Deceived (Private Justice Book #3): A Novel (29 page)

Third, after they were done camping he’d ditch the car near the Greyhound terminal in Detroit and take the bus to Chicago, using their new identities.

And finally, in that metropolis, they’d disappear among the throngs of people who called the Windy City home and start over yet again.

Greg folded up the newspapers and stuffed them into a plastic bag, averting his head when the foul odor of the garbage invaded his nostrils.

The plan was sound—but there was one complication. He had to assume Diane had told Kate and her people who he was. So unlike the last time, there was a high probability he was being watched.

He’d lucked out with the location of this house, though. While he hadn’t liked backing up to a strip mall initially, the lower rent had persuaded him he could live with the noise.

Now his frugality was going to pay dividends he’d never expected.

Garbage bag in hand, he climbed the stairs back to the kitchen, detouring to the carport to dispose of it. Fists on hips, he inspected the privacy hedge at the back of the property. It would be an easy matter for him and Todd to slip through and walk a couple of miles to a rental car office. He’d driven past the Enter
prise location on Lindbergh and the Hertz place at the Holiday Inn near South County Center dozens of times.

When he returned, he could park the rental car in the strip mall, cut through the hedge, and enter through the back door—while his own car stayed in the carport, giving no clue he’d left the property.

It was brilliant.

Tonight, after Todd went to bed, he’d sort through his camping equipment, setting aside only the bare essentials. He’d pack a few necessities for both of them. And if the documents arrived Tuesday as promised, in seventy-two hours he and Todd would be long gone.

But before he slipped away, he had one last piece of business to take care of. A final debt to settle.

A wasp buzzed near his ear, stinger poised, and he ducked, swatting the insect away with his hand. Getting stung—by bees or people—wasn’t in his plans.

Entering the house, he detoured to the fridge for a beer. He had to dot all the i’s, cross all the t’s. There could be no slipups. He had to pull off the plan for retribution that had formed and jelled in his mind in the dark hours of the night as perfectly as he’d carried out the Braddock Bay mission.

He grabbed a beer and twisted off the cap, jaw tightening. He hadn’t felt one iota of remorse as he’d watched John Marshall sink into the murky depths of the bay. The man who’d played God, who’d made the decision to cut his son’s life short, had deserved his watery end.

Nor would he have any regrets about meting out punishment to the man’s wife. If Kate Marshall succeeded in her quest, she’d kill something as dear to his heart as David had been—the life he’d created with Todd.

He couldn’t let that happen.

Guzzling the beer, he walked down the hall to his bedroom.
Opened the top drawer of his dresser. Pulled out the bottle of Valium and weighed it in his hand. Once again, that prescription was going to come in handy for a whole lot more than his doctor had intended.

He took another drink, and despite the anger churning in his gut, his lips lifted in a grim smile. There was a certain beauty to the end he had planned for Kate Marshall. A sense of continuity. Of irony, even.

And this little bottle was the key that would set everything in motion in just over forty-eight hours.

The countdown had begun.

I
don’t know why you bothered to take off last Thursday and Friday if you were going to work late yesterday and today.” Nancy hoisted her shoulder purse into position and jingled her keys from the doorway of Kate’s office. “It’s past quitting time. Five-twenty to be exact. Can’t whatever you’re working on wait until tomorrow?”

“Yes, it can.” Kate rotated her neck to loosen the kinks. “I’m planning to shut down soon.”

“That’s what you said when I left last night, but scuttlebutt has it your Monday didn’t end until after eight.”

Kate finished off the last of her lukewarm soda, eyeing the New Start receptionist. “Who’s your source?”

She arched an eyebrow, folded her arms—and remained silent.

Must be one of the cleaning people. Or the security patrol who cruised through the parking lot. Or . . . who knew? Nancy always seemed to have the inside information on everything. “I’m not staying that late tonight.”

“Glad to hear it. Why don’t you call up that to-die-for guy who stopped by a couple of weeks ago and go to dinner or get an ice cream or something? You never did tell me who he was, by the way.”

“I know.” Nor did she intend to. It would only raise questions she wasn’t ready to answer. And despite their receptionist’s inside sources, she doubted Nancy was well-connected enough to dig up any info on her favorite PI.

“Maybe someday?” Nancy gave her a hopeful look.

“Maybe.”

She huffed out a breath. “I think you carry this confidentiality stuff too far—but I’ll get it out of you eventually. In the meantime, don’t work too hard.” With an impudent grin and a lift of her hand, she disappeared down the hall.

When the faint click of the office-suite door sounded a few moments later, Kate leaned back in her chair and reached around to rub the sore muscle in her shoulder—a souvenir of her redecorating spree and mega furniture juggling over the weekend. The twin bed and mattress weighed a ton. But the results were worth it. The room was ready and waiting to welcome her son—perhaps as soon as tomorrow, if the lab delivered the DNA results on schedule.

