“Yes, he’s Cade’s lawyer,” her mother said. “I’ll let him into the living room.”
Andie shooed the dogs outside and washed her hands. Cade’s lawyer was here? This was important. Hopefully he had good news and Cade would be out of jail in a jiffy.
“Miss Wales,” Owen said, holding out his pudgy hand.
“Call me Andie. It’s nice to meet you.” She shook his hand and took a seat while her mother brought two tall glasses of ice tea. “How’s Cade doing?”
“He’s holding up.” Owen glanced out the window at Red and Gollie. “Sweet dogs. I’ve always wanted an Irish Setter.”
“Yeah, well, he’s Cade’s.” Andie took a sip from her tea. “Are you getting Cade out of jail soon?”
“Trying.” Owen pulled out a handkerchief and wiped his forehead. “I’m interviewing everyone who’s involved with him, picking their brains to get evidence which I’ll present to the judge. I might even go after them for wrongful arrest.”
“Great. I can help. I hope.” Andie folded her hands together. “I have a theory, and I’ve been researching everything I can about Cade. I believe it all started with that interception he threw in the Super Bowl. I bet it has to do with the gambling scandal. Someone’s trying to make him take the blame, even when he was cleared by the commissioner.”
“I’m thinking the same thing.” Owen wiped his lip. “Who do you think is involved?”
“Cade’s mother knows something. Remember, it was his sister who was jailed for running the bet. She’s a little fish. The question is, who was she working for and why are they trying to silence Barbara?”
“That’s what we have to find out. Who’s profiting from the gambling. You’re right. Cade’s mother is probably involved or knows something. She could even be blackmailing someone.”
“Oh, no!” Andie’s jaw dropped. “No wonder someone wants to knock her off. With Cade conveniently put in jail, they’ll be able to move forward without interference.”
“Exactly. You know what I’m thinking?” Owen’s eyes brightened. “Football season starts in less than three weeks. Whoever made a pile of money on the Super Bowl loss might want to start betting again.”
“Yes. Of course.” Andie picked up his train of thought. “And with Cade’s sister in jail, they’re going to need someone to run the bet.”
“Yes, someone no one would suspect.”
“Someone who can infiltrate their gang and expose them to the FBI.” She rubbed her hands together. They were getting somewhere. Yes!
“You think?” Owen hooked a significant glance at Andie.
“Definitely.” Andie’s heart thudded with excitement. “I can do it. Let me visit Cade’s sister in prison and find out how she did it.”
“Meanwhile I’ll get in touch with the FBI and set up a sting. Then we can put the bad guys away forever.”
Andie raised her fist for a bump. “Let’s do it.”
Owen bumped her fist. “Let’s do it real good.”
# # #
A day later, Andie sat across from Cade’s sister, Joanie, at the state prison for women. She and Owen had driven four hours to the facility in Chowchilla. The entire way, Owen had cheered her up with jokes and stories. The guy was a redhead too, balding, with bulging baby blue eyes, chubby cheeks, and a theatrically curled mustache.
“So, you’re the girl who captured my brother’s heart,” Joanie said with a wry expression marring her face. “He’s never, ever let his guard down.”
“How would you know?” Andie lifted her eyebrow, undaunted by the implied challenge. “Did you grow up with him?”
“I watched him long enough. What do you want from me?”
“Someone tried to murder your mother. Someone framed your brother. You know something or someone.”
“What if I do? You think I don’t want to live?” She shrugged and rolled her eyes.
“Of course you do. You’ll want to meet your nephew. He’s the sweetest little cherub.”
“Yeah, right. Cade never wanted a baby. I’m shocked he’d take responsibility.”
“There’s always a first time for anyone.” Andie studied the woman in front of her. Oh, she thought she was tough, and that she didn’t care—hardened and cynical, but she seemed to know a lot about what Cade wanted and didn’t want.
“Your mom seems happy about it. Cade had her babysitting before she overdosed.”
“That’s a shock.” Joanie wagged her head. “I never understood how Cade got snagged into this. He was always so careful.”
