With Ava at his side, some of the dread that usually overwhelmed Dominic at the thought of attending these gatherings dissipated into the ether.
She was funny, didn’t take herself or the people at this party too seriously. She was so beautiful she looked like future heartbreak. Which was exactly why he was not falling for her beyond the physical. They could enjoy themselves for a few weeks. Maybe even try this relationship business on for size for a little while. After that they’d go their separate ways.
He ignored the pang that thought caused. Like he’d told her the day after the car crash, he liked sex, and he got lonely sometimes. Didn’t mean he wanted anyone permanently in his space, getting in the way of the things he wanted to do, cramping his style.
What things? What style?
He pushed thoughts about his usually solitary existence out of his head. Enjoying the time they had together to the max was a no brainer, even for a knucklehead such as himself.
Galveston’s skeletal remains had been found in the makeshift grave behind the garage at the cottage. Well, a body matching the basic anthropological parameters had been found there. DNA and dental records would confirm it by the end of the day. What had surprised everyone was the presence of another skeleton. A child.
No one knew anything about a child. A forensic anthropologist was examining the bones to try to determine how long the kid had been there and possibly how he-or-she had died.
Was it a previously unknown victim? The offspring of a victim? The offspring of Galveston himself? Could the child have been the original owner of the teddy bear that was left on the marker of Galveston’s grave?
Where was the mother of this kid and how had the child died? That was the biggest question, right along with who’d buried them in that shallow grave at Galveston’s old cabin.
The lab was working 24-7 until they figured this out. Unfortunately, science could only go so fast.
It would be nice to rebury the serial murderer before the press even discovered his body had disappeared. The missing corpse had surely been designed to stir up the man’s memory and misdeeds. To instill fear in the population. A way to re-victimize the families of the missing and murdered women.
But the presence of the child… Dominic frowned. What did that mean?
FBI agents had been sent to all of Galveston’s former residences and any known dump sites to see if this UNSUB had done anything else. They were poised to talk to victims’ families as soon as DNA confirmed the skeletal remains really were Galveston’s.
So far, no other human remains had been found at the cabin.
Sandy Warren’s husband had had two of his fingers reattached, which was hellish but better than having no hand at all. Dominic didn’t know how he was going to face Sandy or Ben when he saw them next. Agents from the New York Field Office had set up surveillance on Sandy’s property and protection for all her family. Same with Fernando Chavez who had sent his wife and children into protective custody until they caught this UNSUB.
And maybe they already had, but someone out there was still carrying a grudge as they’d smashed his windows. The UNSUB, or an accomplice? That was the question of the day.
The rifle in Caroline Perry’s car was the same long gun that had been used to murder Calvin Mortimer. She’d roofied Dominic, possibly Van, too. Probably staged Van’s murder as a suicide.
Dominic wanted to know exactly what had happened to his old friend. Guilt washed over him. He wanted to know exactly how badly he had let Van down.
If only they’d figured out the connection beforehand, Van might not be dead, Calvin Mortimer might not be dead. Others might not have died. Sandy and her family might not be going through this gut-wrenching trauma.
Then he realized what he was doing, absorbing guilt about something that was not his doing. The responsibility lay squarely with the UNSUB and their sick needs and motivation.
How were Caroline Perry and Robin Elgin connected to Galveston?
If the task force had figured it out, Gross wasn’t saying.
Too impatient to line up with the crowds of people waiting to greet his father and his latest fiancée at the front door, Dominic took Ava’s hand and guided her around the side of the house toward the kitchen entrance. They had to show their badges to the security stationed around the house, which was reassuring. Their FBI status and the fact they were on the guest list meant they were both able to enter while carrying concealed. No Secret Service agents visible yet, although they were probably already stationed in and around the house.
The place was enormous, but his father liked to throw these lavish parties so at least he was making the most of the space.
“The house actually belonged to my mother’s family.” It felt liberating to talk about her for a change. To reject the black stain of her death, so pervasive that they all tried to pretend she’d never existed.
Ava pulled him to a stop. “What did she do? Your mom. When she was alive?”
“Nothing really.” He couldn’t meet her gaze as the emotions this conversation brought up were too raw. Too fresh even after all these years. “Her family came from old money. Made a fortune in the lumber and mining industries at the turn of the last century. Most of the men in the family perished during the Spanish flu pandemic or during World War II. My grandmother was the only survivor out of six kids. She married late—probably forced to do so by her parents so the money stayed in the family.” It was crazy really and yet he reaped the benefits every day. “My mom was the only child from that union and inherited the lot.” His fingers tightened on hers. “I think if she had done something with her life, something constructive besides having kids which obviously wasn’t enough for her—she might have been able get through that dark time without…” He still couldn’t say it. Suicide still pissed him off even though he knew his mother had been mentally ill.
