Sins That Haunt (19 page)

What file? He was about to ask when he noticed the odd exchange between Shannon and Christian.

“Can we speed this up?” Maggie said, joining their little party. “Shannon needs to rest.”

“Mr. West here wasn't in my file. He's not someone I'd easily forget. I could get him disbarred in a heartbeat.”

Were they referring to the file Shannon had accumulated against JJ?

“I didn't do anything illegal,” he said in his defense. “Questionable, yes, but not illegal.”

“Unethical,” Shannon said.

“That's your opinion,” he disagreed.

“You helped JJ draw up bogus papers.”

They were starting to draw attention as more than one golfer parked a car and stared with curious gazes. Noah guessed this was a private club and someone sooner or later would report the strangers in the parking lot. “Maybe we should do this elsewhere? I can take him in my car.”

“No. No need to take me anywhere. I just wanted to talk to Shannon.”

“Then out with it. Why are you following me?”

“As I said, I'm the executor of your father's will.”

“And what? Daddy dearest leave me something too?” she asked, not trying to hide her sarcasm. “I know he left the house to his new wife.”

“New wife? Your father never remarried.”

“Then who is Cecilia Lewis?”

“That's what I'm here to tell you. He named you guardian.”

“Guardian of what?”

Patience had never been one of Shannon's strong suits and right now Mr. West was on the receiving end of what was left of hers. If not for her injuries, he'd almost pity the guy. Lucky for him, she wasn't at her finest.

“Not what. Who. Miss Cecelia Lewis. His daughter.”

S
hannon blinked. What the hell was he talking about? “What daughter?”

“Your father's,” West said, with a disgusted roll of his beady eyes. “Came as a shock to me too. We'd kept in touch over the years and it was the first time I'd heard of her. Out of the blue he tells me he needs to make a will and appoint a guardian to this kid. I knew he couldn't have been talking about you. And last I'd heard his wife was still nutty and hadn't recovered from her last flake out.”

“Dear God.” Shannon swayed, and before she could right herself, Noah was by her side, a steady arm gentle around her waist. “Noah, if it's true, he fucked up another kid's life.” She wanted to cry.

“We don't know if he's telling us the truth. Do we?” Christian said, giving West another shove.

“I'm not lying,” West assured everyone, his shoulders hunched. “He set her up in a fancy boarding school. She didn't live with him,” he said, surprising Shannon by clearly thinking that was a good thing. Had the man grown scruples?

“Who's the mother?” Someone hadn't been dumb enough to marry him. No, she'd gone and
given
the worst father of the year a kid.

“He wouldn't tell me. Said he had custody and she was out of the picture.”

“Did you think to check? He wasn't exactly father material.” Why was she bothering to get upset? He was a crook like her old man. What did he care?

“Look, don't get mad at me. It wasn't my place to figure out his personal life. Here.” He reached into his pocket and handed her an envelope. “If something happened to him, I was to give this to you. It's a document naming you guardian. He said he'd give me more details later. Then he was shot before he could do that.”

“When was this supposed will drawn up?” Noah asked.

“Three months ago, give or take.”

“Right around the time he contacted you,” Noah said.

“This doesn't make sense.” Why would her father blackmail her, then make her his kid's—her half sister's—legal guardian?

“Could be he found out you had money?” West suggested, as if reading her mind. “He told me he needed to move her to a new school and it would cost more cash than he had on hand. You apparently had lots of it. After seeing that place you live in I guess he was right.”

Noah gave him a not-so-friendly shove. “I have friends who can make you wish you didn't know that.”

West put his hands up in surrender. “I didn't mean anything by it. I meant what I said. I gave up that way of life. Too many people getting hurt.”

If he did mean it, then better late than never. So JJ had been using the money she gave him to fund this school? No way could he be that altruistic. West had to be lying. “Where's the girl now?”

He shrugged. “I assume at the new school.”

“Which is?” Noah asked.

“Don't know. He didn't tell me.”

“Then how are we supposed to find her?” Maggie asked, looking like she wanted to give the slimy lawyer another
friendly
shove. “She doesn't know her father is dead?”

“Again, I don't know.”

“Who else knows about the girl?”

West shrugged. “I got the impression he wasn't keen on people finding out.”

“I don't understand. He sets me up as guardian but doesn't tell me how to find her?”

