Drawing The Line (Mistaken Identity Series)

by Sylvia Hubbard

  "Costa has been the owner for the past five years, which does confirm it belongs to the Tyrex scandal unless he owns other property," she said. "He acquired the land through a non taxed transfer, which means it was a relative that gave it to him." Looking more deeply through the report, she found the information she was looking for and explained this to Jeremiah as they started to head back to the offices. "It was previously owned by an Eric St. Charles."

  "Who has been paying the taxes on it?" Jeremiah questioned.

  She looked at the other form and saw Helen St. Charles. "She has been paying all the property taxes on this for the last five years and before that Minion Chemicals." Gasping, her thoughts summarized everything. "Eric St. Charles must be Helen's husband!" Shane surmised. "Do you think I should tell my boss?"

  He shrugged warily. "Do you trust him?"

  “He seemed just as oblivious about the land as I was, but after what I heard on the phone last night I couldn't be so sure and that he just hasn't put two and two together since he doesn't know about the tag yet. What if we get directly in touch with the senator?"

  "Do you think you could without raising suspicion until you can meet with him?" Jeremiah asked doubtfully.

  She knew with Paul's help she probably could.

  ***

  Troy turned around in the front seat and said, "While you were on the phone with the senator, Rachel called from the office."

  Annoyed at the woman, Andrew growled, "What did she want?"

  The assistant shrugged. "She wouldn't tell me, sir. She said she wanted to speak with you."

  Andrew huffed perturbed and called the office. Soon as Rachel got on the line, he barked, "What?!"

  She was a little put off by his tone of voice. "I just thought you wanted to know, your new intern canceled her appointment to go out on the field with Desmond in order to catch a quickie with a very handsome Spanish guy driving a Neon."

  "When did this occur?" he demanded to know, shifting very uncomfortably in his seat.

  "They've been gone for about almost an hour," she sang cheerily, and then decided to change the subject. "Will we be sitting down today to discuss the Christmas party?"

  "Did she say anything?" he asked, ignoring her request.

  "She said to call her on her cell phone if anyone wanted to contact her. You know, she looked really glad to see him. I think they even kissed when she got in the car. Now about the Christmas party, Mr. Watkins?"

  "Troy will meet with you, Ms. Peck. Did Shane say when she'll be back?" he asked.

  "It's Shane is it?" Rachel asked suspiciously.

  "Dammit! Quit fucking playing, Ms. Peck," he hissed in the phone.

  "NO!" she exclaimed exasperated. "She only said to call her, OKAY?!"

  He disconnected the call wanted to throw the damn phone out the window. "Get to the office," he ordered the driver.

  Troy looked back cautiously, "I thought you were going to breakfast with-"

  "Call him up and cancel, dammit! Do you fucking think I care?!"

  The assistant turned around immediately and made the necessary call, while Andrew sat in the back and turned over in his mind that this man could be that was with Shane and would this man impede upon his plans for Shane.

  ***

  "I'll call you tomorrow," she promised just as they arrived in front of Andrew's offices. "Same time as today."

  "You be careful, Beautiful," Jeremiah warned.

  Shane hugged him in reassurance. "Aren't I always?"

  As they moved away, Shane saw that Andrew's limousine had pulled up out of nowhere and Andrew was standing on the sidewalk glaring at them.

  Chapter 19

  "He sure does like you," Jeremiah noted.

  She gave him a brief look of "you-don't-know-the-half-of-it."

  Smiling knowingly, Jeremiah said, "Watch this." He got out of his side and came around to the passenger side to help her out.

  Shane blushed knowing Jeremiah was deliberately trying to make Andrew jealous and the ploy worked as Jeremiah whispered a goodbye in her ear and drove off. She could just imagine the Hispanic rogue in his car tickled to death.

  "I thought you said you weren't involved?" Andrew asked immediately as she started going in the building.

  She looked around to see if anyone in particular was nearby. Once she assessed they were semi-private, she said, "I'm not. He's a friend from school helping me with some research."

