18
W
hen Jonas walked through the door of Phoenix-Wade Investigations, his mind was on his conversation with Deanna. He hadn’t meant to hurt her, and that’s exactly what he’d done. Damned if he could figure out a way to make it right, though. It was as if he was destined to mess up every time he opened his fool mouth around the woman. Their weekend had gone so well too. Damn it. A curse from across the room tore Jonas out of his miserable thoughts.
“Piece of crap,” Wade muttered as he pounded on the keys of his laptop.
Jonas chuckled. “It’s not the computer—it’s the user.”
Wade’s head shot up. “It’s about time you got here. It’s been a hell of a day so far.”
Jonas snorted. “I hear ya.” When he reached the side of Wade’s desk, he shoved at his shoulder and ordered, “Get up so I can see what damage you’ve done.”
Wade stood and raked a hand through his hair. “I’m like jinxed with this stupid thing. Whenever I touch it, something new screws up.”
As Jonas went to work fixing Wade’s computer—again—he asked, “So, tell me about this woman claiming to be Gracie’s sister.”
“Her name is Catherine Michaels. She called Gracie this morning and told her that she tracked her down through some letters she found.”
Jonas hit a few more keys, then turned the computer off. “Letters?” he asked as he waited for it to finish shutting down.
“Yeah. She says she never knew about them until recently. Apparently, Catherine’s adoptive mother had them stored away. Catherine found them when she began to deal with her parents’ estate. Catherine’s biological mother wrote the letters and sent them to Catherine’s adoptive parents.”
Jonas frowned. “And Catherine is claiming that the woman in the letters is not only her mother, but Gracie’s as well?”
“Yep.”
“Well, you have a name, at least. That’s a place to start. Anything else?”
“She gave us her address and phone number. She seemed to understand our need to look into her story.”
“What did Gracie say? And why didn’t her father know about this woman?”
Wade threw his hands up. “Gracie’s all ecstatic. Wants to meet her.” His voice turned hard. “And Gracie’s family tree is so crooked, who knows if Gracie’s dad even knows about Catherine.”
Jonas scowled. “Damn, Wade, if this woman turns out to be some nutjob, Gracie’s going to be crushed. Why didn’t you stop her?”
“Christ, I didn’t know about the woman’s phone call until after the fact! When I told Gracie we’d need to run a background check on Catherine, she went ballistic.” Wade slumped into the chair across from the desk. “I might be sleeping on the couch tonight.”
Jonas hit the power button and watched as Wade’s computer came back on without any trouble. “Bummer, man. Good news, though, your computer is working.”
Jonas stood and went to his own computer and booted it up. He took the business card out of his shirt pocket that had Valdez’s information on it and stared at it. It looked so innocent. Jonas could understand why Deanna would think the man was an upstanding guy. A regular businessman. Jonas knew better. He’d seen Valdez’s type too many times to count, and if there’s one thing he’d learned, it’s that dirtbags rarely actually looked like dirtbags.
“Thanks,” Wade said as he took his seat back. “So, how’d the weekend with Deanna go?”
Jonas chuckled. “Took you long enough to ask. Afraid I corrupted her, are you?”
Wade glared at him from across their desks. “Don’t be a prick. That’s my sister you’re talking about.”
Jonas winced. “That was a dumbass thing to say. Sorry.”
Wade waved the apology away. “Yeah, yeah. So ... ?”
“The weekend was great. Hell, better than great. She was great. We were great together. But I’m pretty much in the doghouse with her right now, which isn’t so great.”
Wade sat back in his chair and folded his hands behind his head. “Did you do something I’m going to have to punch you for?”
Jonas rolled his eyes. “Nothing like that. I pretty much told her to drop her latest client because I think he might be bad news. As you can imagine, she didn’t really care for that highhanded idea.”
Wade shook his head. “Deanna doesn’t like to be told what to do. Dad used to have a hell of a time getting her to mind him. Stubborn as hell from the time she could walk, he used to say.”