“I think he was fixing to tell you but never got the chance. Sorry, but my job is done. Can I go now?” he asked.

“How old is she?” Then, seeing West's rueful smile, Noah added, “Let me guess: JJ didn't tell you?”

“I'm guessing ten, maybe younger. I have her old school's transcripts. They were forwarded to me after he died, but I haven't looked at them.”

Noah exchanged a look with Christian before speaking. “We might have questions for you later.” Meaning
we'd better be able to find you if we want to
. “And I'm going to check out your story. If I find out this is all bullshit . . .”

“I'm telling you the truth. My card is in there. Like I said, I left that life behind. I was never happy to see JJ. But his request seemed legit so I saw no harm in helping out an old friend.”

The guys allowed Arnold West to leave, but not before Christian had a few private words with him. Judging by the way his complexion paled, they weren't “nice to meet you and thanks for everything.”

“What?” He looked at Maggie as West drove away.

“Did you threaten to kick his ass?” his wife asked.

“Nope, I simply told him that if he was lying, he wouldn't appreciate my looking for him. Now let's get Shannon home. She looks like she's about to fall down.”

Considering she'd just been told she had a sister and was now obligated to raise her, he wasn't that far off.

* * *

They congregated in Maggie's living room, trying to make sense of what had happened. Shannon hadn't opened the envelope and wasn't sure when she would.

“What did he mean, your mother was still nutty?” Noah took the coffee Christian offered and took a seat beside Shannon on the sofa.

“A few years back she went off her meds and had to be hospitalized. It was a county hospital. I could afford to pay her insurance, but I didn't have the money for private care. Not back then. I don't really know what happened. She just refused her medication. And JJ was listed as next of kin so the hospital wouldn't tell me anything without her written consent. Which wasn't happening. Then, on one of her more coherent days, she started her pills again and was released. That's all I know. A few years after that, I found the place she's living now. JJ was in and out of the picture so I had to stay away.”

“She was never the same after that episode,” Maggie told her husband, taking a seat beside him on the opposite sofa. The women had opted for tea and Maggie sipped hers.

“She was in there a long time,” Shannon said. “But if you saw her now, well, I've never seen her look so . . .”

“Sane?” Maggie filled in the blank.

“I guess they finally found a medication that works.” They'd tried so many, Shannon had lost count and given up hope.

“So,” Christian said, “besides making sure West wasn't lying, what's next?”

“I don't know.” What did she know about raising children? “But how do I drag some innocent kid into everything that's going on. Maggie?”

“I agree. Christian can help find her later. Right?”

Christian scratched his head. “I . . . already called Monty. Sorry, Shannon, I figured you'd want to know. He has to finish his case but said he'll get to it as soon as he can. But he's doing a search on Arnold West as we speak.”

“Something tells me he's not lying. And if the little girl is safe where she is, that's where she stays, at least for the time being. I'll worry about the rest later. Thank you.” If anyone could find her, Christian or one of his buddies could.

“For now let's deal with whoever wanted what's on that.” Maggie pointed to her laptop in the middle of the coffee table.

After they left the golf course, they'd headed to the bank and retrieved the flash drive.

If Noah hadn't been happy about being kept out of the loop, he said nothing. “First things first. Let's get the name of that cop.”

On their way back from the bank Maggie called Horace and told him about the missing file. He'd called earlier and, as expected, the man responsible for the accident was clueless as to who had hired him. He was to get the file, then leave it on a table in a predetermined coffee shop. Which he did. Money was then deposited into his account. End of story, although not the end of the charges he'd have to answer to.

“I wonder how many dirty cops there are?” Maggie asked.

Maggie, aka Mother Teresa, didn't have much of a stomach for liars. Shannon could only imagine how she felt about bad cops.

“Cops are human. They are not infallible and make mistakes. Some we can forgive,” Noah said, punching the computer keyboard. “Others . . . Wow, that's a long list of names.” He nodded toward the computer screen.

“Did you think I was exaggerating when I said JJ was responsible for hundreds of people losing their life's savings?”

“No, but you just don't realize how many until you see something like this.”

“I also wrote down anyone JJ came into contact with. At least the last few years I was with him. Before that I hadn't really paid attention. There were people like the Keyeses, people he used more often, and I added those to the file after I ran. I was able to get some of the bank accounts but certainly not all. JJ stayed under ten grand, but the insurance fraud was the biggest I ever saw him attempt. It took a lot more power and cover-ups. The cop should be on the next page.” She watched as he scrolled down. “There, Officer Dan Petry.”