  "What research?"

  Feeling her distrust from his phone conversation, she didn’t want to go in explanation until she felt more comfortable. "You know Andrew, I have another life other than work," she said annoyed.

  He looked as if he wanted to say something against that yet wouldn't speak. Andrew stiffened his lips and opened the office door.

  Shane had a feeling Andrew had been told of her meeting with Jeremiah from the wicked look in Rachel's eyes as they walked in the office together.

  "Did I get any calls?" Shane asked Rachel, pausing briefly knowing Andrew was just waiting for her to get inside the office with him.

  He walked ahead and went into the office, but he didn't close the door.

  "No calls," Rachel said with that mischievous look in those sapphire blue eyes of hers.

  Bracing herself, Shane walked in the office and as soon as she cleared the door, it slammed closed behind her. He was standing there looking at her as if she was supposed to pour out her whole life story.

  "And a good morning to you too, Andrew," she said going around to her cubicle.

  He closely followed her, "You don't think you should be telling me anything?"

  Shane looked down at the manila envelope in her hand, and then up at him trying to determine within herself if she should trust him. "I do, but you've got to calm down."

  "I am calm!" he said exasperated.

  She couldn't help but smile at his lost composure. He flushed knowing he was being ridiculous and jealous.

  Coolly, he admitted, "Fine, I think I can handle this. It's just I didn't think I would have to share you with others-" Andrew stopped himself and took a deep breath. "Could we start back over?"

  "Pull up a chair, Andrew. I have some things you should look over," she said, pulling out the material that Jeremiah had given her. She would tell him all about what she and Jeremiah had discovered and what they believed to be true, but she would omit the information about the tag to him, just to see if he would put everything together on his own. She wouldn't tell him about the key to the safe deposit box at the bank either.

  When she was done, Andrew asked, "So you were being honest about Jeremiah?"

  She huffed now exasperated. "Have you listened to anything I've said, Andrew?"

  He nodded. "I listened to every word, Shane," he assured her. "Do you really think this is the land Tyrex doesn't want anyone to know about?"

  "I think so."

  "But you stated, Costa could have owned other property," he refuted.

  "What about the hydrochloric samples?"

  Andrew just didn't want to go in front of the senator and look a fool if this was all wrong. Shane was new to this business. Although she looked perfect on paper, he felt the need to protect her reputation if her hunches were wrong despite all the evidence she had. "Alright, I'll take this information to the senator myself," he promised, reaching to gather up everything.

  She stopped his hands immediately. "I don't think so, Andrew. I want to be in that meeting."

  "You can't meet the senator," he said obviously.

  "And why not?"

  He didn't want to go into that explanation so he just turned the conversation around, "You don't trust me to do it correctly, Shane? Or do you think I'll take the credit?"

  "A little bit of both, Andrew."

  Sitting back with disbelief she would actually admit this out loud, he said, "Fine, I'll present part of what you have to him and see if he will he take a meeting with you."

  "When Andrew?" she said impatiently. "If we wait any lon
ger they might find a way to move those canisters again."

  "We don't know for sure the canisters are there," he said.

  "I'm sure. And I have the bruises to prove it, even if you don’t think I’m intelligent enough to have good hunches.”

  He stared hard at her and Shane could see he was clearly hiding his emotions and she couldn't for the life of her read what he could be thinking, but she did have a small feeling that somehow she had read his mind.

  Leaning forward, Andrew said, "I'll speak to him by tonight to confirm a meeting with us tomorrow and we can have dinner together tonight to discuss your presentation."

  Shane knew exactly what was on his mind now that the wicked glint had appeared in his eyes. Leaning forward in her most seductive voice, she said, "Why don't you make the meeting with the senator." She reached up and lightly caressed his smooth bottom lip liking the way the dark pink skin filled to show her touch affected him. "And give me a call tonight," she finished.

