Fatal Series 01 - Fatal Affair

with my friend. He’s awesome.”
    “It seems to crop up whenever I’m nervous about something, which I’m finding is fairly often.”
    “You’re nervous about what you have to say to me?”
    She tilted her head and found his pretty hazel eyes studying her intently. “I guess I am.”
    He sat up, propped the pillows behind him and snuggled her into his chest. “Then let’s get it over with.”
    “Cops don’t snuggle.”
    “Make an exception.”
    “I think I’ve already made quite a few,” she said dryly.
    “Make another one.”
    Before the pain could come back to remind her she was powerless against it, she took the plunge. “I have to ask you something. It’s probably going to upset you, and I hate that, but I have to ask.”
    “Okay.”
    “Is there any chance John was gay? Or maybe bi?” She felt the tension creep into his body, and then just as quickly it was gone.
    He laughed. He actually laughed . “No. Not only no, but no fucking way .”
    “How can you know that for sure? Some men hide it from their friends, their families…”
    “I would’ve known, Sam. Believe me. I would’ve known.”
    “You didn’t know he had a son.”
    And just that quickly he was tense again. “You don’t know that, either.”
    “I’m all but certain of it. The picture?”
    “What about it?”
    “His parents lied. His cousin Thomas, the son of Robert O’Connor? He’s thirty-six, dark hair, dark eyes.” She sat up straighter and shifted so she could see his face. “Surely you must have heard him talk about a cousin who was the same age as him?”
    Nick mulled that over. “I can’t say I ever did. Maybe they weren’t close. I don’t think Graham and his brother are.”
    “Either way, the kid in the picture isn’t his cousin. His mother lied to me today, and his father didn’t refute it. The monthly payments—stretching twenty years—the weekly phone calls, catching his parents in a big, fat lie, the startling resemblance to the senator… It doesn’t take a detective to add it all up, Nick.”
    “But why…wait.” He went perfectly still. “One weekend a month.”
    Baffled, she said, “Excuse me?”
    “He required one weekend a month with no commitments. Usually the third weekend. Never would say what he did with the time. In fact, he was always kind of weird about it, now that I think about it.”
    “And you just thought to mention this now? What the hell, Nick?”
    “I’m sorry. It was just so much a part of our routine that I didn’t think anything of it until right now.”
    “I bet if I do some digging, I’ll find him booked on a regular flight to Chicago.”
    All the air seemed to leave Nick in one long exhale. “Why didn’t he tell me? Why would he keep something like this hidden from me? From everyone?”
    “I don’t know, but I’m going out there tomorrow to find out.”
    “You are?”
    “I’m on an eleven o’clock flight.”
    “Does she know you’re coming?”
    Sam shook her head. “Element of surprise. I don’t want to give her time to put away the pictures or send the kid out of town.”
    “And you think this has something to do with his murder?”
    “I can’t say for sure until I’ve spoken to the mother, but for some reason they’ve kept him hidden away for twenty years. I want to know why.”
    “Politics, no doubt.”
    “How do you mean?”
    “A teenaged son with a baby would’ve been a political liability to the senator. I should know. As the offspring of teenaged parents, I can attest to the embarrassment factor in a family with zero public presence.”
    Sam ached from the pain she heard in his voice.
    “Graham O’Connor would’ve wanted this put away in a closet,” he concluded.
    “His own grandchild?”
    “I don’t think it would’ve mattered. The O’Connor name wasn’t always the powerhouse it is now. He had a few contentious campaigns around the mid-point of his career. If the timing coincided, this could’ve ruined him. He would’ve acted accordingly.”
    “At the expense of his own family?”
    “Power does strange things to people, Sam. It can be addicting. Once you get a taste of it, it’s hard to give it up. I’ve always found Graham to be a kind and loving—albeit exacting—father, but he’s as human as the next guy. He would’ve been susceptible to the seduction of power.” Nick paused, as if he was pondering something else.
    “What are you thinking?”
    “I’m wondering how, considering you’re certain he