Serial Games (Virginia Justice Book One) (25 page)

Brandon’s smile faded. Annoyance crossed his features. “I’ve got to go away for a while.”

Maggie blinked. “What? Where? For how long?” She almost retracted the last question. Did she really want to know? What if he changed his mind about her while he was away? They only spent a few days together in an intense manhunt. Could they’ve really formed an attachment?
What if I’m fooling myself?
The walls of Maggie’s throat thickened. What if he didn’t come back?

Brandon’s eyes widened in alarm. “You’re frowning. Are you alright?” He reached a hand to grasp hers.

Maggie nodded and squeezed back.

“I’ve been assigned to personally oversee Burrows’s transportation to Wallens Ridge,” Brandon grumbled as he leaned back in the chair.

“Don’t your superiors know you are recovering from a gunshot?”

Brandon laughed stiffly. “Come on, Margaret, you know the business. As long as I’m not on my deathbed, I better be at work.”

Maggie sighed knowingly, but the use of her full name tempered her disappointment. She secretly relished how often she heard him say it.

Brandon leaned forward, his eyes intense. “Now you’re smiling? What are you thinking about?” When she shook her head, he continued. “I won’t be gone long, I promise. A few days, maybe a week at the most.”

A week!
“Are you leaving now?”

His eyes lightened, and he smiled widely. “You know I’m yours, don’t you?”

What?
The words repeated several times in her head. When comprehension sunk in, a rush of pleasure nearly propelled her out of her bed and into his arms.

“I love you,” he said in a rough whisper. “I know it’s kind of soon to say it…”

To Maggie, those three words were the warmest sound she’d ever heard. “You love me?” She nearly choked the words out, still disbelieving his declaration. She might have known from their kiss in the hotel conference room. The thought of their shared kiss brought exhilarating flutters across her heart. Since then, his ardency for her only grew.

“Don’t you love me?”

Maggie almost laughed at the slight sound of desperation in his voice, the look of worry in his eyes. She was tempted to drag the moment out, but decided not to. Brandon had been in enough pain over the last five years. Now, she wanted him to know happiness.

“You know I love you.” She smiled widely at her own declaration. How long had she been yearning to say those words? Maggie suddenly forgot. It no longer mattered.

His features relaxed and a smile came. “It’s amazing how tragic moments can make you both lose and gain faith. When you were shot…” His head dipped and Maggie saw him fight the emotion. “I had nowhere to turn but to what I’ve always known. I was a fool, Maggie. A fool for so long,” he said hoarsely, yet with remorse.

Maggie let go of his hand and threaded her fingers through his thick, wavy hair. “Not too long,” she whispered. “It’s never too late to come back.”

“Speaking of coming back…”

Maggie groaned loudly. Her head flopped back against the pillows. Brandon laughed, stood up, and planted another kiss on her forehead. “Can’t they send anyone else? The doctor will release me today, and I have to watch you leave?”

Brandon smiled smoothly. “You’ll wait for me, right?” He leaned in close, his lips a breath away from hers.

Maggie started to answer, and then stopped, her gaze on his mouth. She gave in to a sudden mischievousness. “Of course, I’ll wait. But not longer than a week.” She gave a curt nod.

His mouth shaped the confident smile she came to love so much. “Then I’ll be back in six.” And his lips decidedly took hers.

****

Maggie looked at the clock on her desk: 9:30 p.m. She yawned. She should’ve been home hours ago, but after an extended party her office held earlier to welcome her back to work, she now stayed late to catch up on paperwork due on the Burrows case. Brandon phoned yesterday and spent a whole minute updating her on Burrows’s in-processing into Wallens Ridge, and then spent the next fifteen on how much he missed her and couldn’t wait to see her beautiful face.

Maggie blushed as she recalled his intensity. Over the last few days, her phone buzzed with text messages and voicemails from him. He planned to return tomorrow. Maggie sighed happily and started typing again. The sooner she could get her investigative activities recorded into the system, the sooner she could wrap up the case. Again.

Her cell buzzed on her desk. Maggie smiled. “Hello?” she answered warmly and held her breath, expecting Brandon’s warm voice to tingle her like always.