  He groaned and then chuckled knowing she had clearly gotten him. "Fine Shane. I'll do my best, but there are no guarantees if I can get my way."

  "You will," she said, moving back trying to hide her own arousal.

  Andrew stood and left the office obviously in a better mood because he was whistling.

  Passing by Rachel's desk, he paused a moment and looked down at her. "You know you shouldn't cause trouble in the office," he said to her.

  The beautiful office assistant looked a bit put out. "You shouldn't wear your emotions on your face so much, Mr. Watkins. You don't think I know what you feel for her? Ever since she came, you’ve been acting like a schoolboy around her."

  "Jealous?" he asked, but he didn't wait for her to answer. Andrew got back inside of his limousine and ordered the driver to take him over to his next appointment. On the way he contacted the senator.

  ***

  Shane didn't know what to wear tonight. She had saved enough money in her bank account for a little luxury like this, but once she got to the store to find something, she couldn't see anything she liked.

  Going to Fairlane Mall as a last resort, she saw a shop called Uniquity and decided to give the specialty boutique a try. A young woman about Shane's age approached her after a brief moment.

  "Hi, I'm Michelle. Can I help you?" she asked politely.

  The woman had a nice friendly smile, and Shane nodded. "I'm going out on a date and I need something... impressive."

  Michelle smiled wistfully. "You want to make them drool?" she asked bluntly.

  Shane chuckled. "That's about the point I would like to make," she agreed.

  Michelle found a beautiful dark tan mid calf length dress with a leopard print collar. The sales associate also picked out some beautiful leopard printed four-inch pumps.

  Shane tried on the dress with the shoes and saw that there was a split in the dress that reached up mid thigh on both side. "Is this too much?" she asked Michelle, stepping out the changing booth.

  "Oh no," Michelle said with the widest grin on her face. "I think you look gorgeous. You will turn heads."

  "What about stockings?" Shane questioned unsure, trying very much to get use to so much skin being exposed. Even the front of the dress had a low-neck line and was sleeveless.

  "No stockings needed. Your legs look fabulous. When I saw this dress I had your figure in mind."

  "You buy the dresses for this store?" Shane asked impressed.

  "I should. I own the store," Michelle admitted.

  Shane realized how much no one bothered Michelle and the other employees were so respectful to her. "You're so young," Shane said.

  Michelle smiled at the compliment. "It's called faith in oneself, Shane. I knew I could do business better than those other boutiques I worked in since I was sixteen. I had better taste, good business sense, and wanted something no one else had."

  "What was that?"

  "A good quality of clothing for those women like you and I."

  Shane chuckled with Michelle. "I'll take it," she said finally. "Thanks Michelle."

  "Anytime," Michelle said gratefully, handing Shane a business card. "I also do private shows as well."

  ***

  When Shane returned to the office, she was glad Rachel had gone for the day. She was able to complete a lot of work without the chatty manager around and turned in a daily report on Andrew's desk.

  While at the desk, she punched up Andrew's agenda on his computer. According to the calendar, he would be seeing clients until eight, and then there was a special note to get over to Mario's before nine. Shane hoped that meant Mario's place and not his restaurant.

  "Aren't you at the wrong desk?" Troy asked at the doorway startling Shane.

  Clicking the quick exit button to hide what was on the screen, she lied as calmly as possible, "My Internet went down, and I came over to check to see if his was working."

  Troy gave her a very distrustful look as he came over to the desk and saw just the desktop screen on the computer. "I don't think Mr. Watkins would care to know you're in his computer without his permission."

  She stood up and walked over to her desk asking. "Will Mr. Watkins return soon?"

  "He's not due back at the office until late tonight. Way after you have gone home," he stressed.

  She didn't respond to his cynicism as she sat at her desk. Hiding behind the cubicles, she could peek out the edge and saw Troy looking over the desk for something, but when he couldn't find what he was looking for, he left out glancing in her direction suspiciously.