“I’m really sorry you lost her so young, Dominic. Sorry she didn’t get the treatment she needed.”
Maybe that’s where most of the family guilt and resentment came from. The fact that none of them had realized how sick she was and they all secretly blamed one another so they didn’t have to blame themselves.
Dominic put his hand on Ava’s lower back and pulled her toward him. Her eyes went wide. He lowered his mouth to her lips and kissed her.
“What was that for?” she asked suspiciously when he pulled away. She wiped at his lips that were probably the same shade as hers. He didn’t care.
“Come on. Let’s find the family and see if we can set a record for the least time spent at one of these things and then go home and have some fun.”
When he opened the door to the kitchen the cook threw up her hands and shrieked, at first in surprise and then with joy.
“Dominic! Your father said you were coming but I didn’t believe it.”
Martha had been with them for years.
“It hasn’t been that long…” he tried to defend himself.
Martha wagged her finger at him. “Christmas, and you only live a couple of hours away.” She put her fists on her waist. She was wearing a chef’s uniform today because it was a formal occasion, but she didn’t usually. Most of the food for this size of event would have been catered by an outside firm. He’d always hoped his dad would marry Martha and find some normalcy in his life, but the governor seemed determined to chase the dream of the perfect woman. Pretty. Peppy. Permanently happy. As if that would somehow glue them all back together again. Or maybe his dad liked sex too—with pretty, peppy, permanently happy blondes.
“Who’s this?” Martha raised her chin at Ava.
Ava held out her hand. “Ava Kanas. I wor—”
“My girlfriend,” Dominic interrupted with a determined smile.
Martha’s brows formed a vee in her forehead, and she seemed to look down her nose at Ava for a long, drawn out moment. Ava kept smiling and finally Martha let out a gusty laugh. “She’s pretty, but you always did like arm candy.”
Rather than getting pissy, Ava raised a mocking brow at him. He didn’t know on whose behalf to be more insulted—his, his former dates’ or Ava’s.
“This ‘arm candy’ is armed and dangerous,” Dominic said dryly. “So watch yourself.”
“I like her already,” Martha declared.
He gave the woman a kiss on the cheek and held on tight to Ava’s hand. This whole situation was a potential minefield of disasters, but he was here now and needed to make the best of it even if he’d rather be negotiating a hostage release during an armed standoff.
He grabbed a drink off a passing waiter and held it out to Ava.
She refused. “I’m officially on duty.”
“Fine.” He wasn’t going to argue with her. He took it and downed it in one go, then grabbed another. “Where’s the whiskey when you need it.”
“Dominic!”
He forced himself not to tense up at hearing his father’s voice. He put a smile on his face and turned. “Pop. There you are.”
Ava squeezed his hand, and he wished he didn’t like her quite so much. He had the horrible feeling they’d both invested more emotionally in the other than they’d planned.
He embraced his dad, felt the man’s arms squeeze tight around him as if he were trying to anchor him in place. Rather than withdraw and run like Dominic normally did, he allowed the contact for a few seconds longer. Let his dad pull away first.
“Let me introduce you to Agent Ava Kanas. My girlfriend.”
He didn’t miss the way his father’s eyes lit up when he looked at Ava. The guy was a serial womanizer—just like his brother.
Ava tucked her pretty purse under her arm to shake his father’s hand. His father smiled intently. “You’re the first woman he’s brought home in over a decade.”
One side of Ava’s mouth kicked up. “Maybe I’ll start a trend.”
“I hope not. I’d like to see you stick around.” His father still hadn’t released Ava’s hand, and Dominic felt himself getting territorial, which was probably why dear old Dad was doing this, to wind him up. Finally, his father let go, and Dominic ungritted his teeth.
“Where is the lovely Tracy?” Dominic asked.
“In the ballroom.”
Ava’s eyes widened so much Dominic had to hold back a laugh. Didn’t everyone have a ballroom?
“Let me introduce you both.”
Ava leaned close as they started walking through the crowd. “You haven’t met her yet?”
Dominic shrugged. “I’ve been busy.”
“That’s terrible,” Ava chastised.
“Talk to my boss.”
She shoved his arm, but he refused to let go of her hand, and she stumbled into him. She laughed, and he leaned down and kissed her on the lips.
His heart started pounding, and his skin burst into flames when she kissed him back despite being surrounded by strangers. Everything and everybody in the room vanished. Her free hand curled into his lapel to draw him closer.
