She kept an eye in the mirror as she took the 14th Street Bridge out of the city into Northern Virginia and headed for the Crystal City exit. That the Crystal Gateway Marriott was right next door to the Crystal City Marriott perplexed her as it always did. Who’d had the big idea to give two hotels practically the same name? Freddie had said Gateway, hadn’t he?

She pulled up to the main door and flashed her badge to the valet on duty. “I won’t be long.”

His eyes bugged when he recognized her.

Sam was long gone before he stopped gawking. Inside, she used a house phone to ask the operator to connect her with Freddie Cruz’s room. He answered on the first ring.

“Yeah.”

“It’s me. Where are you?”

“Room 718.”

“On my way.”

“Were you tailed?”

“Not that I could tell.”

“Okay.”

Sam took the elevator to the seventh floor and followed the hallway signs to the room. She knocked once, and Freddie opened the door. With one look she could see he was harried and annoyed.

“Thank God you’re here,” he said in a low growl. “He’s driving me nuts.”

Josh was pacing the small room, energy coming off his body in waves that were nearly visible. With his face a scary shade of red, he looked like he was about to blow from the pressure building inside him.

“Josh,” Sam said, since he hadn’t seemed to notice her arrival.

Whirling around, he said, “You gotta let me out of here. He’s going to find me. I’m like a sitting duck here.”

“Calm down—”

“Don’t tell me to calm down! You don’t know him! You don’t know what he’s capable of!”

“Why don’t you tell me?”

His lips tightened as he shook his head. “Take my word for it.”

“I wish I could, but I just met you on Friday, and his reputation is legendary, so you’ll have to forgive me if I need more to go on.”

He took a series of deep breaths, obviously trying to calm himself down. “He raised me, and I’m terrified of him. What else do you need to know?”

“Specifics. Why are you terrified of him?”

“He’s ruthless. Nothing I ever did was good enough for him. If I screwed up, he beat the shit out of me. If I mouthed off, he beat the shit out of me.”

“Just you, or your siblings too?”

“I don’t know if he ever hit them. They’re older than me, and by the time I was old enough to be his punching bag they were out of the house.”

“And you never asked them?”

Shaking his head, he said, “Until now, I’ve never told anyone that he hit me.”

“Did your mother know?”

“I think she did, but she never said anything, and she certainly didn’t try to stop it.”