Fatal Series 01 - Fatal Affair

past worried about three hours ago, but we’ll get to that. Who’ve you got with you?”
    Knowing her father was already fully aware of who Nick was, Sam nodded to Nick anyway. “Dad, this is Nick Cappuano.” As instructed, Nick squeezed Skip’s right hand. “Pleased to meet you, Deputy Chief Holland.”
    “Excellent sucking up. I’d say someone prepared you well to meet her old man.”
    “I wouldn’t know what you mean, sir.”
    Skip’s eyes danced with mirth. “That from this morning?” he asked, referring to the bandage over Nick’s eye.
    “Yeah, but I’ll live.”
    Sam re-introduced Nick to Chief Farnsworth.
    “Detective Higgins, ma’am,” the other cop said to Sam. “Explosives.”
    “I’ve seen you around,” Sam said, although she couldn’t believe he was a detective. With his sandy hair cut into a flat top over a baby face, he barely looked old enough to be out of the academy. “What’d you find?”
    “Two EDs on your car.” For the benefit of Nick and Celia, he added, “Explosive devices—one on the ignition and a backup. Only one detonated. Both of them go, we’re not having this conversation.”
    Sam swallowed hard and didn’t object when Nick’s hand landed on the small of her back.
    “That’s not all,” Higgins said. “When we did a sweep of the other cars in the area, we found two more attached to a black BMW.”
    Nick and Sam gasped.
    “Registered to you, Mr. Cappuano.”
    As if all her bones had turned to mush, Sam sank to the sofa. “Why?” she whispered. “Why would they target him?”
    “We were just discussing that when you came in,” Chief Farnsworth said. “If it’s Johnson or their pals, the best theory I’ve heard yet is ‘you take mine, I’ll take yours.’ Revenge, pure and simple. Johnson wanted you either dead or decimated. How would they’ve known his car?”
    “I’ve been in it,” Sam confessed. “Recently. And I’ve had the feeling someone was watching me a few times.”
    “Detective Cruz suggested a link to O’Connor rather than Johnson,” Malone said. “Worth looking into, especially since they targeted Nick, too.”
    Farnsworth turned to Nick. “Do you know of anything Senator O’Connor was involved in that had ties to terrorists or terrorism?”
    “He was on the Homeland Security Committee, working mostly on the immigration issue, but he was briefed on counterterrorism initiatives. We both were.”
    “I want to take apart that bill he was sponsoring, line by line,” Sam said. “Maybe I’ve totally missed the boat on this. I’ve been thinking jilted lover, but they don’t tend to plant bombs.”
    “No,” Malone agreed. “They tend to dismember.”
    “Which is why I’ve focused most of my attention on his love life.” Sam got up to pace. “We’ve uncovered a slew of recent ex-lovers, a few with complaints about some of his, um, fetishes.” She sent a sympathetic glance to Nick since he was hearing this for the first time. “But maybe Cruz is right. Maybe the Lorena Bobbitt was intended to throw us off.”
    “He was dismembered? ” Higgins squeaked, his baby face gone pale.
    “A detail we’ve managed to keep out of the press,” Farnsworth said with a pointed look at his detective.
    “Yes, sir.” Higgins got up to leave. “I need to get back to the lab where it’s safe.”
    Sam rolled her eyes. “Run back to your cave, Higgins, and leave the dirty work to those of us in the field.”
    “You can have it. I’ll send you details on the EDs when I have more, but I can tell you they were crude and you got lucky, Sergeant. Damned lucky.”
    “Yeah,” Sam said. “I know.” She saw him out and turned to find every man in the room focused on her.
    No doubt sensing a battle royal in the making, Celia stepped into the kitchen.
    “Before you all get going,” Sam said, “I have something I want to say, and I want you to listen to me without interrupting.”
    When they agreed with their silence, she pushed her fist into her aching gut and took a second to look each of them in the eye—Dad, her hero and her rock; Chief Farnsworth, beloved friend and respected leader; Captain Malone, boss and mentor; and Nick, quickly becoming more important than anyone. All of them cared about her. She had no doubt about that, just as she had no doubt they’d go to any lengths to keep her safe.
    “I’m sure you two have cooked up a plan to toss me into a safe house for the weekend,” she said to her father and the