A loud wolf whistle split the air, and he pulled away. Ava blushed a deep red. She wiped the lipstick off his mouth with an expression that was embarrassed, but her eyes shone with what looked like happiness.
He carried on into the ballroom not caring what anyone thought of him or Ava or the fact they were here together. He looked over the heads of most of the crowd and spotted his dad near the far wall beneath the world’s biggest mirror that reflected the world’s largest chandelier.
“Wow. You guys sure know how to throw a party. Do you have indoor fireworks too?”
He shook his head. Ava Kanas was an ocean breeze in this stuffy DC atmosphere.
They made their way through the crowd, Dominic nodding to old acquaintances but moving fast enough not to invite conversation. Finally, he reached his father’s side.
“Dominic, I’d like you to meet Tracy Fitzgerald. Tracy, this is my youngest son. As I told you, he works for the FBI.”
The woman turned, and Dominic was pleasantly surprised. Unlike his father’s former wife, Fiona “call me Fe-Fe,” Tracy appeared older than he was. Rather than platinum blonde Tracy wore her hair in a short brown bob and had freckles all over her nose. She wore a pretty red gown, and her dark eyes were emphasized with dark shadow.
She looked intelligent and friendly.
Tracy held out her hand—one with an impressive-looking diamond on the third finger. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Dominic. Your father has talked about you so much I feel like I already know you.”
Her accent was slightly southern. Not full-on Alabama, but maybe North Carolina.
“Nice to meet you too, Tracy. Sorry it took me so long to show up.”
She gave him a warm smile. “I understand you’re busy. Your father is incredibly proud of what you do. Well, he’s proud of all his children, but I’d say especially you.”
Dominic clenched his jaw at the unexpected feelings the words evoked. The Sheridans prided themselves on their stoic demeanors in the face of unimaginable pain, but a little human kindness sent them reeling.
He’d pissed his father off when he’d joined the FBI, but that had been a long time ago. Maybe it was time to get over the old resentments.
“This is Ava.” He introduced her to Tracy, as the emotion he was feeling seemed to grow and spread. Contagious. Dangerous. Knotting his throat so that he couldn’t speak.
“It’s lovely to meet you, Ava.” Tracy shook her hand.
“You too, ma’am.”
“Tracy runs the Smithsonian—”
“I don’t run it,” Tracy admonished the governor. “I work there. Stop trying to make me sound more important than I actually am.” She pursed her lips then joked, “He’s going to get me fired if he’s not careful.”
The governor pulled her close and gave her a kiss. “You’re important to me.”
Dominic grinned. Obviously, Tracy was smart, independent and dedicated to her job. He liked her already.
The man responsible for the wolf whistle joined their party and clapped Dominic on the back. Hard.
“Didn’t think you’d show up.” His brother’s pupils widened as he scanned Ava from hair to toe and then let his gaze rest on her breasts. He swayed slightly, obviously drunk.
“Stop leching after my date or she’ll shoot you.” Dominic wanted to smack Franklin, but Ava was more than capable of defending herself.
“Does that mean she also carries fluffy handcuffs?”
Franklin and his father both sniggered at the innuendo, but Tracy glared at his father.
Ava said sweetly, “How about we find a radiator and you can try them out for a few hours?”
Franklin’s eyes narrowed, and his smile didn’t reach his eyes. He did not like to be challenged. Dominic’s brother was five years older than he was and he’d screwed his way through the female population without thought for years, including the only other girl Dominic had brought home and, he was pretty sure, step-mother number two.
Dominic watched his brother’s cynicism twist all the fun out of his face and wondered if that was what he himself usually looked like. If that was the expression he usually showed the world. His stomach churned. He didn’t want to be that jaded or condemning or self-isolated.
“Where’s Gwen?” Dominic asked when the silence lingered, and Ava started to worry she’d said the wrong thing.
“Over by the punch. She’s still dating that asshole Geoffrey. True love.” With a sneer, Franklin knocked back his Champagne like it was water.
Dominic blinked.
“I heard the crash you were involved in was pretty bad,” his dad said quietly. “Glad you’re still with us, son.”
“It was just a fender bender.”
“You totaled the car,” Franklin pointed out.
“The insurance company wrote it off. You know how they are sometimes.”
Ava’s brows climbed halfway up her forehead.
Franklin reached forward and snatched the dark glasses from Dominic’s face. Winced before thrusting them against Dominic’s chest. “Looks like a hell of a fender bender.”
His father looked aghast at Dominic’s fading bruises. Tracy shot a wary look at his brother.
“Airbags,” Dominic commented wryly.