“I hope you’re still up because you’re getting ready for bed.”

Maggie laughed. “Hi, Mom. No, I’m not getting ready for bed. I’m actually at the office. I’m almost finished, though, so don’t worry.”

“Didn’t you just leave the hospital? You should be at home resting.”

“I’m fine.”

“Uh-huh. So now…what about that fine marshal you’re dating?”

Maggie’s cheeks flamed. She hadn’t seen Brandon since they checked out of the hospital and he immediately left with Burrows. “Mom, Brandon and I haven’t seen each other since the hospital. He’ll be home tomorrow.”

“Uh-huh, sure. I saw him at the hospital. I have to say, Maggie, God has really blessed my daughter.” She giggled with glee.

Maggie groaned. “Mom.” She placed a hand over her eyes in embarrassment, despite being the only one in her office. “Mom, I really have to get back to work.” She continued typing, and hoped her mother would hear the keyboard over the phone.

“Okay, I know, babe. I just wanted to make sure you were all right.”

Maggie stopped typing and smiled. “Thank you, Mom. I love you very much.”

“I love you too. Get some rest.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Maggie shook her head and laughed softly after she ended the call. A knock on her door had her looking up. “You’re still here?”

Doug walked in. He put his hands in his back pockets. “I see you’re pulling a late night.”

“I want to get these activity write-ups finished. Then I think I’ll be able to sleep without thinking about their details.” She yawned when the word “sleep” escaped her lips.

Doug yawned in response. “I just finished mine. Good riddance. Getting another case like that one would be too soon for me.”

Maggie’s brows came together. Something in Doug’s voice caused her to pause. He looked relaxed enough, but she wondered at the evasive look in his eyes. “We have a backlog of cases now, ever since we had to go looking for Burrows. Our regional offices are calling every day for case updates.”

He didn’t respond.

“We’ll be researching crazies for a long time to come, and more urgently now.”

He cleared his throat. “You will, but I won’t.”

“What?” Maggie leaned forward. “Are you leaving the FBI?”

Doug smiled. “No, no. Just transferring.”

“Transferring?” Maggie’s brows meshed. Her mouth opened but nothing came out.

Doug held up both hands. “I’m still in, just not with the profiling division.”

Maggie didn’t know how to respond.
Not with the profiling division
. “What will you do?” she asked after a minute.

“I’ve accepted an assignment with the white-collar crime division in Richmond. I’m looking forward to it, actually. According to my new Special-Agent-in-Charge, I’ll be working the mob detail exclusively.”

Maggie’s jaw dropped in surprise. “Wow. That’s impressive. I’m sure you’ll gain a lot of recognition in that office.”

“It will definitely look good on my resume. I had about a year left here in DC but someone in the Richmond office just gave notice to retire. I’ll be out of here in the next couple of months.”

Maggie nodded. She met Doug a couple of years ago, after they’d both transferred to the DC office. He was a good profiler, and a great agent who didn’t need any resume boosts. Maggie held his gaze. “You’re leaving because of Deckker, aren’t you?”

Doug’s jaw hardened, and his eyes darkened. “I can’t do it anymore, Maggie. You know I love being on your team, but I can’t stay here. Not even for you.”

“You love her,” she said softly.

Doug shifted his weight and crossed his arms over his chest.

Maggie smiled sadly. He did love her. Deckker didn’t know the man in front of her or she wouldn’t pass on someone as good as Doug. “I’m sorry.” Maggie stood, rounded her desk and stood before her friend. “I know you’ll do well in white collar. I wish you the best.”

Doug smiled. “I’m not leaving the state. I’ll be seeing you.”

Maggie laughed aloud. “Yes, I’m sorry. You’re right.” She wrapped him in a warm hug.

Someone behind them cleared their throat. “I said six days, right? I was back in five.”

Maggie smiled widely as she released Doug. “Brandon.”

“Doug, do you and I need to step outside?” Brandon challenged, a gleam in his eyes.

Doug shook his head and held up two hands in surrender. Maggie ran toward Brandon. He gripped her in a heart-stopping embrace. When she leaned back, his lips caught hers and lingered. Maggie melted in his arms.