“Stubborn and smart and sexy and funny and sarcastic.” Jonas let out a breath. “She’s the whole package.”
Wade quirked a brow. “Sounds like you’re serious about her.”
“I’m pretty sure I’m in love with her, which is why it sucks that she’s so pissed at me right now.”
“Deanna doesn’t hold a grudge. You two will figure it out.” He frowned. “But this client. What makes you think he’s bad news?”
Jonas glared. “His name.” He got out of the chair and handed the business card over to Wade.
Wade took it. A few seconds later, he cursed. “You’re joking. Tell me my sister isn’t anywhere near that motherfucker.”
Jonas shook his head and sat back down, then started to run a search on Catherine Michaels. “She’s waiting for me to check him out first. But she’s excited by the design she did for him. I feel like it’s partly my fault that she’s going to have to scrap the whole thing.”
“It’s not your fault that Valdez is the scum of the earth. If she’s promised to stay away from him until you can get her some answers, then get her some answers.”
Jonas continued searching. “I intend to,” he vowed. “The only thing that matters is Deanna’s safety.”
“Agreed.” The front door chimed, signaling someone’s arrival, and Wade frowned. “Were you expecting anyone?”
“No.” Jonas stopped what he was doing and stood. “We need a receptionist.” He frowned at Wade. “Why don’t we have a receptionist?”
Wade shrugged. “Hell if I know. Maybe we should put out an ad.”
“Good idea.” Jonas headed for the front room. “In the meantime, I’ll go see who that is.”
“And I’m going to check a few of my sources and see what I can find out about Valdez.”
Jonas nodded. “The sooner we have proof, the better.”
“I’m sorry to just burst in here like this without an appointment. I didn’t know where else to turn.”
“It’s not a problem.” Jonas watched as Ray Moseley paced back and forth. He’d known the guy for years. They’d met at a Cleveland Browns football game and had been friends ever since. Still, Jonas had never seen him so frantic. He looked as if he hadn’t slept in weeks.
“Just start at the beginning, Ray,” Jonas offered.
“It’s that damn Valdez,” Ray said, waving a hand in the air. “That bastard has Cade hooked on cocaine.”
Jonas tensed when he heard the drug dealer’s name in combination with Ray’s seventeen-year-old son. “Terrance Valdez?”
“The one and only.”
Jonas was getting a headache, and he was beginning to really hate that goddamn name. “How did you find out that Cade is mixed up with that guy?”
“I installed a chat-nanny program on Cade’s computer without him knowing it.”
The computer geek in Jonas was impressed. “Some would say that’s an invasion of privacy. Not me, of course. I’m all about invading one’s privacy.”
“Some don’t have a son bent on destroying his future.”
“I don’t imagine raising a teenager is a picnic.”
“That’s just it; Cade has always been a good kid. Always on the honor roll. He plays the trumpet in his school band too. He’s really good. Cade isn’t the type to skip school and go to parties. I’ve never had to deal with any of that like most parents do.” Ray shook his head. “Lately that’s all he seems to be doing, and I’m not sure what to do.”
“Let’s take one problem at a time. So, you decided to find out what he’s up to. That’s a good start. What’d you find out?”
“Nothing at first. A lot of talk about girls, favorite bands, lame movies. All the normal stuff. Then the other day he was instant-messaging with someone with the user name ‘addicted241. ’ ” He pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to him. “It’s all there. See for yourself.”
Jonas scanned the chat transcript and whistled low when he reached the bottom. “ ‘Gonna take you up on that offer,’ ” Jonas read aloud. “ ‘Valdez is loaded. Might as well have a piece of that since he’s willing to share.’ ”
“He’s supposed to meet with him on Friday, Jonas,” Ray said as he started pacing again. When their gazes met, Jonas could see his friend’s anguish. He looked as if he’d aged ten years since Jonas had last seen him, which had only been a few months ago.
