget most of the time.”

Macy smiled, realizing now where Rico picked up his protective nature.

“Macy has a mind like a steel trap,” Rico complimented her.

“All right,” the youngest brother, Marco, piped up. “Let’s put her to the test.”

Within seconds they’d all gathered around Macy. She felt trapped, but took a breath. “Okay, Marco—” she looked directly at him, then she turned and pointed to each person as she said their name.

“Amazing,” Maria said when Macy finished. “The first woman Rico’s dated who has a brain.”

Rico glared at his sister. “And how would you know what kind of women I’ve dated?”

“I told her,” another voice boomed from the back door and Jordan St. James sauntered over and gave Josephine a big hug. “Hey, Mama Jo. You look as beautiful as ever.”

Josephine waved him off. Obviously he knew the family well. Macy knew Jordan and Rico worked together, but she didn’t have any idea they were this close.

“You talking about me behind my back,” Rico said to Jordan, not as a question but as a matter of fact, and then clapped him on the shoulder.

“Always.” Jordan winked at Maria. The two men did the male bear hug thing, as if testing their strength against each other. She expected them to start chest bumping any minute.

When they stopped, Jordan smiled. “Macy, nice to see you again.”

“Where’s the other Musketeer?” Rico’s oldest brother, Vinnie, asked.

“Luke’s on a call, but he’ll stop by when he’s done.”

The rest of the afternoon and early evening went much the same way, everyone joking, eating and drinking. Everything was done as a group. Rico couldn’t grill the steaks without Vinnie and his father telling him how to do it. Maria couldn’t set the table quite the way Josephine wanted. And all the brothers and sisters chided Josephine and Mario about retiring and turning the business over to Vinnie, who’d apparently been working toward that goal for years.

Macy grinned. So much for Josephine’s lecture on the evils of working too much.

Despite the fact that everyone in the family was as nice as they could be, Macy stumbled with each word trying to participate. They seemed comfortable saying whatever they felt like to each other — the polar opposite of her family. With them, she’d had to weigh every word.

When Jordan went to one of the coolers and pulled out a beer, Macy edged next to him. “If that’s red wine in there, I’ll have some while you’re at it.”

“It sure looks like it,” he said, grinning. “Not the way you like it though, is it?”

She knew he meant it wasn’t room temperature as red wine is usually served. “It’s perfect,” she said, straightening her spine. What did he think? That she was some pretentious snob?

But then he smiled. “Just hang in there. This group can be murder on a newcomer.”

“So I gather. I’m not sure what I should do. Try to blend in or just sit and drink a lot of wine.”

Jordan laughed. “Hey, do what you always do. Schmooze.”

Maybe he was right. While this wasn’t the same type of event she was used to, she knew what to do in a roomful of strangers. She’d done it for years at home and then at all those charity functions she’d had to endure. While it went against her nature, she’d actually learned to be quite good at networking.

Watching Rico dazzle the children, she sat with Carla and chatted about the girl’s major at Syracuse University. She admired Maria’s outfit and Angela’s hair. Rico bounced around as much as she did, coming over to sit with her off and on, always asking how she was doing.

When she gave a hand waggle of so-so, Maria, who’d been standing close said, “You mean you’re not ready to give up everything for a life in the suburbs? Doing the same thing day in and day out? Be the chauffeur, cook, maid, baby-sitter and then switch to love goddess at night?”

Macy laughed. Apparently Maria had some issues being a stay-at-home mom.

Rico looked at Macy, as if curious to hear her answer.

“It’s not even an option. I’m quite comfortable with my life.”

Maria seemed a little tongue-tied by Macy’s response, which was fine with Macy. When Rico left to go back to mingling, she did the same, finding Rico’s brothers and his father, Mario, the hardest to get to know since all they talked about was sports.

When everyone finally left, somewhere around 9 p.m., Macy’s jaw was sore from talking. She sat on the navy blue corduroy sectional in the family room and curled her legs underneath her, thankful that Rico’s sisters had cleaned the kitchen already. “Your sister Maria looked so familiar,” she said. “Something about her—I felt as if I’d seen her before somewhere.”

Rico mumbled a response about everyone having those feelings now and then. He seemed agitated. Macy watched him go to the refrigerator for a soda, check outside to make sure the grill was off and there was nothing left to clean up. When he finally sank into the opposite end of the couch, he flipped on the television and clicked around from one channel to another.

It was almost as if he didn’t want to talk to her — or be alone with her. “What’s going on?”

He looked at her as if she had snakes growing out of her head. “What do you mean?”

“You’re tighter than a vise, and you’ve barely said a word to me since your family left. Did I make some kind of major faux pas?”

His expression stilled and he clicked off the television. “You’re right. I’m preoccupied. But not about anything you did. You were perfect as a matter of fact. And they all loved you.”

“Well, what then?”

“I’m worried about tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow? What happens tomorrow?”

“You tell me.”

“Work. What else?”

He slid next to her, dead serious. “Since the man who attacked you is in the hospital, the police may not see a need to do anything. I contacted the investigating officer and requested a watch on your home. But you need to be cautious. At home and at work. The police will make routine checks but they won’t be around all the time.”

She liked his concern. “I have to call someone to fix the door and replace the locks. I’ll get a new security code, too.”

He rested an elbow against the back of the couch, his dark eyes on hers.

“You don’t have to go, you know. You can stay here as long as you want.” His voice was soft, urging her to say yes.

She felt a ripple of excitement. But it was too tempting. Staying here was too comfortable. She wouldn’t have a chance in hell of getting her life back to normal. Did she even want to?

“It would be safer.”

“Thanks,” she said quietly. “But I have to go home sometime.” Home would be safer — emotionally.

He fingered a stray hair before touching her cheek lightly with his fingertips. “It’s a selfish offer. I’m enjoying the company.”

His admission surprised her, and her chest squeezed a little. “I am, too,” she said. “That’s the problem.”

He pulled back. “That’s a problem?”

She nodded. “Yes, it is. We’re two people thrown together because of circumstances. We’re attracted to each other, but…”

“Never the twain shall meet?” he finished for her and gave a wry smile.

“Something like that.”

“Well, I like being with you, you like being with me, regardless of the circumstances, and yes, I’m attracted. Very much so.”

Her pulse raced. “So what should we do about it?”