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She rose tentatively and then smiled. “Amazing what a hot bath and clean clothes will do for you. ”
Still, he took her hand and laced his fingers with hers as he led her out of the bathroom and toward his parents’ bedroom.
“Just have her sit,” Donovan said as he motioned toward the end of the bed. “This won’t take but a minute. ”
Sam watched as Donovan carefully pulled Sophie’s shirt down over her shoulder so he could examine the stitched wound.
Impatiently, Sam stepped forward. “Does it look all right?”
Donovan turned to his brother. “Yeah, it does. It looks really good. I’ll just put on some more antibiotic ointment and fresh bandages and she’ll be good to go. ”
Sam touched Sophie’s hair, now glossy and clean. She turned her face up to him, and he wanted to touch her more.
“Are you in any pain? Van can get you some more pain medicine. ”
“Just ibuprofen. ”
“Ma’s making a feast. You two should come down and eat. Then Sophie can take her medicine on a full stomach,” Donovan said.
Sam saw the longing in Sophie’s eyes and nodded at Donovan. “We’ll be down. Have Ma set up a tray so Sophie can sit on the couch where it’s comfortable. ”
CHAPTER 12
CLEAN and warm. And now she was staring at a tray in front of her holding more food than she could possibly eat, but damn if she wasn’t going to give it her best shot.
There was a bowl of chicken and dumplings, a grilled cheese sandwich, potato salad and a plate of pot roast with mashed potatoes and gravy.
Marlene had jokingly told her that she’d cleaned out her refrigerator, and since she hadn’t known what Sophie liked, she made her a little of everything.
Mouth watering, Sophie dipped into the chicken and dumplings first. She ignored the goings-on around her and dug into each of the dishes, savoring each and every bite.
When the couch dipped beside her, Sophie looked up to see a teenaged girl staring curiously at her. She didn’t fit the mold of the rest of the Kelly family, and maybe that was on purpose.
She had an interesting shade of green through her chestnut hair, a nose piercing and a row of earrings in her left ear. While the girl wouldn’t have stood out in most high schools, here in this seemingly conservative, strait-laced household, she stood out like orange neon glow.
Since the girl continued to stare at her, Sophie stared back, childishly refusing to back down under the teen’s scrutiny.
The girl sniffed and then turned to grin in Sam’s direction. “Sounds like Marlene needs to be lecturing someone else on safe sex, not me. ”
“Rusty, for God’s sake,” Frank Kelly bellowed.
Sophie jumped and looked cautiously at the burly older man. His bark seemed worse than his bite, but she couldn’t be sure on such a short acquaintance.
“If you can’t keep a civil tongue in your head, you can go back upstairs,” Frank said. Then he turned to Sophie. “The smart-mouthed young lady sitting next to you is Rusty. Don’t mind her. She likes to needle my boys. ”
Sophie swallowed her bite and didn’t ask the obvious. It wasn’t any of her business. She really didn’t want to know who Rusty was anyway.
Rusty leaned over conspiratorially. “I’m the stray. Marlene sort of adopted me. Not that you could possibly think I sprang from the same gene patch as that bunch. ” She jerked her thumb over her shoulder in Sam, Garrett and Donovan’s direction.
“Zip it, Rusty,” Sean snapped. “The last thing we need is your mouth today. ”
Sophie looked in surprise at the young sheriff’s deputy standing across the room.
Rusty curled her lip in Sean’s direction. “I don’t answer to you, copper. Go eat a donut or something. ”
Rusty turned back to Sophie and rolled her eyes. “He’s another stray Marlene picked up. Though personally I think he’s worn out his welcome. ”
“Rusty,” Frank said in his gravelly voice. “That’s enough, young lady. ”
To Sophie’s surprise, Rusty shut up and straightened in her seat. Sophie could swear there was genuine respect and affection in the young girl’s eyes when she looked at the Kelly patriarch.
Sophie was less sure of Frank. He watched her. He’d watched her ever since Sam had deposited her on the couch. There was nothing accusatory in his stare, but he studied her intently nonetheless and it made her uncomfortable.
She could only imagine the assumptions that were being made. She could name several, but there was no use in torturing herself. The assumptions were deserved, and she didn’t have the mental energy or the desire to correct any of them.
“Are you through, hon?”
Sophie blinked and looked up to see Marlene standing in front of her, her hands outstretched to take the tray.
“Yes, thank you, Mrs. Kelly. I appreciate the food. It was wonderful. ”
Marlene smiled warmly. “Such a polite young woman. But please, call me Marlene. No one calls me Mrs. Kelly, well unless they’re telemarketers. Most folks just call me Marlene or Mom. ”
She took the tray and Sophie listed to the side, no longer able to keep her head up. Sam had put several pillows behind her and to the side and she snuggled under the warm quilt. No one seemed to be paying her much attention now, so she drifted, barely listening to what was going on around her.
SAM watched as Sophie’s head dipped lower and lower, until her cheek nestled against the pillow. His mother was also watching, and as soon as Sophie’s eyes closed, she marched across the room, her eyes narrowed and fixed on him.
“You’ll tell me what on earth is going on here,” she said in a low, determined voice. “And I want all of it, not the watered-down version your brothers already gave me. ”
Sam expelled his breath in a long sigh. He rubbed his hand tiredly through his hair and glanced up to see his dad looking at him with the same intensity that was in his mother’s gaze.
Hell.
“She’s carrying my grandchild,” Frank said.
Trust Dad to get straight to the point. He never was one for pussyfooting around.
“It’s very likely she’s carrying my child,” Sam said carefully.
Marlene frowned. “Shouldn’t you know?” She glanced back at Sophie, her frown deepening.