“You play, you pay. It happens all the time.”
“I guess. But still, I figured he’d just pay her to go away or something, like those other guys. You know, pay child support and have nothing to do with the brats.”
“What other guys?”
Joanie’s eyes clouded over and she waved her hand. “You know, you hear about it all the time. Some rapper gets someone pregnant. They do a deal under the table and life goes on. I mean, he supposedly cared about you, so why would he inject a baby into his life?”
“Beats me.” The talk about the baby wasn’t getting anywhere. Cade was obviously more mature than Joanie pegged him to be. Andie leaned toward the plastic partition. “The reason I came to see you is that I need some cash now that Cade’s in the pen. Thought I might get into some of the stuff you were into. You know, with the bets?”
“You seriously think I’m going to talk about it in here?” Joanie exaggeratedly glanced around the visitation booth. “Like this place is bugged.”
“Whatever. Maybe I’ll wear a wire. Do it for the cops, you know.”
“You crazy? They check for wires, and if they find one …” Joanie made a cut mark across her neck.
“I’ll take my chances,” Andie said. “I’m sure they’ll pay me well to be the go-between. How do I go about it? Say I need to place a bet for someone, but it has to be untraceable. What do I do?”
Joanie whistled and rolled her head on her neck. “Don’t let Cade know I told you. He’ll kill me himself.”
“You haven’t told me anything.”
“You really want in? Because I want my cut.”
“You got it.” Andie held the other woman’s gaze. “Who do I talk to, and where do I go?”
“I’ll have my people put out the word you’re interested. Word will get to the guys running the bets. Then, on game day, you go to the Sparks Casino in Vegas and wear the jersey of the team you’re rooting for. When half-time ends, sit at roulette table number four. Place your chip on the line between zero and double zero. Keep placing it there until a member of the casino staff invites you to a private game. They’ll strip search you and give you further instructions.”
“Like what?”
“What to do with the chips you win.” She leaned all the way forward. “Go to room four hundred forty-four. You’ll be blindfolded and tied up. When the cleaning service comes to set you free, the chips will be gone.”
Andie gulped and swallowed. “In other words, you don’t know who it was?”
“Obviously, not. I’m still alive, aren’t I?”
# # #
“You got what you were looking for?” Owen asked Andie as they walked away from the women’s prison. “Not that you have to tell me. Unless you want to.”
“I have to do this,” Andie said, fortifying herself and holding her head high. “But before I do, we have to get my mother out of the way, and not let Cade suspect.”
“Obviously. How will we accomplish that?”
“He broke up with me already, so I’ll just have to move out.” Andie dabbed her nose with a tissue. Even with the air conditioner at full blast, she was sweating and jittery. “How long is he staying in jail? I need to find a place to live before he gets out.”
“The police are not ready to drop the charges, but I’m working on it, casting doubt by throwing suspects their way.” Owen steered the Lincoln Town Car he drove onto the freeway and headed south.
“That’
s good, I guess.” Andie leaned back and took a deep breath. She hated this charade, but someone had to expose the real crook. Everything had dragged on too long, and without the sting, she wouldn’t be able to figure out who would want Barbara out of the way and had it in for Cade.
“Even if you move out, Cade’s still going to be wanting to keep you safe. He’s said over and over again that he doesn’t want to jeopardize your safety, that he thinks there’s organized crime involved and that he’s willing to take the hit as long as his family is safe.”
“Take the hit? Like go to jail forever? No way.” Andie slapped the dashboard. Her temper flared red hot like her hair and she wasn’t about to let Cade be framed by someone—possibly someone close to him.
“Look, I’m just the messenger. Don’t shoot me.” Owen lifted his hands from the steering wheel.
“Sure, sure, hold onto that thing, will you?” Andie said. “I’ve been in a horrible wreck and I still get nightmares of the airbags punching me, and rolling and rolling off a cliff, not to mention a big black hole in my memory.”
“That sucks. Is anything coming back to you?” Owen quirked a sidelong glance.
