Sin (The Waite Family) (40 page)

“The bullets that were taken from your body matched the ones
used in a shooting last year w
hen an attempt was made on your sister Quinn’s life.”
Sydney looked up sharply
from
the
closed
file in her lap.
“Then three days ago we found several more in the body of the two dead men in that warehouse with you.”

“You don’t think I had anything—
”
she snapped at him.

“Christ
,
no.
No, we don’t.
We never did.
But there’s more…the bullet
retrieved
from Detective Cooperider
was a match as well.
Someone connects them all, to you, your family
,
and to Cooperider.” He looked at the President.
“Someone wants you all dead.”

“The man…the one that shot me, he said that he was getting a bonus for killing me. He said he’d been hired to kill us all
,
but was getting more for my death.” She thought of something Shipley had said as well.
“Shipley told me that I needed to watch my back. That every door opened another mystery.
I don’t know what he meant.
Then he told me
Guinevere isn’t a saint.”

David was nodding.
“We read the transcript of the tape. He mentioned your father too.
Do you know what that was about?” David knew she hadn’t seen much of her family since she’d enlisted. It hadn’t been until after her father’s death that she’d even considered coming home again for a visit.

“No. My father was glad to see the back of me and me
of
well of him.
He was a bastard of the highest order and couldn’t have improved much with age.” Sydney looked out the window. “He’d
tried
to kill Quinn over some money a few years ago.”

The limo slid to a smooth stop and it was several seconds before they were lead from the limo to a
tarmac
where Air Force One sat.
She stopped so suddenly that the Secret Service behind her bumped into her.

“I can’t get on that.”
Everyone looked at the plane then at her.
“That’s for the President. I’m a…I’m a…”

“Going to be late if you don’t get a move on,” the President said as he pulled her along.
“And since I’m the President, I’m saying it’s okay if you ride with me.”

It wasn’t until she was inside the plane
that
she got her tongue back.
“Late for what? Where are you…
a
m I being shot?”

She had no idea why that thought popped in her head, but if they were going to do it she wanted to say goodbye to a couple of people.
At least her family, then she thought she’d beg to get one to Payton too.

“No. Buckle.”
She did as David told her.
“The things that spill out of your mouth amaze me.
We’re going to Shipley’s funeral.
The President is going to say a few words and you are going to be a good girl and do what you’re told.
Right?”

“You know I’ve never been one to follow rules blindly,” she muttered softly.

David’s laugh was full and loud.
“There’s an understatement if I’ve ever heard one.
You don’t even follow them when
it’s
all laid out in neat order for you.”

“So? I like things understood
from
the
get
-
go.
How many times ha
ve
my questions kept us
from
being FUBAR, huh?” She stood up to yell a
t
him more.
“You said yourself that—
”

Suddenly
,
she was grabbed from behind and turned.
She had a fleeting thought that the men in suits were after her then she smelled Payton.
His mouth was so close that she could feel his warmed breath.

“Christ
,
woman
.
D
on’t you ever
not
argue with someone?”
T
hen he was kissing her.

~~~

Payton pulled her closer as she leaned into him.
Nothing in this world
felt
better than her body next to his. When he heard someone clear their throat again he pulled back but couldn’t let her go.

The President
,
the man who had arranged for him to be here
,
was smiling.
“You two will need to take a seat.
We will be
ready to go
soon.”

With another quick kiss
,
he led her to the couch.
The seatbelts were strapped around them and
,
suddenly
,
they were moving.

“How are you? God, I’ve missed you
,
”
h
e told her softly.
“David’s been giving us updates when he could. He said you’d been before a bunch of asses that didn’t know what they were talking about.”

“That pretty much sums it up.
I’m fine.
Your mom…she’s okay then?
And your sister?”
T
hen she glanced away.
“Why are you here, Payton?
I mean
,
I thought…didn’t we say that we needed to…”
She took a deep breath and started again.
“I thought you were going to move on.”

H
e
moved a lock of hair from her eye and smiled. “No.
I’m just where I want to be from now on.”
He was suddenly nervous.
His mom had told him to get her to say ye
s
before she talked herself and him out of getting married.
He thought she might be right.
After they had the okay to unbuckle and move about the plane he did so
,
then h
e reached in
to
his pocket and pulled out the ring.

It had been his grandma’s ring then his mom’s when she’d first married his dad.
His sister hadn’t wanted to use it when she’d married.
It wasn’t until recently that they found out it wasn’t that she didn’t want to use it
,
but her husband didn’t.
He thought it was too common.

The yellow diamond was anything but common.
It was very rare
,
as a matter of fact.
It was two carat
s of pure beauty as far as he was
concerned
.
It glimmered now
against
the roof of the cabin they were in and off every part of the room.
The diamond itself was surrounded in white and blue
diamonds
all about a quarter carat each.
The
yellow gold
band was inlaid with white
gold hearts.
He pulled her hand into his and held it to the tip of her finger.
He slipped to the floor effortlessly.

“Marry me.
I love you with all my heart. Marry me
,
please?”
When she didn’t answer right way he slipped the ring all the way to her
knuckle and waited.
He thought she would explode quicker if he did it and wasn’t surprised when she did.

“I can’t marry…
are you
nuts?
Of course you are.”
She started to pull it off
,
but he grabbed her hand again.
“I can’t marry you, Payton. You have to know that.”

“I know no such thing.
You’re already sleeping with me
,
why not marry me?” He grinned when she flushed and looked around.
“My mom said you had to make an honest man out of me.
She said you owe her and she’d hate to have to kick your butt for me.”
His mom had actually said much more
than
that
,
but he wasn’t sharing that wi
th
the strangers in the room.
Especially one of them being the President.

Payton smiled when Sydney snorted.
“You’re full of shit.
Why?”

He looked at her while he waited for her to elaborate.
When she didn’t he
went
with his heart to try and answer what he thought she needed to hear. “
Because I love you. It’s as simple as that
,
Sydney.
Isn’t that enough?”

She looked at him then leaned her forehead to his. “But what about the other thing,” she whispered.
“You know, kids?”

“We’ll have plenty.
I’ve been talking to some new friends of ours
.”
H
e
pointed
toward the President.
“He said we’ll have no problems adopting all we can handle.”

“What if—
”
S
he was cut off by the pilot telling them they were ready to land, they needed to buckle back in.

It hadn’t taken long to fly from Washington to Ohio where Shipley was being buried.
Payton wondered if Sydney knew that and wasn’t surprised when she’d asked him.

“Why aren’t we taking him home?
I mean
,
he had a house in Louisiana. I thought he’d be buried there.”

David answered before Payton could.
“He’d made arrangements to be buried here several months ago. He’d even bought a house here aft
er selling the one down south.”

She didn’t say anything as they got off the plane and into another limo.
But he could tell she was thinking hard.
She would be worried about his family, the one that David had told him that had wanted nothing to do with the man who had chosen the Army life over them.
They had hung up on David
,
he’d told Payton.