into the parking garage. She grabbed her bag and headed towards the apartment building. “Damn, I forgot food,” she said, as she looked up and down the street. She headed for the Chinese restaurant and ordered two family meals. She then took a deep breath and headed back to the apartment.
She opened the door and found Parker, asleep in the heavy wooden chair and still cuffed to the arm. She shook her head as she dropped the bags on the table.
He woke up quickly. “Oh, what time is it?”“Six,” she said. “I forgot to get groceries, so I picked upChinese.
Is that all right?”
“It’s fine. As long as it’snotpizza. I’ve been eating that all day.” “I’m sorry about that,” she said, as she dropped on the sofa. “Sam, I do have to use the bathroom. I’ve been sitting here all
day.”
“Oh, right, I didn’t think of that,” she said, as she unlocked his
cuffs. She followed him to the bathroom. “Well, go on,” she said. “Are you going towatch?” he laughed.
“Um, no, I’ll be in the other room,” she said, as she closed the
door. She sat on the sofa and watched the bathroom door. Suddenly, he came out and sat down next to her on the sofa.
“Please, don’t cuff me right now,” he whispered.
“I won’t if you behave,” she said.
“I won’t screw us up,” he said.
“Let me get some plates and we can eat,” she said, as she went
into the kitchen.
“So, what is this place anyway?”
“It’s a safe house. The department doesn’t use it anymore, but
the entire building is owned by my father’s company. I guess I own it
now.”
“Sam, what happened today?” he said, as he dished them each
out a plate.
“I scoped out the mark. He’ll die tomorrow.”
“There’s something else, isn’t there?”
“I met with Jack today.”
“Oh, what happened, if I have permission to ask?” he said, as he
took a bite of his food.
Sam took his face in her hands and made him face her. “I think
you’re going to hate me after I finish this job. I couldn’t bear to have
you hate me. You’re welcome to leave, if you want.”
He lightly touched her hand. “Sam, does Jack think I’m dead?” “Yes, I showed him the pictures,” she pulled the envelope out of
her pocket. “These,” she handed them to him.
He looked at the photos. “Wow, if I didn’t know any better, I’d
say I was dead, too.”
“It’s not funny,” she stood up and walked over to the window. Parker stood up and walked over to her. “Sam, tell me. What do
you think you could do that would make me hate you?”
“Tomorrow … I have to have sex with Jack.”
“Sam? Youcan’tsleep with Jack.”
“See? I don’t deserve you. Ihaveto do this. I have to kill that
lawyer and I have to have sex with Jack. I don’t know any other way.
That’s what he wants. It was bad enough that I had to kiss him and …
you know …relievehim.”
“Where?”
“In his office. He told me that if I hadn’t killed you, he would’ve.
He wants me and he’s like a rabid dog. I don’t know how to get out of
this. If I turn him down, he’ll kill me.”
“What if he onlythinksyou slept with him?” Parker took her
hand.
“What do you mean?” she asked, as she followed him to the sofa
and sat down.
“Drug his drink. Get him into bed and have him wake up next
to you, naked or whatever. We can do this together. Let me go with you
to the penthouse. Let me help you pull this off.”
“But, um, how? Couldn’t he, um, tell if his … I mean, his body
had sex?”
“There are ways,” Parker said. “I can help you. You do what you
need to do and I’ll be your back up. I’ll be there at the penthouse,
waiting for you.”
“Are you sure you want to do this?”
“Yes, I want to help. I’m not just helping so you don’t have to
sleep with him. It’s because I can see how bad you don’t want to have
sex with this man.”
“Herepulsesme. I drove right to the penthouse and threw up. I
scrubbed my teeth and took a long, hot shower. I didn’t want you to see
me that way.”
“Babe, please, I just want to help you. I won’t let Morrison hurt
you.”
“How do we get you out of here?”
“Disguise. I’m sure we’ll figure out away. Come on, finish
eating,” he handed her the plate of food.
“I don’t know why you are so good to me after what I did to
you,”
“You tied me up. You faked my death. You slapped me. You
didn’t kill me, you didn’t even punch me,” he grinned.
