Page 70 of Four Cards Exposed

She understood she was expected to sleep in her tracksuit, so she got directly into bed. She lay there, stiff like a board, unable to relax, even though this bed was a hundred times more comfortable than the lumpy mattress in the house she’d shared with Pia and the other waitresses.

Pia.

She should find Lorraine and check that Pia and her little girl were okay, see where they’d been taken. That couldn’t wait till tomorrow.

She was half-way to the door when a quick knock sounded. The door opened a second later.

James.

She launched herself into his arms—careful only to avoid his injured shoulder.

“James,” she said, not even caring that her voice revealed all the pain and shock she was feeling.

“Sweetheart. What’s going on? Where are you going?”

“I need to talk to Lorraine. I need to know that Pia and the girl are—“

“They’re fine,” James confirmed. “They’ve been taken to another safe house in the city. They’re witnesses, Susan.”

“Witnesses?”

“It was the only way to protect them. They’ll be safe now that Moore and Mendoza are going down.”

“Will they go down for this? Mendoza won’t escape on some technicality, will he? And what did Lorraine say, about Miguel disappearing? What if—“

“Susan. Susan. Slow down. We can talk about all of this tomorrow, but Ernesto Mendoza is already in jail. He’s not going anywhere. Tonight, we need to sleep.”

“Sleep. I was trying to sleep. It wasn’t working.”

“That’s because I wasn’t here,” he drawled.

“You’re going to stay the night?” She looked down. “I don’t think I’m—“

James laughed. “No sex. I’m too tired for sex. I just want to hold you.” His expression grew serious. “I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep unless I was here with you.”

He pulled her down onto the bed with him.

“What if somebody sees us—“ Susan stopped. Lorraine already knew about them—knew they’d been sleeping together, anyway.

“I’ve already told Lorraine about us. I wanted it to be official.”

“Official?” Susan rolled the word around her mouth.

“This—between us—this isn’t over, Susan,” James said, pulling her into the crook of his good arm. “Not by a long shot.”

Her head fell onto his shoulder. She could feel his strong, steady heartbeat.

“No,” she agreed, and a moment later, she was asleep.

22

* * *

James

James shifted on the too-low couch, struggling to hide his impatience. He knew the debrief would have happened elsewhere, had Susan not been involved. But bringing someone who was not a federal agent into their office building would have required more time and enough red tape to bury Lorraine for a week, so they’d settled for this.

They’d started at eight a.m. and only stopped once, for a soggy sandwich and a cold cup of coffee.