  Shane quickly went out the office when she heard a door closed to see if Troy had left. Looking out the front door, she saw him getting in his black Grand Am, and driving off making a phone call at the same time. Hurriedly, she grabbed the clothes she had just purchased and went upstairs to the loft.

  No one was up here so she made use of the shower. There was a makeup case in her backpack along with hair supplies she had just bought.

  By eight o'clock, she was ready to go. She had swept her hair up into a very delicate French roll with curls coming down in a seductive way around her forehead, a little over her ear, and a light down fall in the back over her nape.

  Driving to the location, she arrived at about eight forty-five to a packed restaurant. It was Saturday night, so this was usual. Gaston was considered the hottest eating-place in the city.

  She decided to use the valet. Wearing a sleeveless dress did not go well with the wintertime so to completer her outfit Michelle had suggested a beautiful black thick wrap with a matching black purse with leopard print highlights. As soon as she entered, she saw the long line to get into the place. There were comfortable chairs and even couches for the people patiently waiting.

  Shane almost wanted to doubt that Paul had gotten a private booth, but she knew he would have called if his plans had changed.

  Going up to the host, she said, "I'm a guest of Paul Watson."

  The tall lean host didn't look at the book to see where the name was. She wasn't even led inside of the restaurant. Instead, the host took her down a short hallway, through a black curtained doorway and up some stairs. They walked past a bathroom, and he stopped at a thick white curtain covered doubled glass doors with gold accents. The curtains were on the other side of the door, so she couldn't peek inside.

  "Have a good night, ma’am," the host said, leaving her at the door alone.

  Shane realized it was going to be her responsibility to go through the door. Her heart hammered in her chest and she was positive the organ had started moving up her throat with its rapid vibrations.

  Placing her hand on the doorknob, she slowly turned the cold metal knowing she was about to change her life forever. There was no turning back now.

  The room seemed to go quiet as she stepped between the double doors to see two sets of eyes staring at her. What she couldn't believe is that one set of those eyes staring at her was familiar mint green!

  Chapter 20

  They stood upon realizing S
hane had walked in the room. Feeling very confused, she looked at Paul. He smiled with nervousness; yet seemingly glad to see her. "You know Mr. Watkins, Paul?" she asked.

  Paul stepped forward. "Yes, Shane."

  Shane looked over at Andrew, who was once again shielding his emotions from the present awkwardness.

  "He's my brother, Shane," Paul said quietly.

  Each word hit her ear like acid. She wasn't sure when she stopped breathing, but she had to grab the table because the room had started to spin.

  Paul reached out to comfort her, but she knocked his hand away, her eyes wide in panic.

  "You knew! All this time you knew, Paul."

  "Shane, why don't you have a seat?" Paul suggested.

  Shane looked at Andrew. "Why? Why did you deceive me?"

  Paul spoke up, "It wasn't his idea, Shane."

  She couldn't believe sweet Paul would have devised something so devious. Looking over to Paul, she asked, "Why?"

  "We had to be sure, Shane. We had to know you would be receptive to both of us and that you could care just enough for us, to keep the secret," he explained. "Andrew agreed to do this for me. Not because he wants the company, but because it's what I want for him."

  He pulled a chair out. "Please Shane, sit down, before you pass out."

  Warily she did not dare to look at Andrew. "I don't think I can do this," she announced.

  "Shane, please just listen-" Paul insisted.

  "No, Paul, you listen," she cut him off. "You've deceived me. You've lied to me."

  "We never lied," Andrew defended. "We just never told you the entire truth, but you never asked. We allowed you to assume what you wanted to assume, Shane."

  She braved herself to meet those ice green eyes. "You could have told me what was going on in the beginning and taken your chances."

  "No, we couldn't, Shane," Andrew denied. "You are aware of Paul's condition and you're aware of the deceit we all plan to be apart of. If we told you everything in the beginning without being sure you would stick to the plan even after Paul's death, we could not have been able to judge you correctly."