That confirmed Harley’s suspicions that someone had deliberately done it. He couldn’t imagine how it would happen otherwise. That meant it was time to dive into the staff’s backgrounds. “I reviewed the personnel files for everyone who was working in the maternity ward during the storm.” Harley reached into his bag and pulled out copies of photos taken for their hospital ID cards. He handed them over to Orson. “I don’t expect you to remember every employee that worked at the hospital, but I was hoping maybe you might remember something about them that might help the investigation.”
Orson flipped through the photos, studying each one thoroughly. “Dr. Parsons and Dr. Ward. Two great physicians. Never saw them lose their cool even under unimaginable stress.” He turned over a photo of a nurse next. “Karen was one of our best. Uh... Karen Yarborough, I believe. She retired from the hospital after over forty years working labor and delivery. I remember her well. These other two, not so much. Although...” His voice trailed off as he studied the last photo. “This one stands out to me, but I don’t remember why. What’s her name?”
Harley glanced at the photo of the dowdy redhead. “That’s Nancy Crowley,” he said, flipping through his notes. “She worked at the hospital from 1987 to 1990, although only for a few months in maternity. Looks as though she left St. Francis not long after the hurricane, judging by what I wrote down.”
“Ah,” the older man said, tapping the picture with his finger. “I remember now. She didn’t quit. I’m sorry to say it, but she killed herself. There were rumors that she had a drinking problem and some issues at home, but I can’t be sure of it now.”
Harley had a hard time disguising his surprise. He turned back to the notes and realized that her termination date was less than a week after the storm. “May I ask what happened?”
“She threw herself off the roof of the hospital. I had plenty of employees die during my twenty-five-year tenure, a few even committing suicide. It’s high stress work, after all. But Nancy was the only one who did it on hospital property. That’s hard to forget. It haunted the staff, especially the ones who found her. We had to bring in trauma counselors to help folks work through it. Her coworkers couldn’t understand it. They said she was always so upbeat and friendly with the staff and the patients. If she had a drinking problem, she hid it well enough. No one suspected anything until it was too late.”
Harley listened thoughtfully. It was an interesting lead to follow up with later. He’d have his team look up anything they could find on Nancy’s death. The timing was too coincidental to ignore. “Did you ever hear anything else about it? Was a police investigation conducted?”
Orson nodded and handed the photos back to him. “Yeah, but it was pretty open-and-shut. The roof was restricted access. Surveillance cameras showed her going up there alone. When they spoke with her brother and her boyfriend, they all seemed pretty torn up about it. They didn’t expect something like that from her, either. I guess you never can tell. Everyone has their demons.”
* * *
When the alarm went off Monday morning, Jade woke up to a cold, empty bed. Harley had been there when she’d fallen asleep, but judging by the feel of the mattress beside her, he’d been awake for a while. She pulled on her robe and stumbled down the hallway to search for him.
Harley was sitting at the kitchen table, staring down at his coffee mug as though the answers to all the questions of the universe would be in there. Jade watched him curiously as she walked past him, poured her own cup of coffee and then sat at the kitchen table across from him.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, skipping the morning pleasantries. He wasn’t in the mood, judging by the look on his face. “Did you get any sleep?”
“Not really. I have too much to think about.”
Jade understood that. When things were at their worst with Lance, she’d almost gone crazy from sleep deprivation. Every time her head touched the pillow, her brain would start spinning with worries that wouldn’t let her drift off.
She hoped Harley’s worries weren’t about the two of them. They’d developed a comfortable, uncomplicated rhythm the last few days and had always ended up in each other’s arms. She didn’t want either of them overthinking that. “Hit a snag in the investigation?” she asked.
Harley looked up at her and frowned. He had been fairly close-lipped about his research so far. Jade tried to be understanding about it, but it was hard knowing he had information that might impact her life. She supposed that if it really mattered, he would tell her. There wasn’t much use in telling her things before he was certain. Still, it was weird that he was going out to track down the truth about what happened to her, then coming home and engaging in idle chatter about the weather.
“You could say that,” he said at last. “I’ve hit a roadblock I wasn’t expecting.”
“You’ve only just started. How can that be?”
“People are stubborn,” Harley explained. “I’ve spent the entire weekend meeting with various people who might have information about what happened.”
“Like who?”
“Like the couples who had daughters at St. Francis around the same time as the Nolans. Hospital staff. Anyone I can get to answer my calls, really.”
Jade swallowed hard, the coffee burning in her throat. One of the people he’d spoken to could be one of her parents. It was hard to believe, but true. “Oh,” was all she could manage to say. “Any luck?”
The lines in his forehead convinced her that he was conflicted about what he’d found. “Yes and no. Have you ever heard of Steele Tools?”
Jade shrugged. “Yeah. I think I have a set of their screwdrivers. Why?”
“My team has been doing a little research on them. They’re a fascinating success story that started here in Charleston, actually.”