“Don’t go jumping to conclusions, Ma. And don’t think badly of Sophie. Not yet. There’s too much I don’t know. She deserves the benefit of the doubt until I find out what the hell is going on here. ”
If that didn’t make him a flaming hypocrite, he didn’t know what did. He didn’t want anyone else disrespecting her or developing a bad opinion, but it didn’t stop him from being suspicious and cautious with her.
He’d recognized early on that she had a lot of power where he was concerned, and that didn’t sit well with him at all.
“Then tell me what you know,” Marlene said fiercely.
Knowing it wasn’t going to make him look good in front of his parents, he still told them the unvarnished truth about his mission to Mexico and his involvement with Sophie. He left out the part about killing the assassin, but judging by the look on his dad’s face, he’d figured out that much. No need to horrify his mother more than necessary.
“Now listen to me, Ma,” Sam said. “This is serious. Our entire family could be in danger. I need you and Dad to do exactly what I tell you. No arguing. ” He looked pointedly at his father. “I can’t do my job if I’m worried that you aren’t safe. ”
Frank put his arm around Marlene and drew her into his side. “What do you want us to do?”
Sean, who’d been standing just to the side, walked forward so he could be included in the conversation.
“My teams are due to arrive shortly. One will be assigned solely to keep you safe. All of you. No one moves without my men’s say-so, and that includes Rusty. ”
Sean scowled. “I’ll keep the little twit in line. ”
“Sean,” Marlene admonished with a sharp frown.
Sean’s expression didn’t change.
“Until this is resolved, everyone will have to sit tight. ”
Frank cast a look over at Sophie. “What about you and Sophie? What are you going to do?”
“Sam, we have a problem. ”
Sam turned to see Donovan standing behind him, holding the KGI secure phone in his hand.
“What’s up?”
“Resnick just buzzed me wanting to know why we were accessing their files on Mouton’s assassin. ”
Sam’s brow furrowed. “What on earth for? Not like we don’t rifle through their database all the time. You didn’t hack into any classified shit, did you?”
Donovan didn’t even respond to the crack. “He wants to talk to you ASAP. ”
Apprehension seeped down his neck. The last thing they needed was Resnick poking his nose into this.
Glancing apologetically at his mom and dad and Sean, Sam walked back into the kitchen with Donovan on his heels. Garrett must have seen the exodus, because he appeared just seconds behind them.
Sam took the phone from Donovan and put it to his ear.
“Resnick. ”
“Sam, what the hell’s going on down there? What is Mouton’s assassin doing in your neck of the woods?”
“I was hoping you could tell me. ”
Resnick snorted. “Don’t play that game with me. Mouton’s daughter’s gone missing. Any chance she’s with you?”
Sam frowned and turned so he could look at his brothers. “Why would the CIA be interested in Mouton’s daughter?”
“I’m not here to answer questions, Sam. I’m here to ask them. ”
Anger fizzed through Sam’s blood, and he gripped the phone tighter. “Listen to me. I’m not playing games here. That bastard is after my family. I don’t give a damn about the CIA right now, you got me? This will be your only heads-up. I’m going to do what I need to do to ensure he never touches anyone close to me. The best thing you can do is stay the hell out of my way. ”
There was a long silence. “Sam, I need to talk to her. It’s important. If she’s with you, we need to question her. Mouton’s missing too. He hasn’t been spotted since KGI took down that arms shipment five months ago. We think . . . we think he was working with plutonium and that he had a supply. His scientists were working on a way to store it for longer periods of time in a stable environment. ”
“Shit. Why the hell do you think she’d know anything about it?”
“I don’t. But she disappeared the same time he disappeared, and his brother has expended a lot of resources in his search for the daughter and suddenly an assassin turns up on your doorstep? He wants her back for a reason. I’m thinking maybe she either has something they want or she has information they don’t want getting out. ”
“Good luck finding her then,” Sam said.
Resnick swore long and violently. “Goddamn it, Sam. Work with me here. Don’t treat me like I’m an idiot. Set up a meeting for me. You choose the location. I’ll come alone. You have my word. This is too important. If Mouton has his hands on plutonium, a lot of people are going to die. ”
Sam rubbed his palm over his face and closed his eyes as the throb of a headache began at the base of his skull. Was Sophie still hiding shit from him? Had she been truthful about anything?
He glanced at his brothers to see both staring hard at him, questions in their eyes. Holding their gaze, he finally spoke back into the phone.
“Only you, Resnick. You break your word, you’ll never get another goddamn thing from KGI. We clear? I’ll call you with location and time. ”
Before Resnick could respond, Sam disconnected and slapped the phone onto the counter.
“What the hell was that all about?” Garrett demanded.
“Resnick wants to question Sophie. ”
“About what?” Donovan asked.
“Apparently Mouton has gone underground. The brother appears to be running things, which explains why his personal bodyguard came and not one of Mouton’s. He disappeared the same day Sophie did her flit. The CIA has a hard-on for Sophie. They think she can give them information. ”
“And you’re agreeing to the meet,” Garrett said.
Sam nodded. “Yeah, I am. No point in pissing off Resnick. I want information too. If she’s holding out on us, we need to know. I’m not taking any chances with those bastards and our family. ”
Both Garrett and Donovan nodded their agreement.
Sam checked his watch. “The teams will be here soon. Mom and Dad have agreed to do what we ask. We’ll divide up, leave Rio and his men with them for protection, and Steele and his team will provide security for our meeting with Resnick. ”
“One of us should stay with Rio,” Donovan said. “I’d feel better if one of us was here with Mom and Dad. ”
“You could both stay,” Sam said. “I don’t want to drag you into my mess. ”