“Wow, you even have a description of him.”

“I wanted to get everything I could. It was your idea.” She remembered how grateful she'd been when he'd suggested it. He'd tried to tell her she was as much a victim as those her father stole from. Up until that point she hadn't really trusted that Noah believed that.

“I know. I just didn't think you'd be this thorough. Ever think of joining the force? I've seen police records less detailed.”

“Back off, Noah,” Christian said, winking at Shannon. “I'm calling dibs. I've seen you in action,” he said to her. “You'd be a welcome addition to the team.”

He was kidding of course, but Maggie smacked him anyway. He, pervert that he was, pushed her down on the sofa and kissed her as if they were alone in the room. Shannon hated to admit it, but a small itsy-bitsy part of her was jealous. She bit back a smile. She wouldn't give either of them the satisfaction of knowing how nauseatingly cute they were.

Noah's eyebrows shot up as he tilted his head to watch Maggie unsuccessfully pummel her husband to get him off.

“Ignore them.” Shannon rolled her eyes. “They're still in the honeymoon phase.”

Maggie finally succeeded in dislodging herself. “Why is it,” she said, giving Christian another smack, this one upside his head, “that everyone is always trying to embarrass me?” She jumped off the couch before he could go for a repeat performance.

“As Ronnie always says, you look pretty in pink,” Shannon said.

At the mention of Rhonda's name, Maggie and Christian exchanged troubled smiles. Damn, she hadn't meant to bring her up. The day after Maggie's wedding, Rhonda and Christian's best man, Blake, had gone into hiding. Someone had tried to kill Blake in the hotel with Rhonda in the next room.

“They'll be fine,” she assured them. “It's Rhonda. That girl is like a cat, always landing on her feet.”

If Maggie was getting reports, she wasn't talking. Apparently, the less anyone knew, the better. So Shannon hadn't done her usual poking of Maggie for information. She'd tell her when she could.

Noah opened the Internet browser and logged into the secure FBI site. “I won't have full access to these kinds of records because it won't recognize Maggie's URL, but I should be able to pull Petry's file.” He continued to tap away until he found what he was searching for. “Okay, Boston PD, served fourteen years . . .” He looked up from the file. “Sorry, guys, he's dead, six months now. Not our man.”

Maggie let out a loud breath, drawing everyone's attention. “What? I can't help it. I mean, it would have been great if this guy was still a suspect, but the idea of a dirty cop doesn't make me happy. How did he die?”

“Suicide.”

No one said it, but from the looks on everyone's faces, they were all thinking it. Had his sins finally caught up to him?

“What next?” Shannon asked.

“We do some searches. We'll go through all the names on the lists, the victims and the perps. Shannon if you're okay with it, I'll send Cooper a copy and, bear with me, Boston PD?”

“Do I have a choice?”

Noah understood the question was rhetorical so he didn't answer it. Nor did he tell her that Captain Lapheridy wouldn't appreciate finding out one of his own had been dirty. Dead or not, it meant an inquiry. They'd have to negotiate terms before handing over the file, the main one being Shannon's name was to be kept out of their investigation. He could and would tell the captain that Shannon refused to hand it over without those assurances. He was sure the man would cooperate. There was nothing to gain by dragging Shannon's name through the mud.

What concerned him more was that Shannon hadn't told him the accident centered on the file. Why hadn't she trusted him? But he'd save that question until they were alone.

“Christian, I can't give this file to you. It's evidence.”

“It's
my
file,” Shannon protested, yanking the flash drive out and tossing it to Christian. “And he can do things you can't.”

“Maggie, darling, let's find another computer.” With a grin, Christian took his wife by the hand and led her out of the room saying, “I'm not sure how long this will take.”

Noah told himself Shannon didn't understand. He couldn't knowingly give Christian a copy. And it made sense that she'd be upset by his evident refusal to cooperate with ICU. But it hurt nonetheless to think she'd rather have Christian's help. Twice now she‘d shown she didn't trust him.

“Do you want me to help find your sister? It shouldn't be that hard,” he said. “I can keep it discreet.” She might not want to see her now, but sooner or later Shannon would have to deal with her half sister and quite possibly another of JJ's screwups.