Jonas folded the paper and said, “I’ll take care of it, Ray. In the meantime, hang tight. Cade’s a good kid. He’s mixed up with some nasty people, but he’ll come around.”
“Everything changed after Karen died last year.” He looked down at the floor and shook his head. “She was a terrific wife and the best mom a kid could ask for. Unfortunately, I haven’t been the best father.”
After Ray’s wife had died from breast cancer, Ray had fallen apart for a while. But he’d picked himself up, for Cade’s sake. “Don’t beat yourself up. Let me see what I can find out about Valdez. The sooner he’s put away, the better off this whole county will be.”
“How will you get enough evidence? He seems to be untouchable.”
“That’s because he has kids like Cade do all his dirty work for him. But we’ll get him. Don’t worry. In the meantime, get Cade into rehab. The sooner you two confront this issue, the better.”
“He’s not going to want to go, not without a fight.”
“Then you fight,” Jonas insisted. “When it’s family, when it’s someone you love, you do what you have to.” Jonas thought of Deanna. He loved her and he would do whatever he had to in order to keep her safe.
Ray nodded. “Thanks, Jonas. I owe you.”
Jonas waved a hand in the air. “You’re a friend, Ray. Do what you can for Cade and let me handle the rest. I’ll call you as soon as I know something.”
After Ray left, Jonas headed back into his office and started continuing the search for information on Michaels. He wanted to get it out of the way so he could concentrate all his efforts on taking down Valdez. After about an hour, Jonas found what he was looking for.
“Okay, I had to do a bit of hacking, but I got it,” Jonas said as he looked at Wade across the room.
Wade glanced up from his computer. “What do you have?”
“Catherine Michaels, twenty-five years old. Adopted by Russ and Jean Michaels. She’s an only child.”
Wade rolled his eyes. “Show-off.”
Jonas chuckled. “She’s not married. Her parents ...” Jonas grimaced. “Damn.”
“What about her parents?”
“They died in a car accident. A semi lost control. They were killed instantly.”
“That’s rough.”
“Catherine grew up in Atlanta, Georgia. No criminal record, unless you count a few parking tickets. I don’t know, Wade. I think this woman is legit.” Jonas clicked a link to an article, and a picture popped up. It was a write-up in the Sunday edition of what appeared to be a small, local newspaper about Catherine Michaels’s prize-winning roses. “Uh, she’s definitely Gracie’s sister.”
“How do you know?”
Jonas pointed to the monitor. “I’m looking at her picture. She could be Gracie’s twin, Wade.”
Wade shot out of his chair. In two strides, he was next to Jonas’s desk and staring at the computer screen. “Wow. Right down to the red hair and green eyes. It’s uncanny.”
Jonas leaned back. “I say invite her here and have her bring the letters.”
Wade straightened. “I’m going to have to eat crow, aren’t I?”
“Yes. But the upside is that Gracie has a sister, and you won’t have to sleep on the couch.” He grinned as he hit the PRINT button.
“That’s a damn good upside,” Wade said as he went to the printer and took the picture out of the cradle. “Oh, man, Gracie’s going to cry when she sees this.”
“After living with a drunk for a father her whole life, I’d say she’s due for some good family news.”
“What good family news?”
At the feminine voice, Jonas swiveled around in his chair and saw Gracie standing in the connecting doorway to the converted warehouse that she and Wade called home.
“Hi, angel,” Wade said as he went to her and pulled her into his arms.
As Wade kissed her, Jonas felt a pang of jealousy for his friend. What he wouldn’t give to have Deanna to come home to every night.
“You’re home early.”
“Yeah, it was a slow day, so Marie let me go early,” she explained as she stepped out of Wade’s arms. Gracie looked at Jonas and asked, “What’s this about good family news? Is it about Catherine?” Gracie crossed her arms over her chest. “You two look like you’re up to something. Out with it.”
Jonas looked at Wade for help. Wade handed Gracie the picture and said, “She’s definitely your sister, Gracie.”