“Are you sure the lovely Ava didn’t give you a black eye?”
“Why would I do that?” Ava asked in confusion.
“Funzies?” Franklin downed another glass of Champagne. Dominic tried to remember an occasion when his brother hadn’t been drunk at a family get-together and couldn’t.
“Leave Ava alone,” Dominic told him.
“I can handle myself,” Ava insisted.
His brother scoffed and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Franklin was either an alcoholic or well on his way to becoming one. But it didn’t explain why he was so vindictive toward Dominic. Or maybe it was his way of keeping everyone at arm’s length. Of not being devastated again should something happen to any of them. Drive everyone you loved away so you never got hurt again.
Dominic’s mouth went dry as he recognized the tactic.
“I like this one,” Franklin said, as if that mattered. “She’s feisty. Not like the last one you brought home. What was her name?”
Dominic glared at his brother. “Ainsley.” Whom his brother had seduced and then dumped. The only reason to bring her up now was to drive a wedge between them.
“She,” Ava said with a spark in her eye and angle to her chin that Dominic knew spelled trouble, “is a federal agent with powers of arrest, so feisty is the least of my personality traits.”
Dominic put his arm around Ava’s shoulders and felt the tension vibrating through her bones.
Franklin grabbed another drink off a passing waiter and Dominic saw the tightening of his father’s features. Then he heard a squeal behind him that could only be his sister.
He turned around and she jumped on him, clamping around him like a koala, blissfully unaware of his sore shoulder and ribs.
He wrapped his arms tight around her and squeezed. Maybe his problem in the past was he’d always let himself be pushed away from these gatherings by his older brother’s bitterness and his own self-doubt.
“Hi, Gwen,” Dominic mumbled when she didn’t release him.
“I am so happy to see you.” Gwen sniffed into his neck. “I’ve missed you so much.”
His hands formed fists as he met Tracy’s soft gaze.
“You could always come visit,” he objected.
“You’re never there. Whenever I say I’m coming to stay you suddenly have important business out of town.”
Dominic grimaced. That was probably true. “That’s my job, Gwen. It’s hard to plan time off.”
She finally let go and stood back.
“Good thing you didn’t join the law firm after all, Dom. I can see why you didn’t.” Franklin raked Ava up and down with a leer. Then he reached out and ran his knuckle over the slope of her breast. “We certainly don’t have pussy like this in the office—”
Dominic punched Franklin so hard his brother was out cold before he hit the deck.
Shit.
Dominic squeezed closed his eyes, mad with himself for reacting. His brother had deliberately provoked him, knowing how much their father hated creating a public scene. Goddamn it. Why did Franklin always have to push him?
“Sorry, Pop.” He shook the pain out of his hand, then bent to drag his unconscious sibling somewhere private. His father stopped him. He waved over two of his security guards. “Get him out of here and one of you stay with him until he sobers up.”
Dominic backed away a step. “I’ll leave.”
“No,” his father exclaimed. “What Franklin did was reprehensible.” His dad’s hands trembled. “I’ve ignored his faults for too long. He’s always been jealous of you even when you were a baby. Nothing your mother or I ever said changed that. Now his drinking has exacerbated the issue.”
Dominic blinked, as much by the mention of his mother as anything else. He didn’t remember the last time they’d spoken about her. “Well, I’m sorry for causing a scene.”
“I need to get him the help he needs and pray he’s smart enough to accept it. I’m sorry, Ava. Sorry, son.” His father wrapped him in a fierce hug that Dominic was helpless against. Then Gwen joined in, and he broke out in a cold sweat at the pain radiating from his ribs, but still he didn’t break away.
A ball of emotion swelled in his throat, and his eyes burned. All those years of holding back so as to not upset anyone, all the suppressed resentment and grief. Maybe it was the car crash, or being targeted for death by some madman, but suddenly he felt like he could start over. He didn’t need to repeat old patterns or failures. He could control his future. His family was flawed, but the relationships weren’t irreparable.
Ava watched him, expression uncertain. He could tell she was about to run.
“I warned you my family was crazy,” he said as his father and sister finally let him go.
“Hey.” She held up her hands dramatically. “My family is Greek. All you need to do is to start tossing crockery, and I’ll feel right at home.”
He laughed and pulled her towards him, knowing she was self-conscious but wanting her to understand he cared about her, that she was important to him even if he didn’t know how to say the words. They’d take the time to figure this out. He didn’t want to lose her. They’d do it right.
He kissed her full on the mouth. An open mouth if-we-were-alone-I’d-be-nailing-you-to-the-wall kind of kiss. When he pulled back and looked up, his whole world crashed around his feet.