Whatever It Takes (17 page)

“It was the drinking I first noticed. You know, three glasses of wine with dinner every night. Then the Bloody Marys or mimosas for breakfast every morning. I did the typical denial thing. Told myself it was just a phase. Creative people have their ups and downs, and Shelley was just on one of her downs.

“I found the pills in one of her lingerie drawers. I had opened it by mistake. I didn’t know what they were, so I confronted her. At first she was angry, accused me of snooping. When she realized I wasn’t going to let her use anger to avoid answering, she explained that she had headaches and the doctor had prescribed them for her.

“Stupid…so very stupid. I accepted her explanation. Even though there was a small niggle at the back of my mind. Questions like, Why had she hidden them? How long had she been taking them? How often did she need them? But I ignored those niggles and went about my life.

“A few months later, I came home to find her unconscious. I called an ambulance. And that’s when the truth came out. She had so much pills and alcohol in her system, the doctors said she would have died within half an hour if I hadn’t found her.

“Her parents finally admitted the truth. That they had been hiding her addiction problems. Said they’d hoped with marriage to me, she would be happy and wouldn’t need the crutches of drugs or alcohol. Of course, I became the reason for her reverting back to her bad ways.”

“They blamed you?”

“It was no less than I deserved. I had ignored all the signs, so immersed in my life, my work, I forgot to be a husband.”

Kathleen had her own opinions about that but kept them to herself.

“She went into rehab. Came out and things were great for a few months. By that time, I was monitoring everything. No alcohol in the house. No drugs, over-the-counter or otherwise.” His mouth twisted in a grim smile. “Except birth control pills. We had agreed that we wouldn’t get pregnant again. She used the pill, and as an added precaution, I used protection, too. But I learned too late that nothing can stop a determined woman.”

“She got pregnant with Violet.”

“Yes. She said she’d been feeling off for a few days and forgot to take her birth control. She never said, and I never asked, but I suspected she threw the pills away. I also suspected that she sabotaged the condoms. But there was no point in asking. What was done, was done.”

“And Violet was born.”

“Yes. As much as I resented what Shelley did, I could not, would never, regret Violet’s birth. She and Sophia are my greatest blessings.”

“So you were living in England then? What brought you back to Dallas?”

“Shelley started being even more unpredictable…erratic. Teresa took care of both girls, but I worried Shelley would go back to her old ways. Her parents had moved to New York a few months after Violet’s birth. And being the man who liked to try to fix things, I moved back to the States.

“Shelley was ecstatic. Not only did she get to see her family as often as she wanted, she designed our house. That kept her busy…and seemingly happy for over a year.”

“And then it didn’t.”

“Yes. She—”

He cut off when her cellphone chimed. Cursing the interruption, she glanced down at the readout and noted the number was from an unknown caller.

“Excuse me. I need to take this.” She tapped the screen to answer, “Hello?” 

“Kathleen?”

“Gabriella?”

“Yes. Can you talk?”

“Go ahead.” 

“I don’t have much time, so I’ll get right to it. I can give you my brother’s location. All the information you need to go in and get him.”

“Wonderful. I’ll—”

 “Wait. I want something in return.”

“What’s that?”

“I want someone to kidnap me.”

Chapter Twenty

Grey Justice Headquarters

“Kidnap her?” Grey leaned back in his chair, not looking the least bit surprised by Gabriella Mendoza’s request.

“I’m sure she sees this as her opportunity to escape…get away from her family who has basically held her hostage her entire life.”

“What did you tell her?”

“That I’d get back to her as soon as I could. I realize this isn’t exactly your territory, but she sounded desperate.”

His mouth tilted slightly. “You might be surprised at all the different territories the Grey Justice Group gets involved in.”

“So you’ll help her?”

“You’re sure this isn’t a setup?”

Kathleen thought back to the look she and Gabriella shared during those last seconds of their brief meeting. There had been desperation and an odd kind of pain in the depths of her dark eyes.

“No, I don’t think it’s a setup. I think she’s trying to escape something. I don’t know if it’s only the confinement. Something tells me there’s more to it. Either way, I think she’s desperate to get away.”