She — not to mention her family — had waited a long time for this man. His heart had hardened after the death of his fiancée Emily, but over the last few days, he spoke at length of the freedom he experienced after finally releasing his grief and allowing his heart to heal.

“I’ve missed you,” he breathed, his eyes full of the love and longing Maggie felt in her own spirit.

“I’ve missed you too.” She leaned in to kiss him sweetly.

Doug discreetly exited the room.

“Are you finished?” He angled his head toward her computer.

Maggie nodded. “I’m finished.”

“Then let’s get out of here.” He squeezed her gently.

“Just let me shut my computer down and close the safe.” She wriggled out of his arms, hurried over to the computer, and logged out. Then she snatched up the Burrows file and walked over to place the folder in the case file safe. After she shut the drawer and secured the safe, she gave Brandon a warm smile.

“Over and done with.”

Brandon smiled and held out his hand. She intertwined her fingers with his, and he led her out of the office and into a waiting elevator. As the elevator doors closed, Brandon wrapped Maggie in his arms. “Do you know every time I step into an elevator I’m reminded of you?”

Maggie clasped her hands behind his neck and smiled demurely. “What do you think about?”

“I think about this.” And he pressed his lips to hers.

The End.

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Chapter One

“I told you to never contact me again,” FBI Special Agent Sara Deckker spat into her phone. She raced past her startled co-workers, out of the office, and into a clear hallway where she could have privacy. “How did you get this number?”

“I know. I know, baby doll.”

“Don’t call me that!” Sara cringed as the sound of the voice brought back painful memories. A slick grin, a demanding hand. “You don’t get to call me that ever again,” she said through gritted teeth.

Sara heard a heavy sigh on the other end of the line. “I wouldn’t have called unless it was important.”

“Whatever it is, Jim, I don’t want to hear—”

“Now, don’t you call me ‘Jim,’” he growled. “I’m ‘Dad’ to you.”

The plastic back of the cell phone popped from the pressure of her grip. “You haven’t been a father to me in years, not since before Mom died.”

“But I’ve always loved you.”

Sara ground her teeth. She wouldn’t believe the pleading tone. She couldn’t trust anything this man said. “You don’t know what love is,
Jim
. Now, you have ten seconds to say whatever you have to say and then don’t ever call me again.”

“You’ll get your way, baby doll, because in a month, I’ll be dead.”

****

“I read your latest report, Fairbanks. Good work. If the Manicotts are sentenced to hard time, I’ll write you a recommendation for a commendation.”

Special Agent Douglas Fairbanks angled back in his chair and locked his hands behind his head. He raised his brows at his boss’s insinuation that the FBI would actually give him a reward for doing his job. It had been a year since he left Washington DC’s profiling team for Richmond’s white-collar crime unit. He valued the certificate of appreciation from his DC supervisor, but rewards didn’t drive him. An honest day’s work: that was important to him. Proving he wasn’t his father’s son was an everyday task.

Doug rubbed a hand over the thick, tightly coiled, brownish curls on his head. “I’m still concerned about the prosecution’s witness list. It’s pretty short.”

His boss, Special-Agent-in-Charge Percy Engelwood, leaned against Doug’s desk and crossed his arms over his chest. His brows furrowed and he frowned. “Well, as long as they testify…”

“That’s just it. I spoke with the assistant district attorney and he said another one flaked.”

Engelwood groaned.

Doug shared his frustration. The FBI continued to work their murder case on a family business rumored to be involved in accounting fraud and racketeering, among other crimes. However, with the trial just days away, witnesses to the fraud charges either backed out of their deal with the prosecution or…disappeared. Thanks to the delay in the trial granted to the prosecution, the FBI had a short window to find new witnesses. Yet, if they could just find the bodies, they may be able to gather evidence to charge the Manicotts with murder. “I might have to hit the streets again and see if we can get something to stick. With witnesses changing their mind, we don’t have enough tangible evidence.”

“Didn’t the DA mention something about a possible unidentified witness who might have had some inside knowledge?”