Chapter 73
Iam acutely aware of my wife beside me in the car, while I have Debbie on the phone that is presently pressed to my ear, and I have no doubt that Cat knows this is her. Debbie is trying to get to me through Cat and it’s pissing me off. “How did you get my number?” I repeat.
“I’m resourceful,” she says, “most mothers are for their children.”
“I take it the real father doesn’t have money, so you thought you’d just take mine.”
Cat’s hand come down on my arm and she whispers. “Careful. Buy time.”
I inhale and say, “Deal with my attorney, not me, but let me be clear: Go near Cat again and I will go to the police, and she’ll go to the press. She’s not one to be held captive by threats anymore than I am.”
“I have video of us fucking. Do you want me to send it to Cat for her journalistic use?”
My jaw flexes. “Send it. It can be dated, in many ways, by a forensic specialist and I won’t even have to wait until that baby is born to prove you as the liar you are. I’ll tell Cat and Reid to expect it.” I disconnect and press two fingers to the bridge of my nose.
“There’s a video,” Cat says, her breath rasping from her throat, and when I look at her, her fingers are digging into her leg.
“She’s probably bluffing,” I say. “It’s a last-ditch move to intimidate me into paying up. It’s blackmail and I think it’s time we go to the police.”
She looks at me, her skin pale. “Right. We probably need to.”
“I’ll talk to Royce,” Savage says. “If you do that, we’ll get our contacts involved, people we trust.”
I turn to Cat. “Sweetheart—”
“I’m fine, Reese. I’m fine. I know this was from before my time. It’s just a lot right now.”
“I know. You know I love you and I want to make this go away.”
“I do,” she says. “You are not to blame. I don’t want to see that recording though if it exists. Never.”
“I understand. I wouldn’t either.”
“She’s bluffing,” Savage says. “There’s no tape. This is the bitch of blackmail we’re dealing with. I feel sorry for that kid, and for the rest of us since she’s the one raising him.” He pulls us to the side of the courthouse.
“Cat—”
“I’m fine. Go give me a court performance to keep my mind off of this.”
Savage exits the SUV. I pull Cat to me and kiss her, and I make sure I do it well, and the pain I taste on her tongue guts me. “Come back with me.”
“No. You need to focus. When you walk in that door, the job is what matters. I’ll be there watching.”
Savage opens Cat’s door and I follow her out of the vehicle. I pull her close and we walk inside the courthouse only to have Richard waiting for us just inside. “Dana told you about the message she copied between her boyfriend and the prosecution,” I assume.
He huddles in with me and Cat. “The boyfriend is here. He came to tell us about it. He says he was trying to find out what they had on Dana.”
“Or he knows she busted him,” Cat says before I can.
“Exactly,” Richard says. “But Dana believes him.”
Royce walks in behind us. “I have something for you,” he says, handing me a folder. “It’s trial related.”
I open the envelope to find a shot of the assistant working for Dana’s father for the past few years, and she’s naked with Mr. Warren. “How the hell did you get this?”
“We work magic. My brother is a hacker, remember? She had it on her hard drive which may or may not have had a nefarious purpose. That’s unclear. She’s on the prosecution’s list.”
I file that away for a moment. “Debbie.”
“Savage just told me. We’re working on solutions. We’re keeping Cat close.”
“I am,” Savage assures me.
“I’m ready to be the only man keeping her close,” I say and turn to Cat. “I need to go.”
“I can’t wait to see what you do with this,” she says, her eyes filled with excitement over this new development. I love the way she’s so inside my world.
I wrap my arm around her and pull her close, my lips near her ear. “You’re everything to me,” and with that, I turn and start walking with Richard falling into step behind me.
“What are you thinking?” Richard asks.
“That I need the boyfriend out of my face and Dana alone in a room.”
We turn the corner to our private office areas and Elsa is waiting at the conference room door. “She’s in there with him.”
I open the door and I don’t even look at Reginald. I focus on Dana. “I need to see you alone.”
She looks at Reginald. “See you later.”
He walks over to kiss her, a tall man with dark hair and an appropriately chosen tattoo sleeve featuring a Harley since he owns a chop shop. He gives me a nod that I don’t return. I’m not convinced he’s innocent. The minute the door shuts, Dana says, “You heard that he setup the prosecutor.”
“Tell me about your father’s assistant.”
“Martha. She’s sweet. I like her.”
“And tell me why she’s on the prosecutor’s list.”
“I assume because she’ll testify about me fighting with my father.”
“And what’s the worst thing she ever heard you say?”
“‘I hate you.’ Probably many times.”
That’s not good, but I’m prepared for it. “Did you know she was fucking your father?”
She blanches. “Martha. No. No way. That didn’t happen.”
“It did. I have proof.”
I toss the envelope on the conference table. She looks inside and shoves the photos out of sight. “Did she do it?”
“If she did, she’s going to come at you hard. What is she going to say?”
“I told you. I screamed that I hated him numerous times.”
“Do not leave anything out. I need to know.”
“I’m not leaving anything out.”
I consider her a moment. “Are you sure Reginald didn’t figure out that you checked his messages?”
“I don’t see how. No. He couldn’t have. We can take down the prosecutor now, right?”
“We can, but that means there’s a potential trial delay. Is that what you want? It gives us time to prove who really killed your father, but it could give the prosecutor time to strengthen his case and it drags this out for you. More money. More time. More hell.”
“They can’t prove I did what I didn’t do, but I want this over with. I also need to trust your instincts. What do we do?”
“We decide at the end of today.”
“Why today?”
“Because Martha’s on the stand today.”
I turn and exit to the hallway to join Richard and Elsa in the hallway. “Are you going after the prosecutor?”
“We decide after I’m done with Martha today.” I look up to find Royce walking in our direction. “Make sure Dana’s head is on right for today,” I say. “I’ll be right back.”
I step around them and meet Royce a few feet away. “Is there any connection between the boyfriend and the assistant?”
“Nothing we’ve found yet, but we always look for connected dots. I suspect the assistant thought she would get some payday, in some way. If the boyfriend wanted the same, they fit together.” He moves on. “Wilson Moore, the attorney I told you was involved with Debbie. We pulled camera footage from places Cat frequents and we picked up images of him following her for a good month now. He’s also in financial trouble, neck deep in debt he took out with some pretty rough people.”
“He’s desperate.”
“Yes. And that’s not the same thing as just scheming for a payday like Debbie. Desperate people worry me. They do desperate things. If there’s a recording of you with Debbie, they’ll use it, but that’s the least of my concerns. They could go after Cat in a bigger way. I think you might want to get Cat out of town.”
“Fuck. She’s not going to leave without me.”
“You’re going to have to make her.”
“It’s time,” Richard calls out.
I scrub my jaw. “I’ll talk to you at the break.”
I turn and meet-up with my client and team, and when I walk into that courtroom and my eyes meet Cat’s, I’m not distracted, I’m motivated. Cat in danger is the best thing that ever happened to Dana. I’m after a confession today from the real killer and I’m going to get one, too. I’m going to end this trial. And then, I’m putting my wife on a plane, with me by her side. Once I get her out of harm’s way, I’ll go after Wilson Moore and Debbie with every ounce of my force.