“Good enough for me. When’s the next contact?”

“I’m to text her with either a yes or no answer tomorrow at noon. Once I do, she’ll send me the locations for both she and her brother.”

“You think they’re in the same place?”

“No, I didn’t get the idea that they are.”

“Good. That’ll make things easier. Get the info. I’ll take it from there.” He slid an innocuous tan envelope across the desk toward her. “Leave this on Detective Kowalski’s desk. Usual disguise. He got an anonymous tip this morning to be on the lookout for additional information on a case that’s gotten stalled.”

Envelope in her hand, she took a quick glimpse at her watch. “I’ve got to pick Eli’s daughters up in an hour.”

“You’ve got time. Tonight’s soon enough to get it to his desk. Wouldn’t want you to miss any of Sophia’s questions.”

Kathleen laughed. “You know about them?”

He grinned, and Kathleen noted he looked about ten years younger. “I get bombarded every time she sees me.”

“I told Eli she would make a good reporter. He looked terrified.”

“Can’t blame him. How’s it going, working for him?”

Inexplicably self-conscious at the question, she felt a flush of color wash over her cheeks. “It’s…um…fine. Kids are cute. Pay is good.”

She saw a small flicker of humor in his eyes, as if he understood her unease, but all he said was, “I have no doubt that Violet and Sophia are in good hands.”

“Eli seems to believe the threats to his daughters are because of his father and brother.”

His eyes narrowed with speculation. “You disagree?”

“No, not really. I just think sometimes the obvious answer isn’t always the right one.” She shook her head. “No matter who the threats are coming from, the girls are well guarded.”

“Eli said that they’ve really taken to you. I imagine that’s a load off his mind.”

Kathleen was glad that the girls felt safe with her. Other than the inappropriateness of being wildly attracted to their father, things were working out better than she had thought they would. 

Wanting to move on, she said, “I have a couple of new theories about Braden I’d like to run by you.”

“Excellent.” He picked up his cellphone. “One of my investigators indicated he may have something for us today. Let’s hear what he has to say, then we’ll discuss your findings.”

She told herself not to anticipate helpful news. She’d gotten her hopes up too often only to have them dashed. Still, the hope that some vital information that might exonerate her sister had been found was too tempting not too entertain. Alice might be gone, but that didn’t negate Kathleen’s need to prove her innocence.

Grey pressed a few keys on his phone, and when a growling, masculine voice answered with, “Hold on a minute, Justice,” Kathleen’s entire body tensed with anticipation.

Seconds later, the voice said, “We got the files. We’re going through them now. Nothing’s turned up so far. Will keep you updated.”

The line went dead.

Kathleen stared at her boss, whose expression was a curious mix of irritation and amusement.

“Ryder isn’t one for small talk.”

“What files does he have?”

“Braden’s financials. He kept a record of his…transactions.”

“You mean the amount he was paid for each trick? I saw his records. There’s nothing there. He only recorded first names and—”

“We found his real records.”

“He had two different sets?”

“The ones you saw were what the authorities found in his desk. A second set was found on his computer, buried beneath a mountain of crap and password protected and encrypted to the hilt.”

“He wanted to make sure no one could access them.”

“Yeah. The scumbag was quite meticulous in his accounting. I’d say part of that was to keep certain people in line. He had personal information that could make his customers uncomfortable if it was found out.”

“So he could blackmail them? That just adds another layer of people who could have wanted him dead.”

“That’d be my take. One of my sources in the Chicago PD informed me they had mountains of files going back ten years, detailing Braden’s income from both johns and buyers.”

Her heart leaped at the news. “So they’re pursuing it further? Chicago PD is reopening the murder case?”

Compassion flickered in his eyes. “No. That case is closed.”

She acknowledged that with a weary sigh. “Of course. They still believe Alice did the killing. Why pursue it?”

“Exactly, but that doesn’t mean we stop. Hopefully, Ryder will have something soon. Now tell me what you’ve come up with.”

