Drawn in Blood (Burbank and Parker 2)

Sloane frowned. “You’re sure the police will drop the charges?”

“Positive.” Derek counted off on his fingers. “Your father has an alibi for the night The Bird was stolen. Johnny Liu has a vendetta against your father and his partners—one he unleashed on all of them simultaneously. And the FBI has a solid case against Xiao Long, who we’ll try to establish has a connection with Johnny Liu. Trust me, there’ll be no problem. All the charges against your father will be dropped. Diane and the Bureau are already working on it.”

“I owe both you and Diane a huge debt of thanks for jumping on this and getting it resolved so quickly.”

“You can thank Diane by buying her lunch. As for me, I have other ideas for how you can express your undying gratitude.”

Sloane smiled. “With pleasure, Agent Parker.”

“Oh, one more thing I forgot to tell you. When I talked to Leo, he told me he was rifling through your file that night in the hopes of finding the dossier the Bureau had compiled on him, and that it might contain something that would give him a clue as to where his fiancée was. He realized it was a long shot, but he saw the file and acted on impulse. I can’t blame the guy.”

“Neither can I. I’d move heaven and earth to find you.”

Derek gave her a deep, slow kiss. “You won’t have to. I’m right here. And I’m not going anywhere.”

“Derek, let’s get married.”

Sloane’s proposal came out of the blue. Derek was so stunned he nearly fell off the sofa. “What did you just say?”

“I said let’s get married. Soon. Before I reapply to the FBI, and hopefully am accepted. Before I go down to Quantico and put in my time at the Academy. This way, when I graduate, the Bureau will be more apt to place me in the New York Field Office with you. We’ll be married, but there’ll be no conflict of interests. You handle Violent Crimes, and I handle White-Collar Crimes. Different squads, same Field Office. This way, when I start my new professional life, my personal life will already be exactly where I want it.”

Derek was still staring at her. She’d obviously given this a great deal of thought. Even so, he had to be convinced she was a hundred percent certain.

“You’re sure this is what you want?” he asked bluntly. “That you’re ready to make this official? To commit to a lifetime? It’s a huge step.”

“Unless you’re not ready, or it’s not what you want.” Sloane’s tone was teasing, but her gaze was serious as she searched Derek’s face.

“Are you crazy?” Derek gripped her shoulders. “Say the word, and we’ll get a marriage license tomorrow.” He frowned. “If we lived in New York, we could be husband and wife the next day. In New Jersey, there’s a three-day waiting period. But, okay, we’ll be married this weekend.”

Sloane laughed. “I see you’ve done your research. But let’s slow down, just a little. And not just because of this Johnny Liu case that’s about to explode wide open. Although, truthfully, I’d like to put it behind us so we can enjoy our day.”

“Fine. What else?”

“I’m not a big fan of traditional weddings, but I’d kind of like to have our families there, and a few close friends. And I’d also like a little time to savor the thought of becoming your wife. How about a December wedding, right before the holidays? That’ll give us six weeks to plan.”

“Done. Let’s pick a date.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

Sloane and Derek drove into the Field Office together the next morning. Once inside, they went their separate ways. Derek headed off to fill Rich in on The Bird and all the other happenings of yesterday. And Sloane went into one of the conference rooms for her morning’s first order of business: calling the Nineteenth Precinct to check on her parents.

They were both hanging in there. So, Matthew reported, were his friends, all of whom he’d spoken to. Everyone was strung out, but holding it together. Each in his own way was taking steps to put his life back together. Leo was welcoming the bittersweet knowledge that Amalie had never stopped loving him, but had left him to protect her children. He was worried sick about her, but convinced, thanks to the FBI, that Xiao Long hadn’t yet located her. If he had, she’d be dead, killed right before Leo’s eyes. So Leo was focusing on a plan, once this crisis was behind them, to hire a PI to find her—hopefully so they could enjoy the happy ending they’d been deprived of.

Ben was calling his AA sponsor and arranging to attend a meeting. And t

o Sloane’s pleasure and surprise, Wallace had decided to take her advice and attend the Jaspar Museum’s evening fund-raiser.

The details of her father’s update lifted a huge weight off Sloane’s shoulders. All these fundamentally decent men she’d known all her life had been through hell. All of them were at their breaking points. And all of them were fighting their way back.

Relieved beyond measure, Sloane shifted her focus to checking out a completely different extraneous detail that had been bugging her.

The background check that Derek had run on Cindy Liu had been so clean that it practically sparkled. It had also been superficial, the only personal detail being her close relationship with her uncle. Something about that didn’t sit right. It was almost as if the details of her life had been scrubbed clean.

Which usually implied there was something to hide.

Maybe they were all underestimating Cindy Liu. They’d relegated her role in Liu’s plan to wreaking havoc on Wallace’s emotions. But she was a very intelligent, very talented woman.

So maybe there was more to it. Maybe Cindy’s talents were being used in a more diverse fashion.