He continued talking about what he’d learned so far, but Jade wasn’t really listening. While the history of Steele Tools might seem fascinating to Harley, she wasn’t sure why she should care. Or why it seemed to weigh so heavily on his mind. “That’s all nice, but what does that have to do with the case?”
Harley pressed his lips tightly together as though reluctant to say anymore. That was too damn bad. He’d started this conversation and he was going to finish it.
“Spill, Harley.”
He sighed. “I’ve been able to contact and basically eliminate every family that had a baby girl at St. Francis when you were born except for one. Trevor and Patricia Steele were at the hospital and they delivered a daughter during the storm. They named her Morgan.”
Morgan. Jade had always liked that name. She’d personally never been a huge fan of Jade, but at least it was different. It suited her, she supposed, although she was beginning to wonder if that was the reason she liked Morgan better than her own name. Was that the name she was supposed to have? The one she’d been given the day she was born? Somehow thinking of the name like that made it sound foreign and odd to her ears.
“The problem is I’ve been unable to get in contact with them. I’ve left messages with all their secretaries and assistants, and they haven’t called me back. It’s incredibly frustrating, because I know we’re close to the truth.”
Jade tried to process what he was telling her. If all the other families had been eliminated, that meant the Steele couple’s daughter was the only real candidate to be swapped with the Nolans’. Which would mean that Jade was...
“If I’m right about this, and I think I am, you’re the daughter of billionaires, Jade.”
She hesitated for a moment, staring blankly at Harley. She was waiting for the punch line. The gotcha. The bazinga. Instead, he just looked at her with his large eyes as though awaiting a bigger reaction.
“Billionaires?” she said at last.
“Yes.”
She slumped down into the chair, trying to process what he’d told her. Right now, it was just supposition on h
is part. There was no evidence, no DNA to confirm it. But even if there were, a part of her wouldn’t believe it. That kind of stuff just didn’t happen. “Let me guess, I’m also the crown princess of Genovia, too.”
Harley flinched. “Gen-what? I’m serious, Jade. I think you were switched at birth and deliberately taken away from the Steeles. It all makes sense.”
“Does it?” she said, her voice beginning to sound hysterical to her own ears. “It doesn’t make a damn bit of sense to me.”
“No, listen. Follow this... You’ve been unable to understand why your parents were targeted. I don’t think they were the targets. I think the Steele family was the real target. Your parents and their daughter were convenient.”
“Why?”
Harley sat back in his chair and sighed. “That’s the piece I haven’t figured out yet. A family like that would be a prime target for a kidnapping or something like that.”
“Kidnapping, sure. But what do they gain from swapping me with some other baby? Nothing.”
“I know. It doesn’t make any sense. I don’t have all the pieces yet, but I know I’m on the right track. I feel it in my gut.”
“Maybe you’re just hungry,” she said with a dry tone.
Harley scowled at her over his coffee. Apparently her humor wasn’t as welcome when he was stuck on a case. “You know, I thought you would be more interested in what I had to tell you, but you’re treating it all like a joke. I mean, really, I shouldn’t have said anything, but it seemed like you needed to know. It’s a big discovery.”
Jade came to his side and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. “I know, and I’m sorry. Thank you for telling me. It’s just a lot for me to think about. I didn’t know what I expected when this whole process began, but I certainly wasn’t planning on it involving rich people and kidnapping plots. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do or think about the whole situation.”
“You don’t have to do anything. Just mull it over and let yourself get used to the idea. I don’t want you to be blindsided when it all comes out and you’ve got reporters in your face asking you how it feels to be an instant billionaire.”
She was grateful for the warning. Truly. But somehow being hit with news like that suddenly gave her more to worry about. Now she would fret, if the dull ache in her stomach was any indication.
Morgan Steele. That woman sounded powerful and in control of her life. The daughter of a wealthy family. The socialite heiress who was poised and polished to a shine. Jade was none of those things and couldn’t imagine that she ever could be. It had to be a mistake. Harley was barking up the wrong tree.
Though when she looked up at him, she noticed a light of determination and seriousness in his eyes. He knew he was right. So what did that mean for her?
“You don’t seem very excited by the news. I think most people would love to find out that they’re secretly a member of the wealthiest family in town.”
Jade supposed she wasn’t most people. “It just makes me worry, Harley. I’ve never fit in with my family as it was, and we were raised poor. How will I possibly fit into a family that’s überwealthy? I don’t know how to be rich. I don’t know how to be an elegant, refined person. I’m going to stand out like a sore thumb and that’s the last thing I wanted. I was trying to find out where I belonged.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re beautiful, you’re smart. I could put you in a ball gown and take you to any fancy party you could name and you’d fit right in.”
Jade sighed and looked down at the worn wood of her kitchen table. It was a hand-me-down from her parents, as were most of the things in the house. She hadn’t had many new belongings in her life. What little she’d gotten as wedding gifts years ago were worn out or gone by now. She hadn’t bothered to bring much back from Virginia when she’d packed up and left her life with Lance behind.
To find out that she really was a Steele... She couldn’t even imagine what it would mean for her life, but she hoped Harley was right. She wanted more than anything to fit in somewhere. Hopefully, a nice dress and a smile would do the trick.
