Chapter 39
Chapter Thirty-Nine
I t was nearly eleven p.m. by the time Mitch got the call he’d been expecting. He went straight to Lucas’s. Angelo had returned.
Lucas met him at the door. “Hey. Come on in.”
“Thanks.” Mitch’s stomach was in knots. Ruthie’s future was on the line. He followed Lucas in.
“You want something to drink? A beer? Coffee? Soda?”
Mitch shook his head, then changed his mind. “Maybe a beer.”
“Sure.” Lucas went toward the fridge. “Angie’ll be out in a minute. He was just getting a shower.”
“Did he say anything?”
Lucas handed Mitch a longneck bottle. “No. He doesn’t share a lot of information about his cases with me. I don’t expect him to, either.”
Mitch nodded. “I can respect that.” He twisted the top off the bottle and took a sip.
Angelo came out in shorts and a T-shirt, hair damp. “Mitch.” He pointed at Lucas. “Can I get one of those?”
Lucas got another beer out and handed it to his brother.
Angelo popped the top and drank, then set it on the counter. “Have a seat in front of that laptop.”
Mitch did as he asked. Angelo came over and ran his finger across the touchpad to wake up the screen. The laptop asked for identification. He pressed his finger to the fingerprint scanner, and it let him in. A paused video waited.
“As you know,” Angelo said. “I recorded the interaction on two cameras. I’ve got both feeds on a memory stick for you to take with you. I’d suggest you make copies of the videos and keep them in safe places, should the need arise for you to prove this was all on the up and up. Or maybe, sometime in the future, Addison needs a little reminder that she did this willingly.”
Mitch nodded. “All right. But did she sign the paperwork?”
Angelo smiled and spread his hands out. “Did she sign. I told you I’d get the job done and I did. You watch this and I’ll be back with everything you need.” He tapped the touchpad and the video started. He left.
Mitch leaned in.
For a moment, there were just random people walking through what looked like a coffee shop.
Then a young blond woman appeared. Addison. Angelo, who wasn’t visible because he was wearing the camera—in a buttonhole, if Mitch had to guess—stood. Maybe something clipped to his lapel. Hard to tell from the angle. The audio was decent, meaning he must have had a microphone on him, too.
Angelo held his hand out, but his hand was all that was visible. “Addison?”
She turned and nodded, expression wary, but then a quick, tight smile as she shook his hand. “Yes. You’re Angelo?”
“That’s right. Do you want something to drink while we talk?”
Quick shake of the head. “No, I’m fine.” She took a seat. “You said you had a deal for me? Is it a product you want me to endorse?”
Angelo sat back down. “Something like that.” A brief pause. “How does twenty thousand dollars sound?”
Addison blinked, then smiled and gave a little laugh. A real smile this time. “Sounds great. What’s the product?”
“No product.” The camera shifted slightly and something briefly blocked the picture, then Angelo’s hand appeared with a check in it. He laid it on the table. “Here’s the money.”
She picked it up and looked at it. “So what’s the catch?”
“No catch.” Again the camera was obscured, then Angelo laid more papers on the table between them. “All you have to do to leave with that check is sign these papers.” After blocking the camera a third time, he added a pen to the paperwork.
Mitch’s heart thumped harder in his chest. Angelo returned from the bedroom with a manila envelope and laid it on the counter next to the laptop, but Mitch kept watching the screen.
Addison had picked up the paperwork and was looking it over. Her gaze returned to Angelo. “This is a custody agreement.”
“It absolves you of any responsibility for the kid. I know you didn’t want her. Kyle knows that, too. It’s no big deal. Kids are a lot of work, am I right?”
Her smile was gone, but she didn’t look angry. More…irritated. She set the paperwork down. “He told you that?”
Angelo seemed to shrug. “I was made aware of the situation. This way, you both come out of the situation with your needs met. One hand washes the other, so to speak. You’re good with that, right?”
She looked at the check again. Touched the edge of it.
Angelo spoke again. “Twenty Gs. All yours. No question. No fuss. No bother. Just sign.”
Addison glanced up at Angelo, her fingers remaining on the check. “And there’s no catch? I sign and the money is mine? I don’t have to do anything with the baby?”
Mitch frowned. Couldn’t she remember Ruthie’s name or didn’t she care?
“No catch. Just sign and the money is yours and you never have to hear from Kyle again. You don’t have to worry about that. Just sign and I’m outta your hair. Unless…” Angelo’s hand inched toward the check.
Addison picked up the pen. “I didn’t want that kid. He knew that.”
“And once you sign, it’ll be a done deal. You can get on with your life. Twenty thousand in the bank. Win-win.”
Addison hesitated one more second. Then she pressed the pen to the paper and signed her name on the line indicated. Her eyes narrowed. She pushed the pen and papers back toward Angelo and quickly grabbed the check. “We’re done? That’s it?”
Angelo picked up the paperwork, presumably to be sure she’d signed it properly. It momentarily blocked the lens, then he was folding it. “We’re done. The money’s all yours.”
She stuffed the check in her purse and left like she couldn’t go fast enough.
The video feed ended. Mitch exhaled and looked at Angelo. “You didn’t even have to use the other checks.”
He shook his head. “You saw. She never even tried to negotiate. I figured with her kinda debt, putting that check in front of her was all the incentive she’d need. I have a sense for these things.” He patted the envelope next to the laptop. “The custody agreement, the extra checks, and the memory stick with the videos are all in here. Anything else I can do for you, my friend?”
Mitch’s pulse returned to normal. He took another sip of his beer. It was over. No one was going to take Ruthie from them. And all Addison had thought his granddaughter was worth was twenty thousand dollars. She didn’t deserve the child. “No. We’re good. I’m good. Thank you.”
“Thank you for the business. Anytime you need me, you know how to get ahold of me.”
Mitch nodded, took one last swig from the bottle, then picked up the envelope. “I do. Enjoy the rest of your visit.”
“I plan on it.”
Mitch glanced at Lucas. “Thanks. Talk to you soon.”
Lucas lifted his hand.
Mitch saw himself out. He was happy, of course, but also oddly numb. He sat behind the wheel of the golf cart, thinking, as he started it up. Ruthie was Kyle’s. Completely.
He drove home, the knowledge of that settling over him. The strangest aspect of it all was how a small part of him felt sorry for Addison.
Did she care at all? Would the day come when she’d regret what she’d done? When she’d want to see Ruthie? And what would they tell Ruthie when she eventually asked about her mother? A version of the truth, obviously.
But he hoped she never had to learn that her mother had given her up for a measly twenty grand. He prayed there was never a reason for her to see that video. And that there was never a reason that he or Kyle would have to use it.
The whole business was sad and heartbreaking in a way Mitch couldn’t quantify. It wasn’t as if he’d hoped Kyle and Addison would work things out and be a happy family with Ruthie. He’d gotten what he wanted.
But that strange melancholy remained.
He parked in the garage and took the envelope with him upstairs. He put it on his desk in his office, then went into Ruthie’s room. She was asleep, at least for a couple more hours. He sat in the rocking chair they’d recently added, and just watched her through the bars of the crib.
She was home. And always would be, at least until Kyle decided he wanted to live somewhere else. Mitch hoped that didn’t happen for a long time. He’d be just fine if they never left.
As for Addison…the decision was hers to live with, but the paperwork was signed.
Would he have felt better if she’d pushed for more money? Probably. But that wasn’t on him. His solitary focus had been to protect Ruthie. To provide the best possible life for her.
And that was exactly what he was going to continue to do.