“I’ve dug as deep as I can into Frank Braden. Even went back to his father, Francis, and found that the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. He was a sleaze and passed those genes down to his son.”

“His choice.”

Thinking about her own father, who would much rather have stolen something than buy it, she agreed. And she thought of Eli, who’d arguably had the worst father ever and, instead of following in his footsteps, was doing his best to clean up his father’s mess. 

“You’re right. We all have choices. Braden’s were bad ones. He’s got a brother in Idaho, Joseph, who hadn’t seen him in years. And from our brief, unpleasant conversation, he isn’t all that sorry that his brother is dead. I don’t see him for the murder, though. He’s got a family and is barely hanging on financially.

“So now I’m concentrating my investigation on Maureen Downey.”

“The woman who shot Alice. What about her?”

“I’ve been thinking there’s more to her story.”

“How so?”

“I don’t know. On the surface, it makes sense. She supposedly loved Braden—photos of them together were found at her apartment. She shoots Alice for revenge, then she’s killed before anyone can question her.”

“And?”

“It’s too pat. Too convenient. Those photographs are the only piece of evidence we have that they even knew each other.” She grimaced. “Or am I grasping at invisible straws?”

“I’ve thought from the beginning that your instincts were sound. I agree. It does seem too convenient.”

“You’ve already thought of that, haven’t you?”

“Yes.” He seemed to hesitate briefly, then said, “So far I’ve gotten nowhere.”

“Then at least I know I’m not crazy for thinking it. I’ll delve into her life as deeply as I have Braden’s. If something’s there, I’ll find it.”

“If you need more help from me, just give me the word.”

Gratitude filled her. Without Grey, she’d be scratching for every little piece of information she could eke out.

The sound of a phone buzzer halted their conversation. It wasn’t coming from the phone on Grey’s desk, and from the grim look on his face, someone contacting him on it meant bad news.

Pulling open a drawer, Grey grabbed a phone and read a text message. The look that came over his face caused dread to fill her.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

Dropping the phone back into the drawer, Grey stood. “Eli’s been taken to Dallas Memorial Hospital.”

He didn’t need to say more than that. Fear rushing through her, Kathleen was out the door in a second.

Chapter Twenty-one

Panic clawed at her insides as Kathleen ran through the doors of the hospital, Grey right behind her. The thought of something happening to the intelligent, good-humored, honorable Eli Slater wasn’t something she could bear to fathom. 

A sensible part of her mind, not awash with terror, told her it might well be something minor. Nothing serious. Grey had no details other than Eli had been brought to the hospital in an ambulance. She battled against the horrific images that kept popping into her head.

Halfway down the hallway, she came to an abrupt, skidding halt, barely noting that Grey had to grab her shoulders to keep from plowing into her. Eli was striding toward them, an eye patch dangling from his hand. Though he had a purplish bruise on his left cheekbone and his eye was slightly swollen, he didn’t appear to have any other injuries. He was gloriously, beautifully alive.

She fought every instinct to throw her arms around him and never let him go. At that thought, she stiffened her spine. No…just no.

“What the hell happened?” Grey asked.

Eli gave them both a puzzled, confused look. “How’d you know I was even here?”

“I have a contact at the hospital. She alerts me if certain people are brought in.”

“What happened?” Kathleen asked.

“I was walking out of our corporate office. Stopped to hold the door open for one of my employees. The instant she stepped out onto the sidewalk, she dropped her purse and the contents scattered. I stooped down to help her pick things up. About that time, a window washer’s platform fell from the building.”

“And it hit you?”

“Thankfully, no. When it fell, the noise startled the woman I was helping. She jerked her arm, and her pointy and extremely hard elbow slugged me in the eye. I’m going to have quite the shiner come tomorrow.”

“You’ve had plenty of black eyes from boxing bouts,” Grey said. “Why come to the hospital for this one?”

“It wasn’t for me. Eloise, the woman who jammed her elbow into my eye. She’s seven months pregnant, and I thought it best she get checked out. The ambulance showed up, so I offered to ride along with her.”

“She’s okay?” Kathleen asked.