A shaft of panic darted through her, just as it did whenever she allowed herself to think about their approaching reunion—the very reason she’d loaded up her schedule for the past two days. Staying busy helped keep anxiety—and impatience—at bay.

Besides, it wasn’t as if there was anything else she could do to prepare. She’d already stocked the kitchen with food she hoped Kevin would like. Created a warm and welcoming haven for him. Lined up a top-notch child psychologist to help him work through the transition. And she’d prayed. A lot.

The only thing left to do was wait—a herculean task, when every instinct in her body screamed at her to
do
something. Now!

At the sudden jangle of her desk phone in the silent office, she jerked, hand flying to her chest. Her nerves weren’t just frayed—they were in shreds.

Willing her heart rate to slow, she glanced at caller ID, plan
ning to let the after-hours call roll to voice mail—but when she saw Connor’s name, she grabbed the handset. Her daily dose of his calm, everything’s-under-control voice was the only thing keeping her sane.

On the other hand, if he’d heard from the lab, this might be the big call.

Her pulse thundered into fast-forward as she gave him a shaky hello.

As if reading her mind, he addressed her concern as soon as he greeted her. “Nothing on the DNA yet, but I talked with the president of the firm twenty minutes ago. We go way back, and he promised to call me with the results the instant they come in—first thing tomorrow, he hopes. How are you holding up?”

“Okay.”
Liar, liar.

“I used to have a habit of working longer hours when I wanted to distract myself too.”

He must have caught the quiver in her lame response.

She fingered the edge of the file containing the age-progressed photo of Kevin. “Are you sure you’re not the one with the counseling degree?”

“Nope. I got my people skills in the school of hard knocks. So do you want to let me in? I’m parked out front, but I assumed your offices would be locked up tight and I didn’t want to alarm you by banging on the door.”

She sat up straighter, a rush of gratitude calming her jitters a few notches. “What are you doing here? I thought you were on afternoon/evening surveillance today.”

“I am. But I conned Dev into covering for me for an hour. I come bearing Panera chicken Cobb salads and chocolate cookies.”

How like him to tune in to her nervousness. It was almost as if he knew she’d spent most of last night tossing and done nothing more than nibble at a sandwich today.

“Sold. I’ll open the door.”

“Look for me in three minutes.”

By the time she ran a comb through her hair and touched up her makeup, he was waiting.

When she pulled open the door and ushered him in, he gave her a quick scrutiny. With that sharp eye of his, there wasn’t much chance he’d miss the shadows under her lower lashes or the pallor that blush couldn’t disguise.

“You look tired.” His words were soft, as was the touch of his thumb as it grazed her cheek.

Her breath hitched, and the urge to move into his arms and claim part of the space occupied by the large bag he was carrying was strong. Very strong.

Wrestling it into submission, she retreated a step on the pretense of surveying his cutoffs and T-shirt. “And you look hot.”

“A vast understatement.”

She waved him toward the hall. “The conference room is the first door on the left. Grab a soda—or two—from the fridge.”

“Don’t mind if I do.”

He was pulling the food out of the bag and already gulping down a Coke when she joined him after relocking the door.

“So to what do I owe this visit?” She sat and opened her container of salad.

“I wanted to fill you in on the finale.” When she stopped eating, he gestured to her food while he wolfed down his own. “Continue while I talk. I hate to eat alone.”

Doing her best to comply despite the butterflies that had taken wing in her stomach, she gave him her full attention.

“I’ve alerted Nick that I expect this thing to break within twenty-four hours. He’s up to speed on the official records, and the FBI is set to move as soon as I turn over the DNA results. He’s also done a background check on you and connected with Child Services so there shouldn’t be any hassles with you taking
immediate custody.” He fixed her with one of his intent looks. “Now let’s talk about you. Are you ready to have a seven-year-old boy invade your condo?”

She finished chewing a crispy piece of lettuce. “I think so.” She set down her fork and told him all she’d done to prepare, including the discussion she’d had a few days ago with the New Start chairman of the board about her likely need to take a sudden, temporary leave to deal with family issues.

When she concluded, his eyes softened, and his warm fingers enfolded hers. “Despite all the bad stuff that’s happened in his life, Kevin is one lucky little boy to have you.”

“I have a feeling he isn’t going to think so.” She clung to his hand as a fresh surge of doubts assailed her.

“Maybe not in the beginning. But after he gets to know you again, after he realizes how much you love him, he’ll love you back. Guaranteed. It would be impossible not to.” He gave her fingers a squeeze and went back to eating.

She had a feeling he was talking more about himself than Kevin—and that was comforting. There were two male hearts she was set on winning, and it was nice to know she’d laid a solid foundation with one of them.