“I wanted to, though,” she smiled slightly as she took a bite of
her food.
“Theslapsaid it all, babe,” he poured them both a glass of wine.
“Just enjoy. We’ll figure out a plan later.”
“How the hell am I going to drug him?” she asked. “Oh, wait, I
know.”
“What’s that?”
“Oh, that willneverwork. It has a taste. I was thinking cough
syrup, but that would leave a taste in his drink.”
“Not if he drinks port wine. That’s a very robust drink. It should
hide the taste and smell. You could also get a flavor enhancer from the
pharmacy.”
“What’s that?”
“They use it to add to drugs so that kids will take the medicines
easier. If you tell the pharmacists that you have an elderly parent who
won’t take his medicine, and ask if they could add a flavor to the bottle,
they just may do that.”
“You’re pretty smart.”
“Thanks,” he blushed as he set his empty plate on the table. She looked over at him. “I can trust you, can’t I?”
He lightly touched her cheek. “Yes, you can,” he whispered, as
he leaned in and kissed her. “Sam, let me love you, please?” “I slept with Luke for the past two days and then I got Jackoff
today and you want me to make love to you?”
“Are you saying no for me or for you?” he asked.
“Foryou. It’s not right,” she cried. “I betrayed you. You should
hate me,” she stood up and hurried into the bedroom.
He followed her and found her sitting on the bed, with her knees curled up to her chest. He sat next to her and put his arm around
her. “Sam?”
“I’m aslut. I never … um, I never did this kind of thing before. I
mean, I’ve only been with, um, five men in my life, Luke, Tyler, Ed, and
you. I never slept with anyone else.”
“Five? Who’s thefifth?”
“No one. Not importantanymore. Forget I said it.”
“Whose Tyler?” he asked, not letting on that Luke already told
him the story.
“He was my fiancée, he died when I was twenty-one. We dated
through out high school. Luke took care of me after he died and years
later, I fell in love with Ed. He was a good man and a great cop. Then,he
died on me. I’ve been in the Marines and then I was a cop. All I knew
was how to be a cop and in love with someone who ends up dying on
me. Luke was the only one whoneverleft me that way,” she wiped the
tears from her eyes. “Even when I went undercover, Ineverused my
body to get the job done. Sometimes, to avoid it, I had to pretend that I
was gay, but other times, it was about doing the job. Now, here I am …
I’m a slut.”
“No, no, you’re not. What you and Luke share was friendship. I
don’t know if I should tell you, but he came back here after you left. He
explained your relationship. I understand it. He also said if you and I got
together, that your friendship would beminussex.”
“I never cheated on anyone with Luke. We were only together
when Iwasn’twith anyone and neither was he.”
“Sam, we’ll figure out a way to get Jack to believe you two are
sleeping together, but it won’t be forever. Yes, you may have to touch
and kiss him, but you won’t have to sleep with him.”
She laid her head on his shoulder. “How come you’re so
understanding?”
“I fell in love with you. No, I didn’t plan it, but I did. As I was
cuffed to the chair, I kept playing the last few weeks in my head. Honey,
I never have been happier with anyone than I am when I’m with you. I
will do whatever I can to keep you. I want to make you as happy as you
make me.”
She leaned up and kissed him softly. “No more lies?” “No more lies,” he smiled.
“No morehidingdetails?”
“Nothing like that. Does the same go for you?”
“Yes, I will share with you. I promise.”
“Sam, are we all right now?” he whispered.
“Yeah, we are. I’m sorry I didn’t just confront you.” “Well, it seems to have worked out for us. Care to sleep with a
dead man?” he raised his eyebrows up and down.
“Are you sure?” she wept.
He wiped the tears from her dark eyes. “Babe, I’ve missed you,”
he whispered, as he laid down next to her. He ran his hands down her
body and held her close to him. “Let me show you how much,” he
whispered.
She held him tightly. “I do love you, PK,” she said, as she closed
her eyes.
“And I love you,” he said, as he kissed her passionately.