on a time and when Lisa returned two hours later Roman asked her to cancel everything on his schedule for the afternoon. When he arrived at the field office Agent Crosswell met him in the lobby at the metal detector. The man was middle-aged, and looked to be ex-military with a graying buzz cut and serious eyes. Roman had to surrender the firearm he always kept strapped to his ankle and the knife from his inside coat pocket. Then the agent handed him a guest badge and led Roman through an open area crammed with cubicles and bustling with activity to his office in the back. The fact that he had an office said that he was fairly far up the ranks.
Roman’s suspicion that he was military was confirmed when he saw the medals displayed in the agent’s office, including a Medal of Honor and a Purple Heart. Otherwise the room was small, plain and a little outdated with its ’90s-era furniture.
“Please have a seat,” he told Roman.
Roman sat in one of two uncomfortable-looking chairs. “When did you serve?”
“Gulf War,” he said, sitting at his desk, which was as clean and organized as the rest of the room. Another military trait. “I’ll get right to the point. And what I’m about to tell you doesn’t go past this office.”
“Of course.”
“I’m heading up a task force investigating political corruption on the state level. I need someone to do some outside digging.”
“On who?”
“Dax Caufield.”
Son of a bitch. Roman knew there was something not quite right about the senator, which made Gracie’s affiliation with him that much more disturbing. “You think he’s corrupt.”
“I know he’s corrupt. I just can’t prove it yet. Two months into office it was rumored that he was taking bribes from business lobbyists in exchange for his support on key legislation. But he’s smart, and hasn’t left a paper trail. The case is weak at best. We’re fairly sure we can get him on misuse of campaign funds, though. And that’s where you come in.”
Roman didn’t like where this was going. “Why me?”
“Considering your past experience with political corruption, and your current connections, you’re the perfect man for the job.”
“What connections would those be?” he asked, afraid he already knew the answer.
“Grace Winchester.”
Shit. This was the last thing Roman needed. He rose from his seat, which was just as uncomfortable as it looked, and told Agent Crosswell, “I’m sorry, but I can’t help you.”
The agent leaned back in his chair, nonplussed. “You may want to rethink that.”
“Why?”
“Because as far as we know, she could be involved. She could be hiding evidence.”
No way. Knowing Grace the way he did, Roman didn’t believe that for a second. Besides, he’d gone down this road before and he’d lost the only thing that mattered to him. He would not take that chance again. “She would never do that. If she does have evidence, I’m betting she doesn’t know it.”
“An undercover operative learned from a source that she may be in possession of files that would prove the misappropriation of funds and even the bribery we suspect him of.”
If they had undercover people working this, it was clearly a serious investigation. He didn’t want to see Gracie implicated. She had been through enough in the past few months. “I can tell you right now that she isn’t hiding anything. She worked on his campaign because she believed in his politics. She would never knowingly hide evidence. Going after her would be a waste of your time.”
“She may not know that she has the evidence, but we’ve learned that the senator thinks she does and that she may know something she shouldn’t. If she isn’t working in collusion with Senator Caufield—and that’s the theory we’re leaning toward—our concern is that he will do anything to get them back from her, and keep her quiet if necessary. Meaning that she could be in serious danger.”
The idea of Gracie getting hurt made his heart beat faster. If she truly was in danger he had to listen to what Agent Crosswell had to say.
Roman reclaimed his seat. “You’re sure about this.”
Crosswell nodded. “Without a doubt.”
“What do you need from me?”
“We need to get to those files before the senator can. Do you have any idea where they might be located?”
With a shrug, Roman said, “Not a clue, but I can ask her.”
“No. Absolutely not. If she suddenly drops out of sight, Senator Caufield will know something is up. We can’t take the chance of the investigation going public. We have too many man-hours invested in this to blow it. The senator cannot know that we’re investigating him. Whatever you have to do, Miss Winchester cannot know about it.”
“And if I tell her?”
“I can charge you with impeding a federal investigation.”
Great. It was his past coming back to bite him in the ass. If Gracie was truly in danger his first instinct was to take her as far from Chicago as he could, if that’s what it took to keep her safe. But there was no way Gracie would agree to that. Not without knowing why.
Dax had obviously had Gracie completely snowed. Then Roman thought of something that nearly made his heart stop altogether. “The senator has been trying to set up a meeting with her.”
“We know. You can’t let that meeting happen. If she gives him the files, our investigation is over. Or worse, she could be charged as an accomplice.”
Jesus, how did he keep getting into these impossible situations? “This is emotional blackmail.”
“I know. And I’m not unsympathetic.”
His sympathy wouldn’t stop his and Gracie’s relationship from crashing and burning. “I can’t lie to her.”
The agent leaned forward, his expression serious. “Mr. Slater, if it’s her life on the line, can you afford not to?”
* * *
Gracie came home from work early after a surprise call from Roman that afternoon. Though they typically didn’t see each other on weeknights, he’d said he missed her and offered to bring dinner over. The truth was, she missed him, too, and seeing him only on the weekends just wasn’t cutting it anymore. And it would give them an opportunity to talk about their relationship.
There was no question in her mind that she loved him, and she wanted them to be together. And she was fairly certain that he wanted the same thing if it felt as right to him as it did to her.
She had just gotten out of the shower and was still wrapped in a towel when her sister Nora called. With her wedding barely a week away she was scrambling