She leaned the passenger seat back and closed her eyes. “Free association. Snow. Dogs. Cade. Library. Books. King David. Chicken wings. Weights. I get random flashbacks, but nothing in sequence.”
“Too bad.”
“Yeah, too bad.” Except she wasn’t going to share the erotic dreams and the ones where Cade had her tied to a bed, blindfolded and soaking wet with need. Those could be either memories or fantasies. Who knew she was into such stuff?
“Maybe the police will solve this case and you won’t have to take any risks,” Owen spoke, more to himself than Andie. “Maybe the crooks will slip up and get caught or Cade’s mother will talk.”
“Does she even know Cade’s in jail because of her?” Andie couldn’t help kicking her feet. “Because it just burns me if she knows something and she’s letting him hang.”
“Well, if their motive was to keep her silent, then they’ve succeeded. She’d rather let Cade serve time than be dead.”
“True, except I’m not willing for him to rot away in jail for the rest of his life.”
“You’re a brave woman and a true friend.” Owen sighed. “What are you going to do the next two weeks before this goes down?”
“Figure out how to stay away from Cade so he suspects nothing.”
Chapter 5
Two days later, Andie brought in the mail while her mother cooked. She flipped through the envelopes and found the DNA reports for the paternity retest she ordered.
Her heart froze and she swallowed, suddenly nauseous. Declan or Cade? Should it even matter? She was already in love with Bret, and soon, she and her mother would leave, or appear to leave, in her case.
Cade was due to be released tomorrow since the judge ruled the police didn’t have enough evidence to indict him. Either way, she’d break his heart, at least temporarily. Besides, it was necessary so that the criminals would have no suspicion she was working on his behalf.
They needed to believe she was desperate for money, that she’d been a gold digger all along.
She took a deep breath, one so deep it ached her sides, and walked into the kitchen.
“Mom, the mail came.”
Her mother looked up from the stir fry chicken she was preparing. “You mean the new paternity reports?”
“Yes. Should we open them now, or wait for Cade to come home?”
“Can you bear to wait?” her mother asked. “We’ve been so nosy and already overstepped our boundaries.”
“I know, and I’m going to miss Bret no matter what.”
“Miss Bret? What are you saying?” Her mother held the spatula up.
“I’ve decided to go home. Once Cade’s home, we don’t need to be here anymore. He can find childcare or take care of Bret himself.”
She’d hit a new low, lying to her mother so that when she told Cade she was going home, her mother would act in a convincing manner.
“O-okay.” Her mother resumed stirring. “So you finally agree with him to call it quits?””
Andie’s eyelid twitched, and she swallowed rocks down her throat. Her stomach turned again. “Exactly. I’ve had a lot of time to think. This. All of this isn’t me. Hollywood. Acting, even hanging around watching football. I miss Daddy and the library.”
“I’m glad you came to your senses. Granted we had to stay to hand Bret off to Cade.”
“True, since Roxanne’s such a flake.” Andie’s stomach churned and she swallowed bile. All this stress had made her queasy at the smell of food, especially spicy Chinese food, greasy burgers, and kim chee. Ever since her mother had tried the food trucks, she’d outdone herself with exploring the food cultures of Los Angeles.
Her mother turned off the gas burner. “Dinner’s served. Kung pao garlic chicken over crushed falafel, garnished with chorizo crumbs and cave-aged blue cheese.”
Ugh, what a horrid combination. If anything, her mother was overdoing the fusion cuisine. She doubted any sane food truck would serve kung pao with blue cheese!
“Can you save mine for later? I’m not feeling well.” Andie rushed to the room she was staying in and flopped herself on Cade’s bed. She hugged his pillow and snuggled with his rain-kissed male scent. “I love you so much. Please forgive me.”
The plan had already been put in motion. She’d even spoken to the FBI and had signed the waivers. Owen was the only other person who knew about the sting, and she couldn’t mention it to anyone. No one, not even Barbara Prescott, was above suspicion. Now that Barbara’s account with the half a million dollars was frozen due to the investigation and Dick Davis’s money was out of the picture, someone out there had to be hurting for cash, and someone was ready to make another bet, although for a football season opener, the payoff would be a lot smaller than for a Super Bowl game.
