Say Goodbye (Romantic Suspense #25) - Karen Rose Page 0,61

why you moved from Gangs to Homicide.”

Rafe’s nod was sober. “You told me not to do anything that would get me into trouble with Molina, but then you said that you’d have done anything to protect your fiancée. I figured that’s who you lost. Am I right?”

Tom’s throat tightened, making it hard to force the words out. “Yeah.”

“What was her name?”

“Victoria. I called her Tory.” He swallowed, the movement painful. “She was murdered.” As was the baby she’d carried. Our baby. But it hurt too much to think about their unborn child, much less to talk about them.

Rafe blinked. “I didn’t know that. My fiancée was Bella. She was killed by the mob boss’s men. She was the prosecutor working our case.” He hesitated. “Our relationship wasn’t public.”

Wow. Helluva thing to have in common. “One of you would have had to recuse yourself.”

“Yes. And neither of us wanted the other to have to do it, so we kept our relationship secret. I wouldn’t have been able to make it public anyway, not when I was UC, but I wanted to.”

Tom dropped his gaze to the plate of cheese, absently fiddling with one of the slices. “I get it. Tory was our team’s physical therapist. It probably would have been okay, but she was adamant that we not tell anyone. She was afraid she’d lose her job.”

“I didn’t realize we had so much in common. I’m sorry you lost your Tory.”

“Likewise.” He looked up. “Did you get the guys who killed Bella?”

“I did. Had to kill a few of them. Was able to take a few in alive. I didn’t lose a wink of sleep over the ones who chose to fight me, though. They shot first, but my trigger finger was ready, willing, and able.”

Tom thought about what he’d done to take down Tory’s killer. He wasn’t sorry. Well, maybe about one or two details, but not about the end result. “Does Mercy know?”

“She does. I wasn’t sure what she’d think of me, but she was happy I’d taken them out. Said that I’d made it possible for my partner to go home to his family by having his back. That I’d survived and seen justice done.”

“I’m glad.” Tom’s voice was rough, and he had to clear his throat. He wondered what Liza would think if she knew what he’d done and immediately relaxed, knowing that she’d be happy about the end result as well. His Liza was fierce and unafraid and wired to protect. Tory would have liked her.

Wait. What? His breath stuttered in his chest, making him cough. His Liza? She was not his. And if he wanted her to be? She wouldn’t be happy with that. Especially not given their most recent conversations. And even if she were happy with it . . . Just thinking of her and Tory in the same breath seemed like betrayal.

“You okay?” Rafe asked blandly.

Tom took a gulp of beer. “Yeah. Just swallowed wrong.” He cleared his throat again and waited for his breathing to even out. What were they even talking about? Oh. Right. “Did the Chicos have a hand in Bella’s murder? Is that why it’s personal?”

“Indirectly. They were one of our target’s biggest suppliers. The Chicos had a reason to keep the city’s organized crime alive and well. Supply and demand and all that. I remember a few of the midlevel thugs. DJ wasn’t one of the ones I worked with. I can tell you that.”

“Good to know.” Tom pushed the cheese plate away, no longer hungry. “I hope Croft is more successful with her search than I’ve been with mine.”

“You’ve been trying to track that kid’s e-mail.”

Tom just looked at him. “Jeff Bunker told you?” Because of course he would have.

“Yeah. It all came out over dinner when his mom and mine teamed up to make sure Zoya and Jeff know never to drive to San Francisco alone again. You weren’t able to track it?”

“Not to the source. I think they’ve pulled their server offline. Or maybe they only hook it up when they want to use it.”

“Before this morning, I’d hoped that they’d gone quiet because DJ was dead.”

“Yeah. Asshole,” Tom muttered. The picture of Liza standing in front of that glass door would not vacate his mind. “How are Mercy and Abigail doing?”

“Abigail is okay but Mercy is wrecked. She held it together for Abigail, but once we were alone, she fell apart. After a month of watching her every move she’d grown a little