“Thanks for the encouragement. But he’s still going to miss Sanders.”

“The psychologist you have lined up will help him deal with that—and you will too. Are you going to be in your office tomorrow?” He finished off his salad and pulled a cookie from the sack.

“Yes, but I kept my schedule focused on paperwork rather than appointments. I knew you might need me to come at a moment’s notice.”

“Perfect.” The cookie was gone in a few large bites, and he washed it down with the last of his second soda. “I hate to eat and run, but Dev and his fiancée are supposed to pick out china tonight, and I promised I’d be back in an hour. I didn’t
expect an accident on I-270 or a long line at Panera to eat into our time together.”

“I appreciate the effort you made.”

“It was no effort.” He skimmed his fingers over her cheek. “And Dev won’t mind if I’m late. I’m certain he’d rather swelter in the heat—or eat slugs—than look at dishes. However, I do want to stay in Laura’s good graces.” He stuffed his napkin into his empty salad container and closed the lid. “Where do you want this?”

“I’ll take care of it.” She closed the lid of her own container, hiding the remaining half of her dinner.

“You’re going to finish that, right?” Connor stood.

“At home.”

“Promise?”

She nodded and rose as well. “Let me show you out.”

He followed her to the door, waiting while she twisted the locks and pulled it open. “Are you leaving soon?”

“Ten minutes.”

He touched her arm. “One more promise.”

Curious, she tipped her head. “What?”

“If you have any trouble sleeping tonight, call me.”

Gratitude tightened her throat. “No sense both of us being awake.”

“I’ll be on duty until midnight—and I doubt I’ll sleep much after that, either. Promise?”

No way did she intend to disrupt Connor’s night—so she left herself some wiggle room. “If I’m awake and need to hear a friendly voice, I’ll call. How’s that?”

“A hedge. But the offer’s there, and I hope you’ll take it if you need it.”

“Just knowing I have that option will help me sleep better.”

“I’ll call the second I hear from the lab.”

“I’ll be ready.”

As she watched him stride toward the main entrance, then disappear around a corner, her parting words echoed in her mind.

And as she slowly closed the door and prepared to call it a night, she hoped they were true.

Greg pulled into the parking lot of the mall behind his house, aimed the rental car toward the far end, and let out a long, slow breath.

Everything was falling into place.

Emilio’s friend had come through for him, and their new identities had been waiting for him in today’s mail.

He’d withdrawn his entire checking and savings account balance on his way home from work, a sizable enough sum to last for a while since he’d spent little during their years in Montana except to pay down debt.

In a few minutes, he and Todd would be back in their house, their getaway car safely stowed where he could load it up in a trip or two under the cover of night.

And in five hours, they’d be on their way out of town . . . after he paid a visit to Kate Marshall and tied up that one loose end. Piece of cake, since she lived alone. That nugget of info from Diane had proven very helpful.

So far, so good.

“I still don’t get why we can’t take our truck.”

He sighed. His son was proving to be more of a glitch than he’d expected.

“Like I told you before, it’s getting older. I don’t want to have a breakdown while we’re on vacation and get stuck somewhere. Do you?”

“I guess not . . . but why can’t we park this car in our driveway?”

Greg glanced in the rearview mirror. Todd’s brow was
furrowed, and he was hugging the Cardinals bear tight against his chest. Obviously he hadn’t bought the explanation that advertising their camping trip to neighbors would alert everyone the house was empty and create a security risk. Plus, Todd was picking up on his elevated adrenaline, attuned as usual to the subtle vibes around him.

That didn’t bode well for the rationale he’d concocted about why they had to change names—but he’d have ten days to work on that. They just had to get past the next few hours.

“Sometimes robbers watch neighborhoods to see when people are on vacation.” He kept his voice even and calm as he pulled into the parking space and shut off the engine, one eye on the lot in the rearview mirror. This end wasn’t too populated, but he wanted to make sure no one was around to notice him and Todd slipping through the hedge. “If newspapers pile up, or houses stay dark, or they see people loading luggage in their car, they figure it’s safe to come back in a day or two and break in. We wouldn’t want that to happen, would we?”

“No. But what would they take from us? We don’t have anything that costs a lot of money, do we?”

Good point. Other than a bulky TV that would be difficult to transport, they had nothing worth stealing.

“No, but a thief wouldn’t know that until after he broke in.” Greg took one more quick scan of the lot. All clear. He motioned toward the hedge. “Want to race me to the basement door?”

Todd’s face lit up, and he grabbed the door handle. “Yeah!”

“You remember where we came through the hedge?”

“Yeah. Right over there.” Todd pointed to a slight gap in the greenery.

“That’s it. On your mark. Get set. Go!”

Todd was out the door in a flash. Greg followed more slowly, taking time to lock the car, but was close on Todd’s heels as the boy dived through the hedge.