Still, pigeons always went back to their roost, and whoever had gotten the big payoff from Cade’s interception was dying to get more. Gambling was a drug as addicting or more so than heroin.
Yeah, like she knew. Andie kissed Cade’s pillow and closed her eyes.
Hours later, her mother woke her. “I brought some chicken noodle soup. I got the feeling you weren’t up for that food truck fusion food.”
You can say that again. Chorizo and falafel? Ugh.
Andie rubbed her eyes and yawned. “I’m so nervous about Cade coming home that my stomach’s been acting out.”
Her mother set the tray on the night stand. “Do you want to talk about it? Are you sure you want to go home right away? Bret might need a few days to get used to Cade again, and we’ll have to pack up Gollie.”
“She’s going to miss Red, but I have to make a clean break. I’ve made up my mind, Mom, and that’s that.”
“I’m surprised, that’s all. I thought you were trying to solve the mystery, traveling here and there and speaking to people. I mean, I knew it was dangerous, but I thought you were getting some leads.”
Andie shrugged and dipped the spoon into the chicken soup. “Hit a dead end. Cade didn’t do it, and Owen says the likely outcome is the charges are dropped for lack of evidence. Barbara’s safe as long as she stays at the rehab, and well, I guess the criminals moved onto greener pastures. Dick has no more money, and Cade’s not playing until week six of the season when his finger’s healed.”
“Okay, if you say so.” Andie’s mother rubbed her back. “Just be sure it’s what you really want to do. My intuition’s usually not wrong, and I thought you and Cade had something special going for a while.”
“This time you’re wrong,” Andie said woodenly, sipping the soup. “I’ve come to my senses and Cade isn’t the man for me. Did you open the paternity reports?”
“No, waiting for you.”
Andie sat up and straightened her spine. “Not that it matters anymore, but I guess it’ll give one more reason for Cade to hate me once he finds out I did
n’t trust him.”
“Or it could still be Declan. Not that you care about him either.”
“Nope. I’m counting down the date to the divorce being final, and then I’ll finally be free.” Andie made a show of wiping her hands. She picked up the tray with the chicken soup and followed her mother to the kitchen.
Bret looked up from the battery-powered swing and waved his arms and legs, while Gollie wagged her tail and licked her chops, waiting for Andie to drop a piece of chicken on the floor.
Red lay near the refrigerator with his head in his paws, sad that Cade wasn’t around.
“He’ll be coming home soon.” Andie bent and patted his head. She picked two pieces of chicken from her soup while her mother unstrapped Bret from the swing and gave one to Red and another to Gollie.
“Are we ready?” Andie’s mother sat at the kitchen table with Bret. “Ready to find out who your father is?”
“You realize if neither matches, then it’s the guy Cade saved from the light rail.” Andie sliced open the first envelope with a knife.
“Which would be too weird, especially since we don’t know who he is.” Her mother took a deep breath.
Andie stared at the page and smiled. “No match for Declan Reed.”
Her heart thudding like a washing machine on spin cycle, she opened the second envelope. “Mom, you take it out. If he’s really Cade’s, then he lied to me. He insisted he never slept with Roxanne before New Year’s Eve.”
“Maybe he doesn’t remember. You know how he was.”
Andie shook her head. “He doesn’t drink during the season. New Year’s Eve was his only exception.”
“It could have been Halloween. She could have been in costume.”
“I know, but still. It hurts to think he’d have a baby with her and then cover it up with the Dick story.” Andie’s throat constricted, and she squeezed her eyes shut. “Maybe I don’t want to know.”
“We can burn this right now if you want.”
“What’s the use?” Andie coughed and pounded the kitchen table. “There was no way you’d gotten Dick Davis’s blood on Cade’s clothing. Dammit. The baby’s probably his.”
Boxed Set: Intercepted by Love (The Complete Collection): Books One - Book Six Page 50
