Marie Force - Fatal Destiny

Nick stood before the window, looking out over Ninth Street as rain mixed with snow to create a slushy mess on the pavement. The city had been buzzing all day about the late wintry blast and the impact it might have on Washingtons fabled cherry blossoms, which were due to bloom any day now.

Hands in pockets, Nick stared intently at the orange glow of the streetlights, not seeing any sign of Sam or her car. Any minute now , he thought. Shell be home any minute .

Behind him voices, laughter and the distinctive clink of ice meeting crystal echoed through the double-sized townhouse he shared with Sam. The Jack and Jill shower had been Shelbys idea. The wedding planner Sam called Tinker Bell had suggested a gathering of their family, close friends and colleagues. Shelby had correctly assumed that Sam would prefer that over the more traditional all-female event. Nick had gone along with it because Sam had liked the idea. Whatever made her happy made him happy.

But now she was late, and he was worried. Not that it was unusual for her to be latethe nature of her job as the lieutenant in charge of the citys homicide detectives squad made her late more often than not. Since she wasnt in the midst of a hot case at the moment, Nick had expected her home more than an hour ago. Now here it was fifteen minutes after the party started with no sign of her, and her phone had gone straight to voicemail.

His gut twisted with unease. Ever since her ex-husband had been released from jail on a technicality, Nick had found himself obsessing even more than usual about her safety. Peter Gibson had affixed crude bombs to both their cars, injuring them when the device attached to Sams car exploded in late December. A glitch with evidence collection had been Peters ticket out of jail, and the stress of waiting for him to come at Sam again had Nick as tightly wound as hed ever been.

Shed be furious if she knew about the private investigator hed hired to keep tabs on Gibson. Or he supposed she would. Truth was, she hadnt been herself since the miscarriage she suffered just after Valentines Day, and more than a month later, Nick was left with nagging doubts about whether she still planned to marry him one week from today.

The signs of something amiss were hard to ignorerather than spend time together, shed cleaned up her mess of an office at work and devoted hours shed normally spend with him organizing the closet hed had built for her in their new home. The Sam he knew and loved his Samwould rather be hung upside down by her toes than clean or organize anything. But that was only one sign of trouble. That they hadnt made love since the miscarriage was another hard-to-miss sign of impending doom.

It was his own faulthed been so caught up in work as the Senate wound down to the Easter recess with heated budget debates, a flurry of legislation and the relentless pace of his campaign. By the time hed resurfaced from four of the busiest weeks of his life, Sam had drifted so far from him he had no idea how to bring her back.

He sucked in a sharp deep breath as he finally acknowledged his greatest fear, thoughts he hadnt allowed himself to have before she failed to show up for their shower. Did she still want to marry him? Had he made a huge mistake by pushing for a short engagement? And what would he do if she decided she didnt want to marry him after all? How was he supposed to live without her after the bliss of being with her these last few months?

His queasiness increased as each question added to his overwhelming anxiety. Something was wrong. Something was very wrong.

Nicky? The touch of his fathers hand on his shoulder roused Nick out of the pensive state hed slipped into but didnt erase the sense of panic that grew with every minute Sam failed to appear. You okay?