She doubted it.
Eight
When Jade returned home from work Monday afternoon, she found Harley where’d she left him that morning—at the kitchen table surrounded by paperwork, staring intently at his laptop. He hardly looked up when she came in, not acknowledging her presence until she dropped her purse onto the chair beside him.
“How’s it going?” she asked.
“It’s going.” He sighed and shut his laptop. “You’re home early.”
Jade winced at his observation and turned to look at the clock on the microwave. “Actually, I’m home later than usual. It’s almost five. You’ve been buried in your work for hours. Have you eaten anything today?”
Harley sat up straight in the chair and put more thought than should have been necessary into the answer. “I ate some of those shortbread cookies you had in the pantry.”
She sighed. “I appreciate your dedication to the case, but you need to eat. There’s nothing in the house worth cooking. Are you up for going out to dinner? You need a break from all this, I think.”
“Sure.” Harley stood up and stretched with a loud groan. He had to have been sitting there for hours. “I was actually thinking of taking you someplace really nice for dinner tonight.”
Jade stiffened where she stood. Someplace nice? She wasn’t quite sure what that meant. Or what it implied. Did he mean a date? They’d had sex. Things were casual but flirtatious between them. But nothing as traditional as a date had been mentioned before. So that probably wasn’t what he meant. Or did he? She groaned internally and decided to focus on what she knew for sure.
“Really nice? Are we talking Red Lobster or... I don’t even know what’s nice in town. A lot changed while I was living out of state.”
Harley rolled his eyes. “Actually, I thought we might take the opportunity to dip your toe into a little of the fancy lifestyle you may be facing if you’re a part of the Steele family. Give you a chance to be more comfortable with that sort of thing.”
So, not a date. Jade was both disappointed and relieved. “I think that’s a little premature, but I suppose it can’t hurt.”
“Great. You go get ready and I’ll see if I can wrangle some last-minute reservations.”
Jade wandered down the hallway to her room to figure out what she was going to wear. Sorting through her closet, she eyed some choices and settled on the ever-appropriate little black dress. It was a silky fabric with lace cap sleeves and a deep V neckline that highlighted her collarbones. It had a ruched waist, giving her the appearance of an hourglass figure she didn’t have, and fell right at the knee. Not too long or too short. With the right accessories and some black patent leather pumps, she hoped this dress would be suitable for any of the nicer restaurants in downtown Charleston, which she’d never visited before.
She pulled her hair back into a chignon at the base of her neck and touched up her makeup to last a few more hours. She added the pearl earrings and matching necklace her parents had given her for her wedding day—the nicest jewelry she owned—and then studied herself in the mirror.
Jade had to admit she looked lovely. Maybe as lovely as she ever had. It would probably be enough to pass at whatever restaurant Harley chose tonight. But this was just a test run. Would the woman in the mirror pass for a member of the Steele family? That was a better question.
And would it ever come to that?
When she returned to the living room, she found Harley there in a black suit with a silk, charcoal-gray shirt. He’d forgone the tie tonight and she liked it. The open collar gave just a peek of the hollow of his throat, which she was certain smelled like a mix of his cologne and the warm musk of his skin. It took everything she had to pick up her purse and not bury her face there to draw in his scent.
&n
bsp; After seeing him around the house in more casual clothes the last few days, it was nice to see tailored and put-together Harley once again, too. He was like a chameleon, blending in to any environment. Looking at him now reminded her of the moment she’d opened the front door to find him on her porch. It was hard to believe that was only a week ago. The same butterflies took flight in her stomach when she looked at him this time, too.
He didn’t seem to notice. Harley was too busy staring at her. “You look...” He cleared his throat and nodded. “You look very nice.”
Jade smiled and glanced down at her ensemble. “Is this okay for where we’re going?”
“Absolutely. I’m sure you’ll be the most beautiful woman there tonight.”
She had a hard time believing such a big compliment, but after their earlier discussion, she decided not to argue with him. He seemed to believe it, which meant it was true, at least in his eyes. “Thank you,” she said.
He offered her his arm and escorted her out the door to his Jaguar.
“So where did you end up getting a reservation?” she asked as he drove out onto the highway toward downtown Charlestown.
Harley smiled, his eyes fixed on the road. “Well, I know a guy who has recently invested in a great steak house in an old converted carriage house. You’re going to love it.”
About twenty minutes later, they pulled up to the valet stand outside of Harrison Chophouse. While Harley handed over the keys, Jade waited patiently on the curb, reading decals on the tinted glass windows that pronounced several awards they’d won, including most romantic restaurant and top ratings from various dining and travel sites.
Inside, they found a dimly lit room made all the more intimate and warm by the dark wood paneled walls and crackling fire in the stone hearth in the center of it all. Each table had a white tablecloth, a flickering candle and a small centerpiece of fresh flowers. Most tables were occupied and a small crowd was gathered in the lobby, waiting for seats.
From Mistake to Millions Page 9
